Fish Depletion Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fish Depletion - Research Paper Example In addition, advancement in technology enabled more areas of the oceans to be exploited. According to a report by the Food Agricultural Organization, an estimated 25 percent of the global fish species have been depleted or fully exploited (Srinivasan 183). It is however unimaginable to have a world without marine life. More than 2.6 billion people in developing countries depend on fish to provide them with animal protein and depletion of fish stock would affect food security and nutritional status of this people. Moreover, fish depletion would have significant impacts to the world economy given that fishing industry employs more than 150 million people and is a source livelihood for the poor (Srinivasan 183). The causes of fish depletion include overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, climate change and invasive species. However, human causes are the cause of fish depletion. The paper will analyze the causes of fish depletion and recommend ways that will help reverse this trend. Causes of Fish Depletion The first main cause of fish depletion is overfishing where fish species are trapped at a rate that is faster than they reproduce (Scrimgeour, et al. 957).Overfishing is the biggest threat to fish population more than even the contribution of pollution. Overfishing results from better fishing methods and high demand for fish products are blamed for overfishing. Overfishing is a serious environmental issue given that depletes adult fish leaving fish that are not able to breed. The period between 1950 and 1994 saw the ocean fish catch grow by more than 400 percent and by 1998 the total global fish catch was approximated to be 93 million tons which and subsequent years were followed by a decline in the fish capture (Clare 73). The reduction is an indication that overfishing has led to fish declines. The main reason behind overfishing is due to global fishing vessels that are currently five times larger than the equipments that are required to sustainably catch fish produced in the oceans (Clare 73). In fact the worldwide active fishing vessels have a capacity to fill four planets equal to earth’s surface (Clare 75). Overcapacity is therefore removing fish at a rate faster than their rate of breeding. In addition to overcapacity of the fishing vessels, most fishing methods being used currently lead to negative impacts to the ecosystem. Bottom trawling for instance is a poor fishing given that it uses a non-selective fishing method and heavy gear leading to destruction of marine life. The method destroys fish breeding grounds and kills some fish species. Some fishing gears used currently also lead to trapping of fingerlings which are then killed thereby reducing the fish stock. In some developing countries, there have been cases of fishermen using mosquito nets whose pores are too small thereby catching the young fish. This has led to high rates of fish depletion with current data indicating that over 50 % of the fish stock are full y exploited, 20 percent have been moderately exploited while a further 17 percent is overexploited (Tsitsika et al. 731). 7 percent have been completely depleted although only 1 percent is recovering from depletion. In 1992, the formerly thriving cod industry came to a halt after there was no fish as the fishing season began (Tsitsika et al. 731). The other main cause of fish depletion is increased rates of pollution. Ocean pollution is negatively affecting the

An Exploration Into 14 Bauhaus Books by Lazlo Moholy-Nagy in Relation to Visual Culture Essay Example for Free

An Exploration Into 14 Bauhaus Books by Lazlo Moholy-Nagy in Relation to Visual Culture Essay When analysing the 14 bauhaus books by Lazlo Moholy-Nagy (see figure 1) in relation to its historical context, at least 5 components have to be considered. These are: the image itself; the movement it is part of; the artist, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, that made it; the bauhaus- the institute it was produced for and where the artist taught and how these parts have changed or influenced modern times. My argument is that all of these separate components, the main being the movement of Modernism, made life better for the International populations that welcomed it, through the universal progression that modernism once promised. 4 Bauhaus Books is not a pretty image. The dirty red mixed with the hard texture of the metal type is not pleasing to the eye for any viewer. But then again it is not meant to be pleasing, the image is a brochure cover, nothing more. Although by todays standards it is crude in design, vaguely relating to the brochure that it covers, which does go into detail about some new typographical forms, it was rather advanced for 1929 as it was a Modernist piece – rejecting decoration. No longer focussing on decoration produced a new language of design that could be understood by everyone, including workers in modern industry. Moholy-Nagy followed his own teachings on typography fully, stating that: â€Å"Letters should never be squeezed into an arbitrary shape like a square. A new typographic language must be created combining elasticity, variety and a fresh approach to the materials of printing. † (Naylor, 1968, p. 127) This approach to communication through printed material can still be seen today, particularly in adverts which have a very short amount of time to impact on and communicate to an audience. A stand-out type coupled with a few witty lines has found itself at the centre of most printed advertisements today (see figure 2), which, it could be argued, can trace its heritage back to the modernists ideas of simplicity. We are all now accustomed to this, but back in the early 1900s it was met with fierce opposition and, although new aesthetics were being created, official designers and architects preferred to follow the word of Ruskin who stated: â€Å"We want no new architecture The forms of architecture already known to us are good enough for us, and far better than any us† (Naylor, 1968, p. ) This narrow-minded approach to design held back progress and kept Europes standard of living the same, which, especially for the working classes, was unacceptable. From this, modernism rejected the historical styles before it, such as the Enlightenment phase, that focussed on decoration and perceived that greatness lay in the reconstruction of the past. Instead modern designers, in the smoke of the Industrial Revolution, created a new style – the International Style. The International Style had called for change and the change was to blur the class distinctions. The â€Å"millions of home-owners painted their walls beige† (Greenhalgh, 1990, p52) in an attempt to fit in with this style. This cheap method of interior design, using hardwood for fittings and mass produced light fittings made the International Style available and popular. Modernism created objects that functioned with little or no decoration. These objects were mass produced,widely available and more importantly cheap to purchase. For example the Tefal kettle (see figure 3) which has only the water gauge projecting out of a white block for decoration. This simplistic approach to design was, in the eyes of the modernists, an enhancement of purity. The same could be said for 14 books. That its simplicity is its decoration and that the text is the object needed for its design purpose. Something functional yet visually satisfying. Modernist designers used the technique of abstraction in their work to help convey a visual trend and to combine the three areas they believed to be true design. This was architecture, furniture and graphic design. Abstraction meant that modernists could use ideas found in a particular building or a colour palette from a painting to create solid habitable homes or items for these homes. A well known example for this is from the painting of Mondrian – composition in red and blue (see figure 4). This was abstracted by the designer Rietveld to create a home (see figure 5) and a chair (see figure 6). Both of which the user had to engage with, as the world had gained a passive lifestyle the chair was designed for better seated posture and the home bragged fold out compartments, tables and beds so that living was a conscious decision. Unfortunately the chair was not mass produced and only a prototype as there was â€Å"not enough interest in it, as it was not comfortable to sit in† (retrieved on January 10, 2011, from www. contemporarypractice. wordpress. com). This abstraction was seen as a rational use of design, using one useful item aesthetics to create another and was used by most modernist designers. The downside to this would be that everything lacked spontaneity. Supposedly a unique series of furniture could look like another, but modernists did not mind this, as they wanted everyone to be equal. The Bauhaus, of course, was the school of modernist design in Europe. It symbolised new technologies and ideas for teaching. Even the building (see figure 7) was a modernist piece. The building had no decoration except for the glass sheets that covered it, which itself was a relatively new item, having been invented in 1832. Glass sheeting, ironically, was used in the crystal palace, which was a celebration of the aristocracies achievements, the opposite message of modernists to â€Å" reate a new guild of craftsmen, without the class distinctions which raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist. † (Naylor, 1968, p. 9) This quest for the combination of form and function is, in my opinion, found in Josef Hartwigs 1924 chess set that has, instead of the traditional figures, pieces that consist of geometric shapes (see figure 8). The design of each piece shows how it moves- for example the 2 diagonal lines that make the bishops cross show that it is constrained to dia gonal movement. The negative side of this simplicity was a lack of emotion in all creations, as well as an impersonal approach to design. These made the masses feel common, which did not sit well with the elite of the time, who were used to the decorative forms of the Romantics that preceded them. This was, in many ways the enemy of the Bauhaus, referred to as â€Å"that strange decorative disease†(Naylor, 1968, p. 14). Simplicity was key for the Bauhaus and 14 Bauhaus Books was no exception. Understated colours and the photograph used for the main image how this. The type itself is clear and typical of the Bauhaus. Lazlo Moholy-Nagy taught at this revered school and stressed that â€Å"Typography must be clear communication in its most vivid form. Clarity must be especially stressed, for clarity is the essence of modern printing. † (Naylor, 1968, p. 127)Clarity is indeed expressed in 14 Bauhaus Books, where no complex symbolisms or congested space occurs. Lazlo Moholy-Nagys views on teaching was as radical as his rules. He sought to rid the preliminary course he took over in 1923 of emotion. He saw the soul as part of the body and not in control of it. This wasnt welcomed by some of his colleagues and students, who described his arrival as â€Å"a pike in a pond full of goldfish† (Whitford, 1984, p. 128). Moholy-Nagy differed from his predecessor in every way. He wore a pair of overalls and nickel-rimmed glasses, emulating an industrial worker , whereas the former teacher, Itten, dressed more like a monk, with a perfectly shaved head â€Å"creating an aura of spirituality and communion with the transcendal† (Whitford, 1984, p. 23) mirroring the enlightenment movement that modernism rejected. Moholy-Nagy was to cast out everything irrational in his course. Instead he focussed on teaching techniques and a wider variety of media, stating that: â€Å"anyone who knew nothing about photography was a kind of visual illiterate, and that an artist who restricted himself to any single media should not be taken seriously. † This can be seen in 14 Bauhaus Book s, where a variety of media is used. The combination of photography, graphics and type give the design a very individual feel. For although Moholy-Nagy insisted he used no emotion, one cant help but feel a personal aspect behind this cover, a contradiction to his own rule. Moholy-Nagys link with industry spilled over to an infatuation with the machine. The machine to him was the invention of the century, replacing the transcendental spiritualism of past eras. He saw it as the way to gain equality for the masses. Stating that: â€Å"Everyone is equal before the machine There is no tradition in technology, no class-consciousness. Everyone can be the machines master or its slave. † (Whitford, 1984, p. 128) Using the machine as a figurehead, Moholy-Nagy, along with other modernists and constructivists bettered the world. The change brought about by modernism was huge. As the movement grew in popularity all classes changed their way of living. They were boxed in with hardwood fittings and lived in a functional, conscious home. These homes would later be criticised for being to small and impersonal, but at the time they were considered the modern home. It wasnt just the home that was improved through modernism. Factories over Europe America and Asia used more and more machinery, quickly churning out more products in a day than a craftsman, what had come before, could produce in months. This led to more jobs, fewer costs and a better standard of life for everyone. Though this also was met by criticism: that the worker had become non-human, â€Å"an appendage to the machine† (Greenhalgh, 1990, p. 54). The fact that people worked 10-12 hour shifts to maintain their lifestyle did not sit well. Marxists stated that industrial work meant that â€Å"Man is alienated from other men. † (Greenhalgh, 1990, p. 54) It could be argued that the limitations and ideas set in place for this simple graphic design, which is rather crude by todays standards, has helped the international masses. The change that came about because of the movement of modernism, along with Moholy-Nagys approach to design and the new tuition in the Bauhaus of a generation of architects, furniture designers and graphic designers has helped to shape the world of today. Modernist buildings fill todays cities, from huge skyscrapers consisting of tons of glass, such as the Seagram Building, New York (see figure 9), to mass housing, that was and is cheap, yet functional. This International Style that 14 Bauhaus Books boasts to belong to a collection millions of posters , magazine covers, and furniture designs. Always with its main aim to better daily life through technology, for â€Å"not the product the but man is the end in view† (Naylor, 1968,p. 156).

Genocide Essays -- essays research papers

Genocide is a reality that no one can ever conquer or vanish if they are working alone or do not look at the consequences upon taking choices of action. We as Americans feel it is our duty to only take a course of action if we know and are fully aware of the actions being made against the people, or if we are being affected directly. If it does not affect us and we do not know about it then obviously we cannot do anything about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We feel that if we know what is going on and it is not directly affecting us then we will tell them to stop what they are doing and give them a â€Å"false† threat to hopefully scare them into stopping whatever they are doing. We also feel that if we are not being directly attacked and we know what is going on we will wait for surrounding UN countries to take action before sending our troops into something we are not excited about getting into. If the UN troops fail, we will jump in and try our best to stop whatever is going on. However, if they succeed then we will not intervene with the process of any clean up of the genocide or after activities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our first priority on our country today is the citizens living inside of it. We have millions of troops in our army, marines, navy, and air force that would be going over and risking their lives for something we aren’t apart of. If the other countries can handle it then why should we be involved?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We also need to respe...

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield Essay

I. In Greece the polis of Sparta was the number one military authority for the people and for the time period. There was nothing that the Spartans could not do when it came to war. From the time that Spartan men were born, they were evaluated for their future services to the Spartan society. Each baby was sent to have the ten, ten, one test done on them as explained in the novel, The Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. This test was to check and make sure that there were no deformities. If there were the children were killed because they could not help the military, therefore had no purpose in their society as a whole. Sparta was a militarist state. The other helots and Athenians and so on, looked to the Spartans for guidance and often for overall protection during the times of war. Their society as a whole was very separated from the rest of Greece though. For example in the novel when Xeones talks about his dreams to be a Spartan he knows that he would never be recognized, while hi s cousin Diomache wants to be an Athenian she knows that is it possible. One could only call himself a Spartan if he was born of a Spartan in Sparta. The polis also held itself high in importance. In the book, The Gates of Fire Rooster whose mother was a Messenian did not see a need to be honorable to Sparta and protect it either. Rooster would curse it and speak of the gods as if they were nothing. So in the novel Polynikes was going to kill Rooster because there is no need for someone who has no trust and honor for Sparta. The Spartan society was one of a kind. There was no other polis that was quite like Sparta in the matters of how they raised their people. The society had two kings, one military and one religious. They also had the council of elders that helped make decisions. In Pressfields novel Leonidas was the military king of Sparta during the times of the battle of Thermopylae. The polis of Sparta had a system, and overall it worked effectively. The men protected the city, and controlled everything through the council of elders. Then in the times of war when the men were away the women were in control. They took care of the cities everyday matters along with the helots from the surrounding polis. The mens duty to the country was to serve. In fact the  last paragraph of the novel does an excellent job in showing this by stating, Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie. This was referencing the fact that the 300 Spartans died as they were told to by their laws and way of life. Overall the polis of Sparta had an effective system. The military worked as it was supposed to, and most other cities and rulers feared the military of Sparta. The polis also had an effective trade and governing system overall. The women and helots more often than not dealt with the everyday trade and intercity dealings. The council of elders also was effective in governing the city. II. From the beginning of life perfection was the aim and the only way for Spartans. When the children had any imperfection they were either killed or adopted by the helots surrounding the Spartan polis. The men were put up to some of the toughest tests at extremely young ages. At the age of seven they were put into the agoge for their military training. This would prepare them for the military life that they would eventually lead. Pressfields novel explains some of the tests that these young boys were expected to perform. Xeones speaks of the pushing of the tree, in which the boys are expected to push down a huge, old tree with just their muscle and force. This is known to be quite impossible, yet it prepares them for the force needed to fight later on in life. These young boys had to enter this agoge. It was part of growing up in Sparta. They would also have to fight other boys about their age in fist of fist battles as Xeones and Alexandros have to do. The Spartan boys were expected to fight until they could not fight anymore. After these ring fights the boys would also often be whipped until their spines and muscles would show. The boys could tell them to stop, but this would show weakness, so they often would take the beatings until they passed out. This may have seemed harsh and often it was, but this training was what produced the strong military men that Sparta deeply depended on to keep its title as the military power house. Throughout the novel it shows Xeones struggle to be accepted as a Spartan man. This was his dream his entire life, because as  his friend Bruxieus stated, other cities produce monuments and poetry, Sparta produces men.Then men continued to serve in the military until they were thirty years old, when they were finally pardoned of their military duties. The elders in Sparta were upon the most honored citizens. Their age and wisdom were respected more than anyone else. In the novel Xeones honors Bruxieus as he should. Even though Bruxieus is only a slave, with many handicaps that hold him back, Xeones looks past all of this. He sees the knowledge and love that he offers to him and his cousin Diomache in their time of most need. Bruxieus guides and takes care of the children after their town is attacked and their parents and farms are destroyed. So when Bruxieus died Xeones kept his promise that he would go to Sparta and become a Spartan. The women of Sparta were unlike any women from the surrounding areas. The women of Sparta were allowed to be educated, dress as they pleased, exercise and work out, and did many of the tasks that the men did. This exercised the Spartan belief that a man was only as strong as the women that he was born of. The women were not considered equal with the men though. There were many examples of this is Pressfields novel. One being the fact that when Diomache was raped by the military men they told her it was nothing personal, but not to come back because it would happen again. Also it is seen in the fact that women such as Arete though strong in her overall beliefs and her speech she was only this way in the seclusion of her own dwelling. She often would talk to Xeones about personal matters or questions and she would state her opinion, but again this was in the privacy of her own home. Though women were restricted in their power as a gender, they were also greatly respected by the honorable men in their society. This was greatly explored when Dienekes was asking the question of what is the opposite of fear. Dienekes then states, Perhaps the god we seek is not a god at all, but a goddess. He goes on to state that women have more courage and less fear than the men themselves because of all they give to society, such as childbirth. They go on to later state that the opposite of fear is love, which the women show constantly. III.Pressfields novel explores the everyday lives of the Spartan at the time of the battle of Thermopylae. The frame story is a perfect way to tell Xeones story. The first chapter explores Xeones waking up after the battle of Thermopylae and slowly realizing the situation that has occurred. The novel starts out tell the life story of Xeones and how he ended up in the predicament that he did. Pressfield does an amazing job telling the history of Sparta through a personal story. The themes of war, love, society, and spirituality were explored and related to the history aspect of the book. When Xeones starts off his story as a child, the novel shows the harsh side of war. It is one thing for the soldiers themselves to be injured; it is another for a child to see his family and polis destroyed right before his own eyes. Xeones and Diomache then have to forage in the wilderness with Bruxieus, a slave of Xeones that also survived the attack on their polis. The brutality of war and the life Xeones had to live is explored throughout the next few chapters of the novel. The harshest was the rape of Diomache and the internal battle Xeones faces with himself. After being caught stealing his hands are nailed to a board, and Xeones believes they are ruined forever. Eventually he returns to Diomache and Bruxieus, yet he runs off to let himself die because he believes he will never be a Spartan now with his disability. At this point in the novel the spirituality of the time is seen. Xeones sees Apollo the archer who guides him to his chosen career by the gods. Love is seen throughout the entire novel as Xeones craves for his cousins love and acceptance. In the beginning she tells him that he would never be man enough for her to marry and that he is only a silly boy. Yet, throughout the book he seeks her and she could then see in the temple in Athens the real man that her cousin Xeones had become. He was a Spartan, and was a man. Though he loves Diomache and later it is seen she felt the same they both had children and a spouse that came first, before true love. Arete also speaks on the matter and difference of love and marriage to a Spartan when Xeones talks privately with her. She states that she always loved Dienekes even when she was married to Iatrokles his brother. Yet, the society deems arranged marriages more important than the love felt between two people. The battle of Thermopylae was brutal, and heart wrenching. Though only explained through words in this book the blood spill was so life like. The men of Sparta spent days upon days fighting Xerxes men, trying to keep their polis free. The saddest part was the fact that they were fighting so hard, knowing the whole time that they were fighting to just eventually die. They knew they would never again see the site of Sparta or the faces of their children or wives ever again. Yet, that was what kept them going; the love for their country and families and the hope that it would remain free for them and the future generations. So though Thermopylae was a battle of warfare and fighting, it was also a story of the Spartans fighting for what they loved and what they respected. So though the book as a whole focuses on the battle of Thermopylae, it also explores the Spartan society through the eyes of Xeones. He always loved the Spartans and their ways of life. The Spartans were war; it defined them and separated them as a polis. Xeones spent his entire life to become one of these elite men, and eventually through death did so. He died serving the polis that he wanted so bad to become a part of. Yet, through his death he did so. He served the polis and protected his people, and in the end Xeones dream came true, he was honored and named a true Spartan citizen.

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay

In his Second Treatise on Law and Government, John Locke outlines clear and coherent standards for what constitutes a legitimate government and what persons one such government would have authority over. Both are determined by citizens’ acts of consenting to relinquish to the government part of their natural authority over their own conduct. Unfortunately, the situation becomes much less clear once we consider how his standards would apply to the political situation existing in the real world today. If we continue to subscribe to Locke’s account without altering its standards, we would see a precipitous drop in the number of people whose interests existing governments are responsible for serving. In this paper I will show that with certain changes and clarifications to Locke’s standards, the responsibilities of existing governments need not be allowed to shrink so drastically. This creates a tradeoff, however. Changing the standards to apply more closely to actual functioning governments has the consequence of making it more difficult to determine the legitimacy of those governments. Some of the clarity of Locke’s theoretical model is lost in translating it to apply to actual instances of government. A cornerstone of Locke’s political philosophy is the idea that a government holds power legitimately only through the consent of the governed. A civil society consents to grant a particular government rule over it, and each person chooses on an individual basis to become a member of a particular civil society (II, 117). As giving such consent has far-reaching consequences over a person’s life, Locke provides further explanation of what â€Å"consent† entails in this context. Only one way exists to become a member of a civil society: express consent. From Locke’s account this would have to be a fairly formal business, which the individual enters â€Å"by positive Engagement, and express Promise and Compact† (II, 122). Locke’s original wording is important because it seems to imply that unless a person actually makes a public agreement to submit to government law in return for protection of person, liberty, and property, she has not expressly consented. He makes it clear that there are no alternatives to this official process if one is to become part of a civil society, (II, 122). Even if one is not considered part of a particular civil society, she must submit to its authority to the extent of her involvement in that society. Someone who owns land within the territory occupied by a civil society is obligated to obey the law of whatever body has ruling authority in that territory as it applies to ownership and use of property. Someone merely travelling on a public road through a country will have less contact with the civil society of that area and so fewer laws of that society will have application to her behavior. Still, those laws that do cover what activities she carries out have binding force on her (II, 120-121). These people incur the obligation to submit to local authority because that authority is protecting them, perhaps by preventing the citizens of the area from acting in ways that would harm other people including the outsider. For the outsider to be free of those restraints and take advantage of the area’s citizens would be unjust; therefore she is obligated to comply with the legal restraints observed by citizens the area. In neither of these cases would the person in question be considered a member of the civil society whose laws she is obeying unless she expressly consented to join that society in addition to her tacit consent to follow its laws. An immediate criticism of Locke’s account thus far is that in practice, hardly anyone expressly gives consent to join any civil society. Even in most real-world cases where a person does announce submission to a particular government, the declaration would not meet Locke’s conditions of consent that would give legitimacy to the rule of government over that person. Oaths such as the U. S. Pledge of Allegiance are usually only indications that the speaker is prepared to obey directives from the government of a particular state. Consent in the strict sense would have to make explicit what the person is consenting to. Someone joining a civil society under Locke’s conception would need to spell out that she is giving up the right to make and enforce her own judgments to the government of that society, in return for that government’s protection of her interests. Even promises of blind obedience are far from universally practiced, and in most countries are the practice of reciting such pledges is confined to schools and youth groups as a form of education rather than contractual agreement. (The idea that most civil societies do not consider young people mature enough to consent to become members is discussed later in this paper). Explicit contractual consent is far rarer than these questionably binding declarations. If most people fail to give explicit consent to trade away some of their natural rights, under Locke’s terms they have not joined any civil society, and so should not be counted as the citizens of any state or the subjects of any government. This has profound significance because of the relation between civil society and government. The agreement of a civil society is the force and justification behind its government’s authority (II, 149); in return for the mandate that grants it power, the government exists to protect the interests of that particular group of people. Anyone not the member of a particular civil society has no legitimate voice in the form or operation of the government that society creates, and she has no right to expect that government to protect her interests. This does not mean that the government will not take any actions that are to her benefit; the laws of that nation which prevent its citizens from killing and robbing may also prevent them from killing or robbing her. When the government enacts laws, however, it need only do so with the interests of its constituency in mind, and has no obligation to create laws conducive to the interests of an outsider. Any benefits the outsider enjoys as a result of the laws of a particular country are purely coincidental to those laws’ intent. Someone who is not a member of any civil society at all will accordingly have no power over any government, and her interests will deserve the consideration of no government. Since the vast majority of people have not given express consent to join a particular society, the majority of humanity has no right to expect its interests to be served or protected by any of the governments existing on earth. Everyone, however, is required to submit to the control of one government or another depending of where they live, since basically every part of the earth inhabited by humans is under the dominion of one state or another. Rule is solely in the hands of those few people who have actually signed some kind of formal social contract, and needs only to consider their interests. Any government with which no living person has made a formal consent agreement rules illegitimately. The fact that Locke’s model leads to an implication that most of humanity is neither the legitimate authors nor the deserving beneficiaries of government does not prove the model is logically flawed. However, the very great majority of people consider themselves members of a civil society, and are considered as such by other people and, most importantly, by governments. However real governments define their constituency, few if any set express consent as the standard. Enslavement of the tacitly consenting masses by the expressly contracted few thus fails to provide an accurate theoretical model of governmental institutions in the real world. Locke himself describes of the formation of government as an action taken by and for the â€Å"community† (II, 149); this wording suggests that he would have disagreed with the idea that citizenship by express consent leading to dictatorship by a de facto minority is, in practice, the most typical form of legitimate government. It is possible that those without citizenship (the majority of people under our present definition) actually benefit by not being contractually bound to any particular civil society. As long as someone who is not an official citizen resides within the territory of an existing government which fulfills the duties expected of government (II, 131), its laws discourage both citizens of the civil society and other â€Å"outsiders† from threatening her life, liberty, and property. Thus someone could enjoy much of the security that membership in a civil society would provide simply by living in a well-governed area without joining in civil society. In PHI 309 lecture, Prof. Sreenivasan pointed out a possible advantage that such a living arrangement could provide for the unaffiliated: in cases where it was in one’s best interests to abandon a country beset by war, pestilence, or economic or other disaster, noncitizens could jump ship without that act being considered an injustice. Those who had by express consent tied themselves to the civil society might well be obligated to remain with the community, and would not have the option of fleeing the war or hardship. Yet in most of the world, nomadic living is considered the exception, not the rule. Citizens of the world’s various nations must be considering factors not included in Locke’s account. One of the most significant of these is a convention that has introduced a new kind of consent enabling people to become citizens of particular states. Most civil societies have found it desirable to designate officially who is a member of that society, i. e. a member of that state. As a government’s power depends on its constituency, government function is expedited by the government’s having accurate knowledge of the extent of its power base, that is to say the extent of its citizenry. At the same time, concern for its own integrity and distrust of outsiders drives a civil society to delineate who is and is not a member. These and perhaps other factors have led to the creation of conventions (usually expressed as laws passed by governments) by which a person is declared to be a member of a particular civil society (i. e. citizen of a country) regardless of whether or not that person has actually expressed consent to what such membership entails. The most typical example is a law declaring that anyone born in the territory of a particular nation is a citizen of that nation. When still a juvenile, that person of course has not actively consented to anything, and so is usually considered not complete member of civil society; although part of a community, the juvenile generally lacks certain rights and powers given to full members of the society. Upon reaching the age when she can make her own decisions, laws indicate what society the person is considered a member of in the absence of active consent by that person. The person continues to hold that default membership until she makes an active decision to join another civil society. The conventional reflection of this active decision is generally a naturalization process by which someone can become a citizen of a country she did not belong to by default. By going through the naturalization process, a person is understood to consent to the tradeoff which would make her a member of that civil society. It could be objected that being considered the member of a civil society by default is another matter entirely from consenting to join that society and willingly relinquish one’s rights. Where is the consent in this instance? This question is less troubling before the person has come of age, because most would agree that a juvenile generally lacks the judgment to be signing any kind of binding social contract. But can a government legitimately assert that a person has consented to cede her rights to it simply because she has not actively protested? This question could be answered affirmatively. A person can choose not to consent to membership in her default civil society, or give up her membership in a civil society she already belongs to, by joining another civil society through a more active process such as naturalization. This means that if she does not take such an action, she is accepting the convention that interprets her inaction as an expression of consent to join the civil society she was assigned to by default. By systematizing and codifying standards for consent, then, states in actual practice ensure that the great majority of people are not lone agents. One might still question how conscious most people are that they are held to be making this sort of contract, even in the most open societies. A case can be made that essentially, they are aware. No one is unaware of what society she belongs to. Each person is effectively the member of whatever civil society exerts control over her, usually through its government. As soon as that person is conscious of the control being exerted over her, she is made unmistakably aware of what her citizenship is. With the realization of what government she is under comes the option to change her membership. The final and most damaging criticism of the consent model is the question of what happens when a person does not have the option to move to a new territory and join a new civil society. This may occur because of a person’s own lack of means to carry out or simple ignorance of the options ostensibly available to her. It may also be the result of oppression by the government, preventing citizens of the country from leaving. Any of these conditions can force a person to remain an official member of a particular civil society. However, the standard of â€Å"conventionalized explicit consent† introduced above is only able to maintain that most people consent to join a civil society because it assumes those people have options besides their initial citizenship. If people are not being given other options, the model is still not logically flawed. Rather, it suggests a situation similar to that originally introduced as the consequence of applying Locke’s model to the real world: the people in such situations are not really part of the civil society that created the government to whose control they are forced to submit. As such, they retain undiminished the right to join another civil society through a new social contract. If they do so, they may create a new government to follow instead of the one they currently submit to by tacit consent. Of course, there is no guarantee that the government ruling them in the status quo will allow them to replace its control. If it retains control over them by force, Locke’s model would still hold them to be tacitly consenting to its authority by â€Å"enjoyment† of its dominion. This counterintuitive conclusion is avoided by the model requiring choice for real consent. If we follow that paradigm, we come to the conclusion that the government is ruling without any consent from the governed in those cases. According to Locke, such government is mere enslavement and so is illegitimate. To say that a government is wholly illegitimate if it hold power over even one person without her consent is clearly excessive; probably no government could ever achieve legitimacy under that criterion. However, we can say that a government is legitimate to the extent that its citizens are aware of other options and consider membership in their current civil society with its ruling government preferable to those options. The problem with such a standard is that it depends on what is thought by the citizens of a country, and to ascertain a person’s mentality is difficult. The most reliable test is to provide citizens with realistic options and observe whether they remain with the status quo or seek a change in their situation. That change may involve leaving their current civil society, or it may mean seeking to change the structure or behavior of that society’s government. The country’s citizens can be said to consent to the government ruling them to the extent that they posses the power to change their situation, but still maintain the status quo. Thus, the legitimacy of a government can be measured by the effective options available to its citizens. If we had held to Locke’s standards for consent to membership in a civil society and submission to government rule, we would have concluded that most people in the world are tacitly consenting to the rule of governments created by very small groups of explicit signers of social contracts. This would lead to a bizarre picture of the political landscape very much at odds with intuition and with modern reality. By changing standards for consent to mean compliance with official requirements for citizenship when other options are available, we are able to account for those who consider themselves and are considered members of a civil society without having given explicit consent, while at the same time freeing those not given a choice from the appearance of having given consent. A government is then legitimate to the extent that its citizens have given consent according to these standards. It is one of those rare examples where laws have made the situation clearer. Sources: Locke, John. Second Treatise. From Two Treatises of Government, Laslett, Peter, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

How Does Your Child Act essays

How Does Your Child Act essays First of all I think that in the back of every parents mind are questions concerning their childs future. Like will it be a doctor, a lawyer, or the next president of the United States. But with these questions there are also more questions that are not discussed freely like what if it is a bad child or it is uncontrollable? And will it do drugs or try alcohol and smoke cigarettes? Another question that might be in the back of a parents mind is about its childs sexual orientation. I know this may seem far fetched to some people but if I had a child right now in todays world, that question would not be in the back of my mind but in the front. I know that any parent and including me will love their child no matter what its sexual orientation, but I know that most if not all parents would prefer that their kids be straight. This is not so they wont be embarrass or ashamed by their child, but only for the protection of their child. As we all know this world is not a safe place for people that are different. I think that parents are concerned when their girl acts like a tomboy, but they get really scared when their son starts doing what we traditionally consider girl stuff. A child should be raised to be whomever he or she chooses and the child shouldnt have to accept society, but society should accept the child A parents reaction to their daughter acting like a tomboy is very passive and they play it off humorously and sometimes they even encourage it. This doesnt apply to some parents but most parents react this way when their daughter acts like a boy and does boy stuff. I used to know a girl that was a tomboy. She always hung around with boys even in middle school. She had al guy friends and would play boys games. Not once did I ever hear her parents say anything to make her stop acting like a tomboy, instead they encouraged. For instance they...

Problems In Remote Sensing †Graphic Arts Essay

Problems In Remote Sensing – Graphic Arts Essay Free Online Research Papers Problems In Remote Sensing Graphic Arts Essay The predicaments in most remotely sensed data is affected by several common factors, such as error, uncertainty and scale. â€Å"The goal of remote sensing is to infer information about objects from measurements† (Curtis Woodcock,2002) from various â€Å"locations†, however the process is not always perfect as â€Å"there is an element of uncertainty† concerning data results. Remote sensing studies have always shown various discrepancies as researchers have always identified errors and uncertainties in image interpretations. It also highlights that these properties can be human induced due to mis-interpretation of the data, miss handling of equipment (calibration problems, poor decision making in when to take data, if cloud problems. However, these issues can be technological problems in the sub-orbital and orbital craft; wrong flight path, poor sensor range. The objective of this essay is to highlight the certain types of errors, the causes of uncertainties and scale problems in remote sensing. The extent of this area of terms is substantial in terms. Background Error Error, according to Heuvelink(1991) is defined as â€Å"the difference between reality and our representation of reality†. Error produces ramifications, as â€Å"error is a bad thing†. However Heuvelinks definition does not account for subtle and random errors â€Å"in a statistical way†. The concept of error is illustrated by Jensen’s belief that error is based on two factors internal and external geometric error. Jensen (2005) backs this up by stating it is important to recognize the problem sources of internal and external error, â€Å"whether it is systematic or nonsystematic†. Apparently, geometric error of the systematic approach is generally easier to define and correct. The problems of internal geometric errors are caused by the Earth’s curvature characteristics and remote sensing system being used. Jensen breaks down where internal geometric errors happen 1. Skew 2. Scanning system 3. Relief Displacement Skew Skew effects happen because of the remote sensing data being affected by the earth’s rotation on the axis and the remote sensors orbit of the planet whether it is phased, sun synchronous or geosynchronous. This combination of factors causes the image of the IFOV being examined to be skewed, this was based on using the LandSat enhanced thematic plus using its linear array of 16 lines, which scanned 3 times. This skew effect could be the result of a faulty scanner. Jensen (2005, states if the image is not deskewed, the data will be displayed incoherently. The belief is that the image is skew in an eastwardly approach. The deskewed images being scanned will have an abrupt change on the pixels being read by the scanner. Every orbital sensor that collects image from the Earth will incur skewed images due the spectral curve of the land and also because of the overlaps in images. Scanning Systems Since a large amount of data is retrieved from various scanning sensors aboard orbital and sub-orbital craft. Jensen makes the comparison that multi-spectral orbital craft have minimal distortion to multi-spectral sub-orbital craft. This distortion is reduced in orbital craft because of their nadir equipment, altitude and IFOV in the terms of swath. Jensen(2005, p 227-235) places the problems of geometric distortion on aircraft because of there AGL and their operating height. The only way that this distortion is reduced is only by using the central 70% of the swath width, because scientists noticed â€Å"ground resolution elements have larger cell sizes the farther way from the nadir† Relief displacement The use of aerial photography illustrate that photographs are exposed to perspective geometry , where all the objects are displaced from their plan metric positions outwardly from the principal point. The greater planimetric distance the greater, the reliefs distance(Jensen, 2005, p 227-235). The displacement occurs because of the direction that is perpendicular to the line of flight of each scan. The problems of one-dimensional relief displacement cause objects from their terrain to be displaced from their true position. This causes maps created from imagery to contain plainimetric errors. External Errors Externals errors happen because of unexpected ramifications â€Å"in nature through space and time†. The widely known errors of this are; altitude alterations and attitude changes, which can be yaw pitch and roll. Altitude changes The majority of remote systems operate well above AGL so that images can produce a uniform pattern. If the orbital or suborbital craft changes any of its orbits along the designated flight path, this will result in the scale of the image to change. Jensen(2005, p 227-235)), points out that these changes happen due to the elevation of the aircraft and the terrain. The only ways these issues are corrected by are the use geometric rectification algorithms. Attitude changes The problem of sub-orbital craft are that they affected by issues of turbulence and wind. This happens when sub-orbital craft are collecting data and have to contend with up and down drafts, cross, tail and head winds. This results in the aircraft changing its flight path by rotating its various axes (roll, pitch and yaw. This intern causes geometric distortions to image by introducing compression and expansion of the image. Most satellite and aircraft used in remote sensing have gyro-stabilization equipment to offset these errors in their flight paths. The problem can also be located in mishandling of equipment, as sensors can be miss-calibrated for recording information. Uncertainty The remotely sensed data can attribute to uncertainties in the processing outcomes, which in turn can affect the sound decision-making. Uncertainty pertains to areas of inference and prediction (May,2001). Researchers often confuse these terms in remote sensing. Uncertainty plays a large part in remote sensing as it causes problems especially the classification of land types, Measurement of Sea Surface Temperature, Image interpretation, Image mapping and many other areas of remote sensing. Uncertainty comes from many sources such as ignorance, â€Å"through measurement of prediction†. Uncertainty relates to being not 100% sure of something. The problems in uncertainty are that sometimes it is the most exciting in remote sensing. This is where remote sensing can explored â€Å"to find things so that a base is made for better understanding of how the world operates. The problems of uncertainty can be located in AVHRR data used for measurements of vegetation can have levels of i naccuracy. The best example where uncertainty can cause calamities was the Kyoto protocol in 2000, which collapsed due to high levels of uncertainties in the measurement and understanding of carbon emissions. Woodcock(2002) relates uncertainty to three areas Accuracy Accuracy is often described as the closeness of results, observations that correspond to values being accepted as being true Bias Bias is often seen as an over-estimation of a true value. Bias is often model based. Precision Precision is often the exact value expressed whether the value is right or wrong. These three terms are often seen in projects of measurement of changes in ice sheets, Tropical forests and land classification. Grant Leavenworth (1988) emphasis â€Å"during the life cycle of remotely sensed data, uncertainties are introduced and propagated in an often unknown way†. By constructing a listing where an uncertainty occurs provides the factors of how uncertainty is found in remote sensing. The sensor system. Using the landsat as an example, the velocity of the scanning optical mirror, the number of spectral bands, orbit and altitude height are, parameters that determine the signal noise and â€Å"goodness† of the measurement. In addition to this, all these factors are translated in the terms of resolution; spatial, spectral, temporal. The data gathered from the sensor are affected by these characteristics. This happens in multi temporal systems, especially tropical regions, where there is high cloud cover, this results in incomplete data sets. Coverage Area The problem relates to a sensor trying to correctly capture areas with high complexity. The detection of objects in mixed classifications can be difficult with areas of land and urban together. These objects can affect the area being examined as spectral influence could offset sensors reading in IFOV, although this can be improved by high spatial resolution. In all, this causes the image to become fuzzy and results in uncertainty if the pixels values in the image do not correspond to the classification structure, as two pixels of different values represent the same type of land cover. Geometric and atmospheric distortions. Jensen (2005) illustrates that geometric cause many errors in raw data interpretation especially when affected by the height and altitude of a sensor or by the ground control points(GCP). The concern with atmospheric distortions is that electromagnetic radiation interaction with the atmosphere can diminish information signal of a sensor. This happens, as radiation is subjected to back scattering and absorption. This causes some uncertainty in capturing a truly perfect image of a flat representation. Image distortions The processing of data causes a lot of uncertainty as the amount uncertainty allowed in data is based on Success of the radiometric and geometric corrections The loss of data during conversion Scale Scale variations have long been a thorn in remote sensing, as scale can be constraints for detail in which information needs to be observed and analyzed. Altering the scale in image causes the representation of patterns to differ from the actual size. Scale (Maher, 1997) is used as a basis for measurement as a scale of 1:1,000 means for every one unit on the map, you would need to measure one-thousand of those units on the earth. For example, 1mm on the map represents 1,000 mm on the ground and 1 metre represents 1,000 metres. Although these relations of unit measurement can cause problems as some users may miss-interpret a measurement unit, as 1:10000 is a large scale in comparison to a 1:100000(l. Lillesand(2004, p 617-622) belief is that scale can be very problematic in remote sensing as the definition and understanding varies from researchers. Lillesand breaks down scale in to two areas temporal and spatial. In remote sensing scale is an ambiguous term and is often defined as the relationship between the size of feature on a map or image to the corresponding dimensions on the ground. However ecologists understanding of spatial scale is based on two factors, grain (finest resolution of data) and extent (area under observation). Other problems of spatial scale are the understanding of large and small scales in an image. This is evident as small scale represents coarser spatial objects while large scale represents clearer objects, however individualist (ecologists) reverse the meanings of small and large scale for image analyzing. The only way ensuring the scale of the image is correct for research is using the three principles that Lillesand(2004,p 622) created. 1. Spatial resolution of the sensor 2. The spatial area under observation 3. The nature of information sought in any given image processing operation These key factors should always be relevant in deciding which type of sensor to be used for image analyzing of an area in spatial scale. However, scale varies have changed since the deployment of imaging systems on satellites. Sabins (1997) show this. Small scale 1:500,000 as 1cm= 5km or moirà © These descriptions are different from the aerial photography. However, Harvey and Hill (2003) see that detailed large-scale date extracted from aerial photography was superior as similar scale data could not be extract from the Landsat TM, SPOT XS satellite. This was due to errors of spectral data found in the classification for different vegetation covers. The best available photographic data are panchromatic and at scales of 1:25 000 or 1:50 000. It is generally believed that all environmental processes are scale dependent. The different scale measurements manifest a homogenous side to one scale and a heterogeneous to another side(Atkinson Tate,2000). This can be evident as scale dependence on spatial variation can be problematic in the processing of data, as the techniques of averaging, smoothing and extrapolation can be dangerous for replacing missing datasets. In spatial scale it is often desirable to focus on the particular scale of spatial variation (mean and sample of data), as not all scales need to utilized for specific process(Atkinson Tate,2000). However that can problem if using a specific scale such as the drainage basin scale to represent contours on a topography map, however it would be useless for sheet flow on a hill slope. The general belief is, that it is widely accepted that scales of measurement are determined by the sampling strategy, the sampling generally refers to spatial pattern of the sample obse rvation. Unfortunately, all samples of spatial data are not stationary and can affect the spatial scale of the area under study(Atkinson Tate,2000). That is the fundamental reason for the continuing interest in scale in remote sensing is that spatial resolution is the primary scale of measurement (Atkinson and Aplin). Discussion Zhou Liu(2004) says that classification of land produces errors in multi- temporal data acquisition. The use of classification causes many problems in mapping of land and urban areas which results in uncertainty of accuracy. Using spatial resolution, a decrease in pixel size can cause major ramifications in an image being inferred for a prediction model (H. Liu Q. Zhou). This is evident as pixels being inferred in a spatial swath may represent more than one classification. This can found by comparing different satellites spatial resolution. As landsat TM uses a 30 * 30 metre resolution that is acceptable for some classifications, however if the resolution was needed for small buildings (5 x5 metres), it would fail. This also highlights that uncertainties can enter in to classification of land types as distinguish uncertainties can happen (Atkinson Foody), Page 14). The occurrence of ambiguous definition of classes The problems of land transitions over period due to rapid changes of building into new land types. There also more sources of uncertainty that can occur during the post classification stage as different users can create different conclusions from the IFOV under observation. This is a result of their map reading skills, understanding of raster information and the ability to distinguish significant objects. Neels (2005) defines that uncertainty is found in most of the big ice sheets. This happens due to poor observation of spatial coverage of measuring their variable changes in changes in surface elevation. This was due to the implementation of the budget method. This method is insufficient because of the fluctuation changes in ice sheet volume are determined by the snakk residual alterations in the large terms. This causes temporal and spatial fluctuations, which then cause uncertainty in measuring the ice sheet volume. Not all these measurements in high accuracy and dense data can provide a reliable estimate of ice sheet volume and this highlight errors in analysis of the surface elevation measurements. It also manifests the scale problem of obtaining this volume of data. However Harvey and Hill (2003) notice, that errors are common in image acquisition in remote sensing studies of wetland areas. They believe that spectral overlap may cause a reduction in the utility of imagery collection of a certain season, although spectral classification can be enhanced by image optimizing. This is manifested by their work in tropical wetland environments, as tropical wetlands have large variations in the nature of rainfall. These factors can affect the overall classifications and cause various errors to the image been inferred. Errors can be found in most areas as Czaplewski (2003) questions the methods used in remote sensing especially in monitoring the of global deforestation trends. He manifests this by agreeing with the arguments of Townsend and Tucker over the 10% stratified random samples used by FAO to estimate tropical deforestation. These samples are quite questionable as tropical deforestation is spatially concentrated. The belief here is that these samples can have significant problems for estimations for the FAO. This was seen in study models of dense tropical regions and showed that some regions are less spatially concentrated. Therefore this provided that sampling errors from Landsat sensor scenes in these studies are higher that other regions. In Rajeev and Saxena (2004) argument, they conclude that large scale soil mapping of different scales are dependent upon the requirements of the user. However the uses of satellite have being problem for large scaling mapping because of their coarse resolution. The only way this scale of operation was feasible was to employ conventional methods, which were costly and time consuming. This has changed with the introduction of high resolution PAM and LISS III data from IRS-1C/CD satellite. Although scale is seen mostly as a measurement, scale can be used as a term in remote sensing as the area of data to be analyzed .This was seen with the central America dataset as the scale of coverage was 619 048km2 and includes the countries of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. However the assessment of this scale of mapping proved to be difficult, as it show the limits of AVHRR data for classification of NDVI in comparison to Landsat TM data, which has higher classif ication accuracies (Friedl et al, 2000). It also evident that the temporal scales of these studies have been relatively short (days, weeks, months), and few studies have exceeded years in duration. Despite this, researchers are now being called upon to lengthen their studies to longer temporal scales. Conclusion The use of these terms illustrate the problems that are found in remote sensing and highlights the problems they cause to images being taken from orbital and sub-orbital craft. It demonstrates the issues of pixel classification of data in images for the representation of land, woodland, urban and water classes. It also raises the concern about the understanding of these terminologies in remote sensing as some individuals lack the true meaning of what these terms are. That is why Woodcock (2002) states that â€Å"where relevant, adopt the terminology used within statistics and otherwise should adopt terms that convey clearly the authors meaning.† Scale apparently has being problem for researchers as they are concerned in deciding which scale will provide the most accurate measurement in spatial. The problems of uncertainty and error is also seen as new techniques such as using different types of sensors, prediction models are still not capable of yielding the trends of ice sheet mass balance, unless decades of observation are made. Error can also be human induced to poor understanding and misinterpretation of data, technology and the area of observation. It appears that it is by far unfeasible to assess all errors , uncertainties and scale problems as they will always appear in studi es, observations and new types of equipment in remote sensing, as nothing can be 100% perfect in any environment. Finally the biggest concern is the constant changes of electromagtic radiation as this causes major problems to remote sensing when attaining information on a large scale region of interest. these changes in the spectrum will cause uncertainties for the researcher and the scientist. References Books Sabins F Floyd, 1997, Remote Sensing Principles and Interpretation (Third Edition), W.H . Freeman and Company, New York. Jensen R John, 2005, Introductory Digital Image Processing, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Lillesand M Thomas, Kiefer W Ralph, Chipman W Jonathan,2004, Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation, The Lehigh Press, United States of America. Atkinson M.P Foody M.G, 2002,Uncertainty in Remote Sensing and GIS: Fundamentals, John Wiley Sons Ltd. Journals K. R. Harvey and G. J. E. Hill, Vegetation mapping of a tropical freshwater swamp in the Northern Territory, Australia: a comparison of aerial photography, Landsat TM and SPOT satellite imagery, int. j. remote sensing, 2001, vol. 22, no. 15, 2911–2925 Reeh Niels, Mass balance of the Greenland Ice sheet: can modern observation methods reduce the uncertainty, int. j. remote sensing, 735-742 H. Liu, Q. Zhou, Accuracy analysis of remote sensing change detection by rule-based rationality evaluation with post-classification comparison, int. j. remote sensing, 10 MARCH, 2004, vol. 25, no. 5, 1037–1050 Czaplewski R. L., Can a sample of Landsat sensor scenes reliably estimate the global extent of tropical deforestation?,International Journal of Remote Sensing, vol 24, no 6, March 20, 2003, 1409-1412. Rajeev Saxena, Technique of large scale soil mapping in basaltic terrain using satellite remote sensing data, int. j. remote sensing, 10 March, 2004,vol. 25,no. 5, 1037–1050 Friedl M. A., Woodcock C., Gopal S., Muchoney D.,Strahler A. H., Barker-Schaaf C,A note on procedures used for accuracy assessment in land cover maps derived from AVHRR data, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 20 March 2000,vol 21, no 5, pp. 1073-1077(5) Atkinson M.P Tate J Nicholas, Spatial Scale Problems and Geostatistical Solutions: A review, Nov 2000, No 4, 607-620. Websites May Robert, Risk and Uncertainty, nature, 21 june 2001,vol 41 Grant Leavenworth,Heuvalink, library.uu.nl/digiarchief/dip/diss/1903229/c4.pdf#search=Uncertainty%2C%20remote%20sensing Visual Exploration of Uncertainty in Remote-sensing Classification, 1997, Frans J.M. van der Wel, Linda C. van der Gaag, library.uu.nl/digiarchief/dip/dispute/2001-0226-133022/1997-29.pdf Research Papers on Problems In Remote Sensing - Graphic Arts EssayIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalResearch Process Part OneRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseOpen Architechture a white paperMind Travel

Life and Art of Eva Hesse, Postmodern Sculpture Pioneer

Life and Art of Eva Hesse, Postmodern Sculpture Pioneer Eva Hesse was a German-American artist known for her work as a postmodern sculptor and draughtswoman. Her work is characterized by a willingness to experiment with material and form, fashioning work from latex, string, fiber glass, and rope. Though she died at the age of thirty-four, Hesse has had a lasting impact on American art as a radical voice that pushed the New York art world into an era beyond Abstract Expressionism and stark Minimalism, the dominant art movements at the time she was working in the 1960s. Fast Facts: Eva Hesse Occupation:  Artist, sculptor, draughtswomanKnown for:  Experimenting with materials such as latex, string, fiber glass, and ropeEducation: Pratt Institute of Design, Cooper Union, Yale University (B.A.)Born:  January 11, 1936 in Hamburg, GermanyDied:  May 29, 1970 in New York, New York Early Life Eva Hesse was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1936 to a secular Jewish family. At the age of two, she and her older sister were put on a train to the Netherlands in order to escape the increasing threat of the Nazi party in Germany following Kristallnacht. For six months, they lived in a Catholic orphanage without their parents. As Hesse was a sickly child, she was in and out of the hospital, with not even her older sister for company. Once reunited, the family escaped to England, where they lived for several months, before they were miraculously able to sail to the United States in 1939, on one of the last boats of refugees welcomed on American shores. Settling in New York did not spell peace for the Hesse family, however. Hesse’s father, a lawyer in Germany, trained and was able to work as an insurance broker, but her mother had trouble adjusting to life in the United States. As a manic depressive, she was frequently hospitalized and eventually left Hesse’s father for another man. Following the divorce, young Hesse never saw her mother again, and she later committed suicide in 1946, when Eva was ten years old. The chaos of her early life characterizes the trauma Hesse would endure throughout her life, with which she would wrestle in therapy for her entire adult life. Eva’s father married a woman also named Eva, the strangeness of which was not lost on the young artist. The two women did not see eye to eye, and Hesse left for art school at the age of sixteen. She dropped out of the Pratt Institute less than a year later, fed up with its mindless traditional teaching style, where she was forced to paint uninspired still life after uninspired still life. Still a teenager, she was forced to move back home, where she got a part time job at Seventeen magazine and began taking classes at the Art Students’ League. Hesse decided to take the entrance exam for the Cooper Union, passed, and attended the school for a year before moving on to get her BFA at Yale, where she studied under renowned painter and color theorist Josef Albers. Friends who knew Hesse at Yale remembered her to be his star student. Though she did not enjoy the program, she stayed until graduation in 1959. Return to Germany In 1961, Hesse married sculptor Tom Doyle. Described as equally â€Å"passionate† people, their marriage was not an easy one. Reluctantly, Hesse moved back to her native Germany with her husband in 1964, as he was awarded a fellowship there. While in Germany, Hesses art practice matured into what would become her best known work. She began using string in her sculpture, a material which resonated with her, as it was the most practical way of translating the lines of drawing into three dimensions. Critical Success Upon returning to the United States in 1965, Hesse began to hit her stride as a critically successful artist. The year 1966 saw two landmark group shows in which she exhibited: â€Å"Stuffed Expressionism† at Graham Gallery, and â€Å"Eccentric Abstraction† curated by Lucy R. Lippard at Fischbach Gallery. Her work was singled out and critically praised in both shows. (1966 also saw the dissolution of her marriage to Doyle through separation.) The next year Hesse was given her first solo show at Fischbach, and was included in the Warehouse Show, â€Å"9 at Leo Castelli† along with fellow Yale alumnus Richard Serra. She was the only woman artist among the nine to be given the honor. Artistic Milieu in New York City Hesse worked in a milieu of similarly-minded artists in New York, many of whom she called her friends. Nearest and dearest to her, however, was sculptor Sol LeWitt, eight years her senior, who she called one of the two people â€Å"who really know and trust me.† The two artists equally exchanged influence and ideas, perhaps the most famous example of which is LeWitt’s letter to Hesse, encouraging her to quit distracting herself with insecurity and just â€Å"DO.† Months after her death, LeWitt dedicated the first of his famous wall drawings using â€Å"not straight† lines to his late friend. Art In her own words, the closest summation Hesse managed to come up with to describe her work was â€Å"chaos structured as non-chaos,† as in sculptures that contained within them randomness and confusion, presented within structured scaffolding. â€Å"I want to extend my art into something that doesn’t exist,† she said, and though conceptualism was gaining popularity in the art world, critic Lucy Lippard says that Hesse was not interested in the movement as â€Å"material meant much too much to her.† The creation of â€Å"non-shapes,† as Hesse termed them, was one way to bridge the gap between her dedication to direct touch, investment in material, and abstract thinking.   Her use of unconventional materials like latex has sometimes meant that her work is difficult to preserve. Hesse said that, just as â€Å"life doesn’t last, art doesn’t last.† Her art attempted to â€Å"dismantle the center† and destabilize the â€Å"life force† of existence, departing from the stability and predictability of minimalist sculpture. Her work was a deviation from the norm and as a result has had an indelible impact on sculpture today, which uses many of the looping and asymmetrical constructions that she pioneered.   Legacy Hesse developed a brain tumor at the age of thirty-three and died in May 1970 at the age of thirty-four. Though Hesse did not live to participate in it, the women’s movement of the 1970s championed her work as a female artist and ensured her lasting legacy as a pioneer in the American art world. In 1972, the Guggenheim in New York staged a posthumous retrospective of her work, and in 1976 feminist critic and essayist Lucy R. Lippard published Eva Hesse, a monograph on the artist’s work and the first full length book to be published on virtually any American artist of the 1960s. It was organized by LeWitt and Hesse’s sister, Helen Charash. Tate Modern staged a retrospective of her work from 2002-2003. Sources Blanton Museum of Art (2014). Lucy Lippard Lecture on Eva Hesse. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?vV50g8spJrp8t2511s. (2014).Kort, C. and Sonneborn, L. (2002).  A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts. New York: Facts on File, Inc. 93-95.Lippard, L. (1976). Eva Hesse. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.Nixon, M. (2002). Eva Hesse. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Business IT case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business IT - Case Study Example To successfully deliver their assigned task, UTS Student Services are expected to possess certain qualities and knowledge, together of which shall be classified as the requirements for them. First, there are supposed to have full knowledge of the functionality and operational processes that guides the use of search engines and search engine editing. By this, the service should have both the software and hardware necessary to turn an existing search account into an effective one that would reach peaks for any search entries that are made (Guo and Sanchez, 2005). What is more, it is required of the service to undertake a cleanup service that involves identifying all data and information about students that may not be considered wholesome and presentable and polishing these up or possibly replacing them with more suiting and presentation information that borders on the academic and career prospects of students. On the part of students, there are a number of requirements that they are al so expected to meet. First and foremost, students are expected to have basic understanding of the functionality of the system that is being proposed. By understanding the functionality of the system, students will be in a better position to respond to system managers in a manner that will make the work of the system managers even more effective and efficient. For instance students will be required to avoid posting images and data that are not considered to be presentable. Stakeholders as used in this report refers to all people who have a role to play in the successful planning, implementation, usage and monitoring of the system (Locker, 2000). By this, three major lines of stakeholders will be identified with a brief description of the role that each is expected to play. The first stakeholder is the university authority who is expected to be the initial financiers of the project. The university

Atypical language development can impact on childrens literacy Assignment

Atypical language development can impact on childrens literacy learning. With reference to children with specific language impairment evaluate the evidence that seeks to explain why this is the case - Assignment Example 5). However, Puranik, Lombardino and Altmann (2007) note that there are often situations in the development of children that make it impossible for them to develop their literacy skills at a ‘normal’ rate. In some cases, children fail to develop these skills due to the lack of an advanced form of education being provided. Generally, due to the innate capabilities of humans, the normal experience for a child should be the ability to acquire literacy skills through education. The difficulty that has been associated with some children in acquiring these literacy-learning skills is the area that this research seeks to address, specifically, the role of atypical language development in children’s’ literacy learning. As there are a number of theoretical arguments as to the actual impact of atypical language development on children, this research carried out through a literature review perspective. Studies of children with an identified form of atypical language development are examined against the variables that suggest that their development problems can inhibit their literacy learning. In addition, studies of children with specific language impairment (SLI) are presented and examined, to justify the position that atypical language development can affect literacy learning. Concerning atypical language development, Bishop (2006) explains it as â€Å"diagnosed when a childs language development is deficient for no obvious reason† (p. 217). Through this research, I gather evidence from existing works of research on how children with SLI perform when they are tested in literacy and language areas. There are specific areas of literacy and languages learning that are covered. The study is confined to specific aspects of literacy and language learning as the subject covers a broad area. Therefore, the extent of coverage is on the areas of reading, writing, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. As different

Visionary Role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Visionary Role - Essay Example He/she uses electronic devices; problem-based learning and the media to access resources, which enhances his/her practice and performance. In addition, a nurse practitioner rapidly expands his/her knowledge through the increasing utilization of informatics and technology in education and practice. The nursing role is also patient-centered care, which incorporates safety, engagement and privacy of the patient (Sines, Saunders, & Forbes-Burford, 2013). According to the United States Bureau of Statistics, in the next 50 years, the population of the elderly will have increased drastically. The generation of baby boom, that is, babies born between 1946 to 1964, will be over 65 years between 2011 t0 2029. In the United States, the population of the elderly will be 19 million between 2000 and 2020. The improvements in nutrition, medical care and safety have increased longevity, which means the number of elderly will grow more. This implies that many people will have disabilities, chronic di seases and living in substandard conditions and in institutions. Hence, these individuals will require considerably more healthcare services than the younger generations. Currently, the scope of a nurse practitioner entails prevention and wellness services; diagnosis and management of various common uncomplicated diseases and chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Nurse practitioners have the same capabilities, skills and knowledge as physicians; however, they are limited in the scope of their work. In the future, it is expected that the scope of nurse practitioners will be broadened, in order to allow them prescribe medication without supervision from a physician; practice autonomously in retail clinics; certify home healthcare visits and admission of patients to hospitals. The specific responsibilities of a family nurse practitioner are: offer general and preventive care; treatment of diseases; conduct check-ups; prescribe medication for adults and children and order for laboratory t ests. The specific responsibility that might change is prescription of medication under the supervision of a physician. A family nurse practitioner forms an effective collaboration with a physician. Both the physician and the nurse practitioner have similar roles; nevertheless, a physician brings in more expertise and in-depth knowledge to patient care. In addition, a physician has the capability to make advanced clinical decisions and carry out special procedures; thus, serving as an outstanding resource in practice. The combination of the two roles results in the sharing of similar objectives and reflecting each other’s practice, which gives a comparable and consistent patient medical management (Clarin, 2007). The role of a family nurse practitioner is relevant in various medical systems, such as: hospitals; community health care centers and private practice. The structure of hospitals flows in a hierarchical order in the following manner: Directors; Executives; Department Administrators; Patient Care Managers and Service Providers. The population that is served by a family nurse practitioner is diverse. The number of the elderly is higher compared to other age groups. This implies that there are many individuals with disabilities and chronic diseases; many live in substandard conditions, institutions or alone. There is the group of ethnic

Organisational Insights Analytical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organisational Insights Analytical - Essay Example nies play at different markets and engage in different industries, they are of equal scale in terms of organisational structure and number of employees. Comparing and contrasting both companies with respect to their individual industries will provide significant insights on the nature of organisations, in general. Strong Market Position in Scarborough – The company has a strong retail brand that built a reputation for selling quality goods at bargain price (Boyes, 2006). Boyes’ strong market position in Scarborough enhances the customer perception, company reputation, provides economies of scale and presents a platform to launch new products. It also enhances the brand image of the company. Strong market position enables the company to penetrate the market more effectively and serve a wide range of customers. (Best R. J., 1997) Balanced Product Mix – Boyes, Scarborough is engaged in operating a chain of department stores. The company’s key products include apparels, accessories, confectionery, cosmetics, electrical appliances, furniture, gifts, groceries, house wares, home decorative, stationery and toys. They sell virtually everything for the home and family (Boyes, 2006). A balanced product mix coupled with friendly and helpful services allowed Boyes to serve multiple customer segments which heighten its revenue growth. It provides greater choice to customers and encourages customer loyalty. (Best R. J., 1997) High dependence on Scarborough – Boyes is heavily dependent on the Scarborough market. Concentration of operations in the Scarborough area makes the company vulnerable to market conditions and environmental instability in this area. It puts the company in a competitive disadvantage relative to rivals and competitors with larger presence in different market geographical areas (Porter, 1985). As a business based largely in UK, Boyes is particularly exposed to any economic downturn which affects customer spending. Expanding product

Strategic Corporate Finance Mod 5 Case Assignment Essay

Strategic Corporate Finance Mod 5 Case Assignment - Essay Example Net Present Value (NPV) method is one of the most important methods used to make capital budgeting decisions by businesses today. NPV method is important because it helps financial managers maximize shareholders’ wealth by making better capital budgeting decisions. Basically we can determine whether a project is worth investing in or not by comparing the present value of inflows and outflows discounted at the rate of cost of capital. If the PV of net flows is positive (PV of inflows is more than the PV of outflows over the life of the project), we consider it a good investment because it will increase shareholder wealth, and vice versa. In other words, must have a positive net inflow. In the given scenario, T-Mobile Corporation is considering a new project that will cost $3,219,000. This is the initial cash outflow. The company has provided the following cash flow figures: Year Cash Flow 0 -$3,219,000 1 350,000 2 939,000 3 1,122,000 4 500,000 5 400,000 We are told that T-Mobil e’s cost of capital discount rate is 4%, and are required to calculate the project's net present value. PV of Cash Inflows = 350000/(1.04)1 + 939000/(1.04)2 + 1122000/(1.04)3 +500000/(1.04)4 + 400000/(1.04)5 350000/1.04 + 939000/1.0816 + 1122000/1.1248 + 500000/ 1.1698 + 400000/ 1.2166 336538.46 + 868158.28 + 997510.66 + 427423.49 + 328785.13 $2,958,416.02. NPV= PV of Inflows – PV of Outflows NPV =$2,958,416.02 – 3,219,000 NPV= (260,583.98) Since the NPV is negative, or the PV of inflows is less than the PV of outflows for the project, investing in it will decrease shareholder wealth. The investment opportunity should be rejected. Even at the higher discount rate of 6%, the PV of inflows would decrease further, and the decision would be the same i.e. it is better not to invest here. Part II: T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Mergers and acquisitions are usually the two routes chosen by corporate entities to expand their businesses in the marketplace. These are often a hot topic in the business press (McClure, 2011). One rumor being floated around is a potential merger between mobile phone giants T-Mobile and Sprint. Mergers between two large companies are usually complicated, even though there may be possible synergies in 4G technologies that might be possible in such an instance. While mergers can bring about great rewards, at the same time they can also entail great risks and pitfalls. Differences in valuation, differences in accounting procedures and operational and administrative difficulties may emerge (Gaughan, (2001). This part of the assignment asks us to do some research concerning the arguments both for and against such a merger from a financial perspective. We are considering the deal from the point of view of whether or not such a merger would be a profitable undertaking that would add value to the shareholders of both corporations or not. Do you think a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile would add value to the shareholders of both corpor ations? Based on your analysis and findings (Part I and Part II), what would you recommend to the shareholders of both corporations? Should both companies merge? Please explain your reasoning. From the point of view of synergistic benefits, there is certainly a lot of merit in seeking to merge Sprint and T-Mobile. As of the date of the article in July 2010, both Sprint

Organisational Insights Analytical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organisational Insights Analytical - Essay Example nies play at different markets and engage in different industries, they are of equal scale in terms of organisational structure and number of employees. Comparing and contrasting both companies with respect to their individual industries will provide significant insights on the nature of organisations, in general. Strong Market Position in Scarborough – The company has a strong retail brand that built a reputation for selling quality goods at bargain price (Boyes, 2006). Boyes’ strong market position in Scarborough enhances the customer perception, company reputation, provides economies of scale and presents a platform to launch new products. It also enhances the brand image of the company. Strong market position enables the company to penetrate the market more effectively and serve a wide range of customers. (Best R. J., 1997) Balanced Product Mix – Boyes, Scarborough is engaged in operating a chain of department stores. The company’s key products include apparels, accessories, confectionery, cosmetics, electrical appliances, furniture, gifts, groceries, house wares, home decorative, stationery and toys. They sell virtually everything for the home and family (Boyes, 2006). A balanced product mix coupled with friendly and helpful services allowed Boyes to serve multiple customer segments which heighten its revenue growth. It provides greater choice to customers and encourages customer loyalty. (Best R. J., 1997) High dependence on Scarborough – Boyes is heavily dependent on the Scarborough market. Concentration of operations in the Scarborough area makes the company vulnerable to market conditions and environmental instability in this area. It puts the company in a competitive disadvantage relative to rivals and competitors with larger presence in different market geographical areas (Porter, 1985). As a business based largely in UK, Boyes is particularly exposed to any economic downturn which affects customer spending. Expanding product

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Globalization - Essay Example With the decades or even centuries of other political views like communism, it is indeed a difficult task to educate a large group of people to adopt to a great change in their way of living so that the process is given the time to take its full effect and not to be hurried (Modelski 2007). Economic freedom could be the most important of the factors contributing to communist nations to consider being democratized and can be said to be the strongest driving force for a nation to undergo the process. Looking at democratic countries succeeding not only in their economy but also in their social affairs adds to the attraction to democratization as Modelski states as ‘winning wars sans the mass killings’. In addition, democracies work better. Where there is peace and order, without the fear of committing mistakes and getting punished, a person surely works better and this is true in democratic countries as opposed to communist countries. Modelski also considers the factor of d emocracy knowing how to cooperate a strong motivation for the drive to democratization. Taking the psychological side of it, people who are given the freedom to have their rest and improve their working conditions are more productive and consequently improve the economic situation of the nation they are in.

India Today Essay Example for Free

India Today Essay Slowly, but surely, in the year 2000, India is beginning to erase the Nehruvian social contract that created the public sector and bound the employees to a corporate unit and the corporate unit to the nation. In the age of restructuring and re-engineering that this has ushered, employees are no longer valued resources but expendable commodities. And likewise, the employers are no longer demi-gods and fuedal lords in one. They are going to become one with a mind-boggling scenario of a private sector, where the growing manager with the corporate experience of a lifetime might suddenly be written off as hopelessly old fashioned; and replaced with a young nerd, who along with, maybe the new owners driver, will be sitting on a stack of stock-options valued in millions. Clearly it is time to think seriously about wealth and what it means to be wealthy in India today. The last time Indians thought self-cautiously about being rich through joint holdings with non blacks, was in the 19th Century when the East India Company revealed to the worldly wise Indians occupying crucial positions within the system, the plunder-potential of their land. They got busy right away. This continued for almost a century till historic events triggered off a freedom struggle under Gandhi over the equitable distribution and domestication of Indias wealth. The idealism lasted barely two decades. Political debates then were all about the baneful influence of capitalism and money. It was okay to generate jobs but not great wealth which could corrupt our most sacred institutions. Slowly some crusading investigative journalists and economists followed this logic and began to glean disturbing facts about the trumpeters of this brand of Hindu socialism. They made dark revelations repeatedly about questionable personal behaviour and financial chicanery that they had discovered among various political groups in power.

School Improvement Plan: The UAE

School Improvement Plan: The UAE School planning, organization and management is directly related to human and physical resources. The foundation behind it is that schools should be capable of utilizing the entire resources in a way that help them in performing their obligations successfully. All schools need their students to succeed and prosper. But schools can simply create a lifelong change when they have emphasis on specific goals and strategies for change. School improvement planning (SIP) is a process through which schools set goals for improvement, and make decisions about how and when these goals will be attained. The definitive purpose of the process is to promote student achievement by improving the way curriculum is provided, by building an advantageous environment for learning, and by increasing the parental involvement in their childrens learning at school and in the home. In this assignment, the investigator will develop SIP focusing on the common problem affecting the private and public schools in the United Arab Emirates. An action plan will be developed to help in improving schools and consequently increasing student achievement. What is a school improvement plan? A SIP is a road map that undertakes the changes required by a school to increase student achievement, and indicates how and when these changes will be constructed. SIPsare selective: they help principals, teachers, and school councils answer the questions What will we focus on now? and What will we leave until later? They boost staff and parents to follow on student achievement and other issues, such as the school environment,that are known to impact student success. schools will able to respond to the needs of students, teachers, and parents when updated and trustworthy information are provided on student performance. Moreover, a SIP is a mechanism by which the community can hold schools responsible for student success and through which it can evaluateprogress. One of the first steps-a critical one-in establishing an improvement plan includes teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members working together to collect and examine data concerning the school and its students, therefore they can decide what needs to be enhanced in their school. As the strategy is implemented, schools keep ongathering this type of information. By comparing the novelinformation to the primarydata on which the plan was grounded, they- and the public-can assess the accomplishment of their improvement plans. Authentic change takes time. It is essentialto keep all partners involved in theSIPinformed. Gradual improvements are significant, and they should be distinguished, but they do not comprisepermanent change. Therefore,SIPs are best designed over three years: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Year 1 the planning process à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Year 2 the implementation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Year 3 -continue the implementation. During initial discussions, or as time goes on, schools may need to expand their plan for additional years to make sure that they maintain their focus and attain their targets. Anyway,SIPs should beconsidered working documents that can beutilized tocheck their development over time andto make revisions when necessary to ensure that the plans stay on course. In developing SIP, the principal, staff, school council, parents, and other community members actthrough a diversity of activitiesconcentrated uponthreedomains of priority: curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. For all these areas, schools set up the following: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A goal statement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Performance targets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Areas of focus à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Implementation strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Indicators of success à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time lines à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Responsibility for implementing strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Checkpoints for status updates à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Opportunities for revisions. Appendix B contains a sample school improvement plan. All school partners must be involved in the SIP to guarantee its success. Schools represent the whole school community. The principal, who has the responsibility of school administration and delivering instructional leadership, is ultimately accountable for SIP. However,all school community should be actively engaged in all stages of the process: planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating progress. Purpose To identify effective strategies for developing school improvement plans that lead to enhanced student achievement and increased parental involvement in education Background According to KHDA (2009), there are 220 schools in Dubai; 189 schools were inspected between 2008 and 2009. The remaining 31 schools which use the Indian, Pakistani and Iranian curricula will be evaluated later. These 189 schools are composed of 109 private schools and 80 public schools. Among the private schools ; 49 schools follow the UK National Curriculum, 30 offering a US curriculum, 16 schools using the Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum, 6 schools follow the International Baccalaureate (IB), 4 schools follow the French curriculum and a further 4schools provide unique curricula (German, Russian, Japanese and Philippine). All public schools in Dubai were checked, including Madares Al Ghad (MAG) schools and Model schools. The purpose of schools evacuation was to improve the delivery of education to students in Dubai and to help parents know that their children are being learned and are in safe, skillful, and caring hands. The overall findings of schools performance in Dubai were shocking as there are around 20,000 students in Dubai receives unsatisfactory quality of education, more than half the schools are presently delivering an education that is not yet of the good quality anticipated of all schools in Dubai.Additionally,9 out of 10 schools provide acceptable quality of education. None of the public schools got outstanding but 50% of them achieved good.As for the private section, 4 schools offering the UK curriculum attained outstanding, 50% of private schools achieved 50% while 75% were unsatisfactory. As for the students performance, the results were generally disappointed. Students progress in the key subjects, are not yet making sufficient progress in speaking and writing Arabic and English. In public schools, where English is taught as a second language, students English language skills are insufficient and expectations, chiefly in connection with writing and speaking, are not satisfactorily high. The students capability of using mathematics to solve problems is poor. In private schools, students skills in Arabic need improvement. Nearly 20% of students make unacceptable progress. In Islamic Studies, students progress in the public schools is better than the private schools. The majority of the students have good attitudes to learning. They are motivated, attentive and hard worker. Economic and environmental understanding is developing in most schools. Students are often unattended except in class. Different forms of bullying are noticed. The teaching and learning methods were not useful for the students as the majority of the teachers dominate the lesson discussion in the public schools and poorly performing private schools. Assessment in more 25% of all schools is unsatisfactory. Consequently, many students are not aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In schools delivering the MOE curriculum, and US curriculum, students are not prepared well for higher education or employment. Leadership and management are unsatisfactory in nearby 20% of private schools and in a similar proportion of boys public schools. Almost all schools do not have self-appraisal system to assess their own work. Finally, many schools have comprehensive connections with parents but they are unsatisfactory to some parents. What Areas Should Be Considered for Improvement? The main goal of SIP is to increase the level of student achievement. To achievegenuine change, nevertheless, the process needs to focus on specific priorities. Student performance becomes better when teachers use curriculum-delivery strategies that purposely address the studentsneeds, when the school environment is supportive, and when parents are effectively involved in the education of their children. To improve the process of planning, therefore, schools should institute one priority in each of these three components-curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. Basically, the planning process involves answering the crucial questions: What will we focus on now? and What will we leave until later? Curriculum delivery in the United Arab Emirates Curriculum is considered the foundation of the educational system. It incorporates the principles, underlying educational philosophy, goals, content and actual operation of the instructional program in the class, besides the written and other materials required to reinforce the educational system (Farah.S. Ridge.N. 2009).There are two new approaches presently being executed on a trial foundation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-a new standards-based curriculum in Abu Dhabi schools and a new English-medium curriculum in particular governmental schools, the Madares Al Ghad, over the UAE. Curriculum as a concept can be divided into three main components: intended curriculum, implemented curriculum and attained curriculum. The intended curriculum typically embraces the directorial documents shaped by the UAE-Ministry of Education (MOE) or other education authorities which command how much, how frequent and what should be taught in schools. The implemented curriculum is what really occur s in the class, how successfully teachers offer the material, how long they pass on a topic and what resources they need to deliver the content. Lastly, the attained curriculum is what students practically learn in the class, what skillsand values they grasp, and what content they assimilate and retain (Table 1). The focus of the MOE curriculum upon the buildup of factual knowledge rather than critical thinking limits students learning. Facts are learned in isolation and students are incapable of applying their knowledge in real life situations. This is proved evidently in the findings of the 2007 TIMSS survey, which examined students performance in the application of mathematics and science in many countries. The MOE curricula in mathematics and science give slight attention to practical investigation and the use of mathematical and scientific knowledge to solving problems (KHDA 2009). Consequently, students are not well equipped for the courses and careers they will study. Public school students have to choose either a scientific or literary arts for their last two years of school-based study. Both of these options have narrow scope, heavy content and do not prepare students for university. Curriculum Policy brief: The MOE (2008) has issued curriculum policy documents that set out standards, activities, strategies, expected outcomes and tools for teaching and assessment for student learning in all grades and subject areas. The policy documents also encompass achievement charts that assist teachers in assessingstudents achievement in respect to the expectations. Assessment strategies must focus on how the students integrate theory into practice to encourage independent thinking and enhance problem solving abilities. To set a goal for improving the delivery of the curriculum, principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members participating in the SIP must understand the expectations emerged by the MOE and how well the those expectations are going to be achieved by the students. Main Findings Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau Annual Report(DSIB) will be used as groundwork for this investigation. According to DSIB(2009), the majority of the schools achieved an acceptable level in meeting the students educational needs in relation to their curriculum. Yet, in schools delivering curriculum of the MOE, and in many schools providing a USA curriculum, students are not equipped well to vie globally. Moreover,in these schools, wherethe mainstream of students are native Arabicspeakers, have limited selection of subjects and their physical, creative and analytical skills are developing. These curricula are not operated effectively to satisfy the prerequisites of students, including those with learning difficulties as well as the potentially highest achiever. Furthermore, curricular weaknesses in public schools hinder the progress of many students and limit their achievement. The ill prepared English curriculum and the reduced demands of the text books fail to sufficiently meet the requirements of students for English proficiency.The students are learning English as a second language where opportunities for using it in conversation are limited. Additionally, the curriculumprepares the students to use only a few vocabularies. The range of students reading and writing is alsoimperfect. Extended writing is rarely a feature in most public and poorly performing private schools. Students are customarilyneeded to give only short written answers to questions present in textbooks and English teaching is miserable. As a result, non-native speakers are often unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas confidently even in Grade 12. These limitationsalter thestudentspreparation for university. The curricula in mathematics and science dedicateminimal attention to implementing mathematical and scientific knowledge in investigating and solving problems of daily life. In private schools, a high number of the older students fail or do not complete courses, particularly in mathematics and science subjects a situation not helped by the lack of independent information, advice and guidance for students prior to their admission to courses. The ICT curriculum focuses barely on performing skills. In addition,it is taught in English and many students do not get it adequately. All schools physical education, art and music have low status in MOE curriculum anda plenty of the ill performing private schools. The time allocated to these subjects to beneficially effect students physical and cultural growth is not sufficient. Music and art is taught to only a few students after Grade6 and 9 respectively. These restrictions hamper thestudents opportunities to develop their capabilities for independent learning through such activities as team working. All schools provision for students with exceptional educational needs is poor overall.The governmental schools offer some support, mainly in separate classes, in Grades 1 to 3 School environment Environmental factors are the most influential on studentsachievement and success.Creating a well-fit school environment calls the involvement of, principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members to make effective and relaxing placesfor learning. WHO defines a health-promoting school as one that constantly strengthens its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working.The American Academy of Pediatrics (1993) defines a healthful school environment as one that protects students and staff against immediate injury or disease and promotes prevention activities and attitudes against known risk factors that might lead to future disease or disability. A schools environment is the thread that linkstremendous activities on a campus. In many situations this thread is nearly invisible; however each person experiences its effect. Positive social relations and attitudes about school are as significant to the environment as are safe and well-maintained buildings and grounds. The quality of the school-good or bad is reflected by the environment of the school. A safe, clean, and well-Kept school with a positive psychosocial setting and culture can nurture school connectedness, which in turn improves student and staff well-being as well as students educational achievement. A schools physical environment includes the school building and the surrounding grounds, such as noise, temperature, and lighting as well as physical, biological, or chemical agents. The disturbing increase in the number of asthmatic students is a unique problem that can, in part, be influenced by negative physical conditions in schools. The psychosocial school environment incorporates the attitudes, feelings, and values of students and staff. Physical and psychological safety, positive interpersonal relationships, recognition of the needs and success of the individual, and provision for learning are all part of the psychosocial environment. Other factors encompass: the economy; social, cultural, and religious influences; geography; socioeconomic status of students families; tax bases; and legal, political, and social institutions. Main Findings The quality of health care is good or outstanding in a majority both public and private schools. School nurses, doctors and social workers presentobviously in the schools to support the students and their families. Medical records are arranged properly and routine follow-up are difficult. The role of the social worker is to have positive relations with families and monitor students attendance carefully. In the majority of the public schools, however, social workers work in isolation and do not communicate properly with other staff in the school to provide a rounded view of students performance. Comparatively little healthy food is sold in school canteens in most public schools; students in these schools often eat crisps and sweets throughout the day. Safety issues including transport measures, fire safety procedures, supervision and security, affect some public and private schools. Students are frequently unsupervised except when in class. School transport is occasionally organized with few considerations for the safety of students in pedestrian areas and on board buses, where working seat belts are not always provided. In a minority of schools there are events of unsuitableusage of physical punishment in response to negative behavior. Different forms of bullying range from kicking, spitting, malicious teasing, taunting, making threats to spreading rumors, engaging in social exclusion, extortion and intimidation. Generalizations cannot be made to understand why bullying occurs; but it should be recognized in all its forms and not tolerated. A survey conducted by ADEC in 2009 involving 1728 students (grades 3 to 6). The findings revealed that young children have various concerns about bullying in the schools; more than 47% considered that students at the school are often endangered or bullied; and more than 63% favor remaining at home because it is more safer than the school. The procedures for student safety are feeble in most private schools excluding those categorized as the best performing. According to KHDA (2009) most private schools have effectual policies to handle bullying and other kinds of upsetting behavior, and students report such events as uncommon. Moreover, whilst the best performing private schools have well-defined procedures for bullying, in many others do not. Students in the schools that were identified to be lacking bullying policy have no person to tell to if there is mistreatment inside or outside the school putting them at risk. Sana, A. A., MOE psychology advisor in Dubai, states that the ministry admits bullying in schools and is trying to overcome it. Some students dont have sufficient information and competency to recognize and contend with the behavior of aggressors (Khaleej, T 2010). According to the head of KHDA, an attention should be given to new forms of bullying, such as cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying has clearly increased in recent years and it can be more harmful and risky than other forms of bullying, (Samineh I. Undated). She cautioned of increasing incidence bullycide where children accustomed to escape to their homes to protect themselves from being intimidated at school, yet, through cyber-bullying there is no escape which give rise to many cases of bullycide ( bully associated suicides), Shaheem said (Gulf,N 2010). When the bully feels they cant express out their hostility on the school grounds, they will yell at either on the way home, on the bus or through text messages, chat rooms or Facebook. Speaking of one of the cases that came to Dubai Psychologist Dr. Singh, D., said that the plight of a small girl came to light only after her friend found her petrified at the sight of an older student and reported the incident. Her friend said that she was literally shaking at the sight of the older student, which led to an investigation that brought to light how the child was being bullied using social networking sites. Parental involvement Research found that parental involvement is one of the essential factorsleading to students success in school. Keeping the parents informed and involved in their childrens education will increase student achievement. Students attend school more frequently, finished more homework in a reliable manner, and exhibit more positive attitudes towards school. They also are more likely to complete high school. Parental involvement helps a child succeed in school and later in life. To ensure parents are informed about and involved in their childrens education, schools must foster partnerships with parents. Because parental involvement is one of the most significant factors in a childs success, it is crucial that all schools set a goal in their SIP for increasing it. Links with parents Many schools have comprehensive connections with parents but they are not continuously as effective as they want to be and some parents are unsatisfied withthe information givenabout their childs progress by the school. However,links with parents are usually good or outstanding in the best performing private schools. A small number of public schools have very good links with the local community and local businesses, which lead to enhanced outcomes for students. This is particularly true of schools in low economic status areas. The ADEC (2009) survey 1429 teachers in public schools and asked them about the number of times they met the parent personally and the degree of parents support to teachers .The result showed 6.9% have never met parents, 28.9% have met them once or twice a semester, 36.7% have met them once or twice a month, while 27.4% meet parents once a week. Regarding parents supporting the teachers teaching efforts, 55.5%feels some; while 13.5% feel never. More than 56.1% of teachers believe that only some parents make considerable effort to help their children learn; while only 5.6% do not at all. As for trust and confidence in parents as being partners in the teachers mission of educating the children, 19.3 % said no. Who Are the Partners in School Improvement Planning? Everybody involved in or interested in the operation of schools has a role to play in the SIP. District school boards and superintendents of education play vital roles in setting guidelines and in supporting and monitoring SIP. The most significantoperation, nevertheless, occurs within the school community itself. An effective SIParises when principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community participants work as a team to identify priorities, set goals for enhancement, apply strategies to reach those aims, and evaluate progress.Generally, principals responsibilities in SIP fall into three main categories:Communication, Leadership, Professional development. How Do We Begin? The first step of the SIP process is: Creating a SIP team; collecting and assessing data about student achievement, the school environment, and parental participation; and setting priorities for improvement through a sequence of activities. Principals play a fundamental role in these early platforms. They ease the creation of a planning team, which will be accountable for establishing priorities, and they ensure that the information needed for effective planning-such as report card marks, the results of assessments. Forming a school improvement planning team Principals should enlighten teachers, school council members, parents, and other community partners about the progressof SIP in a manner that appreciates their participation. In elementary schools, all the participants in the SIPconstitute a part ofthe planning process. Secondary schools, which usually comprise large teaching personnel, should guarantee that at least one representative from each section is part of the planning team, with the school council, parents, and other community affiliates who wish to share. In addition to expressing their preciousviewpoints and skills, teachers will alsofacilitate understanding ofinformation on students achievement as well as the expected value of and challenges implicated in a range of improvement suggestionsto other teammembers. It is imperative that the team be representative of the schools community. Principals should make hard effort to convince parents who correspond to a range of the school communitys demographic profile to play a part in the planning work out. Other communitymembers may offer worthinsights and perspectives, and their input should also be encouraged and vigorously sought out. Principals in the French-language systems will want to include leaders from the local francophone community. Finally, secondary school students should also contribute in the planning team. Principals should give confidenceto their involvement in the process, and possiblylook for those who are student leaders, motivating them to play a role. Principals in elementary schools may desire to engage interested Grade 7 and 8 with the teams work. All participants should have a positive attitude towards the process and realize that they have toact as a team. Scheduling meeting times for the planning team that are suitable to both staff and parents may be challenging. This issue can be solved by arranging parallel processes, whereby staff meets during school time whereas parents meet in the evening. The benefit of this organization is that it allows maximumparents participation. To insure consistency regarding decision makingbetween both groups, selected teachers could volunteer or be delegated to join both meetings. The SIPteam holds the role of analyzing data on student achievement in the school, the efficiency of the school environment, and parental involvement in their childrens education. Established on the results, team limbs make decisions about subjects that must be improved in priority. As figure 1 indicates, the planning work should take place between September and January of year 1. Understanding the context Before beginning a SIP, the planning team, together with parents, must be aware of and be familiar with particular types of information that school boards pass to staff and the public such as boards vision statement, national tests, and boards strategic plan, which includes short- and long-term goals for the district. In addition, members of the planning team should understand the nature and characteristics of the school and its community. Many schools create a school profile that sets out these characteristics in a simple way. Reviewing the school profile and debating each topic facilitate understanding of the school, and it places a context for the improvement strategy. A school profile could include information about the following: Student demographics Enrolment trends Languages spoken in the home The schools mission statement The schools program priorities Programs and services offered by the school (for example, guidance and library services) School facilities Class sizes Rate of student turnover or transfer Other relevant information. Schools in all systems should have other relevant information that will guide the readers of the profile obtain a realistic and full picture of their school. After acquiring an understanding of the boards targets and the schools characteristics, the planning team is prepared to start setting priorities for a SIP. Setting priorities SIPs are structured around three components: curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. The planning team must set up one priority in each of these three domains. The following activities will facilitate planning teams create these priorities: Priority for Enhancing Curriculum Delivery Collecting information The principal need to make sure that the planning team has the required data to identify which curriculum component (for instance, mathematics, science, reading, or writing) has the highest priority for improvement. Principal must also verify that the gathered information is reliable-that is, that it was collected according to the expectations and achievement outlined by the MOE. All teachers have to understand the MOEs policy obligations. The principal should therefore collect the following information for the planning team: Results of the annual assessments of students. Report card marks. Class profiles. Results of board-administered, national, and international tests. Discussing the information An open discussion, utilizing all the data collected about student achievement, allows all associates on the planning team to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in providing the curriculum, and identifies a priority for improvement in this regard. Deciding on a priority The facilitator distributes red dot stickers to the team members. Each associate obtains a number of dots equal to one third the number of weaknesses. All team members vote, using the stickers, for the subject of curriculum weakness that they think should be called first. Members must use all their dots, but they may not use more than one dot per weakness. The weakness with the most dots becomes the priority for enhancing curriculum delivery. Priority for Improving the School Environment Collecting information The principal need to collect information that will help the planning team define a priority subject for improving the school environment, such as school layout, students behavior and health condition. Discussing the information Before the meeting starts, the facilitator should collect the responses to the parent survey, transcribe the strengths and weaknesses of the school as sensed by parents Deciding on a priority The facilitator allots red dot stickers to team members. Each person receives a number of dots equal to one third the number of weaknesses. All members vote, using the stickers, for the ranges of weakness that they suppose should be handled first. Participants must get through all their dots, but they may not use more than one dot per weakness. The weakness rank high dots becomes the priority for enhancing the school environment. Priority for Increasing Parental Involvement Collecting information To help the planning team arrive at an endorsed priority for improving parental involvement, the principal should supply them with duplicates of: the school profile, a summary of the information collected in the parent survey. Discussi