The Importance of Comprehensive Classroom Management

The teacher is a manger. The organization he or she manages is a group of students from diverse backgrounds and with differing skills and abilities. Some are already eager learners, while others have to be awakened to the joys and satisfactions of learning. Still others have special problems that must be dealt with effectively in order for them to learn and in order to maintain an environment conducive to learning for the whole group. It's important, first, to provide students with opportunities to learn about things that interest them and then, to find ways to introduce the learning that peaks the student's interest. If the teacher can find ways to relate the topic to the student's present experience, and provide interactive learning activities that the student can actively participate in, then the student will gain motivation. The physical environment plays a role in learning too. Some students learn better in different lighting (softer or brighter), sitting at a desk or lying on the floor, with music on or in perfect silence, in a warmer or cooler place, etc. The teacher can establish areas in the room that meet these different needs and styles of learning. Students who learn better lying down, for example, could bring mats to school that can be unrolled for study time. A small tent in the corner could provide the dimmer light some students need. A radio or CD player with earphones could be allowed during study time provided it truly helps the student to learn. The importance of reasonable rules that everyone understands can hardly be overestimated. On the first or second day of school the teacher could initiate an interactive discussion with the students about why rules are needed in the classroom. Let students share a few experiences that happened when there were no rules. Then, ask them to come up with no more than five rules for classroom behavior. They could each write down a rule or two they think is important on an index card, and the teacher could then let each person read what he/she wrote down. A list could be generated on the board. Or, they could start by brainstorming a list of every rule they can think of, then evaluate, eliminate, combine (just the word respect, for example, includes many rules), and whittle them down into three to five good rules. A student with good handwriting or an artistic bent could be chosen to make a large poster with the rules, or a bulletin board for classroom display where everybody can see it. Once the students have set their classroom rules, they are invested in them. I have tried this with grades 4-7 students, and it worked very well to establish an orderly learning environment. The students took the rules more seriously because they had had a say in setting them. It teaches democracy, too. If the students do not think of something the teacher considers important, the teacher can add it to their list and explain why. However, this is unlikely. In my experience, the student's rules tend to be very good-actually, the same rules I would have made myself, only they mean more to the students since they have developed them as a group and the rules are in their own words. Lane and Wehby (2005) report that 1% of school age children have been labeled emotionally disturbed and are receiving special education services because of it. They estimate an additional 2% to 16% of U. S. students who demonstrate anti-social behavior patterns such as defiance disorders or conduct disorders. When a student is oppositional or defiant, the teacher must be careful not to respond angrily and get into a confrontation. Teachers should be aware of their own triggers so that they can control their own behavior. This will help them to avoid a confrontation. It is best to remain calm and to diffuse the student's anger before it escalates into a crisis and/or violence. If a student refuses to do a certain task, offering an alternative choice may help, and it would be a good idea for the teacher always to have alternative tasks ready just in case-alternative activities that are still learning activities. A sense of humor may be a teacher's best defense when students are uncooperative. It is better to prevent escalation than to deal with a crisis later. One way to do this is to reinforce good behavior with praise, a smile, gesture, touch, â€Å"or a pleasant comment when they display unprompted, socially appropriate behavior† (Albin, 2003). Don't wait until students are disruptive to pay attention to them! Teachers should make the effort to notice and praise good behavior and reward it. Punishment is a negative way of dealing with problematic behavior. It may provide reinforcement for bad behavior if the reason the student is misbehaving is because he/she wants attention. If a student misbehaves because he doesn't want to do his work, and then gets sent out in the hall or to the office, then he gets what he wanted, and the bad behavior is reinforced. Rewards for positive behavior, such as time to do an activity the students loves, a toy or candy, or one-on-one time with the teacher (just to talk and visit for a few minutes) makes students happy to learn and to be in school. Punishment often produces resentment, and may make the student hate school. A student who hates school is not an eager learner, so punishment can be anti-productive (Peck & Scarpati (2005). Teachers commonly deal with difficult students by restricting them-the more intense the student's needs are, the more restriction–such as placing a child's desk toward the wall (Duhaney, 2003). However, a needs-based approach is more positive and effective and suggests recourse to greater resources. Perhaps the child needs to learn appropriate ways to handle anger and aggression, more problem-solving skills, or receive feedback for appropriate behaviors. If the child has trouble with self-control, instructional strategies could include modeling, role-play, and feedback to help him stay out of fights, solve problems, express anger appropriately, and deal with frustration. Without intervention students with or at risk for behavioral disorders are liable to experience many negative outcomes both in school and outside such as impaired social relationships, academic underachievement, and discipline problems (Lane, Wehby, & Barton-Arwood, 2005). Social skills interventions have been used and evaluated for more than 25 years, but their efficacy continues to be questioned. Researchers suggest that social skills training makes only a modest impact; however, most educators agree that not doing anything is worse. The ability to adapt and modify instruction is crucial to effectively educating these children. Before starting an intervention, it would be wise to gather information about the student, such as why, where and when he uses the particular behavior. Identify what social, affective, cultural, or contextual elements might be at work, and analyze the information. List the specific behaviors and describe where when and with whom the behavior is likely to occur. What consequences are usually administered? Keep anecdotal records so you can look for patterns and what triggers the behavior. Then figure out what strategies might be effective to avoid the behavior; for example, teach self-talk to students who are impulsive and organize the classroom environment to help hyperactive students. Consider making a contract with the student. Develop personal schedules for students who have difficulty making good use of their time. Consider implementing a token economy in which the teacher systematically awards or withdraws tokens or points for appropriate or inappropriate behavior. The student can redeem the tokens for something he wants such as privileges, desired activities, or food. Conflict resolution is a way to help students express their feelings and communicate better with others. We tend to see conflict as negative because of the disruption it causes in the classroom; however, conflict is neither good nor bad but simply a fact of life. According to Vollmer, Drook and Harned (1999) â€Å"Learning through social conflict is important to all human development† (p. 122). As children develop cognitive reasoning skills, they begin to see that others have perspectives, needs, and desires too. Early training with role plays and simulations will help them develop the social skills they need to maintain relationships. Students can be taught a process for resolution of conflict. One way is to use a large visual of a traffic light which shows the steps to conflict resolution and includes the words Cool down and Ground Rules (RED), Tell your side and Listen (YELLOW), and Brainstorm and Ideas (GREEN). A turn arrow at the bottom has the words Choose solution, and do it and Shake hands. Teachers report that students take more responsibility and often initiate conflict-resolution strategies on their own after learning and practicing this system (Vollmer, Drook & Harned, 1999, p. 124). The teacher should provide a quiet place in the room where students can work things out when they have a conflict. Once they have mastered a structured routine for conflict management, it will be unnecessary for the teacher to get involved. Classroom management is a challenge that requires the teacher to put his or her heart into it. An ancient Chinese proverb states that a student only learns from a teacher who loves home. In other words, a child needs to feel accepted and that the teacher cares about him or her. All children have basic needs–physical needs, safety needs, and social needs–that must be met before they can feel free to learn and develop to their true potential. If their needs are met and a positive learning environment is created, they will learn and be eager to participate. Therefore, the teacher's goal should be, not to fill their heads with specific information, but to make learning possible in a calm, structured, safe, and flexible environment and help them gain the skills to go after knowledge. The Importance of Comprehensive Classroom Management The teacher is a manger. The organization he or she manages is a group of students from diverse backgrounds and with differing skills and abilities. Some are already eager learners, while others have to be awakened to the joys and satisfactions of learning. Still others have special problems that must be dealt with effectively in order for them to learn and in order to maintain an environment conducive to learning for the whole group. It's important, first, to provide students with opportunities to learn about things that interest them and then, to find ways to introduce the learning that peaks the student's interest. If the teacher can find ways to relate the topic to the student's present experience, and provide interactive learning activities that the student can actively participate in, then the student will gain motivation. The physical environment plays a role in learning too. Some students learn better in different lighting (softer or brighter), sitting at a desk or lying on the floor, with music on or in perfect silence, in a warmer or cooler place, etc. The teacher can establish areas in the room that meet these different needs and styles of learning. Students who learn better lying down, for example, could bring mats to school that can be unrolled for study time. A small tent in the corner could provide the dimmer light some students need. A radio or CD player with earphones could be allowed during study time provided it truly helps the student to learn. The importance of reasonable rules that everyone understands can hardly be overestimated. On the first or second day of school the teacher could initiate an interactive discussion with the students about why rules are needed in the classroom. Let students share a few experiences that happened when there were no rules. Then, ask them to come up with no more than five rules for classroom behavior. They could each write down a rule or two they think is important on an index card, and the teacher could then let each person read what he/she wrote down. A list could be generated on the board. Or, they could start by brainstorming a list of every rule they can think of, then evaluate, eliminate, combine (just the word respect, for example, includes many rules), and whittle them down into three to five good rules. A student with good handwriting or an artistic bent could be chosen to make a large poster with the rules, or a bulletin board for classroom display where everybody can see it. Once the students have set their classroom rules, they are invested in them. I have tried this with grades 4-7 students, and it worked very well to establish an orderly learning environment. The students took the rules more seriously because they had had a say in setting them. It teaches democracy, too. If the students do not think of something the teacher considers important, the teacher can add it to their list and explain why. However, this is unlikely. In my experience, the student's rules tend to be very good-actually, the same rules I would have made myself, only they mean more to the students since they have developed them as a group and the rules are in their own words. Lane and Wehby (2005) report that 1% of school age children have been labeled emotionally disturbed and are receiving special education services because of it. They estimate an additional 2% to 16% of U. S. students who demonstrate anti-social behavior patterns such as defiance disorders or conduct disorders. When a student is oppositional or defiant, the teacher must be careful not to respond angrily and get into a confrontation. Teachers should be aware of their own triggers so that they can control their own behavior. This will help them to avoid a confrontation. It is best to remain calm and to diffuse the student's anger before it escalates into a crisis and/or violence. If a student refuses to do a certain task, offering an alternative choice may help, and it would be a good idea for the teacher always to have alternative tasks ready just in case-alternative activities that are still learning activities. A sense of humor may be a teacher's best defense when students are uncooperative. It is better to prevent escalation than to deal with a crisis later. One way to do this is to reinforce good behavior with praise, a smile, gesture, touch, â€Å"or a pleasant comment when they display unprompted, socially appropriate behavior† (Albin, 2003). Don't wait until students are disruptive to pay attention to them! Teachers should make the effort to notice and praise good behavior and reward it. Punishment is a negative way of dealing with problematic behavior. It may provide reinforcement for bad behavior if the reason the student is misbehaving is because he/she wants attention. If a student misbehaves because he doesn't want to do his work, and then gets sent out in the hall or to the office, then he gets what he wanted, and the bad behavior is reinforced. Rewards for positive behavior, such as time to do an activity the students loves, a toy or candy, or one-on-one time with the teacher (just to talk and visit for a few minutes) makes students happy to learn and to be in school. Punishment often produces resentment, and may make the student hate school. A student who hates school is not an eager learner, so punishment can be anti-productive (Peck & Scarpati (2005). Teachers commonly deal with difficult students by restricting them-the more intense the student's needs are, the more restriction–such as placing a child's desk toward the wall (Duhaney, 2003). However, a needs-based approach is more positive and effective and suggests recourse to greater resources. Perhaps the child needs to learn appropriate ways to handle anger and aggression, more problem-solving skills, or receive feedback for appropriate behaviors. If the child has trouble with self-control, instructional strategies could include modeling, role-play, and feedback to help him stay out of fights, solve problems, express anger appropriately, and deal with frustration. Without intervention students with or at risk for behavioral disorders are liable to experience many negative outcomes both in school and outside such as impaired social relationships, academic underachievement, and discipline problems (Lane, Wehby, & Barton-Arwood, 2005). Social skills interventions have been used and evaluated for more than 25 years, but their efficacy continues to be questioned. Researchers suggest that social skills training makes only a modest impact; however, most educators agree that not doing anything is worse. The ability to adapt and modify instruction is crucial to effectively educating these children. Before starting an intervention, it would be wise to gather information about the student, such as why, where and when he uses the particular behavior. Identify what social, affective, cultural, or contextual elements might be at work, and analyze the information. List the specific behaviors and describe where when and with whom the behavior is likely to occur. What consequences are usually administered? Keep anecdotal records so you can look for patterns and what triggers the behavior. Then figure out what strategies might be effective to avoid the behavior; for example, teach self-talk to students who are impulsive and organize the classroom environment to help hyperactive students. Consider making a contract with the student. Develop personal schedules for students who have difficulty making good use of their time. Consider implementing a token economy in which the teacher systematically awards or withdraws tokens or points for appropriate or inappropriate behavior. The student can redeem the tokens for something he wants such as privileges, desired activities, or food. Conflict resolution is a way to help students express their feelings and communicate better with others. We tend to see conflict as negative because of the disruption it causes in the classroom; however, conflict is neither good nor bad but simply a fact of life. According to Vollmer, Drook and Harned (1999) â€Å"Learning through social conflict is important to all human development† (p. 122). As children develop cognitive reasoning skills, they begin to see that others have perspectives, needs, and desires too. Early training with role plays and simulations will help them develop the social skills they need to maintain relationships. Students can be taught a process for resolution of conflict. One way is to use a large visual of a traffic light which shows the steps to conflict resolution and includes the words Cool down and Ground Rules (RED), Tell your side and Listen (YELLOW), and Brainstorm and Ideas (GREEN). A turn arrow at the bottom has the words Choose solution, and do it and Shake hands. Teachers report that students take more responsibility and often initiate conflict-resolution strategies on their own after learning and practicing this system (Vollmer, Drook & Harned, 1999, p. 124). The teacher should provide a quiet place in the room where students can work things out when they have a conflict. Once they have mastered a structured routine for conflict management, it will be unnecessary for the teacher to get involved. Classroom management is a challenge that requires the teacher to put his or her heart into it. An ancient Chinese proverb states that a student only learns from a teacher who loves home. In other words, a child needs to feel accepted and that the teacher cares about him or her. All children have basic needs–physical needs, safety needs, and social needs–that must be met before they can feel free to learn and develop to their true potential. If their needs are met and a positive learning environment is created, they will learn and be eager to participate. Therefore, the teacher's goal should be, not to fill their heads with specific information, but to make learning possible in a calm, structured, safe, and flexible environment and help them gain the skills to go after knowledge.

Computer Science Essay

Internet Information Services (ISS) has become one of the mostly used technologies in the Information Systems to handle Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests. However, hackers have greatly targeted these IIS. Moreover, some viruses such as the Nimbda and Code Red have caused severe damages on IIS servers. This paper highlights on the various steps which IIS administrators ought to put into consideration in order to ascertain security for their corporations’ IIS servers by locking down their IIS web servers. Securing the IIS Web Servers The IIS is used to create, manage and secure websites and is included in the Windows New Technology Operating Systems. To ensure that the IIS server is secured, firstly, the IIS administrator must make sure that he has the system installed with latest updated service pack and the most current IIS packets. Additionally, other packets that are necessary for Windows 2000 must also be availed. In order to maintain the server operating steadily, the administrator has to register for the automatic security updates. Afterwards, the HiSecWeb package has to be unpacked in order to configure the computer well for IIS security. The IIS configuration settings are located in metabase, which is a data storage area. The metabase has a hierarchical organization structure, which depicts the IIS installation structure. After successful installation of the latest updated operating system and the IIS, the process of securing then gets on the move. This process begins at the network layer (Novick, 2010). In order to lock the network, the router, firewall and switch have to be configured to specifically allow external networks’ traffic pass to the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port. In the web server’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, the TCP is port 80 but when using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL), it is port 443. This configuration, though not complicated, bars the attack of the web server by any malicious external intruders. Securing the network only protects the web server. Therefore and as aforementioned, after testing the security updates of the operating system and the IIS patches, automatic updates is scheduled. In adding security and removing vulnerabilities to the IIS application, the administrator has to rename, disable or delete the IUSR account and recreate it. The IUSR account refers to an anonymous user in the web. For faster and straightforward securing of this account, the IIS Lockdown Tool, which is a product from Microsoft, is run. This tool uses the New Technology (NT) and IIS existing facilities in protecting the IIS server from the earlier mentioned viruses and other known and mysterious attacks. The use of this tool qualifies the account to become a member of the local group of the web anonymous users. Moreover, the Lockdown tool involuntarily dispenses the web anonymous users’ local group Deny Write or Deny Execute authorizations to the corporation’s directories on the web. Likewise, adding these group users to be members of the local group will give the same results. UrlScan Security tool is also found within the Lockdown tool and it helps, in conjunction with the former tool, in eliminating web extensions that are considered to be dangerous and of no consequence and checking any attempts to run EXE, IDA and HTA file extensions that are restricted. Furthermore, they put a ceiling on the HTTP request types to be processed by the IIS server (Novick, 2010). Disabling socket pooling also plays a pivotal role in IIS securing. The technique of connection pooling allows many sites to share TCP sockets. Consequently, disabling this enhancement will ensure that the IIS server is not in a position run services that are using ports with similar port numbers. Since the socket pooling option is by default enabled, the administrator renders it inoperative by configuring the DiasbleSocketPooling, an option in the llisWebServer classes and llsWebService. The IIS web server can further be secured by implementing various logon methods by applying basic authentication realms. For instance, web server user privileges. This strategy assigns a user name and password that ensures only the users having them are the ones who can physically access the server. Another logon procedure is the use of password pass through. The server only authenticates the user after having entered his/her credentials which have to be entered for each subsequent page in the web (Kozicki, 2003). To further the security of the server, an encryption connection may also be used. However, this option of securing the IIS server has some loopholes since the username and the password are passed over the internet in each log in thus becomes exposed to hackers. Therefore, in order to increase the security levels of the IIS server, modification can be made. These include employment of authentication methods that are interactive, application authentication and authentication of the network that has the capability to preserve the user credentials. Since IIS servers are highly exposed to public internet, the IIS security checklist provided by Microsoft is also reliable. This provides an extensive security function to the server through the numerous steps of installation and application settings for maximum functionality. However, most of the implementation procedures and steps are more or less similar to those of the UrlScan and the IIS Lockdown tool.

Affirmative action in the workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Affirmative action in the workplace - Essay Example This does not mean that they are handed over positions without qualification. They are qualified similar to the men but because of the marginalization and historical differences, they are not regarded as equal to the others and they therefore lack representation. The affirmative action that will be focused on this essay is that of gender in the workplace. One of the advantages of having affirmative action is that women get to have their fair share of representation in higher positions of power and decision making. This leads to the issues that are specific to females only to be addressed. The voices of women are now also heard which was not the case in the past. In having their voices heard and considered, the other women in the workplace can be sure that they will no longer be ignored but will have equality with the men. Women face their own shares of issues and especially those that have families. They will have small children that require being looked after and not all can afford to hire nannies or put them in day care system. This group of women may require having a room set aside in the workplace as a play area fort the children. This will allow the women to bring their children to work and get to monitor them throughout the day as well. For those breastfeeding, they should be allowed a nursing room to breastfeed their children or milk the breast milk with privacy. This is not something that men understand and hence can only be brought forward and campaigned by a many women voices to be addressed for increased productivity. When the workplace has diversity in terms of almost equal number of men and women, it is likely to attract more investors and customers and especially those who support feminism. This will not only increase business and productivity but will provide a higher chance of opening up other branches even globally and spread the idea of affirmative action (Estlund 147). Women provide a nurturing

Imperialism Dialogue (see instructions) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Imperialism Dialogue (see instructions) - Essay Example You can see that minority populations face at the hands of our government on the basis of imperialism and they have endured for centuries (Zwick 59). We can become a support for them by enabling them to gain freedom. The people of Philippines and black Americans should not be subjugated; they must have their own lives (Zwick 56). I am against President McKinley’s policies that are imperialist. As far as I am concerned, I do not feel at all that I am anti-imperialist, as I believe that people can be controlled by the help of some governance that is strict. We are responsible for the minorities and it is our duty to give them protection whether it is possible with imperialism or any other way (Bartleby.com 2010). We have conquered the land of Philippines and its people have come under our control. Now, they require our support for their defense. Our national strength lies in the fact that United States of America is an imperialist state (Bartleby.com 2010). United States can become a better state if it handles the islands that surround it as the people that live there are in need of our assistance and support. We as world power have a natural right over controlling the minorities according to our own interest. Mark Twain: Well, I believe that every person in this world has a natural right to live his own life with his own will and with full freedom. We conquered Philippines but we have no right to redeem its people (Titta 1997). Theodore Roosevelt: Mr. Twain, you are highly mistaken my dear. Ruling over the world is not an easy task and countries cannot gain world power if we give freedom to everyone (Bartleby.com 2010). As a nationalist, we have to see the interests of our own state and land. Mark Twain: But, this is colonialism and we are subjugating people only for our own interest. As human beings, we are not authorized to allocate people as superior or inferior. I do not say that we should not fight these people

Before and After School Care Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Before and After School Care Program - Essay Example Before and After School Care Program At present, many parents are able to give care to their children before going to school and after coming home from school. However, due to the financial crises that have been hitting the country for a long time, the number of children whose parents are both working to fulfill financial needs of the family, including single parents that also work, has increased up to 62% (Theobald, 2000). This shift also caused the changes in the people who interact and care for children, and mostly these are non-family members such as nannies or baby-sitters, school teachers, child care center workers and before- and after-school care providers (Sonenstein, Gates, Schmidt, & Bolshun, 2002). The before- and after-school programs provided education and care for children in an effective way so that parents would be able to work and add to the financial stability of the family, and for the children to have an enhanced development of their social and academic statuses (Blau & Currie, 2006). It was also reported that such programs that were designed to provide adult supervision to children by as much as two hours a day on average, depending on the age of the child. These activities are seen as extra-curricular activities that provide enrichment to a child’s development (Kleiner, Nolin, & Chapman, 2004). While most young and preschool children are sent to public day care centers or made prior arrangements to schools for extra-curricular activities by their parents, some companies also started offering child day care centers and other before- and after-school programs for working parents’ children, for their peace of mind during work hours (Working Mother, 2003). Companies are also able to assist working parents of school-aged children by providing flexible work hours and even working at home in order for them to be able to both work for financial stability as well as to be able to supervise their children’s growth and developme nt. Another example on how companies are able to help working parents is by providing parental leave privileges for those who just had a baby either by birth or through adoption. Such benefits offered by the employers not only increase the morale of their employees, but also gives the company a good public image, which in turn could increase their workforce and decrease worker turnover (US Department of Labor, 1994). An example of a company that gives its parent employees a chance to work for longer hours with less hassle is Intermedics Co., whom in 1979 built and opened a high-quality child care center in Freeport, TX. Even if there is a charge of $15 a week for full-time child care, the job turnover rates decreased up to 37% and the reduced absenteeism resulted in the company saving more than $2 million for the first two years (US Department of Labor, 1994). Some companies do not provide child care services, but are able to assist their working parent- employees through other mean s. A center for mildly ill children named Chicken Soup collaborated with employers in such a way that employees who brought in their children to the center instead of letting them stay at home were still able to go to work due to the proximity of the center to the workplace. Absenteeism was reduced and the employers were able to save up to 85% of the cost of having an absent employee (US Department of

Metaphysics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Metaphysics - Assignment Example To them, everything that exists in the universe is religious, and every place is home. With the power of positive thinking, Metaphysicians believers floated in the universal space (Albanese, 185). They live in a mental world with fluid boundaries hence can float from place to place with no hindrance whatsoever. Metaphysicians are also referred to homestead of the mind by the author because one of its philosophies is creating a community amidst strangers (Albanese,203). They believe in religious combination. For example, in the 20th century when the children of the highway divorce court were looking for refuge, most found refuge in the communion experience provided by the divine mind through a divine spark. This mindset of peoplehood, metaphysical believes in seeking union with the universal being. According to their teachings, universalism has been a condition of living as well as a condition of mind. At some point, these believers formulated mental homestead to replace the physical community that they cannot find (Albanese 98). They have created a Metaphysical belief in a mental landscape, because, according to their doctrine, the real world exists in the mind or in the world. Metaphysician’s world was made concrete by ritual based on religion and magic. In conclusion, the author titled on Metaphysics as Homestead of the mind because, the region mainly focus on the functioning of the mind as a saving force. The mind to them comprise of everything. Both spiritualism (thoughts) and material (occult) powers are found in the mind. Thus, the mind has powers to do virtually

Angels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Angels - Essay Example Indeed the angels have been major guiding forces through the ages and they have remained an intrinsic part of my life from the childhood. I do agree with the author that angels do exist and influence our decision in issues and events in our daily life. While they may not come as fairies and bright lights or even people with halos, the voice of our conscience at critical hour, could be construed as the voice of the angels who want us to take the right path and correct decision. The subtle ways in which people are forewarned of dire consequences greatly reinforce the presence of some super power in our life and calling them by angels would not be incorrect, especially when our religious mythology has called them as messengers of God. My belief in the angels has not mellowed with growing up because I still believe that angels have come to me whenever I have been in difficult situations, in the form of friends, relative or even stranger who have come forward and guided me to safety and right path. In my acquaintance, I don’t have people who have unbiblical ideas about angels though, some of them may not believe in the existence of guardian angels. I do believe that angels are someone who want us to fight against the evil forces that might come in different forms, shapes and means. That is the reason that the new age angels have taken the form of Harry Potter, Sabrina, the witch etc. The media is abound with the tales of heroes that have fought the death traps and conquered the destructive forces that have come to harm the people and threatened the existence of this world. The children are greatly attracted to such serials and show because somewhere deep within them, they believe that good people will overpower the evil forces. These shows are successful primarily because they confirm the beliefs of the children. The scriptures of various religions have one common belief and that is that there is some super power which takes care

Calculus project Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Calculus project - Lab Report Example Q2. A scalar quantity can be either negative or zero or positive. This depends on choice of the reference point or zero point. Choice of reference or zero comes from convention and / or convenience. Suppose someone is conduction an experiment and observing some change with time; then he can choose zero time as per his convenience and there is nothing that can bar his choice of zero or reference point for time, if some choice of zero reference point is offering him some convenience in formulating some equation or like that he is free to choose it. Once he has assigned some zero or reference point for time, the time corresponding to all the preceding events becomes zero. In fact we write 1999 AD which is nothing but +1999 year and similarly a date like 530 BC is as good as -530 years. Similarly, another scalar quantity temperature is often measured in negative with melting point of ice being 0o Celsius and all the temperatures below it being negative temperatures. Similarly one can find many instances where scalar quantities are have negative values. Q3. A vector quantity is formed by vector addition of its components. Therefore, if any of the components has a non-zero magnitude the vector will also have a non-zero magnitude. So it is not possible to have a vector of zero magnitude if one of its components is not zero. However, under some operations, in which the magnitude of the resultant depends not only on the magnitude of the individual vectors but on the angle between the two vectors as well; one can get a resultant of zero magnitude. This is illustrated below. This means resultant of two vectors with unequal magnitude can be zero under scalar product provided the two vectors are mutually perpendicular. Physically work done by a force is zero if the displacement caused by it is normal to its direction. This means resultant of two vectors with unequal magnitude can be

Thermodynamics Laws and Life Essay Example for Free

Thermodynamics Laws and Life Essay Introduction The universe is governed by the laws of thermodynamics. In other words, it affects the everyday lives of human beings. Every moment   a man exists, performs his daily activities or interacts with objects around him like every time he walks or drives a car or turn on an air conditioner, or use an electrical appliance, he   reap the practical benefits of thermodynamics (Sonntag 223). According to Sonntag in his book Fundamentals of Physics, â€Å"one excellent definition of thermodynamics is that it is the science of energy and entropy†. Another good definition would be that thermodynamics is the science that deals with heat and work and the properties of substance that bear a relation to heat and work†. As I understand it, thermodynamics had something to with anything that involves the use and transfer heat or energy, and the resulting work it produces. This means that without heat or energy then there would be no work to be performed. And when work is absent then there would be no human existence for life is closely tied with activities. Like all sciences, thermodynamics was established based on experimental observation. Out of this experiments evolved the three laws of thermodynamics (Sonntag 16). The Laws of Thermodynamics First law of Thermodynamics The first law of thermodynamics is often called the Law of Conservation of Energy which states that â€Å"energy cannot be created nor destroyed†. Furthermore, this law suggests that since energy cannot be created or destroyed it is merely transferred from one system to another in many forms. In other words, there is an idea of energy conversion like from heat energy to mechanical energy.   Because energy is not created or destroyed, in the universe as a closed system the amount of energy available is constant (there is no addition or subtraction of energy) . Energy is usually introduced into a system and from thereon undergoes energy transformation to perform some functions(Young 534-536) . In relating to life, a good example would be when a man takes in food (introduction of energy to the body through calorie), heat energy in the form of calorie is transform into chemical energy by his cells which in turn is transform into a mechanical energy so that a man is able to perform physical activities like walking, dancing or talking.   Man by his own self cannot create his own energy (he needs to eat to get energy) and that this energy through bodily processes is transform within his body to enable him to perform some bodily functions. What the first law actually is trying to say is that man just cannot get something out of nothing like he just cannot survive without first eating some amount of food; otherwise he will just fell dead. If only man can create his own energy then he does not need to eat. In the same way, the survival of other living things depend on getting energy from outside sources, for example plants need the energy of the sun for photosynthesis. For objects, in order for it to function, like for a plane in order for it to fly it needs the heat of combustion of its fuel to do work in propelling the plane (Young 534). Second law of Thermodynamics While the first law deals with the conservation of energy, the second law tells of the direction of conservation. In other words, how or where energy transformation normally proceeds. The second law settles the question why when you put ice into a hot cup of tea, heat will flow from the hot tea to the cold ice and melt the ice in the beloved beverage illustrating the unalterable reality that heat cannot be transferred from a colder to a hotter body. It is because natural processes that involve energy transfer must have one direction, and all natural processes are irreversible. That is why, man as human being that makes use of many bodily energy conversions can never go back to being an infant but must proceed to old age.   Or that a machine will go from new to old, it depreciates and lowers in value.   In a sense, the second law puts limitations into how heat conversion is achieved in real life. The second law further states that the direction of thermodynamic processes is more towards from an order to a disorder state or entropy. Entropy is the measure of the disorder or randomness of energy and matter in a system, the higher is a disorder the greater is the entropy. That is why in hot and cold bodies the process proceeds from hot to cold because adding heat to a body increases its disorder because â€Å"it increases average molecular speeds and therefore the randomness of molecular motion†(Young 574).   In other aspects, it is clear now why it is easy to mess up than to clean, and that the greater are the things present the messier it is. According to Young in his book University Physics, in a natural   irreversible isolated system (one that does no work on its surroundings) entropy is always increasing, or the degree of disorder increases with time( Young 541 and579) . This can be illustrated by man getting old. Although some scientific researches had created formulas to make man look younger than his age, this only controls the pace of his getting old, but eventually man had to surrender to the irreversible natural process of body deterioration that will lead to old age and ultimately death. As man increased in age, his body weakens, his cells degenerate and eventually he dies. And when a body decays and die it cannot be renewed again and bring back to life but it will rot on the grave . What the second law of thermodynamics is saying is that there are some things that I cannot control from happening for it is a natural process that needs or must occur and when it did occur it is impossible to undo. This reminds me in some sense of where man is heading in life. He always go towards the future and leaves behind a past. What happened in the past he can never undo for he can never go back to the past. That direction will be forever close to him no matter how much energy he is willing to spend to retraced back to that road. Critics in the biological evolution however, claimed that the theory of evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics, since evolution involves simple life forms developing on their own into more complex, more highly ordered organisms. But living things are not closed systems because they can interact with outside sources of energy like the sun and it has been shown â€Å"that energy and/or mass flow through a system can constrain it far from equilibrium, resulting in an increase in order†.   The organizing ‘work† is then primarily carried on by metabolic motor of DNA, enzymes, etc(  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ). Third law of Thermodynamics The third law touches on reaching a state of absolute zero (oK) or to avoid entropy by making temperature equals to zero.   At absolute zero the system has a minimum total internal energy (kinetic plus potential). This can only happen if all energy and matter are randomly distributed in space eradicating all thermal motion( Young 574). This however will never occur unless perhaps in few extraordinary, carefully-engineered situations. The third law of thermodynamics reinforced the fact that in life there are things that are unattainable and accepting this reality is a much better idea than to fight the laws of life. Conclusion The laws of thermodynamics just clearly put into much clearer terms the laws of life. Since thermodynamics is a science that deals with energy and energy transformations as well as the resulting work it produces, it has practical applications in life for life is an active use of energy. First law is a conservation of energy which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed meaning that energy is already in existence and needs only to be applied to a system, example a human system, in various forms to benefit life. The second law states that in a natural process there is a direction from which the conservation follows and this is usually to a more disordered state (entropy). The third law just simply states that if absolute zero is reached then entropy will be zero, but such is an impossible occurrence.       References Isaak, Mark. Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution. The Talk Origins Archive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   October 1, 2003. Retrieved December 3, 2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.talkorigins.org/faq/faq-misconceptions.html Sonntag, Richard E. and Claus Borgnakke. Fundamentals of Thermodynamics, 5th ed. New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1998. Young, Hugh D. and Roger A. Freedman. University Physics, Vol. 1. 9th ed. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1996.

Calcutta University Essay Example for Free

Calcutta University Essay It is a great pleasure for one who engages oneself in writing a preface of this nature relating to a noble cause – cause of spreading education in a region suffering from many shortcomings in the field of higher education. North Bengal as a region is full of rich social systems with diversified cultural heritage and only through proper educational facilities can these sociocultural diversities be made known to other parts of this country. With this definite purpose in view, our University started imparting higher education through the Distance Education mode – a mode hitherto unpractised and untested. As the seat for higher learning in this vast region, is well aware of its social commitment – commitment to reach every nook and corner with the lamp of education. We believe and it is admitted that Universities and other Educational Institution should play the role of a catalyst for social change which is again dependent on large scale participation of the young people in the policy formulation process, may be directly or indirectly. In fact, with this end in view, the University decided and decided rightly, to open the door of higher education to the lakhs of young but aspiring people in this region. It is really heartening to note that the response the University has received and is receiving is simply overwhelming. It shows that the decision of offering education through Distance Education mode is not only justified but also relevant. Distance Education programme which is being carried through the Directorate of Distance Education, University of North Bengal cannot be successful without the support and cooperation from all sections of the population. Such an enterprise by University runs on a reciprocal basis – a reciprocity which can build a solid foundation in this respect. The University should be considered as a rallying point around which all the education loving people of different cross section of the society should come closer. The enterprise is loaded with ambition – the idea of making a brighter tomorrow. What is needed is the application of collective wisdom and in this respect, our region does not, in any way, lag behind. Sincere effort and dedication will ultimately win. Prof. Pradip Kumar Sengupta Director 5 6 TH E C O LLEG E STU D Y C EN TR ES Balurghat College Distance Education Centre P. O. Balurghat, Dt. Dakshin Dinajpur, PIN – 733 101 Co-ordinator Shri Purushottam Haldar, Department Of Chemistry Phone – (03522) 255392 (O)/ 257521 (R) Jalpaiguri A. C. College Distance Education Centre P. O. Dt. Jalpaiguri, PIN – 735 101 Co-ordinator Dr. Dhiraj Kumar Basak, Reader in Physics Phone – (03561) 255554 (O), 255861 (R) Kurseong College Distance Education Centre P. O. Kurseong, Dt. Darjeeling, PIN – 734 203 Co-ordinator Sri Rohit Sharma, Senior Lecturer in Commerce Phone – (0354)2344223(O), 2330196 (R). Malda College Distance Education Centre P.O. Dt. Malda, PIN – 732 101 Co-ordinator Md. Jafrullah, Selection Grade Lecturer in Accountancy Phone – (03512) 220807 (O), 250175 (R) Raiganj College (University College) Distance Education Centre P. O. Raiganj, Dt. Uttar Dinajpur, PIN – 733 134 Co-ordinator Dr. Chinmoy Basu, Reader in Physics Phone – (03523) 252564 (O), 253733 (R) Siliguri College Distance Education Centre P. O. Siliguri, Dt. Darjeeling, PIN – 734 401 Co-ordinator Prof. Mrinal Kanti Ghosh, Reader in Physics Phone – (0353) 2436590 (O), 2512770 (R) University B. T. Evening College Distance Education Centre P. O. Dt. Cooch Behar, PIN – 736 101 Co-ordinator Sri Aniruddha Burmon, Lecturer in English Phone – (03582) 222714 (O), 226729 (R) Dambar Singh Degree College, Gangtok, Sikkim Sri Suresh Chettri, Lecturer in -charge Phone- (03592) 281743 7 1. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL : The University of North Bengal was established by an Act of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in November 1962 and affiliated to the University Grants Commission under section 2(f) 12(B). It was assigned the mandate during the course of its establishment of providing teaching, training and research in various branches of advanced learning and promoting the dissemination of knowledge to fulfill growing socioeconomic and technical manpower needs in the six northern districts of West Bengal known as North Bengal and the neighbouring state of Sikkim. The campus occupies an area of about 330 acres, 9 km outside Siliguri Town, the gate way of North East India and Bagdogra Airport, the only Air Port in North Bengal in the Terai region of Darjeeling district. The University Act was revised under West Bengal Act of XXV of 1981 and it came into force with effect from September 16, 1981. The University has played a pioneering role since inception in spreading higher education and inculcating scientific attitudes within the predominantly rural areas that comprise its vast jurisdictional territory. Well over 36,000 undergraduate students and over 1500 postgraduate students and scholars now enroll at different courses under the formal system of the University during any given year. Besides the territory under its immediate jurisdiction, the University also gets students and scholars from adjoining areas in Bihar and the North Eastern states of the country, as also from SAARC countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Several pioneering contributions made by researchers at the university have contributed to wider understanding of the special problems that confront the Eastern Himalayan and sub-Himalayan region and have provided practical inputs for current developmental interventions in the region. The University offers courses in various disciplines under the faculties of Arts, Commerce Law, Science and in Medicine through its 73 Under Graduate Colleges including Engineering, Pharmacy, Medicine, Dentistry, Management and 21 Post Graduate Departments and 12 Centres. A part from the traditional programmes, the University has played a pioneering role in launching various professional job-related courses to help students interested in acquiring special skills to enhance their learning and earning capabilities. Besides the University is also offering various courses under the Distance Education mode to cater to the needs of further education of thousands of deserving students, particularly in remote areas through its Directorate of Distance Education. 2. THE DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION : The Directorate of Distance Education of the University of North Bengal was established in the year 2000 by a decision of the Executive Council of the University. It has introduced M. A. / M. Sc. / Bridge Courses in Bengali, 8 English, Nepali, History, Political Science, Philosophy and Mathematics under the Distance Education mode. It has also introduced B. A. (General) course at the Under Graduate level under the same mode. So far the Directorate has developed College Study Centres (see section 5 for details) in any one of which a candidate can pursue distance learning according to his/ her convenience. 3. OBJECTIVES OF THE DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES : The main objective of the Distance Education is to widen the base of higher education among students who do not get opportunities to avail such education in the formal sector through admission as regular students in a University. Distance Learning or teaching through Distance Education courses is now a popular mode. It is recognized as an effective method of instruction in all advanced countries of the world. In the fast developing socio-economic milieu of today, educational facilities need constant refurbishing and augmentation. It is now acknowledged by the academics of all shades that it is learning, which is important, and not the channel or the process through which one gets enrolled for education. The educational system in India has been transforming from time to time taking into consideration the socio- political needs and economic conditions of the society. Although the contribution to several of branches of learning by the conventional educational system cannot be underestimated, the fact remains that education through the formal mode is accessible only to a few. The distance or open educational system has become an alternative mode of imparting instruction and has been meeting the demand for education of millions of people at different levels. It is an effort not only to solve the problem of over crowding in our educational institutions but also to equip the community with tools and skills to gain professional competence. However, every system has its own limitations and similarly every branch of study can not be opened through its system. Realizing the importance of the system the University of North Bengal has opened up its gate to this system of study to selected branches of disciplines at the PostGraduate level only at the initial stage. Later on it has introduced the same at Under-Graduate level within the given constraints. It may be noted that the Government of West Bengal has issued Order/ Notifications to the effect that Degrees obtained through Distance Education/ Correspondence modes shall be treated on a par with those in the formal/regular modes. The University Grants Commission has also recognized this course on a par with regular courses. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ENROLMENT: B. A. (General) : Any person having passed Higher Secondary (10+2) or equivalent examination from any recognized Board/ Council of Higher Education are eligible for enrolment provided he/she has obtained qualifying marks in each of minimum five subjects. The enrolled students shall be eligible to appear at the Part I/ II examination in the year corresponding to the regular students. A candidate securing at least 30% marks at the B. A. Part -I examination in each subject and in the aggregate 9 shall be eligible to appear at the B. A. Part-ll examination. Elective subjects to be offered other than compulsory subjects at the B. A. (General) course are Bengali, English, Nepali, Political Science, History, Sociology, Education and Philosophy. Bridge Course: Any graduate in the B. A. / B. Sc. (pass) (10+2+2 Pattern) from any recognized University is eligible for enrolment to this course provided that anyone of the subjects mentioned below must have been studied in the graduation level as an elective subject. Subjects: Bengali, English, Nepali, Political Science, History, Philosophy Mathematics. B. A. / B. Sc. (Honours) graduates (10+2+3 pattern/ equivalent) who have not studied any of those subjects as an elective subject in the third year but only in previous years are also eligible for enrolment. Duration of the course is one year. A candidate securing at least 34% marks shall be eligible for enrolment at the Post-Graduate Part – I on that subject under Distance Education mode. 5. ENROLMENT SCHEDULE : Candidates are required to submit the Application form for enrolment at the Directorate in the prescribed application form either in person or by post along with prescribed fee in cash in the University cash counter/ S. B. I. NBU Campus Branch counter or demand draft drawn in favour of the University of North Bengal on S. B. I, N. B. U. Campus Branch. Besides, candidates may also submit the Application form for enrolment along with prescribed fee through a crossed demand draft drawn in favour of the University of North Bengal payable at S. B. I, N. B. U. Campus Branch at N. B. U. Calcutta Camp Office, S-2/ 1, flat No. 1, Sector III, Block – FC, Shrabani Abashan, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700 091 and the following colleges : Balurghat College, Malda College, Raiganj College (University College), Siliguri College, Kurseong College, Ananda Chandra College, Jalpaiguri a University B. T and Evening College, Coochbehar and Dambar Singh Degree College, Gangtok. Prescribed Application Form and Prospectus will also be available in these colleges and N. B. U. Calcutta Camp Office on payment of price of application Form and Prospectus through a crossed demand draft following the procedure mentioned earlier. 6. FEE STRUCTURE (IN RS. ) : Particulars B. A. Part -I 200 3,000 500 50 150 – 200 B. A. Part II 200 2,000 500 – 150 150 – Bridge Course 200 2,500 500 50 150 – 200 Enro1rolment Fee Cost of Study Material Examination Fee Identity Card Centre Fee Diploma Fee Registration Fee* 10 Late Fee Other Fees Examination reappearance Fee Defaulters Fee for not completing students sheets (assignment) Response 100 100 100 500 500 500 500 500 500 *For students other than North Bengal University. All fees shall be payable in one installment at the time of enrolment. Additional fees (if applicable) are to be paid at the time of filling up of the examination forms. Note : In cases where application forms are downloaded from University’s Website, the candtdate have to deposit Rs. 200/- in cash or through Bank Draft as fee for application and prospectus. 7. MODE OF PAYMENT : All payments should be made through a crossed Demand Draft drawn in favour of the University of North Bengal payable at State Bank of India, N. B. U. Campus Branch. Payments may also be paid in cash in the Cash Counter of the University Finance Branch and State Bank of India, N. B.U. Campus Branch. 8. MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION : Study materials will be supplied to the students either in Bengali or English at their choice mentioned in the application form for enrolment but one can write both in Bengali, English or Nepali on his/her answer papers in the examinations and also on assignment sheets, subject to the condition that only one particular language shall be used during examination. 9. SYLLABUS : The syllabi to be followed in the B. A. (General) course under Distance Education mode shall be similar to the regular B. A. (General) courses in the subjects concerned. For Bridge courses, the syllabi will be supplied to the enrolled students. Qualifying marks for appearing/taking the B. A. (General) part II examination are similar to that of the regular students. A candidate is required to complete the course in maximum four academic years from the date of joining to this course. Those who will not be able to complete the course within four years shall have to re-register as fresh candidates. 11 10. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION : Study Material : Instruction/Course Materials for each paper will normally be available from the college Study Centres as per choice of the students. Enrolment cards of the students will be dispatched to the students by post. Those intending to collect enrolment cards in person may collect the same from the Directorate of Distance Education. Assignments: There shall be assignments for every paper both for Part – I Part – II examinations carrying 15% marks. Candidates shall be required to complete the respective assignments and send it to the competent authority by post or in person within the stipulated time. There shall be two periodic assignments for each paper, the best of which in terms of marks shall be counted. The same is applicable for Bridge Course students. Personal Contact Programmes (PCP) : Personal Contact Programmes (PCP) to be organized in the colleges mentioned in item 5 or elsewhere within North Bengal will involve interaction with the teachers/counsellors. Duration of Personal Contact Programmes will normally be 8 – 10 days each for B. A. (General) Part – I, Part – II Bridge Course. PCPs may be organized in College Study Centres other than that where a candidate has taken admission in cases whose subject wise clusters of Colleges have been made due to insuffiency of students in a subject at a College Study Centre. Personal Contact Programmes shall be compulsory for a candidate for appearance at a University examination. 11. EXAMINATIONS: Examination Forms for all the courses shall be sent to the concerned students with all relevant information well in advance from the Controller of Examinations. The students shall have to fill the Examination Form as per given instructions and send the same to the university along with the Demand Draft of all fees by Registered Post so as to reach the University before the specified date. Admit Cards shall be issued to the candidates along with the  programme schedule well in advance of commencement of the examinations. 12. SCHEME OF EXAMINATION: B. A. (General) Part –I and Part – II Examinations will be held at the end of second year and third year respectively. Examination for Bridge Courses in Bengali, Nepali, English, History, Political Science, Philosophy, Mathematics will be held at the end of the course (one-year). 12 13. AWARD OF CLASS/ DIVISION : Students will be awarded Class/ Division as per rules of the University applicable for the Regular Courses. 14. RULES FOR REGISTRATION/ MIGRATION CERTIFICATE : The candidates who have obtained their Graduate/ Post graduate Degrees of North Bengal University and have not migrated to any other University will be required to mention the Registration Number along with the session. Candidates who are from outside North Bengal University shall be required to submit Migration Certificate in Original at the time of enrolment. Otherwise the enrolment shall remain as provisional upto two months, after which the Directorate of Distance Education reserves the right to cancel the enrolment without any financial liability on its part. 15. ENROLMENT/ROLL NUMBER : Every candidate who is admitted to the Directorate shall be assigned an Enrolment/ Roll No. which shall be valid during the entire period of the course when he/ she continues to be a student of the Directorate of Distance Education. In all communications addressed to the Directorate, the student must mention his/ her Enrolment/ Roll No. in full. Correspondence without the Enrolment no. will entail delays and difficulties both to the Directorate and the students and at times the office may not be in position to respond. 16. IDENTITY CARD : The Directorate shall supply each candidate an Identity Card. The blank Identity Card sent with Prospectus containing the Application Form must be filled up properly. The particulars may be attested by a College/ University Teacher/ Officer. The Identity Card must be preserved till completion of the course. This Card must be produced whenever required by the authorities and at the time of Personal Contact Programme (PCP), University examination and other purposes. The candidate shall be responsible for the safe-keeping of the I. D.  card ,the loss of which must be reported to the local police station before a duplicate card will be issued. A mutilated card must be replaced by paying requisite fees. 17. DOCUMENTS TO BE ATTACHED WITH THE APPLICATION FORM FOR ADMISSION : The following documents must be attached with the Application Form and any lapse in this connection may result in the delay in finalization of the admission process: 13 a) Prescribed fees by Demand Draft in favour of North Bengal University payable at State Bank of India, North Bengal University Campus Branch. b) Original proof for date of Birth i. e. Admit Card/ Certificate (M. P. / H. S. or equivalent), Marksheets, University Registration Certificate, other testimonials (to be returned on the same date) and attested copies of them is to be submitted. Original documents will be returned by post after the admission to the students who apply by post. The same can also be collected in person. c) Migration Certificate in original from the University studied (if applicable). The Migration Certificate shall not be returned. d) Recent stamp size photographs of the candidates (not to be attested) are to be pasted on the application form and on the Identity Card. 18. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS : a) If a candidate desires to obtain Migration Certificate from the Directorate of Distance Education by discontinuation of study, all the prescribed fees including those for the Part – II course shall have to be paid. There shall not be any fee concession to any category of students. Fee once paid by the candidate will neither be refunded nor adjusted. b) Candidates are not eligible for concessional Bus Fare Bus). (University c) If any of the dates mentioned in the Notification/ Circular etc. happen to be a holiday/ bandh, the relevant documents shall be accepted on the next working day. d) At the backside of the Demand Draft all particulars of the candidate must be provided. 19. CONTACT ADDRESS : All correspondences should be addressed to – The Director Directorate of Distance Education University of North Bengal Raja Rammohunpur P. O. North Bengal University Dt. Darjeeling, PIN – 734 430 West Bengal, India Phone : (0353) 2582116/ 2582117/ 2582218 Fax : 0353 2581546 Visit us at http//dddnbu. tripod. com E-mail:[emailprotected] com 14 NBU Kolkata Camp Office: S-2/1, Sector 3, Block FC, Shrabani Abasan, Salt Lake, Kolkata-91. Ph. No. (033) 23371836. 15 16.

Business Ethics In The Context Of Globalisation Commerce Essay

Business Ethics In The Context Of Globalisation Commerce Essay The following document aims at studying Business Ethics in the context of Globalization. In order to do so, let us start with the definitions of the two most important words in the title: 1. Business Ethics Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed. It is worth stressing that by right and wrong we mean morally right and wrong as opposed to, for example, commercially, strategically, or financially right or wrong. Moreover, by business ethics, we do not mean only commercial businesses, but also government organizations, pressure groups, not-for-profit businesses, charities, and other organizations. For example, questions of how to manage employees fairly, or what constitutes deception in advertising, are equally as important for organizations such as CRY, the University of Mumbai, or the Bhartiya Janata Party as they are for Satyam, PG, or Infosys. However, given the high profile of ethical issues in relation to commercial businesses, it is these types of businesses that are predominantly focussed on in general. Business ethics and the law Having defined business ethics in terms of issues of right and wrong, one might quite naturally question whether this is in any way distinct from the law. Surely, the law is also about issues of right and wrong? This is true, and there is indeed considerable overlap between ethics and the law. In fact, the law is essentially an institutionalization or codification of ethics into specific social rules, regulations, and proscriptions. Nevertheless, the two are not equivalent. Perhaps the best way of thinking about ethics and the law is in terms of two intersecting domains (see Figure). The law might be said to be a definition of the minimum acceptable standards of behaviour. However, many morally contestable issues, whether in business or elsewhere, are not explicitly covered by the law. In one sense then, business ethics can be said to begin where the law ends. Business ethics is primarily concerned with those issues not covered by the law, or where there is no definite consensus on whether something is right or wrong. Discussion about the ethics of particular business practices may eventually lead to legislation once some kind of consensus is reached, but for most of the issues of interest to business ethics, the law typically does not currently provide us with guidance. 2. GLOBALIZATION Globalization is the progressive eroding of the relevance of territorial bases for social, economic and political activities, processes and relations. Globalization is not only a very controversial topic in the public debate; it is also a much contested term in academic discourse. Apart from the fact that mirroring the public debate the camps seems to be divided into supporters and critics, there is growing concern about whether globalization is a fact at all. So, for example, some argue that there is nothing like a global economy, because roughly 90 per cent of world trade only takes place either within or between the three economic blocks of the EU, North America, and East Asia, leaving out all other major parts of the globe (Chortarea and Pelagidis 2004; World Trade Organization 2004). Obviously, we have to examine the globalization buzzword more carefully and to develop a more precise definition if we want to understand its character and its implication for business ethics. Scholte (2000) says if we want to get a grasp on the decisive features of globalization, he suggests we can start by looking at the way social connections traditionally took place. These connections, be it personal relations to family members or friends, or economic relations such as shopping or working, took place within a certain territory. People had their family and friends in a certain village, they had their work and business relations within a certain town or even country. Social interaction traditionally needed a certain geographical space to take place. However, this link between social connections and a certain territory has been continuously weakened, with two main developments in the last few decades being particularly important. The first development is technological in nature. Modern communication technology, from the telephone, to radio and television, and now the internet, open up the possibility of connecting and interacting with people despite the fact that there are large geographical distances between them. Furthermore, the rapid development of global transportation technologies allows people to easily connect with other people all over the globe. While Marco Polo had to travel many months to finally arrive in China, people today can step on a plane and, after a passable meal and a short sleep, arrive some time later on the other side of the globe. Territorial distances play a less and less important role today. The people we do business with, or that we make friends with, no longer necessarily have to be in the same place as we are. The second development is political in nature. Territorial borders have been the main obstacles to worldwide connections between people. Only 20 years ago, it was still largely impossible to enter the countries in the eastern bloc without lengthy visa procedures, and even then, interactions between people from the two sides were very limited. With the fall of the iron curtain, and substantial liberalization efforts elsewhere (for instance within the EU), national borders have been eroded and, in many cases, have even been abolished. These two developments mainly account for the massive proliferation and spread territorial connections. These connections may not always necessarily have a global spread in the literal sense of worldwide spread. The new thing though about these connections is that they no longer need a geographical territory to take place and they are not restricted by territorial distances and borders any more. Relevance of globalization for business ethics Globalization as defined in terms of the deterritorialization of economic activities is particularly relevant for business ethics, and this is evident in three main areas culture, law, and accountability. 1. CULTURAL ISSUES As business becomes less fixed territorially, so corporations increasingly engage in overseas markets, suddenly finding themselves confronted with new and diverse, sometimes even contradicting ethical demands. Moral values, which were taken for granted in the home market, may get questioned as soon as corporations enter foreign markets. For example, attitudes to racial and gender diversity in Europe may differ significantly to those in Middle Eastern countries. Similarly, Chinese people might regard it as more unethical to sack employees in times of economic downturns than would be typical in Europe. Again, whilst Europeans tend to regard child labour as strictly unethical, some Asian countries might have a more moderate approach. Consider the case of Playboy, the US adult magazine, which had to suspend its Indonesian edition and vacate the company premises in 2006 in the wake of violent protests by Islamic demonstrators even though the Indonesian edition was a toned down version th at did not show nudity. The reason why there is a potential for such problems is that whilst globalization results in the deterritorialization of some processes and activities, in many cases there is still a close connection between the local culture, including moral values, and a certain geographical region. For example, Europeans largely disapprove of capital punishment, whilst many Americans appear to regard it as morally acceptable. Women can freely sunbathe topless on most European beaches, yet in some states of America they can get fined for doing so and in Pakistan would be expected to cover up much more. This is one of the contradictions of globalization: on the one hand globalization makes regional difference less important since it brings regions together and encourages a more uniform global culture. On the other hand, in eroding the divisions of geographical distances, globalization reveals economic, political, and cultural differences and confronts people with them. It has been said that countries exhibit very different views on the makeup of business ethics. These differences are regarded as based largely in cultural diversity. For example, Japan is considered to have an entirely different set of guidelines than the United States because the cultures of these two countries come from entirely different origins. However, if business ethics are based only in culture then businesses global interactions should instigate much more conflict than currently exists. The basic cultures of Japan and the United States have very little common ground, therefore their views on business ethics would come from entirely opposite directions. Compromising a cultures moral values can be considered extremely difficult; it is much more likely that those same values would try to be imposed upon the other party. With each culture imposing its values on the other, the result would be adamant conflict. However, the rapid growth of global business paints this picture of co nflict as false. Businesses can only expand quickly in global markets by being empathic to the needs, perspectives, and accepted procedures of their foreign counterparts and partners. Therefore, business ethics is not entirely based on the culture from which it is derived. It is based more on a basic human moral understanding that transcends international boundaries. Up to present, ethics have evolved through isolated pockets due to the limited scope of global communications. Todays close communication and cooperation of companies worldwide will have an evening out effect. Business ethics will eventually drive toward one general definition. What exactly constitutes that definition is yet to be determined. The certainty is that the definition will be fluid in nature and change as new principles are accepted and implemented. To know where we are headed we must understand how ethical business practices evolved. Although business ethics is a relatively new study the concept has been aro und since commerce began. For instance, a blacksmith earned his reputation by treating his employees well and his customers fairly. As his reputation grew so did the size of his business. While this is a simplistic example it is meant to show that the concept of fair business practices has existed and contributed to the success of enterprises long before business ethics became an established study. Prior to todays multiple innovations in worldwide communications, business morals in each separate geographical area evolved on their own. Without much influence from the outside world, ethical behaviour was influenced by what was important to the society. What was significant to the society created expectations of fair business practices that have carried through the years? What do societies consider important? Culture and ethics are interrelated and intertwined in such a way that it makes it difficult to know which factor guiding / motivating the behaviour is arising from a given situation. Is it the cultural vision of his/her ethics or is it the ethical vision of his/her culture that guides someone to do or not do certain things. Trompenaars survey questioning peoples reaction to a given situation shows that cultures with more emphasis on human relationships and loyalty (particularists) scored lower than those that emphasized obeying rules (Universalists).    The situation: youre riding in a car driven by a close friend, whos driving at least 35 mph in a 20 mph zone. He hits someone. No witnesses. His lawyer says if you testify under oath that your friend was driving at 20 miles per hour, it might save him from serious consequences. What right has your friend to expect you to protect him?   Lying was more prominent in cultures stressing human relationships, whereas it was less prevalent in cultures stressing rules. Telling the truth is an ethical value that appears in this context. One could say, people in cultures emphasizing human relationships would most likely lie to protect the relationship; whereas, people in cultures putting a greater value on rules would lie less in order to abide by the rule. Adler differentiates between cultures that are universally oriented (all rules apply to everyone) and particularly oriented the nature of the relationship determines how someone will act in a particular situation. When it comes to the actual experience of the individual in question it is not certain if that person is motivated by cultural influences and/or ethical implications of his/her act and/or decision. Paul Ricoeur suggests three positions in ethical development: 1) the self 2) relations with others, 3) institutional. Through this process of moral integration, the se lf eventually becomes autonomous (auto self- nomous norms which becomes understood as self-regulatory) in its experiences and interactions with others and institutions. The self internalises the cultural norms and values through socialization (being in the world with others).    2. LEGAL ISSUES A second aspect is closely linked to what we said previously about the relation of ethics and law. The more economic transactions lose their connection to a certain regional territory, the more they escape the control of the respective national governments. The power of a government has traditionally been confined to a certain territory, for example: French laws are only binding on French territory, UK laws on UK territory, and so on. As soon as a company leaves its home territory and moves part of its production chain to, for example, a third world country, the legal framework becomes very different. Consequently, managers can no longer simply rely on the legal framework when deciding on the right or wrong of certain business practices. If, as we said earlier, business ethics largely begins where the law ends, then deterritorialization increases the demand for business ethics because deterritorialized economic activities are beyond the control of national (territorial) governments. For example, global financial markets are beyond the control of any national government, and the constant struggle of governments against issues such as child pornography on the internet shows the enormous difficulties in enforcing national laws in deterritorialized spaces.   A behavior may be perceived as ethical to one person or group but might not be perceived as ethical by another. Further complicating this dichotomy of behavior, laws may have been legislated, effectively stating the governments position, and presumably the majority opinion, on the behavior. As a result, in todays diverse business environment, one must consider that law and ethics are not necessarily the same thing. Though law often embodies ethical principles, law and ethics are far from co-extensive. The law does not prohibit many acts that would be widely condemned as unethical. And the contrary is true as well. The law also prohibits acts that some groups would perceive as ethical. For example lying or betraying the confidence of a friend is not illegal, but most people would consider it unethical. Yet, speeding is illegal, but many people do not have an ethical conflict with exceeding the speed limit. Law is more than simply codifying ethical norms. Establishing a set of ethi cal guidelines for detecting, resolving, and forestalling ethical breaches often prevents a company from getting into subsequent legal conflicts. Having demonstrated a more positive approach to the problem may also ensure that punishment for legal violations will be less severe. Some activities and beliefs may be legal, but not perceived as ethical. Marriott Corporation maintains very comprehensive ethics standards to which their employees must abide. Their Corporate Dress Code is an example. Several years ago, the orientation program at Marriott Corporate Headquarters included a presentation on what was and was not considered acceptable appearance in the company. Some requirements included: Women could not wear skirts any shorter than 4 inches above the knee. Women could show no bare leg. Either long pants or hose were required at all times. Womens shoulders could not be exposed. Mens hair could not reach their collar, except for religious reasons. Men could not wear earrings. Although these rules were part of company policy, there is nothing illegal about any one of these items. However, in the Marriott Corporate culture, each was considered unethical. Another example is the manufacturing practices of Nike, one of the largest manufacturers of athletics sportswear in the world. Nike produces the majority of its goods in South East Asia. Despite the profits of the Nike organization, its foreign workers are paid substandard wages and work long hours in appalling conditions. In 1996, the entry-level wage at one of these factories was $2.20 a day. Labour groups estimate that a liveable wage in Indonesia is about $4.25 a day. Compare this with the pay of one of Nikes celebrity promoters, Michael Jordan, who gets $20 million a year to promote Nike sneakers. Jordans compensation alone is more than the annual income of 20,000 workers who make Nike shoes. Nikes manufacturing practices are not illegal. There is nothing that says a company cannot take its manufacturing operations outside the United States. And as long as the company is meeting the minimum wage standards of the host country, there is nothing illegal about paying low wages. However, most Americans would look at these practices as unethical, especially considering the profits of Nike and their spending on celebrity promoters. Clearly, there is a relationship between law and ethics, and this relationship is important in management. Managers must evaluate not only what is legal, but what they, their employees, and society consider ethical as well. Important here is that companies must also consider what behaviours their customers will and will not accept. The news is full of stories regarding the ethical issues with which companies are being confronted, such as the practices of Nike, as outlined above. No company wants to be forced to defend itself over ethical issues involving wages, the environment, working issues, or human relations. Managers play a vital role in a companys legal and ethical performance. It is in part their responsibility to ensure that their employees are abiding by Federal, State, and Local laws, as well as any ethical codes established at the company. But most importantly, the managers must provide a positive example to their employees of proper behaviour in light of laws and ethical codes. Certainly, policies and procedures will never be developed to satisfy everyone, but the establishment of Codes of Ethics will at least provide a framework for ethical behavior, and allow customers to evaluate the type of company with whom they are doing business. With this knowledge, employees and customers must decide whether or not they are willing and able to conform to these Codes, as well as to the laws that have been enacted. Managers cannot simply limit their decisions to following the law. They must also consider the ethics of their employees and customers. 3. Accountability issues Taking a closer look at global activities, one can easily identify corporations as the dominant actors on the global stage: MNCs own the mass media which influences much of the information and entertainment we are exposed to, they supply global products, they pay peoples salaries, and they pay (directly or indirectly) much of the taxes that keep governments running. Furthermore, one could argue that MNCs are economically as powerful as many governments. For example, the GDP of Denmark is about the same as the turnover of General Motors. However, whereas the Danish government has to be accountable to the Danish people and must face elections on a regular basis, the managers of General Motors are formally accountable only to the relatively small group of people who own shares in the company. The communities in the US, Brazil, or Germany that depend directly on General Motors investment decisions however have next to no influence on the company and, unlike a regional or national governm ent, General Motors is, at least in principle, not accountable to these constituencies. What this means is that the more economic activities get deterritorialized, the less governments can control them, and the less they are open to democratic control of the affected people. Consequently, the call for direct (democratic) accountability of MNCs has become louder during the last years, evidenced for example by the anti-globalization protests that we mentioned before. Put simply, globalization leads to a growing demand for corporate accountability. The corporate community has been shocked to attention by the recent corporate governance meltdowns. The silver lining is that these scandals are resulting in better financial oversight and more focused attention on the ethics of directors, officers, auditors and others. But while promises of increased ethical conduct focus the publics attention, self-scrutiny and accountability are also essential.   Ethics is easier in concept than in application. Codes of ethics are not new. Nor are efforts to encourage ethical corporate practices. In 1991, Congress enacted the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines. These guidelines had a major impact on corporate America and were an effort to positively induce companies to prevent unethical activity by providing mitigation of some punishment and reductions of fines for companies that proactively made a good faith effort to take steps to prevent unethical activity. Congress used the stick and the carrot approach to provide an incentive for companies to create or modify their ethics programsgood behavior is rewarded when companies involve themselves in crime controlling actions. Elements of an effective compliance program under the Guidelines include a code of conduct or ethics; oversight by high-level personnel; due care when delegating authority; effective training and communication; auditing and monitoring and reporting mechanisms; enforcement o f disciplinary mechanisms; and appropriate response after detection.  Five years later, a court case provided another wake-up call. In 1996, a court in Delaware held a board of directors responsible for the unethical and illegal actions of the organization and its employees. This case caught the attention of corporations and led some companies to institute compliance and reporting structures.   Of course, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has gotten the most attention recently. Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted in response to the conduct of corporations such as World Com, Enron and Arthur Andersen. While Sarbanes-Oxley largely affects only publicly traded companies, it has led to a trickledown effect. Its requirement that all publicly held corporations disclose whether or not they have a code of ethics for its Chief Financial Officers have led privately held companies and non-profit corporations to enact codes of ethics. The trend is that more companies are adopting and using codes of ethics.   There are several benefits of a formal ethics policy. As described above, there are legal benefits in the form of reduced fines and penalties. However, an ethical working environment is another important benefit. A formal ethics policy can lead to decreased job dissatisfaction, decreased pressure to violate ethical standards, improved communication, increased trust in management, greater consistency in decision-making, and fewer violations of law and regulation, just to name a few. Pragmatically, it is often true that good ethics equals good business. Consumers, employees, and vendors lose trust in companies which engage in unethical activities. Companies that promote trust, honesty, integrity, fairness and respect generally have an easier time attracting quality employees.   Less observable, a strong ethical environment can encourage conversations about ethical issues, questions, and gray areas. It can also provide a comfortable environment for employees to seek guidance and raise concerns. When given the opportunity to communicate expectations and requirements, a company can proactively influence its employees and officers to avoid unethical conduct and violations of law. A formal ethics policy reminds employees and officers what the company deems the right thing to do. IMPLEMENTING A CODE OF ETHICS Groucho Marx once said that The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, youve got it made. Ethics is a lot easier in theory, but ethical conduct cannot be faked. Implementing a code of ethics policy takes careful study, time and training. A code of ethics can apply not just to individualsboard members, officers and employeesbut also to aspects of the companys businessethical investing and pension fund management.   In adopting a code of ethics, a business must decide what type of code to adopt. Does it want a simple statement of aspirational values or does it want a complex manual that describes the companys rules and regulations and which provides detailed guidance about what conduct is not acceptable? What are the companys core values? How does the company want directors, officers and employees to reflect those values?   Codes of ethics are usually broken down into two types (or a hybrid of the two): values-based code of ethics and compliance-based code of ethics. A corporate values statement is an aspirational document which is based on underlying values or principles. It is not easy to enforce. A compliance-based code of ethics is a compliance document that emphasizes rules and written procedures, and, therefore, is easier to enforce. A hybrid consists of a statement of organizational values and how those values are to be applied. For example, because communications should reflect the ethics of the company, a code of ethics that has honesty as a core value may require that internal and external communications be truthful and respectful. The company may also require that product or service claims must be honest, straightforward and defensible. However, as with any company policy, it is important that this new code be reviewed by legal counsel before being formally incorporated into the companys poli cy.   Once the code of ethics policy is adopted, it must be communicated, enforced and effectively monitored. There is a natural reluctance to talk about ethics and values; however, a company can integrate discussions of ethics into decision-making, and encourage employees to raise ethical concerns. This can be done through training, providing whistleblower procedures, monitoring and rewards. Almost every company will have employees that made the correct decision in spite of the difficulty in doing so. Communicating these stories is one way to make ethics more meaningful. Employees should understand the companys core values and why they are core values. The company should ensure that its decision-making process factors in the companys code of ethics.   The ethics policy should also be communicated to board members and employees before they join the company; if the companys products and services and the kinds of decisions needed to be made and actions to be taken are communicated, the potential employee or board member can decide whether employment with the company is consistent with their values. CONCLUSION In conclusion we would like to depict the effect that Globalization will have on the ethical behavior and understanding of various stakeholders in a global business environment. STAKEHOLDERS ETHICAL IMPACTS OF GLOBALIZATION Shareholders Globalization provides potential for greater profitability, but also greater risks. Lack of regulation of global capital markets, leading to additional financial risks and instability. Employees Corporations outsource production to developing countries in order to reduce costs in global marketplace this provides jobs but also raises the potential for exploitation of employees through poor working conditions. Consumers Global products provide social benefits to consumers across the globe but may also meet protests about cultural imperialism and westernization. Globalization can bring cheaper prices to customers, but vulnerable consumers in developing countries may also face the possibility of exploitation by MNCs. Suppliers and Competitors Suppliers in developing countries face regulation from MNCs through supply chain management. Small scale indigenous competitors exposed to powerful global players. Civil Society (Pressure groups, NGOs, etc.) A global business activity brings the company in direct interaction to local communities with possibility for erosion of traditional community life; globally active pressure groups emerge with aim to police the corporation in countries where governments are weak and tolerant. Government and Regulation Globalization weakens governments and increases the corporate regulation for jobs, welfare, maintenance of ethical standards, etc. Globalization also confronts governments with corporations from different cultural expectations about issues such as bribery, corruption, taxation, and philanthropy.

Biblical Essay: Analysis of Pauls Letter To The Galatians

Biblical Essay: Analysis of Paul's Letter To The Galatians When Paul attended the Jerusalem Conference in 48 or 49, a decision was made that gentiles would be allowed to become Christians without becoming Jews first (ie. have a circumcision, and follow the Jewish Laws). Paul, being the one that defended the gentile's right to be Christians, became the apostle to the gentiles. Why would Paul, a Jew, want to be an apostle to gentiles? According to him, Jesus appeared to him in AD 32 or 36, and told him to preach the good news to the gentiles (Gal 1:16). Paul uses scripture to explain why gentiles should not be required to be circumcised, or obey Jewish Law; however, there are no direct quotes in scripture that say this. One would wonder why Paul, someone who grew-up in a "good" Jewish family, would not follow in the footsteps of Jewish Christian Missionaries, and require Christian converts to become Jews first. He certainly had to fight to have his belief accepted! In my opinion, Paul tried to follow the example of the original apostles (who knew Jesus) by "converting the multitudes." I think Paul understood human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it was natural to their lifestyle --I'm sure that the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws scared gentiles from Christianity! It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preachings of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to "pervert" the Galatians, and change their belief... ...is area is full of rules/laws for the Galatians to live by. Of course, he justifies that Christians live by these laws because they "Walk in the Spirit of Christ." (Gal 5:16) If Christians are to "imitate" Jesus' actions & morals, then why should they decide to follow some, and not others? This is more evidence of Peter trying to create a "convenient" religion. The problem of acceptance of Jewish Law, I believe, is the fundamental split in Christianity. It can still be seen today: Catholicism represents Paul's view of Christianity, while Seventh Day Adventist Christians keep Jewish Law. However, if Paul had preached the Law, I don't believe that Christianity would even be present today (especially among the gentiles). He did much to advance Christianity; however, Gentile Christianity became a religion of Paul, rather than a religion of Jesus.