The Scientific Revolution and Renaissance and Reformation Example For Students

The Scientific Revolution and Renaissance and Reformation What factors helped bring about the Scientific Revolution? People questioned traditional learning and observed nature for themselves. Translations of classical texts exposed scholars to new ideas,. Discoveries by explorers showed that accepted ideas could be wrong. How did the work of Copernicus lead to a new view of the universe? It introduced a heliocentric (sun at the center) theory about the universe vs. the Bible driven belief of a geocentric (earth at the center) universe. How did Kepler and Galileo improve upon Copernicuss theory? Kepler identified the orbits of the planets were ellipses (ovals) not circluar as Copernicus had thought. Galileo used a telescope to apply his understanding of motion and further validate Copernicuss heliocentric theory. His observations of Venus helped confirm it. What were Newtons contributions to the Scientific Revolution? The law of gravity was his main contribution. Main scientists had observed planets moving around the sun but this theory finally explained why. Outline the steps of the scientific method. Why do modern scientists still use this method today? 1)State a question or problem 2)Form a hypothesis 3)Design and conduct an experiment the test the hypothesis 4)Measure the results of the test 5)Analyze the results to determine if the hypothesis is correct This method is still used today because it allows one scientist to repeat or compare tests under consistant techniques. How did scientists like Descartes and Newton explain that science could coexist with traditional religious beliefs? They used science to help explain the world God had made. What key inventions were made during the Scientific Revolution? How did these inventions increase scientists understanding of nature? Telescopes, microscopes, barometers and thermometers were all inventions of the scientific revolution. They allowed scientist to see everything from bacteria to plants and to measure everything from pressure to temperature. These tools provided scientific explanations for previous observations. What was Copernicuss theory about the sun and planets? How was it different from what people believed before? He believed that the sun was the center of the universe. At that time it was commonly believed that the earth was the center. Why do you think most people were unwilling to believe Copernicuss theory? The Bible stated that the earth was the center of the universe and if this truth was wrong people could cast doubt on other teachings of the church. What were some of the important discoveries Galileo made with his telescope? The moons surface was rough and uneven. Moons orbitting Jupiter. Venus had phases. How did Galileos discoveries help support the heliocentric theory? The showed that not only could planets orbit the sun but that moons can orbit planets. Why do you think church leaders felt so threatened by Galileos support of the heliocentric theory? If a major teaching (like the earth being the center of the universe) could be disproved then any teaching from the church could be challenged. What was the basic idea behind Newtons law of gravity? All physical objects had a force of attraction between them. How did Newtons work support the earlier work of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo? It offered a mathmaticall/scientific explanation for what earlier scientists had observed but could not explain. What are the steps of the scientific method? 1)State a question or problem 2)Form a hypothesis 3)Design and conduct an experiment the test the hypothesis 4)Measure the results of the test 5)Analyze the results to determine if the hypothesis is correct What were some key scientific tools developed during the Scientific Revolution? Microscope, barometer, thermometer, telescope. What impact did the scientific revolution? It marked a major shift in how people thought about the natural world. When did the scientific revolution begin? When Copernicus proposed the idea that Earth and the other planets traveled around the sun. How did Kepler further the revolution? By correctly describing the planets orbits How did Galileo further the revolution? His discoveries supported Copernicans heliocentric theory. How did Newton further the revolution? His law of gravity explained by planets orbited the sun and that the same laws applied everywhere in the universe. Who helped shape the scientific method? Bacon and Descartes. Renaissance Movement following the Middle Ages that centered on revival of the interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome; French word meaning rebirth Humanists People who specialize in studying the humanities, which includes grammar, history, poetry, and rhetoric. They believed it was important to understand how things worked; emphasized education. They viewed life as preparation for the afterlife, but also as a joy. Reformation Religious revolution that split the church in western Europe and created a number of new churches. , a religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches Counter-Reformation Attempt by the Catholic Church, following the Reformation, to return the church to an emphasis on spiritual matters., attempted to stop the migration of Catholics to Protestant religions by reforming the issues from within the Church. Indulgences Paid pardons from punishment for sin. Theocracy Government ruled by religious leaders claiming Gods authority. Diet of Worms A meeting summoned by Charles V that commanded Martin Luther to abandon his ideas. Luther refused and was branded an outlaw. Council of Trent Meeting of Church leaders in the 1500s. to clearly define Catholic doctrines for the Counter-Reformation. Printing Press A mechanical device for transferring text or graphics from a woodblock or type to paper using ink. Presses using movable type first appeared in Europe in about 1450. Machiavelli Machiavelli wrote The Prince: described government in ideals; ruthless leadership necessary. (Could be considered a Humanist) Petrarch Sonnets depict daily life, love Leonardo DaVinci The Renaissance man, a painter, engineer, scientist, inventor and sculptor. Famous for the Mona Lisa, and the Last Supper. ; Used mathematics to organize his paintings. (Mona Lisa, Last Supper, Visitation) Titian Assumption of the virgin Michelangelo An Italian painter, sculptor, and architect of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Among many achievements in a life of nearly ninety years, Michelangelo sculpted the David and several versions of the Pietà  , painted the ceiling and rear wall of the Sistine Chapel, and served as one of the architects of Saint Peters Basilica, designing its famous dome. (biblical figures) Raphael Madonnas, Cherubs, WSchool of Athens Johannes Gutenberg German printer who was the first in Europe to print using movable type and the first to use a press. Martin Luther a German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1517, he wrote 95 theses, or statements of belief attacking the church practices. Thomas More He was a English humanist that contributed to the world today by revealing the complexities of man. He wrote Utopia, a book that represented a revolutionary view of society. What are three causes of the Renaissance? *Trade with Byzantines, Africa, and Asia. New wealth from trade causes people to become patrons of the arts. *Humanism: Revival of Classical thought, verify truth through investigation, Education, great power of individuals, based on Cristian teaching. How is the Renaissance different from the Middle Ages? More Advances in Science, Art, and Literature. New Ideas and the world was not centred around just God anymore. People began to think for themselves. Some of the greatest writers and artists lived during this time. What are the similarities and differences between Northern and Italian Renaissance for art? Both Italian Art and northern Art strived for realism. Italian art used Chiarosuro- light and dark, they were humanist, used sfumato blurred edges, glorified the human body, 3D, and they were religiously themed. (depicted beauty of gods) Northern art was less focussed on Greek/Rome idealism and less concerned about balanc/proportion, subjects were daily life not church, more criticism/reform on church, christian humanism. What are the similarities and differences between Northern and Italian Renaissance for Literature? Both the Northern and Italian Renaissance seemed to write much about daily life. Both Machiavelli and Thomas More wrote about the government. Machiavelli expressed it in ideals while More criticized it. Northern Renaissance Writers theme seemed to be daily life and criticism of the church. Petrarch also wrote about daily life but LOVE as well. How did the Renaissance Spread? increased trade of goods and ideas between European nations merchant traveling spread of universities printinig press writing in vernacular What characteristics and values were seen in Renaissance art? -realism + expression -perspective -classicism -emphasis on individualism -geometrical arrangement of figures -lights and shadowing soft edges -artists as personalitites/ celebs What impact did the Renaissance have on the church? They began to question the church. Protestant Reformation. What are the causes and effects of the Protestant Reformation? Martin Luther, indulgences, Theses, led to calvinism, there were abuses in the church so they need to reform, protestant took over north Who was Martin Luther and how did he impact the world? reformist that belived in justification by faith alone; wrote 95 theses (attacked sale of indulgences); organizes Lutheran church in Germany. Excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church is 1521. How did Protestantism spread? -people want simpler church -some peopledissatisfied w/ both Catholicism and Lutheranism -Charles V tried to stop protestantism but was busy at war -1520-1530- new religious groups in Germany and Switzerland -nearly all of Northern German becomes Lutheran In what ways were Protestants and Catholics similar/different? Protestants believed that God viewed all people of faith equally. They both believed in God but the Protestants found things in the Church that were morally wrong. How did the Catholic Church Respond to the Reformation? The Catholic Church countered the Protestant Reformation by making its own reforms. They attemped to return the church to an emphasis on spiritual matters. Campaign to stop the spread of Protestantism. Pope Paul III worked to recieve a spiritual outlook on the Catholic Church brought inquisition to Rome. Catholics were banned from reading the listed books which were considered harmful to faith or morals.(Index of Forbidden Books) The Council of Trent defined the official Church position on matters of doctrine. Scientific Revolution Transformation in thinking that occurred during the 1500s and 1600s caused by scientific observation, experimentation and the questioning of traditional opinions. , the era of scientific thought in europe during which careful observation of the natural world was made, and accepted beliefs were questioned Heliocentric Theory developed by Copernicus that the sun is the center of the universe. Geocentric The Medieval Theory that the Sun and Planets moved around the Earth developed by Ptolemy. Columbian Exchange The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbuss voyages. Triangle Trade Europe sent fine goods to Africa, which sent slaves to North America, which sent raw material to Europe Atlantic Slave Trade the buying, transporting, and selling of africans for work in the americas Mercantilism Stated that countrys government should do all it could to increae the countrys wealth, which was measured by the amount of gold and silver they had. Tariff Tax on imported goods Treaty of Tordesillas In 1494 Spain and Portugal were disputing the lands of the new world, so the Spanish went to the Pope, and he divided the land of South America for them. Spain got the vast majority, the west, and Portugal got the east. Line of Demarcation Imaginary north to south line running down the middle of the Atlantic and granted Spain the west of the line and Portugal the east Hernan Cortes Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547) Francisco Pizzaro a Spainish explorer and conquistador who conquered the Incas in the 1520s and claimed all the land from Panama to Peru for Spain Galileo Italian astronomer and mathematician who was the first to use a telescope to study the stars; demonstrated that different weights descend at the same rate; perfected the refracting telescope that enabled him to make many discoveries (1564-1642) helped prove heliocentric theory Francis Bacon English statesman and philosopher; came up with scientific method. Copernicus Developed the first modern theory of a sun-centered universe Kepler This mathematician and astronomer helped prove the sun-centered theory of the universe and said that planets orbited the sun in an eliptical manner Isaac Newton English mathematician and scientist who invented differential calculus and formulated the theory of universal gravitation, a theory about the nature of light, and three laws of motion. What are the causes and effects of the Scientific Revolution? Causes: Renaissance encouraged curiosity, investigation, discovery, modern day knowledge. Caused people to question old beliefs. During the era of the Scientific Revolution, people began using experiments and mathematics to understand mysteries. .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb , .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .postImageUrl , .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb , .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:hover , .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:visited , .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:active { border:0!important; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:active , .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6ef3b801205f2b454b6998b9744373fb:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Historic Costume 1 (Middle Ages - Renaissance)Effects: New discoveries were made, old beliefs began to be proven wrong. 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Make communicating numbers as simple as 1, 2, 3 - Emphasis

Make communicating numbers as simple as 1, 2, 3 Make communicating numbers as simple as 1, 2, 3 Being able to write about numbers well is a core skill. But it can become needlessly fraught – mainly because those who find maths straightforward often don’t understand why it’s difficult for others to grasp. Luckily, there are three principles that can take the pain out of the process: simplify, signpost and be specific. 1. Simplify When you’re translating a complex set of figures – for instance, a company’s financial results – into a written summary, it’s all too easy to get distracted by the sheer volume of information. This means you end up cramming in as much detail as possible, which can weaken your main message and confuse your reader, even if the audience is largely technical. Unless you’re confident that your piece will be read by someone who will be taking their time and making notes, it’s better to avoid dealing with more than two sets of numbers in any one sentence. Also, try not to have several sentences in succession that introduce new figures. Break them up with analysis and observations. Under this approach, the following sentence is fine: ‘Sales increased 10 per cent to  £2.7bn, while profits rose five per cent to  £10m.’ Despite containing four figures, it introduces only two concepts (what happened to sales, and what happened to profits). However, try to include a year-on-year comparison in the same sentence, and it becomes much less readable. ‘Sales increased 10 per cent to  £2.7bn in 2012, a slight improvement on 2011’s figure of eight per cent, while profits for 2012 rose five per cent to  £10m, up from four per cent in 2011.’ If you’re preparing a script or notes for TV or radio, try to reduce this still further to just one topic per sentence. To see how much more difficult it is to follow figures presented verbally, ask someone to read you the press release of any financial results – then see how much of what you heard you recall. Pick the numbers that really matter, and focus on getting those across. 2. Signpost Often, the same piece of writing will have to work for multiple audiences with very different technical abilities. A half-year update will be read for detailed information by analysts and investors, but perhaps also skimmed by potential clients and journalists looking for an overview of the company. For the former, the detail is vital, and if you remove it they will find the information insufficient – but leaving it in may confuse the latter. This is where signposting helps. Compare the following two statements: ‘Underlying net revenues, the best metric for sales, increased 9.7 per cent year-on-year to  £2.72bn, while profits before tax made strong progress, increasing 5.0 per cent to  £9.9m.’ ‘Sales and profits both grew strongly on the company’s key metrics. Underlying net revenues increased 9.7 per cent year-on-year to  £2.72bn, and profit before tax grew 5.0 per cent to  £9.9m.’ The second example is a little longer, but it primes readers on what to expect from the rest of the paragraph. It also serves as an explanation of the particular measures of revenue and profit being used. Signposts should be short and simple, and group related information. If they seem overly complex, you’re probably trying to load too much into one paragraph. 3.  Specify How specific your writing needs to be varies depending on your audience and the information you’re conveying. For a general audience, simple, round figures are always best. Avoid decimal points where possible, and minimise figures. Consider using descriptions such as ‘one in five’ rather than 20 per cent’, if it helps make the meaning clearer. More financially or technically literate audiences tend to prefer (or even demand) more specificity. In reality, the inputs on forecasting models are often rounded up or down, and the outcomes are therefore uncertain. For example, a forecasting model generated in Excel might come out with a brilliantly specific-looking sales projection: next year, the spreadsheet says, Company A will sell 67,971.2 tricycles.   But this figure appears more precise than it really is. Try to reflect this: if the margins of error on an estimate are known, make that clear.   This needn’t be complex. For example, if the margin was roughly +/-500, you could write the estimate as: ‘Projections for the next year suggest Company A will sell around 68,000 tricycles.’ Again, keep your audience in mind: analysts and specialists may well expect to see explicit references to margins of error. Take similar care when writing about risk and uncertainty. If you write ‘the chance of catastrophic failure has increased threefold, year-on-year,’ you may well terrify a reasonable portion of your readership. If the risk of catastrophic failure has increased from 0.01 per cent to 0.03 per cent, that panic probably wasn’t your intention. Make sure you’re confident of the difference between absolute and relative risk. Absolute risk describes how probable it is that something will occur. Relative risk is a comparison between different risk levels. In most cases, it will be appropriate to use the former. Most importantly of all, keep reminding yourself who it is youre writing for, what they need to know and the level of their technical expertise. Keeping your reader at the front of your mind will help you remember to speak in language that they will understand and find compelling. Want more help with writing about numbers? We run courses on report writing and technical writing. To find out more, call us on +44 (0)1273 732 888 or email help@writing-skills.com.

Critical analysis of two mental health web site Essay

Critical analysis of two mental health web site - Essay Example In order to begin this process it is a good idea to start with an explanation of each one and then to compare and contrast them. Beyond blue is a website about depression and it explains how people can cope with and relieve depression. On the first page it is clear to see that this is the topic because the news items are about depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and postnatal depression. Each of these is an aspect of depression and can be brought on by this disorder. From the first page an individual can link to a variety of interesting information throughout the website. On the right hand side of the website there are a variety of self-help programs and/or references that an individual can use if they have some type of depression. It is clear from this website that they are attempting to give all depression mood orders equal time. They have equal information about prevention, early intervention (symptoms) and it is very accessible to lay people who have no background in mental health education. There are several downloable fact sheets from the homepage. As an example, if you are someone who suspects you might have problems with depression, you can download a checklist for each of the depression disorders they have listed. The general depression checklist asks two questions and based on the answers to those they encourage you to move further into the checklist. The checklist allows you to take it and then they give you a score at the end and describe what you "might" need. The language on the site is very easy to understand and it is as though they are talking to a friend. Each section is broken down into a few paragraphs to give a general idea about depression and then there are links to click on more informa tion if you want to get more specific. An individual couple become overwhelmed by the amount of information that is at this site so it would be a good idea to send a client to one specific area if you were going to use it. Beyond blue is

Critical Appraisal of a Piece of Research Essay - 1

Critical Appraisal of a Piece of Research - Essay Example frequently not implemented in health care systems because of doctors being unwilling to take the initiative to discuss alcohol problems with their patients. With decrease in state controls on the availablility of alcohol, effective interventions are required, which can be administered to many people with the purpose of reducing the demand for alcohol. Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) is an approach which systematically identifies people with hazardous drinking, and provides concise advice on reducing this behaviour (Kypri et al 2004). Yes, a double-blind randomized controlled trial, the study used a random method of selecting an experimental group and a control group, at the university student health service. Participants scoring 8 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and consuming more than 4 to 6 standard drinks, both males and females, on one or more occasions in the previous 4 weeks were assigned randomly by computer to either the control group or the intervention. The computer carried out the randomization in blocks of 10 consisting of 5 control and 5 intervention, so that equal numbers of participants could be recruited in a short period in both groups. Equal numbers of men and women were ensured through separate recruitment by sex (Kypri et al 2004). Yes, a total of 167 students in the age group of 17 to 26 years were recruited. They were required to complete a three-minute web-based screening test â€Å"including the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire† (Kypri et al 2004, p.1410). Of the 167 students, 112 tested positive; from among them a total number of 104 students including 52 women who had agreed to receive the follow-up intervention participated in the trial. The participants were randomized to two groups: the intervention group of 51 students who received 10 to 15 minutes of web-based assessment and personalized feedback on their drinking, and the control group of 53 students who received

Becoming a soccer fan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Becoming a soccer fan - Essay Example My team members and I were the main characters. The time of event was in my 4th grade days. i. Background and Setting This is where I introduce my thesis statement. I shall introduce how the whole story, which centers on how the impact of my role model and a victory in a street soccer competition started. BODY This part of the essay unfurls the main events that happened in the essay. In this case, the essay is a flashback narration of a particular moment of my life. The brief of the story is the victory my soccer team won in a street soccer competition and how I related the victory to the story of my role model and ever since developed strong passion for soccer with anticipation to becoming like my role model on day. I have divided the body of the essay into three sub-sections as detailed below ii. The Story of my Role Model I shall present how I was fortunate to tune in to a TV station one day to see my role model being interviewed and the story he shared in the interview. iii. Prep aration for the Competition I shall talk about a hitch that hit the team in the midst of our preparation. The strange replacement for our captain who was me. iv. The competition and Victory I shall talk about how the competition got under way. How my team surprisingly took the first position, wining the cup. The shock of my life when I was named the best player in the tournament. CONCLUSION The conclusion seeks to summarize the essay and talks about the changes that the entire experience of the street soccer brought on my life. There were lessons I learnt and all these have been factored in the conclusion. The lessons make the essay worth narrating to someone. v. Reflection on the Victory to the story of my Role Model I shall talk about how I came out of the competition, reflecting on the story I heard from my role model and the hope it gave me for the future vi. The changes my experience brought me This will be the concluding part of the essay, talking about the new lifestyle I ado pted after the competition. Planning the Essay INTRODUCTION – ? page i. Background and Setting This is where I introduce my thesis statement. Stories of our role models can have a great impact on our lives and change our way of life forever. I shall introduce how the whole story, which centers on how the impact of my role model and a victory in a street soccer competition started. Soccer had been my favorite game right from childhood. This should perhaps be because soccer was the first game I was introduced to. I grew up in a house where everyone loved soccer. My dad was so passionate about soccer that he would never miss a live soccer game on television for any other thing: especially when his favorite team, Manchester United was playing. My mum even tells me of how my father nearly lost his job because of soccer. She said my daddy once kept postponing working on some files he brought home on a weekend because he had a series of live matches to watch on TV. Even my mother wa s influenced to love soccer because she had to keep my father company whenever he sat behind the television to watch what he enjoyed most. For my elderly brothers, they had no other choice than to join community soccer teams. So when I ended up playing a justifier match for a local team, at 4th grade, it was not surprising. BODY – 3 pages ii. The Story of my Role Model – 1 page I shall present how I was fortunate to tune in to a TV station one day to see my role model being

Benefits of the Eclectic Paradigm

Benefits of the Eclectic Paradigm The usefulness of the eclectic paradigm as a framework for combining and relating alternative theories of international business, and in coping with changes over time in the practice of international business Introduction The eclectic paradigm, namely the OLI paradigm was put together by the economist John Henry Dunning (1927-2009) in the late 1970’s. Dunning’s early research focused on American owned affiliates in the UK and their higher productivity compared to their local competitors. He wondered how and why these firms were able to compete locally with indigenous UK firms and started to raise questions about the advantages of multinational firms as an outcome of their activities abroad. He identified certain firm specific advantages and also advantages derived from the country of origin (Dunning, 2001). These are first two components of the later assembled paradigm, the O which refers to Ownership advantages and the L which refers to locational advantages. These early works and the early identification of the O and L and their mutual interaction are initially reflected in the book American Investment in British Manufacturing Industry (Dunning, 1958). This stream of research continued through the 1960’s when Dunning was working on American firms in Europe. Later during the 1970s, influenced by Buckley and Casson, Dunning started to address transaction cost explanations in an internationalization perspective (the I component of the paradigm) in addition to the previously identified O and L advantages. He was concerned about why firms decided to generate and exploit their specific advantages internally rather than through the open market forces. This broadened his perspective and articulated more clearly the early view he had on the O and L components. And by the time he was putting together the rest of the paradigm at the end of the 1970 ´s, he looked back to the 50 ´s and 60’s and the theories of Vernon, Hymer and others and interpreted them from within this framework and elaborated on how their ideas were expressed from the eclectic paradigm. Intellectually, he brought everything together, not just contemporary but also past theories, bringing all these explanations together in some sort of rubric that allows to connect the m. Since then, the eclectic paradigm’s simplicity and yet its thoroughness smoothly integrates international business theories and allows researchers from different fields and disciplines to systematically explain the growth of multinational activity (Cantwell and Narula, 2001). The Eclectic Paradigm Revisited The eclectic paradigm itself is not an explanation of the MNC rather it helps explain the level, determinants and patterns of the foreign value added activities (international production) of firms, and or countries. The paradigm offers a framework from which an explanation can be obtained. It is not itself a predicting theory but it is a way of connecting different theories which can be then used to help understand different types of foreign production according to their specific contexts and motivations (Dunning, 2001). The Eclectic Paradigm and its OLI components have gone through different revisions and are defined as follows: O: Ownership advantages. These are firm net competitive advantages that companies from one country possess over those firms from other countries when servicing a specific market. L: Location advantages. The degree to which companies decide to locate abroad value added activities. These value added activities can be the result of internalizing. I: Internalization. The degree to which companies add value to their output by identifying as more profitable to internalize the generation and exploitation of their ownership advantages rather than through the open market. (Dunning, 2000, 2001; Ietto-Gillies, 2012) An interesting aspect of the OLI elements is that they are not independent from each other but that they interact. For example, the value added activities generated by locational advantages feed back to the O advantages. That is why an often misunderstood and controversial element is the O, because of the fact that it is called ownership, scholars like Rugman relate it only to firm specific advantages. However, the O also refers to advantages that come from the institutions of the country of origin (home country). In other words, what Dunning (2001) initially meant by (O) Ownership referred to the nationality of ownership as opposed to the ownership of assets by a firm. It was later on that Dunning acknowledged and expanded the Ownership advantages to include firm specific and other types of advantages such as the ones resulting from engaging in foreign production. Another reason why this is so important is because it does not necessarily imply that the MNE has to be legally defined by the ownership of assets, but if instead there is an international business network that is not entirely owned, it could still be consistent with the notion of capabilities generated within such a network associated with firms of a certain nationality of origin. On the other hand the L element has to do with host country advantages and it is just not necessary to compare the host with the home but different host countries with one another in determining where the firm goes to produce. OLI: Combining and relating IB theories The eclectic paradigm comes from other international business theories which are themselves influenced by economic and organizational theories. The paradigm draws from theories of the individual firm such transaction cost economics (internalization) and market power theories and their relationship with markets and integrates them with macroeconomic approaches to foreign production such as the product lifecycle theory (Cantwell and Narula, 2001). This encompassing aspect of the paradigm has brought many criticisms, one of the most popular ones calls it a â€Å"shopping list of variables†. Dunning (2001) responded to this criticism by clarifying that each variable of the paradigm is constructed based on well-known and accepted economic and organizational theories. In addition, he clarifies that the objective of the paradigm was not to explain all kinds of international production but to offer a framework that helps organize a methodology that can lead to a better explanation of different kinds of foreign production. Vernon’s product lifecycle theory is the most inherently dynamic or evolutionary in character of all the theoretical approaches of the paradigm. Hymer’s market power and Buckley and Casson internalization theories were limited to the period in which they were writing about them, during which an evolutionary perspective of the MNE was not yet explored. On the other hand the product life cycle theory was contemporaneous to the conditions of the 1960 ´s and therefore Dunning included this evolutionary character in the paradigm. This became an important part of the paradigm in the sense that it gave it an evolutionary and dynamic perspective on how firms grow over time, which is an integral part of the way the eclectic paradigm should be interpreted and used (Dunning, 2001). In addition, from an evolutionary approach, the Eclectic Paradigm’s internalization advantages are attributable to the conditions of improved organizational learning and technology creation, rather than to the conditions for a more efficient cost-minimizing organization of an established set of transactions. This opens up the possibilities of alliances in order to increase ownership advantages through cooperation. This takes the paradigm beyond a basic transactions costs perspective and expands the types of ownership advantages, from advantages in line with Bain -which assumes advantages to exist be prior to going abroad- to cooperative and interdependent generated ones (Tolentino, 2001). The Future of the Eclectic Paradigm in IB The eclectic paradigm has not only faced criticisms but also faces the challenges of an increasingly changing international business environment due to globalization and technological advances. In the last decades MNC activity has increased both in extent, intensity and form. There is also increased global interconnectedness and interdependence which makes inter firm alliances more common and necessary (Cantwell and Narula, 2001). RD is more complex and costly also increasing the way it is undertaken. Asset exploiting FDI is still present but asset augmenting and knowledge seeking FDI are increasingly important. All of this has created new ways of performing cross border activities and different strategies that MNCs use to pursue them. Additionally, the field of IB has also evolved. It has moved from a market driven view to a more knowledge driven one. Moreover, the level of analysis has changed as well. In the 1990’s there was a shift from the macro level approach in which countries were the unit of analysis to a more micro approach with the firm as the unit of analysis. Lately the field is going even more micro by also paying increasing attention to behavioral (individual) considerations and therefore allowing it to use the individual as the unit of analysis. Actually nowadays, the direction of the field International Business studies is becoming more multilevel in character, allowing for different levels of analysis including the countries, firms and individuals. The field has also become more interdisciplinary by drawing from other disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, biology, geography and history. Therefore taking in to account all these changes the following question arises: Is the eclectic paradigm going to hold with the external changes related to globalization, technological change and the new directions in the field of international business? I believe it will. So far the paradigm has held for the last two decades (since the 1980’s) and it seems to be getting stronger as a guiding framework in international business studies. All its components are articulated in a way that allow all the aforementioned changes. For example the Ownership component has always been relational in character and has included different interactions and levels of analysis (Ietto-Gillies, 2012). Therefore this does not present a threat to the paradigm but it actually increases its relevance because it allows for multilevel analysis by combining the different units and elements of analysis and allowing them to interact. And even though there are not many discussions of the eclectic paradigm today, the paradigm is increasingly relevant now in relation to where the international business field is going. Additionally, the paradigm has successfully embraced phenomena such as Alliance Capitalism, technological accumulation, international networks and dynamic capabilities, by which firms cooperate and mutually increase their ownership advantages. These are areas of research that according to the critics are not addressed by the paradigm. Moreover, the Location element of the paradigm increases in importance in the sense that subsidiary location has become important because they are embedded in their foreign locations and can benefit from their networks and national innovation systems and therefore adding value to the MNC. On the other hand, dynamic capabilities are created not just within firms but by interacting or cooperating with other firms and actors (Knowledge enhancing technological dynamism) and they become part of the O advantages. These ownership advantages also come from the interaction with locations with which initial ‘O’ advantages are crucial for the development of absorptive capacity. Dunning argues that capabilities or ownership advantages are a condition for internalizing. This is a dynamic view in which advantages are an evolutionary concept. Critics say that some strategic considerations may not be covered by the OLI and that routines and processes should be added (OLMA). However, even though the paradigm does not specifically address routines and processes it addresses the ownership advantages that may result from them. Every day problem solving activities create unique core capabilities that are idiosyncratic of each firm, therefore giving them or enhancing existing ‘O’ advantages. This means that the OLI paradigm still holds for strategy considerations, especially in terms of capability development (in terms of O). Also in some way in ‘L’ with economies of location and experiences of location. Finally also with the interaction between O and L which creates a complex interaction at different levels and interactions. For example in the case of subsidiaries, competence creating subsidiaries actually enhance Ownership advantages therefore giving strength to the argument that O advantages are not only originated in the MNE ´s home country but also arise in subsidiaries as well. Today we can apply this also to international business networks, so rather than a legal definition of the firm, the MNE per se, the OLI paradigm can used as a method to analyze international business networks and also the MNE firm as a strategic coordinator of such networks. In other words the subject area moves on but the paradigm remains relevant, partly because of the degree of flexibility which is built in some of these characteristics, especially in the Ownership advantages, which is by the way, the most important component of the paradigm, because it is the one that ties everything together, since it is the properties of learning that define the location or the transactional network basis of the firm. Conclusions The objective of the eclectic paradigm is not to explain the multinational firm but the level and pattern of foreign value added activities of firms. It helps explain not only the initial act of foreign production but also its growth. The eclectic paradigm overcomes the limitations of partial theories of international production and provides a holistic framework in which existing alternative and complementary theories of international production coexist (Tolentino, 2001). In the international business field a systemic approach is now more needed than ever, in addition it must be inherently interdisciplinary. At the beginning the eclectic paradigm had a more descriptive approach. It was originally developed by integrating some international business theories that come mainly from economics. Theory of trade in Vernon ´s case, theory of the firm of the industry in Hymer ´s case and again theory of the firm in Buckley and Casson’s case. Nowadays it is relevant to combine theories taken from different disciplines. Different ways to think about the world, new perspectives. That is why a systemic approach is needed. The eclectic paradigm is now it is an umbrella that handles a range of theories, a framework that enables the understanding of how these theories are tied and work together. Therefore what is happening is that the discipline is moving away from some of the earlier theories that were essentially theories of discrete individual choice, s uch as whether to export or not, or whether or not to locate production abroad, and in the case of having located production abroad, whether to license to and independent firm or produce internally with through a subsidiary. Those were firm level choice decisions, but if instead a system is wanted and the knowledge on how it evolves through time. Therefore the eclectic framework is precisely the right way to approach a complex system, because a paradigm like the eclectic paradigm provides a broader context, providing progressive interaction between different factors and actors giving it present and future relevance. References Cantwell, J.A. and Narula, R. (2001), The eclectic paradigm in the global economy, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 155-172; revised version reprinted as Revisiting the eclectic paradigm: new developments and current issues, chapter 1 in J.A. Cantwell and R. Narula (eds., 2003), International Business and the Eclectic Paradigm: Developing the OLI Framework, New York: Routledge. Dunning, J.H. (1958).American investment in british manufacturing industry.George Allen Unwin Ltd. Dunning, J.H. (2000), The eclectic paradigm of international production: a personal perspective, chapter 5 in NTF. Dunning, J.H. (2001), The eclectic (OLI) paradigm of international production: past, present and future, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 173-190; revised version reprinted as chapter 2 in J.A. Cantwell and R. Narula (eds., 2003), International Business and the Eclectic Paradigm: Developing the OLI Framework, New York: Routledge. Ietto-Gillies, G. (2012), Dunnings eclectic framework, chapter 9 in TCIP. Tolentino, P.E.E. (2001), From a theory to a paradigm: examining the eclectic paradigm as a framework in international economics, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 191-209; revised version reprinted as chapter 7 in J.A. Cantwell and R. Narula (eds., 2003), International Business and the Eclectic Paradigm: Developing the OLI Framework, New York: Routledge.

Free Essays - Characterization in A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

Characterization in a Passage from A Farewell to Arms       Anger was washed away in the river along with any obligation. Although that ceased when the carabiniere put his hands on my collar. I would like to have had the uniform off although I did not care much about the outward forms. I had taken off the stars, but that was for convenience. It was no point of honor. I was not against them. I was through. I wished them all the luck. There were the good ones, and the brave ones, and the calm ones and the sensible ones, and they deserved it. But it was not my show anymore and I wished this bloody train would get to Mestre and I would eat and stop thinking. I would have to stop. (Hemingway 232)    This previous is an excellent example of how one passage in the book can relate many of the feelings demonstrated throughout the entire novel. The events and feelings of this passage determine the outcome. A few examples of symbolism are clearly presented and those symbols can also help the reader gain a better understanding of the character's situation. The passage also illustrates how the character has evolved and developed since the beginning of the story. The passage is also a big event because it is the first major pivotal point that occurs throughout the novel. By closely analyzing this passage we can form many predictions that Hemingway was foreshadowing, and relating to the end, with use of symbols and development of character.    The two symbols best noticeable in the passage are the river and the stars on Frederic's uniform. The river as in many stories represents a change or baptismal. In this case, the river was representing the removal of Frederic from the war front. On one side of the river he's still an ambulance driver for the Italian army during World War I; on the other side, however, he is a civilian in the middle of a war that is now foreign to him. The stars also serve as a symbol but represent the same thing the river does. When he removes them he is simply calling it quits and removing himself from the war.

Knowledge Management in Education

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all who gave their support throughout the process of writing this Seminar paper. I would also like to thank my beloved lovely wife Edith Lisalitsa and my son Macdonald Lisalitsa for giving me humble time to concentrate in preparing this Seminar paper. I would also wish to thank my classmates and session mates for their support. Special thanks, goes to my supervisor Mr. Abanti Cyrus Makori for his underlying support, patience, intellectual support and guidance.Most of all I thank the Almighty God for sustaining me through this process and giving me good health, sound mind and strength to carry on. INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN IMPROVING QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS By:Lisalitsa Fred Ambutsi E-mail: [email  protected] com or [email  protected] com Abstract. The new trends of use of knowledge management system in business organization have incr eased the need to integrate the knowledge management system in higher education sector.The current means used in technical institution in knowledge management is based on the experts in various fields. The creation and transmitting is through face to face interactions, mentoring, organization, and policies, routes and procedures, reports and staff development. This method does not conserve knowledge, does not allow standardization, neither does it allow uniform and maximum sharing of knowledge. Knowledge management system can be integrated in technical education in order to improve management and its utilization.Knowledge management system provides tools for capturing, organization, delivery, tracking and assessment of various types of learning and training. The knowledge management allows improved service capability of lecturers and students improve sharing of internal and external information and improved effectiveness and efficiency. The objectives of the seminar paper are: 1. To apply knowledge management system in teaching at technical institution level. 2. To examine the ways of capturing and sorting knowledge for utilization in technical institution. 3.To investigate IT support of knowledge management system and how it can be used in technical Education. 4. To investigate challenges technical institution are facing Key words Knowledge, Integrating, Systems, learning. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATIONI DECLARATIONII ACKNOWLEDGMENTIII 1. 1 IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE2 2. CAPTURING AND SORTING KNOWLEDGE2 2. 1 STEPS IN KNOWLEDGE GATHERING3 3. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES6 4. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE WORKS6 5. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS7 6. KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS8 7. BENEFITS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS9 CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS12 9. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE13 10. INTERNET AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT14 11. CONCLUSION17 REFERENCES18 1. .INTRODUCTION Oz et al (2006) defines knowledge management as the combination of activities involved in gathering, organizing, sharing, analyzing and disseminating knowledge to improve an organization performance. Information that can be gleaned from stored data is knowledge, much knowledge is accumulated through experience is in peoples minds, on paper notes, on discussion transcripts.Knowledge management is the attempt by organizations to put procedures and technologies in place to do the following: a) Transfer individual knowledge into databases b) Filter and separate the most relevant knowledge. c) Organize that knowledge in databases that allow employees easy access to it. Barnes(2002) made the following interesting comparison about knowledge , information and data he says that knowledge as a justified personal belief that increases an individual’s capacity to take effective action.Information is data interpreted in to a meaningful frame, whereas knowledge is information that has been authenticated and thought to be true. Data is raw numbers and facts, information is pr ocessed data and knowledge is information made achievable. According to Rainer et al(2007) The goal of knowledge management is to help organization to make most effective use of knowledge. it has the following benefits are: ? Makes the best practices, which are most effectives and efficient ways of doing things rapidly available to a wide range of employees ?Enhance access to best practices knowledge improves overall organization performance. ? Improved customer service. ? Most efficient product development. ? Improved employee morale and retention. Barnes(2002) says traditionally, knowledge creation and transfer has occurred through various means such as face-to-face interactions (planned or adhoc), mentoring, job rotation and staff development. Barnes(2002) observes that the concept of coding and transmitting knowledge in organization is not new: training and employee development programmes, organization policies routines, procedures, reports and manuals have served this function for years.These traditional means may prove to be too slow, less effective and need of being supplemented by by more efficient electronics methods. 1. 1 IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE Data: is a flow of events or transactions captured by organization’s systems that by itself is useful for transacting but little else. To turn data into information a firm must expend resources to organize data into categories of understanding, such as monthly, daily, regional or stored based reports of the total sales.To transform information ito knowledge the firm must expend additional resources to discover patterns, rules and context where the knowledge works. Finally wisdom is thought to be the collective and individual experiences of applying knowledge to the solutions of problems. Wisdom involves where, when, and how to apply knowledge. Knowledge is both individual attribute and collective attribute of the firm. Knowledge is stored in libraries, and records, shared in lectures and store d by firms in the form of business process and employee know how Laudon and Laudon (2006). . CAPTURING AND SORTING KNOWLEDGE (a) Online questionnaires: According to Oz et al (2006)[3] knowledge can be captured through the use of online questionnaires. Some of the questionnaires provide multiple choice answers, which make the input structured and easy to sort and analyze, but some of the most valuable input is in the form of free text. Knowledge can also be done by use of software such as polygamist to analyze data form (Megaputer intelligence). . A good example is Watson an application created by intellect.It is installed in a PC and embedded in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. It analyses and employees’ document as it is being written, creates an automatic query about the subject, reaches out onto the knowledge management program and pulls information that might be applicable to the task at hand. (b) Software Tools: Oz et al(2006) also describes that Knowledge can als o be captured by use of software tools that search for such information and derive valuable business knowledge form it. For example Online Audience Analysis software that was developed by Accenture Technology Labs.Such tools help organization add to their knowledge base especially in terms of what others say about their product and services. The tools take into account factors such as its industry, context in which an enquiry works to select and deliver the proper information. (c) Knowledge network systems: Laudon and Laudon (2006) say that knowledge network systems also known as expertise location and management systems, provides an online directory of corporate experts in well defined knowledge domains and use communication to find the appropriate expert in the company.Some knowledge network systems go further by systematizing the solutions being developed by experts and then storing the solutions in a knowledge database as best practices or frequently asked questions (FAQ), repos itory e. g. AskMe, inc offers a widely adopted enterprise knowledge net system. (d) Employee Knowledge networks: facilitates knowledge sharing through intranets. Tacit systems activates tool continuously process email, documents and other business communication and automatically ‘discover’ each employee work focus, expertise and business relation ship.This tool ‘mines’ this unstructured data to build a profile of each employee in terms of topics and interests. The goal is to ensure that two people who might benefit from creating a connection in a work place do so, so that one can learn form the expertise of another about issues. According to Oz(2006)some companies have developed software tools that search for such information and derive valuable business knowledge form it. E. g. Accenture Technology labs developed audience analysis such tools helps organization add to their knowledge base especially in terms of what others say about their product and servic es.The tool takes into account factors such as the industry and context in which an enquirer works to select and deliver the proper information. (f) A web portal: also known as a links page, presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.Examples of public web portals are MSN, Yahoo! , AOL, iGoogle and Netvibes. 2. 1 STEPS IN KNOWLEDGE GATHERING The first challenge in the knowledge-gathering process is simply deciding what knowledge to gather. For example, while identifying the most frequently asked questions is critical for a self-service web site implementation, call centers will also need to know the m ost frequently escalated questions. Moreover, while management goals may center around ROI issues, the system must be designed with users in mind, or it will not be successful.According to paper published by eGain Communications Corporation [2004] that appeared in the internet and internetworking here is a step-by-step review of the knowledge-gathering process. Step 1: Building the team There are four roles in the knowledge management team:  ¦ Lead expert: The individual (or individuals) who decides how the knowledge base will be organized, which topics will be covered, and to what extent.  ¦ Users: Call center agents who have good performance records and can provide suggestions. Knowledge authors: Individuals who are technically trained in using authoring tools.  ¦ Project manager. The individual who keeps the project on track. Depending on the scope of the project, one person may play several roles. Step 2: Assessing the value of knowledge The best way to determine what know ledge should be gathered is to estimate what the value to your enterprise would be if every agent managed service interactions by effectively using that knowledge Step 3: Setting content boundariesWhen defining the scope of the knowledge base, the most common mistake is to try to include too much. Overly ambitious deployments almost always result in what’s called â€Å"the Swiss cheese problem†Ã¢â‚¬â€a knowledge base that is solid in places, but full of holes. This is a recipe for failure, because if users can’t find the answers they want most of the time, or get the wrong answers, they will quickly stop using the system. It is better to be thorough with a limited area than to cover a broad area superficially.For instance, for an enterprise that sells printers, scanners, fax machines, and copiers, the best approach would be to cover one product line thoroughly, rather than all products at once. Step 4: Prioritizing objectives Establishing the value of knowledge enables prioritization, but this process may involve trade-offs. For example, in a technology subscription environment like cable TV, Internet service provision, or mobile telephony, there are typically three competing goals:  ¦ Speed of problem resolution (the â€Å"right answer† focus): The shorter the average duration of a call, the ower the cost to the enterprise.  ¦ Customer retention: Educating customers about unused features can result in greater customer acceptance and lower churn.  ¦ Up-selling and cross-selling: It may be that the best solution to a customer’s problem is selling that customer a higher tier of service or an add-on product. Enterprises must match their knowledge systems and processes to the service priorities. Step 5: Setting time boundaries In our experience with many deployments, a time-boxed approach to knowledge gathering works best.If the deployment appears to be falling behind schedule, narrowing the scope of the knowledge base (to avoid the Swiss cheese problem) and finishing on schedule is the way to go. The reason has to do with ROI—the main reason for the deployment to begin with. The longer it takes to get the system up and running, the longer it takes to achieve the ROI. If the knowledge scope has been correctly identified and prioritized, the most important questions will be covered. Furthermore, it is always possible to expand the scope later.As a rough guide, a typical enterprise deployment should not take longer than three months (after planning is done), with three or four full-time people engaged. This period includes software installation, knowledge gathering, and testing both the quality of the knowledge base as well as the performance of the system. Step 6: Selecting and managing experts Obviously, the people who contribute to the knowledge base must be technically competent, but it is equally important that they not be too far removed from day-to-day customer contact.Successful knowledg e management depends as much on the questions as the answers, and it is sometimes difficult for subject matter experts to â€Å"stoop† to the level of ordinary customers who may not know complex details like the baud rate of their modem or whether their mutual fund is front-loaded or back-loaded. There is another very important issue with experts: the reluctance to share knowledge and the fear of being â€Å"replaced by a machine. † It is important, therefore, that enterprises plan and communicate how the role of the experts will change once knowledge management has been implemented.Moreover, enterprises should create incentives for domain experts to share their knowledge with the rest of the organization. Step 7: Controlling content Once the knowledge gathering process has been completed, results must be reviewed in light of strategic objectives. It is critical for organizations to set up a review process for approving the final content of the knowledge base. This inc ludes determining who (beyond the experts) should review the content, and who has the authority to make final decisions. There are good reasons for not leaving these decisions to content experts alone.For example, any material an enterprise presents to the public can have legal or safety implications. One good approach to quality control is the use of workflow authoring software where agents (or customers and partners, in the case of self-service) can suggest additions or changes, but only authorized individuals can approve them. 3. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES According Laudon and Laudon (2006) major commercial knowledge management systems vendors has integrated their content and document management capabilities with powerful portal and collaboration technologies.Enterprise knowledge portals can provide access to external sources of information such as news feeds and research as well as to internal knowledge recourses along with capabilities for e-mail, chat, instant, messaging, discuss ion groups and video conferencing . Laudon and Laudon (2006) further states that companies are now staring to use consumer web technologies such as blogs, wikies and social booking marking for internal use to facilitate the exchange of information between individuals and teams. E. g. Intel COE Paul; Otellini has a Blog for conveying his thoughts.Learning management systems provides tools for the management, delivery, tracking, and assessment of various types of employee learning and training. Contemporary leanaing management system support multiple modes including CD-ROM, downloadable video, web based classes live instruction in cases or online and group learning. In online forums and chat sessions. Learning management systems consolidate mixed media training, automatic the selection and administration of courses, assemble and deliver learning content and measure learing effectiveness. (Laudon and Laudon 2006). 4. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE WORKSOslon(2000) describes the following as types of knowledge works. a) Diagnosis and problem finding These are knowledge work because they depend heavily on knowledge and expertise of the analyst or diagnostician. The work of diagnosis tends to be semi structured and unstructured b) Planning and decision making Many people who engage in knowledge work may contribute to the decision making process. Staff professions such as financials analyst or market researchers are responsible for collecting and analyzing data before results are presented to the person responsible for decision making.Planning and decision making are knowledge work because they depend on expertise of the decision maker and manipulation of data using decision model. Highly structured programmed decision making has less knowledge work content than unstructured decision making. c) Monitoring and control Many monitoring and control activities can be structured and made fairly routine. Analysis of the meaning and of monitoring reports and analysis of variances often require expertise and judgment on the part of the reviewer, these monitoring and control activities are knowledge. ) Organizing and scheduling Organizing is critical component of knowledge work productivityand scheduling is a structuring activity which establishes a time sequence to other activities including personal activities and meetings. e) Authoring and presentation The objective of this class of knowledge to to progress from an idead through multiple media transformation to a final presentation form, whether document, diagram, or a set of visual aids for a presentation. 5. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS a) Structured knowledge systems: Some knowledge exists already somewhere in the form of structures text documents and reports or presentation, and the central problems organizing this existing structured knowledge into a library and making it accessible throughout the firm. (b) Semi structured knowledge systems: Managers may also need information that exists somewhere i nside the firm in the form of less structured documents, such as e-mail, voice mail, chat room exchangers , video, digital pictures, brochures, bulletins boards.This knowledge can be stored in knowledge repository. Knowledge repository is collection of internal and external knowledge in single location for more efficient management and utilization by the organization. 6. KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS McLeod Jr(1998) describes artificial Intelligence, Expert systems as knowledge based system. He further expounds as follows (a) Artificial Intelligence: Is the activity of providing such machines as computers with the ability to display behaviour that would be regarded as intelligent if it were observed in humans.A. I represent the most sophisticated form of human reasoning. According to O’Brien(2004) Artificial Intelligence offers the following advantages of knowledge systems. †¢ Reducing training time †¢ Reducing training costs. †¢ Replication valuable expertise †¢ Reducing operation response time. †¢ Presenting valuable knowledge (b) Expert system: Is a computer program that attempts to represent knowledge of human experts in the form of heuristics. Expert system is expected to: †¢ Better performance for the firm:As the managers extend their problem solving abilities through the use of the expert systems the firms control mechanism is improved. The firm is better able to meet its objectives. †¢ To maintain control over the firms: Knowledge expert systems afford the opportunity to make the experiences employees knowledge more available to new, less experiences employees and to keep that knowledge in the firm long even after the employee have left the firm The expert system outputs through: †¢ Explanation of questions: The manager may desire explanation while the expert systems perform its reasoning.Theses is done through questions as the expert system provides the explanation †¢ Explanation of the problem solution af ter the expert systems provides a problem solution, the manager can ask for an explanation of how it ws reached. The expert system will display, each of the reasoning steps leading to the solution (c) Decision Support System: Decision support system provides information and models in aform to facilitate tactical and strategies decision making. They are information system that support management decision making by integrating: †¢ Company performance data Business rules based on decisions tables. †¢ Analytical tools and models for forecast and planning †¢ Easy to use graphical interface Decision support system tends to be used for adhoc queries rather than regular reporting. The technology varies particularly rapidly in this area and the newest development such as data warehouse attests to this Bocij (2009) (d) Executive Support Systems: provides senior management with system to assist them in taking strategic and tactical decision.The purpose is to analyze compare and highlight trends to help govern the strategic direction of accompany. They are commonly integrated with operational systems giving managers the falilitioan â€Å"drill† to find out further information or a problem Bocij(2006) (e) Hypermedia system: Provides computer based storage of documents composed of text, graphs, diagrams, sound, schematics, pictures motion, video and the link. Hyper documents include not only document but also indexes for cross references its materials Kroenke and Hatch(1989). f) Interactive Video: Is atype of knowledge system, video segments integrated via a menu processing application. Interactive video application overcome on of the biggest disadvantages of video media. The requirements of sequential access instead users are presented with video segments that they can control through a menu Kroenke and Hatch(1989). 7. BENEFITS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS a) Improves service for students b) Improves services capability of faculty and staff c) Improve d effectiveness and efficiency of advising efforts. ) Improved ability to identify improvement efforts. e) Improved sharing of internal and external information to minimize redundant efforts and lessen the reporting burden f) Reduce turn around time for research. g) Facilitation of inter-disciplinary research h) Increased competitive and responsiveness for research grants, contracts and commercial opportunities. According to by Jillinda J. etl (2000) the benefit of Knowledge management in the area of research which is the key to learning especially in higher education is as outlined in table 1 below.Table 1: Application and Benefits of KM for the Research Process |Knowledge Management Application |Benefits | |A repository of: |Increased competitiveness and responsiveness for | |Research interests within an institution or at affiliated institutions (potential |research grants, contracts, and commercial | |Subcontractors). |opportunities. |Research results (where possible) and funding organizations (federal agencies, foundations, |Reduced turnaround time for research. | |and corporations) with easy search capabilities to facilitate interdisciplinary |Minimized devotion of research resources to | |opportunities. |administrative tasks. | |Commercial opportunities for research results. |Facilitation of interdisciplinary research. | |A portal for research administration procedures and best practices related to: |Leveraging of previous research and proposal | |Funding opportunities. efforts. | |Pre-populated proposals, budgets, and protocols. |Improved internal and external services and | |Proposal-routing policies and procedures. |effectiveness. | |Award notification, account setup, and negotiation policies and procedures. |Reduced administrative costs. | |Contract and grant management policies and procedures. | | |Technical and financial report templates and policies and procedures. | | |Overview of internal services, resources, and staff. | Jillinda J. etl (2000) also derived the following application and benefits of management as stated in table 2 below. Table 2: Application and Benefits of KM for the Curriculum Development Process |Knowledge Management Application |Benefits | |Repository of curriculum revision efforts that includes research conducted, effectiveness | Enhanced quality of curriculum and programs by | |measures, best practices, lessons learned, and so forth. identifying and leveraging best practices and | |Repository of content modularized and arranged to facilitate interdisciplinary curriculum |monitoring outcomes. | |design and development. |Improved speed of curriculum revision and | |Portal of information related to teaching and learning with technology, including faculty |updating. | |development opportunities, outcomes tracking, lessons learned, best practices, technology |Enhanced faculty development efforts, especially | |overviews, and so forth. for new faculty. | |â€Å"Hubs† of information in each disciplina ry area, including updated materials, recent |Improved administrative services related to | |publications, applicable research, and so forth. |teaching and learning with technology. | |Repository of pedagogy and assessment techniques, including best practices, outcomes |Improved responsiveness by monitoring and | |tracking, faculty development opportunities, and research. incorporating lessons learned from the | |Repository of analyzed student evaluations updated each semester for lessons learned and |experiences of colleagues, student evaluations, | |best practices for all faculty. |and corporate or other constituent input. | |Portal for new faculty with guides for developing curriculum, working with senior faculty, |Interdisciplinary curriculum design and | |establishing effective teaching styles, advising do’s and don’ts, supervising PhD students, |development facilitated by navigating across | |and so forth. |departmental boundaries. |Repository of corporate relati onships to identify curriculum design advisory task forces, | | |guest speakers, adjuncts, case study sites, and so forth. | | 8 CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS According to a document posted on internet by Kristy Annely (2006) Most of the challenges in knowledge management primarily stem from the types of knowledge reuse situations and purposes. Knowledge workers may produce knowledge that they themselves reuse while working.However, each knowledge re-use situation is unique in terms of requirements and context. Whenever these differences between the knowledge re-use situations are ignored, the organization faces various challenges in implementing its knowledge management practices. Some of the common challenges resulting due to this and other factors are listed below. (a) Willingness to share Knowledge: The employees may not be willing to share their personal tacit knowledge:. This call for a scheme to reward employees who add expertise to the knowledgebase . Knowledge base must be continually maintained and updated.New knowledge must be added and old, outdated knowledge must be deleted. (b) Data Accuracy: Valuable raw data generated by a particular group within an organization may need to be validated before being transformed into normalized or consistent content. (c) Data Interpretation: Information derived by one group may need to be mapped to a standard context in order to be meaningful to someone else in the organization. Data Relevancy: The quality and value of knowledge depend on relevance. Knowledge that lacks relevance simply adds complexity, cost, and risk to an organization without any compensating benefits.If the data does not support or truly answer the question being asked by the user, it requires the appropriate meta-data (data about data) to be held in the knowledge management solution. (d) Ability of the data to support/deny hypotheses: Does the information truly support decision-making? Does the knowledge management s olution include a statistical or rule-based model for the workflow within which the question is being asked? Adoption of knowledge management solutions: Do organizational cultures foster and support voluntary usage of knowledge management solutions? e) Knowledge bases tend to be very complex and large: When knowledge databases become very large and complex, it puts the organization in a fix. The organization could cleanse the system of very old files, thus diluting its own knowledge management initiative. Alternatively, it could set up another team to cleanse the database of redundant files, thus increasing its costs substantially. Apart from these, the real challenge for an organization could be to monitor various departments and ensure that they take responsibility for keeping their repositories clean of redundant files. . TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE (i) Tacit and Explicit Knowledge The distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is critical in appreciating the scope of knowledge mana gement and how it differs from information and data management. Nonaka8 refers to the spiral of knowledge where new knowledge always begins with the personal. For example, a researcher has insights that lead to a new patent. Explicit knowledge deals with more objectives, rational and technical knowledge. Consist of policies, procedures, guides, reports, products strategies, goals, core competencies and it infrastructure.Is the knowledge that has been codified (documented) in a form that can be distributed to others or transformed into a process strategy? Tacit knowledge is a cumulative store of subjective or experimental learning. In organization Tacit knowledge consists of experiences, insights, expertise, know-how, trade secrets, skills sets, understanding and learning. It also includes the organization culture, which reflects the past ans present experiences of the organization peoples and processes as well as prevailing and costly to transfer.It is also highly primal because is unstructured, it is difficult to formalize or codify Rainer etl (2009). Nonaka(1991) identifies four basic patterns for creating knowledge in any organization: (a) From Tacit to Tacit. When one individual shares tacit knowledge with another in face-to-face contact. (b) From Explicit to Explicit. When an individual combines discrete pieces of explicit knowledge into a new whole, such as a finance manager collecting and synthesizing information and opinions from different parts of the organization then putting this into a financial report.. c)From Tacit to Explicit. This extends the organization's knowledge base by codifying experience, insight, or judgment into a form which can be reused by others. (d) From Explicit to Tacit. When staff begin to internalize new or shared explicit knowledge and then use it to broaden, extend, and rethink their own tacit knowledge. 10. INTERNET AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Blogging Himanshu (2009) says blogging is a greatest source to share things on Inter net. Slowly blogging taking place of online media; in fact Blogging is now an example of online media.Many news agencies buy news from blogging companies time to time. There are enormous advantages of Blogging. Some of the advantages of blogging which enhances performance of any blogger are: Blogging brings lots of knowledge. From Word press to blogger, server to host, blogging to make money online, resources to online tutorials, bloggers get aware of all the small to big things present on the internet. Also blogging teach people to use internet resources effectively. Why Blogging is so popular Duermyer (2008) explains that Blogging is very popular today because it llows people to interact with each other. Blogging has also become a popular search engine optimization (SEO) tool because search engines like Google and Yahoo know that a blog is frequently updated with content or visitor comments, so their spiders visit blogs frequently looking for new content to include in their index. Additionally, blog content can be delivered automatically via electronic RSS (Really Simple Syndication) data feeds. Visitors subscribe to a blog's feeds in order to stay up to date with content that's being posted on subjects that interest them.Cassanova(2007) say that blog templates are coded in a way that they're well viewed by the Google's search engines. So we can consider this as an advantage since your blog will get much traffic from google if you're using his templates. He further explains that a blogger is flexible with all kind of entries like the bookmarking tools in footers and RSS subscription like FeedBurner. Blogger also allows for easy comments moderation and posts edition. However they have some Drawbacks e. g The dot blogspot subdomain can affect the image of your blog when it comes to advertisers to choose where to advertise for their products.Actually, it's not only about Blogger but it's the drawback of having a free domain name and Unlike other Blogging templa tes themes, blogspot's aren't really beautiful. You can do a better presentation with WordPress. Moreover, the columns are difficult to manipulate; you can hardly get three columns with blogspot while it's easy with wordpress.. (a) Word Press: Site ground knowledge base defines Word Press as an open source blog publishing application and can be used for basic content management: According to an article presented in the internet it is the most popular web blogging software because it provides   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Ease of use.WordPress is suitable for just about anybody – from the absolute novice to the advanced programmer. – Feature-rich interface. WordPress has a rich text editor with advanced multimedia support; – Expandable. WordPress's community distributes a large number of modules for almost any popular website feature; – It is Open Source. This means it is free to install, use and distribute WordPress on your site. (b) Face book: According to the web site p age on http://www. vfw. org Face book is a social networking service that lets you connect with friends, o-workers, and others who share similar interests or who have common backgrounds. Facebook enables users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better. Agnes(2008)says Clients or users can make groups and conversation or discussion topics. This assemblage or group can cultivate, or be gone alone to pass away, depending on the clients or users and their involvement..Facebook is a one-stop shop or supermarket for imparting blogging, media, calendaring, communicating, sharing ideas or information and others. Facebook can provide â€Å"Cooperative Extension† abilities or capabilities to work together and construct our networks in a single place by giving one pl ace without difficulty, imparting ideas or information and discuss subject or topics of interest. Face book brings jointly more than a few online apparatus. Furthermore to being capable to impart ideas or information and pictures, you can append applications few examples are: Flickr ,   del. cio. us, Twitter, your blog, news feeds to your Facebook home. (c) Youtobe: Geller(2008) defines YouTube as an online public communications site. The site allows for registered users to upload and have available for the public their videos for viewing. Anyone who goes to the site can view the videos that are posted on this site. The videos are anything from beginner videos to more professional videos. McGrath (2008) suggest using the technology (video) to capture knowledge dumps that can be prepared and stored for distribution.Face it, a video capture of someone's thoughts and actions delivered with their passion or emotion of the situation is far better (and a lot quicker) than trying to capt ure the same knowledge in writing. More specifically, he had several great ideas †¢ Use video to capture knowledge and a YouTube-type repository for storage and distribution. †¢ Use Blogs for day-to-day capture of activities and what is being worked on. †¢ Use a Wiki for collaborative projects. †¢ Use a  delicious-style tagging system for classification.McGrath's suggesting the utilization of today's most popular technologies for knowledge management purposes is strong and useful advice. (d) Wiki: According to Tech Terms Computer Dictionary (http://www. techterms. com/ ) A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is the Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit.Wikis can be used for a number o f purposes: †¢ On public Web sites to enable end users to easily contribute information. †¢ In teaching. Wikis can provide an opportunity to learn about team working, trust, etc. A good example is provided by Queen’s University Belfast . †¢ By researchers. Wikis are by Web researchers to make it easier to develop collaborative documents e. g. the FOAF Wiki . †¢ On Intranets, where departmental administrators with minimal HTML experience may be able to manage departmental content. †¢ Wikis can be used at events for note-taking e. g. in discussion groups . ) Flickr : Hendricks (2009) explains that An easy way to share videos and pictures of the people you love has brought about a social media networking site called Flickr. In a society of overwhelming social media networking sites, it is refreshing to find a website like Flickr with a specific purpose. Flickr was designed in February 2004 and has been growing since. It is in more ways than one a media s ite for the people. Members are able to upload their favorite pictures and videos to share. Some of the key features of Flickr not initially present but soon added are the abilities to separate your pictures.You can mark some as favorites, or separate them into groups. Tagging provides to be a helpful addition as well in order to keep the pictures organized and document people and dates. It is also possible to share your pictures with friends only or publicly. 11. CONCLUSION Technical education institutions are in the knowledge business, since they are involved in knowledge creation and dissemination and learning. Knowledge Management can transform technical schools to new levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and scope of operation. Through advancements in technology, data and information are readily available.The technical institutions lecturers and students able to discover and learn new measures, new technologies, and new opportunities, but this requires the ability to gather inf ormation in usable formats and disseminate knowledge to achieve the organization’s objectives. Knowledge Management can continually help discovering what an organization knows—codifying tacit knowledge, Data Mining, and Intelligence; continually increasing what the organization knows—organizational learning and communities of practice, and continually organizing and disseminating knowledge for use by the students and for research. REFERENCES Effy Oz and Andy Jones [2008] . Management Information Systems. Course Technology, Division of language learning, inc ,London. James a. O’Brien (6th Ed). [2004]. Management information system. McGray-Hill New Delhi Kenneth C Laudon and Jane P. Laudon (10th Ed) [2006]. Management Information System Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Margrette H Olson(2nd Ed) [2005] Management information systems , Tata McGraw-Hills, New York.. Nonaka, I. [1991] â€Å"he Knowledge Creating Company, Harvard Business Review, Paul Bocij Dave(3rd Ed) [2006]. Business Information System .Prentice Hall, London Kroenke and Hatch. (3rd Ed) [1989]. Management Information System McGraw-Hill. Watsonville. Raymonf McLead, Jr,( 7th d) [1998], ] Management Information System, Prentice Hall Upper New Rainer R. et al [2007]. Introduction to information systems supporting and transforming business. John wileys and sons inc. New Delhi Stuart Barnes (2nd Ed) [2002] Knowledge Management Systems Theory And Practice. Thomson learning London. Delhi . Agnes December 2, 2008. Some Advantages of Facebook. http://www. socialmediawatch. net/index. php/social-media-watch/1356/ Seth McGrath's  January 10, 2008.YouTube for Knowledge Management http://ykm. typepad. com/yerfdogs_knowledge_manage/2008/01/youtube-for-kno. html Dr. E. Scott Geller. October 15, 2007 12:57 PM. YouTube: What Is It and Why Use It? http://www. surfnetkids. com/safety/youtube_what_is_it_and_why_use_it-19026. htm Himanshu on November 5, 2009 . Top 10 greatest advantage s of Blogging http://www. blogtechnika. com/top-10-greatest-advantages-of-blogging Randy Duermyer, What is the Meaning of  Blogging? http://homebusiness. about. com/od/homebusinessglossar1/g/blogging. htm Cassanova at Wednesday,October 10, 2007, 8:59 AM    . Blogspot .. dvantages and Drawbacks http://wddc. blogspot. com/2007/10/blogspot-advantages-and-drawbacks. html Kaylee Hendrick . Jun 29, 2009. Flickr Proves Itself and its Advantages http://www. prlog. org/10270123-flickr-proves-itself-and-its-advantages. html Kristy Annely . November 09, 2006. Knowledge Management Challenges http://ezinearticles. com/? Knowledge-Management-Challenges;id=352953 Jillinda J. Kidwell, Karen M. Vander Linde, and Sandra L. Johnson. Knowledge Management Practices Applying Corporate in Higher Education http://www. unlibrary-nairobi. org/PDFs/knowledge_management1. pdf

Lynette Woodard of the Harlem Globetrotters

Lynette Woodard of the Harlem Globetrotters Lynette Woodard learned to play basketball in her childhood, and one of her heroes was her cousin Hubie Ausbie, known as Geese, who played with the Harlem Globetrotters. Woodards family and background: Born in: Wichita, Kansas on August 12, 1959.Mother: Dorothy, homemaker.Father: Lugene, fireman.Siblings: Lynette Woodard was the youngest of four siblings.Cousin: Hubie Geese Ausbie, player with the Harlem Globetrotters 1960-1984. High School Phenom and Olympian Lynette Woodard played varsity womens basketball in high school, achieving many records and helping to win two consecutive state championships. She then played for Lady Jayhawks at the University of Kansas, where she broke the NCAA womens record, with 3,649 points in four years and a 26.3 point per game average. The University retired her jersey number when she graduated, the first student so honored. In 1978 and 1979, Lynette Woodard traveled in Asia and Russia as part of national womens basketball teams. She tried out for and won a spot on the 1980 Olympic womens basketball team, but that year, the United States protested the Soviet Unions invasion of Afghanistan by boycotting the Olympics. She tried out for and was selected for the 1984 team, and was co-captain of the team as it won the gold medal. Woodards National and International Medals : Gold Medal: U.S. national team, World University Games, 1979.Gold Medal: U.S. national team, Pan-American Games, 1983.Silver Medal: U.S. national team, World Championships, 1983.Gold Medal: Los Angeles Olympics womens basketball team (co-captain), 1984.Gold Medal: U.S. national team, World Championships, 1990.Bronze Medal: U.S. national team, Pan-American Games, 1991. College and Professional Life Between the two Olympics, Woodard graduated from college, then played basketball in an industrial league in Italy. She worked briefly in 1982 at the University of Kansas. After the 1984 Olympics, she took a job at the University of Kansas with the womens basketball program. Woodards Education: Wichita North High School, varsity womens basketball.University of Kansas.B.A., 1981, speech communications and human relations.Basketball coach Marian Washington.Twice named academic All-American and four times named athletic All-American.Ranked first or second in the nation in steals, scoring, or rebounding each year. Woodard saw no opportunity to play basketball professionally in the United States. After considering her next step after college, called her cousin Geese Ausbie, wondering if the famed Harlem Globetrotters might consider a woman player. Within weeks, she received word that the Harlem Globetrotters were looking for a woman, the first woman to play for the team - and their hope to improve attendance. She won the difficult competition for the spot, though she was the oldest woman competing for the honor, and joined the team in 1985, playing on an equal basis with the men on the team through 1987. She returned to Italy and played there 1987-1989, with her team winning the national championship in 1990. In 1990, she joined a Japanese league, playing for Daiwa Securities, and helping her team win a division championship in 1992. In 1993-1995 was an athletic director for the Kansas City School District. She also played for the U.S. national teams that won the 1990 World Championships gold medal and the 1991 Pan-American Games bronze. In 1995, she retired from basketball to become a stockbroker in New York. In 1996, Woodard served on the Olympic Committees board. Woodards Honors and Achievements: All-American High School Team, womens basketball.All-American high school athlete, 1977.Wade Trophy, 1981 (best woman basketball player in U.S.)Big Eight Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) (three years).NCAA Top V Award, 1982.Womens Sports Foundation Flo Hyman Award, 1993.Legends ring, Harlem Globetrotters, 1995.Sports Illustrated for Women, 100 Greatest Women Athletes, 1999.Basketball Hall of Fame, 2002 and 2004.Womens Basketball Hall of Fame, 2005. Woodard's Continued Career Woodards retirement from basketball didnt last long. In 1997, she joined the new Womens National Basketball Association (WNBA), playing with the Cleveland Rockers and then the Detroit Shock, while maintaining her stockbroker position on Wall Street. After her second season she retired again, returning to the University of Kansas where, among her responsibilities, she was an assistant coach with her old team, the Lady Jayhawks, serving as interim head coach in 2004. She was named one of Sports Illustrateds hundred greatest women athletes in 1999. In 2005, Lynette Woodard was inducted into the Womens Basketball Hall of Fame.

American Foreign Policy and Re essays

American Foreign Policy and Re essays Broadcast journalism has been used throughout recent history to shape popular opinion about how governments deal with international issues. If we look at major historical events related to American foreign policy such as the Vietnam war, the Persian Gulf War, the war in the former Yugoslavia, or the events of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath, they can hardly be imagined without the television images carried into American (and other) homes. The American media giant has a definite impact on what Americans understand about world events and how the US government responds to them. How has this so called free press been manipulated in the last three decades of world history? Wars and political movements through out developing nations have been played out on the stage of living room televisions and have held Americans and others as a captive audience. Television is able to rivet people to their televisions for up-to-date live coverage with an unquenchable thirst. The need to know is fed with the presses ideals of the public has the right to know. Are people manipulated by the news media? One has to wonder if the political gains of the world leaders are connected to their reactions to world events, or do world events control the policy makers. Edward Bickham former special advisor to the British foreign secretary says, The power of television in foreign policy is a mixed blessing. As a medium it plays too much to the heart and too little to the head. It presents powerful emotive images, which conjure strong reactions...Anecdotes about individual suffering make compelling television, but they rarely form a good basis to make policy. Wars on television have been the main topic of a great deal of compelling news coverage. At the time of the Korean War the television industry was still in its infancy stage, therefore not much material was given to the public through this medium. Many pe...

Drawing upon general theories of transitional justice, analyse the Essay

Drawing upon general theories of transitional justice, analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Rwanda's experimental community - Essay Example Since transitional justice is interdisciplinary, it addresses several social elements and provides judicial approaches that the gacaca courts are offering in Rwanda. Rwanda’s experimental Gacaca courts are grassroots, village or community-based hearings wherein the community judges, defends as well as prosecutes individuals accused of genocide crimes1. Based on apparent outcomes of various hearings, the gacaca court system has several strengths associated with sociological, economic, cultural, and psychological benefits. Some of the economic benefits include timeliness, cost, and social drain of individuals in the prison. Besides, social relations effectively addressed by Gacaca courts include the perpetrator’s mentality or mind-set, and the general social objective of creating a unified community as well as country. However, Gacaca courts have several weaknesses, which include procurement of suspects, procedural issues, deprivation of rights of the defendant, and court legitimacy problems2. This essay will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of Rwanda’s experimental community-based gacaca courts based on general theories of transitional justice. It will consider how Rwanda incorporates truth, retributive, and reconciliatory techniques of resolving conflict to address the 1994 genocide cases. Furthermore, the significance of Gacaca courts in attaining social, economic, and political needs of post-genocide Rwanda will be analyzed. Strengths of the Gacaca Courts Economic Benefits Gacaca trials have cost-related benefits because they are carried out in the communities and neighborhoods where the offenses occurred. The community-based Gacaca courts avoid enormous overhead cost that would be incurred by the government such as court costs, utilities, housing, and transportation. Furthermore, judges of Gacaca courts are paid low wages, although lack of financial benefit among judges raises arguments concerning the effectiveness of these Rwandan c ourts. The gacaca trials do not involve lawyers or other sanctioned salaried representation for the defendant, but allows individuals in the community to represent the accused3. However, failure to involve official representation to argue for the accused has several negative aspects associated with the non-existence of due process rights. In this sense, the accused may lack fair treatment in the process. Despite these shortcomings, it is apparent that Rwanda is applying a cost-effective system to deliver justice to her immense population. This is basically attributed to Gacaca courts’ reliance on functioning of judges as members of the community, and voluntary contributions of the communities to the trials. Another economic-related strength of Gacaca courts is timeliness. The Gacaca system avoids the slow-moving process of delivering justice and costs of formal trials that would greatly drain the economy of Rwanda. It also addresses economic drain, which result from the priso n system. By disposing of the cases promptly, the Gacaca system prevents labor drain caused by imprisoned individuals who become unproductive members of the community4. Social-Relations Benefits The Rwandan society benefits on micro as well as macro levels from the gacaca courts, and its capability to consider particular sociological prototypes of perpetrators of the genocide. Most individuals accused at the Gacaca courts do not have