Exercise 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exercise 4 - Essay Example Calling itself a start up, Mr. Brechner explained that by not taking a risk on the education and early technology training of the Uruguayan children, a whole generation was lost every year since they were prevented from experiencing equality and social inclusion. They did this by enacting active policies within the state. The initiative took great pride in being able to separate policy making and management while conceptualizing the project. The steering committee was involved in policy making while the management of the program was assigned to a separate and specialized institution. This was a feather in their cap because they were able to prevent the politicians in the country from meddling with management and the managers in the government were also unable to meddle when it came to policy making for the program. This was accomplished even though the states within the country were ill prepared to host a program of this magnitude. The program had to overcome such adversities as the fear of teachers that the students would know more than they did about technology, which, as everyone knows, is a given fact in our day and age. The teachers had to become comfortable with the idea that by using computers in class, the students will learn faster and will learn more but, the teachers still hold on to the power and authority that they traditionally had in the classroom. Since 2007 the program has deployed a total of 450,000 computers. These computers were distributed to various students from the first grade and all of primary school to the third grade of secondary school. In total, the computers were deployed to a total of 9 grades in public schools. Servers and connectivity were installed in over 2,500 schools and high schools. The man behind the program proudly announced that 99 % of students participating in their program had internet access in all their facilities with 40% not needing to walk more than 300 meters from where they live in order to have free Cibal in ternet access. Their current program includes transferring the ADSL programs of the schools to fiber optic for better bandwidth and applications. The company made sure that their network access would be publicly available in the most common places such as schools, hospitals, housing complexes and the poorest areas of Uruguay. The program has successfully trained 26 thousand teachers using portals and tv channels to further enhance the training that they received in their 4 year education courses. Total expenses per year for an average student in the program is $100. Included in that cost is the amount of maintenance for the computer, server, and other necessary components for the program. Amazingly, the total expenses on the program so far is less than 5% of the total education budget of the entire country. The results of the program are quite promising. First of all, Mr Brechner emphasized that the importance of the project could be measured in terms of it actually having been acco mplished. The program also had direct and indirect impacts. In numbers, he said that the program has 450.000 impacts, which is the equivalent of the number of students who are participating in the program. He claims that the expenses of the program were worthwhile because of the motivation that the children got to go to the school and study. By offering each student his own laptop, the student miss less classes and they do their work much more proficiently. The laptops brought education

Televised Presidential Debate (10-3-12) Assignment

Televised Presidential Debate (10-3-12) - Assignment Example (2) About how many people attended the meeting? Describe the audience demographics. This event drew an immense number of audience members. Unlike a private event, this debate was aired live, on multiple networks, allowing for, easily, millions of viewers. The demographics of the audience of this event are as diverse as the country we live in. Americans of all genders, races, political parties, and ideologies were tuned in to view this debate. (3) What was the main topic of the meeting? The topic of the debate was announced as domestic policy. Lehrer explained that there would be, ideally, six segments of 15 minutes in length, with 2 minute responses from each candidate. Three segments would focus on the economy; one segment would be dedicated to healthcare, role of government, and the last on the meaning of â€Å"governing.† I choice this event, particularly, because of it is so very important. There are issues being discussed that are so incredibly relevant to the future of t his country that it is an event deserving of critical attention. This is, also, again, the first debate where these two candidates would be debating these issues face-to-face in an open forum. There are a lot of important questions that need asking, issues that need addressing, and answers that the voters deserve to hear. (4) Why did you choose this meeting, and what did you know about the topic before you attended? There is nothing more politically important in the United States of America than when we choose the leadership that we have. Where to cast your vote should never be a small issue and tends to involve many specific variables. Individuals must assess their political concerns; review the prospective candidates, their personal beliefs and views, and ever so much more, before they make their choice. It is all the harder today with the cut throat nature of the campaign tactics, being overused in this election, for Americans to make that choice clearly. The smear campaigns, ult imately, begin to feel like childhood name-calling. With the state that American is currently in, struggling through a continuing the unemployment crisis and continuing and increasing debt, this is hardly the time for games. Choosing the right candidate is extremely important, regardless of your political party. These are the reasons that I chose this particular event. (5) What were the four most interesting things you learned from the meeting? This debate was, in fact, quite interesting. However, the issue that I was most eager to hear addressed was concerning the unemployment crisis. Although, both, candidates have plans for the issue, Obama reiterated the same approaches that he has proposed throughout his Presidency. While Romney offered some fresh perspectives that, definitely different from Obama’s, had a lot of merit. The next topic of importance to me is the controversial healthcare reform, often called, â€Å"Obamacare.† Romney was able to communicate how, not only is â€Å"Obamacare† not the best solution for healthcare reform, as it takes the power from the patient and physician and places it into the hands of medical councils, but, also, how â€Å"Obamacare† directly contributes to the, aforementioned, unemployment crisis.("YouTube") There are many businesses, particularly small businesses, that are less likely to hire new staff members because of the insurance requirements that â€Å"

Developments in the Last Century Essay Example for Free

Developments in the Last Century Essay In detail this paper will show how the media played an important role in the culture today. It will answer the questions What were the major developments in the evolution of mass media in the last century? It will also ask How did each development influence American culture? And What is ment by the term media convergence and how it affected everyday life? How we conceive mass media comes in different ways such as: television (24 -hour news channels,) (hoarders to fashion models,) (music videos, nature documentaries, and reality shows). With videos on demand provided by the local cable company plus online streaming or down loading. Media literacy on one hand, is the growth of the internet as the primary information source exposes the public to increased levels of text, thereby increasing the level of literacy. What were the major developments in the evolution of mass media in the last century? The three major developments in the last century were (print, electrical, and digital). In terms of print media books are durable and contain a large amount of information. Books are expensive to produce. As for newspapers they are cheaper and can be made quickly. In the 1800 hundreds the newspaper faced a new threat called penny press. These papers were cheaper than the regular newspapers. The penny press also printed more of murder and scandal rather than of the political news of the day. Another form of mass media is the radio. Radio was not that expensive less than television and more available. Radio gave the people the opportunity to listen to a live event at the same time. Specifically the radio was made for advertising. Radio accessed a large audience. Radio also made listening in the privacy of ones own home to be pleasure seeking and curious. With radio one can listen to a story and imagine in ones own head how the story plays out, thus creating imagination. Television is another form of mass media. The television was invented in 1923. Broadcast television was the most dominant form of mass media. By 1946 more than 17,000 televisions existed. There were at the time only three major networks, they controlled more than 90% of the news programs. By the 1960s television televised the conflict of the Vietnam war. The telegraph is part of the mass media seen also. Any part of information received via radio, television, newspaper, and Internet have been considered to be mass media. In todays society more people tend to receive their news and other information via the Internet. How did each development influence American culture? Each development influenced the American culture in many ways. The way we receive the news is very different today. Newspapers came a long way from just black and white to color. Before anything what we had was newspaper that is how one would get the facts regarding what is going on in the world. With newspaper they do not get to see the vast aura of colors as television. The newspaper made people want to read what was written. For the television world was more in tuned to todays society. Television has the visual aspect and as for the news per say the electronic media has come full circle from radio to television. For print people did not have to rely on teachers, preachers, or story tellers. They were allowed to read what was published and interpret it how they seen it. The telegraph led to radio, fax machine, and phones. Instant communication is how print and electrical mass media influenced America. They are able to put more information out there along with visual aspects . What is ment by the term media convergence and how it affected everyday life? Media convergence is the merging of all the technology together. A merger of mass media. It affects us in many ways such as fax machines and e-mail. We as humans no longer have to hand write a letter any more when we have e-mail. We went from writing letters by hand to typing them on a type writer to writing an e-mail on computers to texting on phones. With the simple click of a button the letter is sent through millions of power lines to get to the person it is intended for. Media convergence is a link between old and new technologies. They come together to share the same tasks and resources. There are five kinds of convergences they are Economic, Organic, Cultural, Global, and Technological. a) Economic involves such things as internet, phone, and cable regarding the provider one chose for these services. b) Organic occurs when one can stream video listen to music and text a friend all at the same time. c) Cultural occurs when a person turns a book into a movie, film, and even toys such as Spiderman. d) Global occurs when the process of geographically distance cultures influencing one another despite the distance that physically separates them. e) Technological occurs when the merging of technologies come together, such as the ability to watch television shows online on sites like crackle. Conclusion In conclusion the media has changed in many ways, such as how one receives the news and communicates with one another. We have gone from the telegraph to radio, television, phones, and computers regarding how we receive information. It is completely up to the individual how one use the various forms of media technologies out there today. However, a few things have stayed the same major media companies own popular media content sites such as Hulu, and YouTube and control access to a great deal of online information. Perhaps the standards for literacy will shift to an emphasis on simplicity and directness.

The Theory Of Parallelism

The Theory Of Parallelism Mind and body is considered as a separate form of human. By giving an example for mind such as sad, euphoria, angry or happy, it is considered as mind. A mind can be explained as what we called feeling. For our body, it can do things such as cycling, hiking, writing paperwork, and talking. We cannot see how large is our mind but we can see our body. So, we can conclude that body is a physical subject while mind is a mentally subject. Based on the older philosophy theory, the mind and body is not correlated. This theory is called as parallelism. What is parallelism? Based on thefreedictionary.com, parallelism is The doctrine that to every mental change there corresponds a concomitant but causally unconnected physical alteration. (thefreedictionary.com ,2009) The meaning is every changes that happened in our mind, doesnt affect our body while the changes in our body doesnt affect our mind. These two are independent against each other. For example, if were happy, it just a stimulation o f chemical in our body that is call endorphin. It is nothing related to our thinking. However, if we are saying that the mind and body are two different and independent things, we are no better than a machine or robot. The idea of Descartes theory has formed a mind and body problem. So what is mind and body problem? The problem is how does mind and body correlated to each other? According to Descartes philosophy, mind is a thinking thing while body is an extended thing. These two is somehow related to each other. To answer this question, Decartes has formed a philosophical theory called dualism. Based on Decartess dualism, body and mind is dependent against each other. The body needs the mind to tell them how to react and what to do and the mind needs the body as an object to express our thinking. However, if we said that there are connected to each other, but where is the connection between the mind and the body? There must some connection within the mind and body. The things that we think somehow affect our body and vice versa. Decartes solution is possible for mind/body problem. What he said was mind and body are connected and irrelevant to each other, but where is the bond that connects the mind and body? Do they even exist? We cant say that our body is connected by electrons or electromagnetic waves that generate within our body because electrons and electromagnetic waves is something that we can see and know for a long time through science. The connection between mind and body must not be visible to our naked eyes. If we use the theory of electrons as our proof of the existence; a scientist can manipulate the electrons that connect through our mind and body and extract the mind and put into someones body. The body must have a special code or something special to connect with the mind. We cant just move the mind into someones body to survive. If we can do that, we can escape the fact of death. When a person is about to die, just extract the electrons and put into someones body. According to Joseph Almog, he said that ..here is the kind of mind a mind is is stable in time. Given that Decartess Meditation is a human mind, it may not turn into an angelic or divine mind.. (Joseph Almog, 2002, pg 94). Mind provides use stability. Hence, there must be a connection that binds within a mind and a body of a person, and mind and body must be complete with each other. Besides that, if mind and body arent related just as what parallelism said, we can just live in this world without a body. The body basically is an extended thing. If I ask a normal person, what they think about mind. Basically they will just tell you something like mind is a soul, mental, or a spirit. So why dont we just live in this world just by using a soul? Isnt that our body is just a little an extra feature? When were dead, our body will be assumed as a corpse, our soul will be assumed as a spirit. Based on what I said before this about spirit and corpse, if dualism is not a solution for this, we can say that were just spirit living in a corpse body. We are no better than a zombie that doesnt have any feeling and emotion towards anything. It is basically just a walking corpse. As a result for that, to be called as a human or a living being, one must be exist with a package that contains mind and body. These two things arent divisible as they two are depending on each other. Ba sed on science, there is nothing such as zombie, spirit or recreation exists. However, the scientific reporting of the reality only provided evidence based on medical research investigating birthmarks and defects. (Casimir J. Bonk,contents pg xvii) This determines how we can deeply understand what an individual with thinking and physical are connected together. Apart from that, physical (body) must exist with mind (consciousness). A person wouldnt know what pain is, if the physical part of his body does not experience any pain before. For example, if a person touches a hot stove, he/she will feel the pain by pulling his/her hand. That person can scream too as an alert to show that we are in pain. However, the pain feeling will stays in our consciousness. For the next time, even when the stove if not hot, when we are going to touch it, there is a pain feeling in our mind. Besides that, if a person did not feel any pain before, will they know what is the meaning of pain is? They might just know the theory of pain but not exact consciousness of pain. Hence, it creates a conscious between mind and body about how we feel. In conclusion, I think Decartess dualism is the solution for mind and body problem. Mind must exist with the body and body must exist with mind to stay in what we called as a human being. Without any of them, we are just a dead corpse or a spirit. Hence, I think Decartes has one of the best solutions for this problem. Citation Joseph Almog, 2002 What am I?: Descartes and the mind-body problem, Oxford University Printing Press. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/parallelism , Access 17th February 2011, Updated at year 2000 Casimir J. Bonk, 2010, Descartes Was Right! Souls Do Exist and Reincarnation Proves It: A Challenge To Rethink Dualism

Pesticides In Ground Water and Drinking Water :: Drinking Water Quality

What is a pesticide?A pesticide is a chemical substance used to kill pests, especially insects. A pesticide is also refered to as a biocide. Most pesticides are applied in spray form but occasionaly you will see pesticides that are in powder or pellet form. Pesticides are used on a variety of things, anything from crops like corn, barley, and wheat, to plants like petunias, marigolds, and rhodadendrons, which are usually found in small gardens greenhouses, and even in your backyard. What is ground water? Water is the life blood of every living creature on earth. Approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water. Through the wonders of nature, water can take on many different forms. It is easy to understand the significance water plays in our lives but it may be difficult to understand the water that exists below the earth's surface. This water is called groundwater. Groundwater is usually held in porous soil or rock materials, much the same way water is held in a sponge. The source for much of the world's drinking water is ground water. When pesticdes are sprayed on crops, where do the pesticides go after they are applied to the crops? They soak into the ground where the roots can pick up the pesticide.That further proves my point that pesticides soak into the ground. Pesticides in ground watrer seems to be a continual problem with people now days, because they think that the pesticides dont soak into the ground water. They believe that when a pesticide is sprayed on a plant the leaves are what pick up the pesticide but thats false, the roots pick up the pesticides which proves that the pesticides have to soak at least a few feet into the ground.

What Is Changing In The Technology Of Heavy Construction Mac :: essays research papers

SUBJECT: What is changing in the technology of heavy construction machinery?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In being one of the leaders in the construction industry, it is our duty to keep up with and push ourselves in acquiring upcoming technology. As per your request on the topic, we have created a team to not only acknowledge some of the possibilities we may be faced with in the future, but to assess the causes and effects of the technology advancement. As one of the nation’s top contractors, we know first hand the importance that quality equipment plays in the completion of projects and percentage of profits retained from those projects. One vital piece of machinery that is not functioning properly can effortlessly place a job behind schedule and behind budget. And so it is easy to understand how any possible progression of equipment science could be of great importance to the company. In this report, we want to focus on two links stemming from the subject of construction equipment technology. The first point being, theoretical causes for technology advancement and the second point being, conceptual ideas currently in the works. In our research, we found that concrete findings were rare and few between, being that much of this subject is speculation or â€Å"napkin† design ideas. However; with all that our society is accomplishing and inventing everyday, it is easy to visualize the possibilities that we may be looking forward to in the coming years. Causes: Some theoretical explanations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no exact, scientific reason for which manufactures are looking to the future of construction machinery and seeing the equipment being run by computers, not operators. But there are some theoretical reasons why. To begin with, there is currently a shortage of skilled operators being felt by many companies; including ours. Along with this shortage of skilled operators, follows a shortage of skilled repair technicians to fix any malfunctioned machinery. The reason for this is that the present skilled labor coming into our work force is more educated . Therefore; they are more technical in most respects, and less interested in operated machinery then in controlling it. One reasons for this effect is thought to be due in part to the reality that kids in recent decades were not brought up playing with their toy trucks in the dirt outside, but with computer and video games. Each new generation is raised with a greater knowledge and understanding of technology, what its possibilities are and what it can do for them.

China – the aims and effects of the one child policy

A variety of social policies aimed at controlling population change have been established around the world. But in this answer I will be evaluating a very controversial example of a policy that aimed to tackle rapid population growth by reducing fertility rate (also known as anti-natalist) – China's One-Child Policy. During the second half of the twentieth century, the Chinese government became concerned about the population growth; this is mainly due to the philosophy of the government under Chairman Mao, in the mid-twentieth century, which was that ‘a large population gives a strong nation' and so the government encouraged people to have more and more children. This consequently led to an increase in population of 55 million every year and a famine in 1962 which caused nearly 30 million deaths. This massive growth in population forced a policy change in 1974, in order to avoid a Malthusian-type disaster in the future (The theory that population increases more rapidly than the food supply leading to famine and, inevitably, death). It encouraged the country to reduce the birth rate by the slogan ‘wan-xi-shao' which called for later marriages, longer gaps between children and fewer children. However, this policy was not effective enough, and the population continued increasing and did not follow the pattern of the DTM (demographic transition model). This then led the government to introduce the one-child policy in 1979, which set strict limits on the number of children that a couple were allowed to have. In order to further enforce this policy; strong pressure was put on women to use contraceptives (e.g. contraceptive pills) which were more widely available. Special family planners and ‘granny police' were introduced in order to make sure that women were practising contraception and were instructed to report any pregnancies. The government also introduce incentives like; free healthcare and education for one child and then fines for more than one child. Also, more controversially, enforced late abortions and sterilisation became common, which mainly human rights activist heavily criticised and opposed. However, the policy had very negative effects on the country. Firstly, it led to female infanticide; where couples preferred sons, and baby girls were killed so they could have another chance of getting a boy. This occurred more often in rural areas, where there was less control from the government, and also where traditions were most important. This was mainly because male descendents were preferred as they can carry on the family name from generation to generation. This male dominance led to an imbalance in male to female sex ratio, where the number of men far exceeded that of men. This then further lowered fertility rates as there weren't enough women ‘to go round'. As well as an imbalance in the sex ratio, where was also an imbalance in the age ratio, as the policy vastly increased the dependency ratio and the country suffered from an ageing population. This was mainly due to the ‘4-2-1' situation, which meant that ‘1' child had to look after their ‘2' parents and ‘4' grandparents all at the same time and because of the increasing life expectancy. The policy also led to social implications on the child itself, such as the spoilt ‘little emperor' syndrome where the attention of the family fell on one child. It is also suggested that it had a negative effect on the child's social skills, as they grew up with no other siblings, therefore found it harder to integrate into society and led to poor communication skills. However, from 1990 onwards, the policy was slightly relaxed in order to combat some of the problems. For example, only-child couples were allowed to have two children, in order to relieve some of dependency on the children and also because they were concerned about the economic implications of an ageing population. In addition, the policy became harder to enforce for reasons such as the revolution in global communication and socialisation, which opened up the country to much greater social influence from the west. However, in more remote parts of the country, the policy is still encouraged. For example, the authorities in Guangdong (state capital) order 20,000 abortions and sterilisations by the end of 2001. Despite all of the negative implications, the decrease in overall population growth has had some positive effects, such as the positive economic growth. This was mainly due to the major decrease in demand for resources to support the needs of the population, which in turn led to a reduction in the stress placed upon the environment. There was also a drop in unemployment due to labour surplus and more disposable being available due to less money being spent on children. In conclusion, I believe that the one-child policy was a very brutal policy that disregarded the basic human rights of people and that a more gentle approach should have been taken. However, there is no argument that population management was inevitable in order to maintain a high standard of living, and that the one-child policy has avoided a Malthusian-type disaster (e.g. famine and war) and has better stabilised the population of China. This is because 400 million births were prevented and the annual growth rate had fallen to 0.6% as well. It is also clear that the policy is evolving for the better, as by 2006 the Chinese government moved towards a more health-orientated policy and committed itself to implement international agreements, promoting mother and child welfare.