Sexual Assault Against Women

Sexual Assault against Women I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U. S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010).The Department of Justice states that, â€Å"rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate†, although other studies have shown statistics that are in conflict with these numbers; due to the victims that do no report their attacks. For example, the National Women’s Study claims that about 683,000 rapes of adult women occur annually, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports 103,00 0 such rapes each year (Statistics, March 2010). Most lawmakers agree that sexual violence is a problem that requires a lot of attention and investigation.In the mid-1990s, a number of violent crimes were being committed by recently released sex offenders. The media attention motivated many states to pass laws that specify that communities must be notified about paroled sex offender living in their communities. This caused a fear of the people in the community that released sex offenders may commit assaults in their community as well. Alice Walker's The Color Purple is an excellent account of the life of a woman who must suffer not only social ostracism due to gender and skin color but also women who suffer greatly at the hands of men.This is true in terms of infidelity, physical and verbal abuse, and sexual abuse. The Color Purple revolves around the life of Celie, a young woman growing up in the poverty-ridden South. In order to find herself and gain independence, Celie must deal with all manner of abuse, including misogyny, racism and poverty. When she is a young girl of just 14, Celie is sexually assaulted by a man she believes is her father. She had two children by her rapist, both of who he takes to a Reverend.When her mother dies, this man known as â€Å"Pa† marries Celie to a man she will only refer to as â€Å"Mr. † (Walker, 1985). This is just a fine example of the recollection of a victim. The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 marked a turning point in our national response to the problems of both sexual assault and domestic violence. For the first time it considered the ways in which sexual assault and domestic violence were similar: they are both crimes of violence against women, rooted in historical and cultural traditions and attitudes.VAWA also addressed the ways our laws failed to prosecute and punish perpetrators of these crimes of violence, while often increasing the trauma experienced by victims. The act included measu res designed to protect crime victims' rights and provide crime victims with compensation, establish hotlines for sexual assault and family violence victims, establish sex offender registration and community notification, protect women from â€Å"date rape,† and coordinate law enforcement and social services to deal with crime in a unified manner.VAWA is a wide-ranging law which, among other things, mandated research into sexual and domestic violence, funded community efforts against sexual and domestic violence through grants, proposed changes in the evaluation and determination of evidence, affirmed victims' rights of privacy and equal protection under the law, recommended compensation of victims, and authorized enhanced penalties for repeat sex offenders. Law enforcement officers are highly trained and are fully aware of this Act and how it works.It is the duty of the officer to enforce these laws. One intervention method for the offenders that would restore justice practi ces is the gaining popularity of â€Å"chemical castration† which is the use of Depo-Provera; it decreases the level of testosterone that men produce (encyclopedia, 2012). Lowered testosterone levels decreases the sexual thoughts and fantasies of the offender. The way this method would impact the victim is by given them a piece of mind of knowing the offender is being mentored and knowing that this could happen to another person.The way the Criminal Justice system can work more efficient to help the victim through a rape or sexual assault is not blame the victim; this was a strategy that was used in pasted which would make the victim feel as if it is their fault. For example, the victim goes to a party and becomes overly intoxicated and wakes up to find herself assaulted sexual, in the past the victim would be the blame because she became overly intoxicated.But what should be done is to encourage women not to precipitate the crime through careless behavior. But blame the offe nder, because they are the predator in crime and they should be removed from society. As a Criminal Justice professional I would provide more effective assistance to the victim by offering services such as hotline information, victim advocate services, and assist them with police reporting process. Or even offer counseling service and self-defense strategies.Things that could be done to reduce victim blaming are training within the Criminal Justice system and educating the public on victim blaming as well. ? REFERENCES encyclopedia, T. f. (2012, May 05/31/12). Chemical Castration. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Chemical_castration Statistics, U. S. (March 2010). National Crime Victimization Survey. National Crime Victimization Survey, 2008- -Statistical tables, 26 – 49. Walker, A. (1985). The Color Purple. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Addendum to the Risk Assessment Matrix Essay

Description of Risks Impact Likelihood of Occurrence (L,M,H) Degree of Impact (L,M,H) Initial Action to Take if Event Occurs Team Member Responsible Strategies for Prevention and Mitigation Widespread security breach due to unauthorized access to sensitive customer information. Negative publicity of the company and loss of credibility in the eyes of existing and potential customers impacting overall business. Take immediate action to tighten security including all employee access to customer sensitive information. Identify and install the latest security software on all telecommuters’ PCs and enforce strict rules for information access including password policy management. Document Server integration challenges. The setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayed. roubleshoot remotely to identify the root of the integration issue. The repetitive process of installation and setup of the document servers can be potentially scripted and semi-automated to minimize error and reduce time taken. Technical challenges such as power failure and internet connection outages. The setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayed if either power or internet connection were impacted. Guidelines can cover instructions to move on to the next computer to setup and return to the remote PC with power or internet challenges later.PhoebeTo prevent and mitigate this risk, the telecommuter PCs can be staged and setup in the Xemba Translations office before shipping to the remote l ocation. In the long term budget can be allocated for individual battery backup for the remote PCs Delay in completion of the Telecommuting Expansion projectInadequate resources available to address the increased customer need causing negative publicity of the company. Increase the project team size to catch up and speed up progress reducing potential for any further schedule impact.Project TeamManage schedules even more tightly monitoring daily progress of tasks and mitigating schedule delays even before it occurs. Perception of impersonal and below par service due to telecommuters Though there is a subjective aspect to this risk it can lead to the loss of very real customers and negative publicity. Focus can be shifted to the lost customers to survey the reason for them to take business elsewhere and offer  incentives to return. Work with the marketing team to ensure the message is clear to large customers on the benefits of real-time web based communications and translation ser vices. Task B: Explanation of Metrics: The metrics that can be effectively used to clearly and effectively measure the progress and overall project health of this Telecommuter Expansion project is â€Å"Earned Value Management†. It is a commonly used technique that factors in the cost and schedule baselines and then uses simple indices to estimate and measure where the project is in reference to the respective projected baselines that were set at the beginning of the project. Earned Value Management relies on three key metrics: – Planned Value (PV): This is the official budget that has been allocated to the project. The budget is typically setup per phase of the project, but at any point in time the â€Å"Planned Value† is used to refer to the work that should have been completed. The total planned value for the project is also referred to as the â€Å"Budget at Completion† (BAC) – Earned Value (EV): The Earned Value refers to the amount of work that would need to be completed at any point in time in for the project to be considered to be on track. The Earned Value is often used to calculate the percent complete for any project. The formula for percent complete would be: % Complete = EV / BAC. – Actual Cost (AC): The Actual Cost would quite simply be the costs that have been incurred to accomplish all the work performed thus far in a project. Technically the AC will have no upper limit and translates always to what was budgeted in the PV and measured by the EV. Part of the Earned Value Management technique is the monitoring of variances from the approved baseline of costs and schedule. The variances are useful in determining the overall project health and status. – Schedule Variance (SV): The Schedule Variance indicates a value which is a measure of how much the project is either ahead or behind at a given point in time. For any given point in time, once the EV and PV are known the SV can easily be calculated. The formu la for SV is quite simply: SV = EV – PV. Here a positive value indicates that the project is ahead at the current point in time and a negative value would indicate the opposite that a project is behind at the current point in time. – Cost Variance (CV): The Cost Variance indicates a value which is a measure of how much the project is either overspent or  underspent at any given point in time. For any given point in time, once the EV and AC are known the CV can easily be calculated. The formula for CV is quite simply: CV = EV – AC. Here a positive value indicates that the project is under spent at the current point in time and a negative value would indicate the opposite that a project is over spent at the current point in time. The Cost Variance at the end of the project is calculated as follows: CV = BAC – AC. The same above rationale is applied to positive and negative numbers to indicate if the project is under spent or over spent respectively. To me asure schedule or cost efficiency there are two indices which are also computed as part of the Earned Value Management technique. They are Schedule Performance Index and Cost Performance Index. – Schedule Performance Index (SPI): This is a measure of how efficiently the project has been run till the current point in time. An SPI of less than 1.0 would indicate that less work was completed than originally planned and an SPI value greater than 1.0 would indicate that more work was completed than was originally planned. The SPI is calculated with the following formula: SPI = EV / PV – Cost Performance Index (CPI): This is a measure of how efficiently the project has been run in terms of budgeted resources till the current point in time. The CPI is considered the most critical metric of the Earned Value Management methodology. A CPI of less than 1.0 would indicate that the project is currently over budget than originally planned and a CPI value of greater than 1.0 would in dicate that the project is currently under budget and in good shape. The CPI is calculated with the following formula: CPI = EV / AC Task B1: Justification of Metrics: One of the primary reasons of choosing the Earned Value Management methodology for the tracking of the project metrics of the Telecommuting Expansion Project was due to the fact that this method comprehensively covers all the key aspects of Project Schedule Control and Cost Management. With the use of this approach a well-rounded analysis can be performed on the data provided. The data provided has the clear value for the budget at completion (BAC) for all the labor costs for the project as well. The Cash Flow Report provided in the case study provides a good reference of the Earned Value at the 76 day mark within week 11. The Status Reports that are provided at the end of the Case Study also provides the  detailed actual sunk costs for each work package covered in the project work breakdown structure. Using the details provided, the Cost and Schedule Variances can easily be calculated which would easily offer a detailed look at the overall projec t health in regards to schedule and cost. With a simple arithmetic calculation one can easily determine whether the project is on track to stay under budget or go over budget as well as determine whether the project is going to stay on track and complete on schedule, or early or late. Also, with the calculation of the Cost Performance Index and the Schedule Performance Index, the schedule efficiency and cost efficiency of the Project can be easily evaluated. Comparing the two indices in reference to them being greater than 1.0 or lesser than 1.0 one can predict if the project is on track to come in under or over budget and finish ahead or behind schedule. This approach also fits well with the critical path approach that has been used thus far in the case study where special emphasis can be paid to the work packages in the critical path in an effort to further mitigate risk and control schedule and costs of the project. Task B2: Current Project Status: The following table is a complete summary of the fifteen project team members and their associated labor costs that were planned at the beginning of the project as well as the revised plan per the project manager’s Status report: Resource NameRate per HourPlanned HoursBudgeted Labor CostWBS ItemHours WorkedHours LeftRevised Work PlanSpent CostsFuture Costs% Left Elizabeth $ 70.00 121.43 $ 8,500.10 11220122 $ 8,540.00 $ – 0% Hugh $ 70.00 120 $ 8,400.00 210317120 $ 7,210.00 $ 1,190.00 14% Kimberly $ 70.00 76 $ 5,320.00 3721688 $ 5,040.00 $ 1,120.00 21% Phoebe $ 68.00 98 $ 6,664.00 4762096 $ 5,168.00 $ 1,360.00 20% Ben $ 68.00 138 $ 9,384.00 59352145 $ 6,324.00 $ 3,536.00 38% Zeke $ 65.00 384.67 $ 25,003.55 6153245398 $ 9,945.00 $ 15,925.00 64% Malinda $ 75.00 224 $ 16,800.00 758160218 $ 4,350.00 $ 12,000.00 71% Willis $ 70.00 108 $ 7,560.00 816068228 $ 11,200.00 $ 4,760.00 63% Jackson $ 45.00 268 $ 12,060.00 2,4,5177112289 $ 7,965.00 $ 5,040.00 42% Kendrick $ 40.00 78 $ 3,120.00 586086 $ 3,440.00 $ – 0% Marcel $ 75.00 432.85 $ 32,463.75 1,4,5,7268200468 $ 20,100.00 $ 15,000.00 46% Lianne $ 37.50 204 $ 7,650.00 3,8170110280 $ 6,375.00 $ 4,125.00 54% Darius $ 55.00 72 $ 3,960.00 3,8304272 $ 1,650.00 $ 2,310.00 58% Valene $ 60.00 150 $ 9,000.00 4,5,611664180 $ 6,960.00 $ 3,840.00 43% Clemencia $ 80.00 218.05 $ 17,444.00 1,6104114218 $ 8,320.00 $ 9,120.00 52% 2693 $ 173,329.40 178812203008 $ 112,587.00 $ 79,326.00 41% Notes: Looking at the above summary, the following can be summarized: †¢Planned Labor Cost (PV/BAC): $ 173,329.40 †¢Labor Costs spent (AC):$ 112,587.00 †¢Remaining Labor Costs:$ 79,326.00 †¢Initial Labor Plan:2693 hours †¢Revised Labor Plan:3008 hours oHours Spent:1788 hours oHours Remaining:1220 hours †¢Based on the Initial Labor Plan the following are computed: o% Complete:Hours spent / Initial Labor Plan 1788 / 2693 = 66% †¢Based on the Revised Labor Plan the following are computed: o% Complete:Hours spent / Revised Labor Plan 1788 / 3008 = 59% o% Remaining:Hours remaining / Revised Labor Plan 1220/ 2008 = 41% Since the PV, AC and % Complete are known, the following metrics that are part of the Earned Value Management Plan are computed: †¢Earned Value (EV) = BAC x % Complete = $ 173, 329.40 x 59% = $ 102, 264.35 †¢Cost Variance (CV) = EV – AC = $102,264.35 – $112,587.00 = -$10,322.65 †¢Schedule Variance (SV) = EV – PV = $102,264.35 – $173,329.40 = -$71,065.05 Note: Since both the Cost and Schedule Variances are negative, this indicates that the project is currently trending â€Å"over budget† and currently  running behind schedule. †¢Cost Performance Index (CPI)= EV / AC = $102,264.35 / $112,587.00 = .91 †¢Schedule Performance Index (SPI)= EV / PV = $102,264.35 / $173,329.40 = .59 Note: Since both the Cost and Schedule Performance Indices are lesser than 1.0 then this would indicate that the Project will finish over budget and will finish late. Using the formulas in the Earned Value Management technique, the final project cost and the final project duration can be estimated. Per the Case Study, the initial planned duration for the project is 123 days. †¢Estimated Final Project Cost = BAC / CPI = $ 173,329.40 / .91 = $ 190,471.87 †¢Estimated Final Project Duration = Planned Duration / SPI = 123 days / .59 = 209 days Note: Unless mitigated further the labor costs for the project will be around $ 17K more than planned and will finish around 86 days late. The additional costs for the project are the procurement costs for the hardware and software to support the 173 telecommuters. These would include the costs for the new computers that the telecommuters would use as well as the Document Servers, Shared Drives, FTP Servers, Firewalls and the support for Web-Based meetings. Based on the details provided in the Status Report by the previous project manager for the Xemba Translations Telecommuter Expansion Project, the total budgeted amount for all of these costs was $73,670.57. Per that same report the following table contains the estimated actual costs for those items. ResponsibleTask NameWBS ItemHW Costs – Option 1HW Costs – Option 2Cost Details ElizabethComputer inventory and requirements1$11,400.00 $14,200.00 Cost for 12 additional computers for the telecommuters. Option 1 – D esktops Option 2 – Laptops HughTechnical support2$0.00 $0.00 KimberlyComputing support3$0.00 $0.00 PhoebeDocument servers4$34,600.00 $89,268.00 Cost for document servers for the 173 telecommuters. Option 1 – $200 for 50GB per person Option 2 – $516 for 100GB per person BenShared Drives5$17,300.00 $17,300.00 Cost for shared drives for the 173 telecommuters. The cost is estimated at $20 per 10GB. Each usr will use an average of 50GB. Total cost of $100 per user. ZekeFTP Sites6$6,000.00 $6,000.00 Estimated annual cost for 1000GB storage space with unlimited bandwidth for file transfers and unlimited simultaneous logins MalindaFirewalls7$20,000.00 $20,000.00 Cost of firewall software and hardware WillisWeb-Based Meetings8$2,000.00 $2,000.00 Cost between $1000 and $2000 per year based on used of web meetings  $91,300.00 $148,768.00 Per the details included in the above table, the total costs for all the hardware and software to support the needs for the 173 telecommuters are more than the budgeted amount by $17,629.43 at the lower end and potentially more depending on configuration chosen. Per Xemba Translations CEO, Phuong Wolfing, the costs of the firewall could easily be absorbed into the overall IT budget rather than being accounted for as a project cost. This would imply that the hardware and software costs for the Telecommuter Expansion Project would total to $71,300 and come in under budget. Xemba Translations Senior Management and Stakeholders will need to decide on how to proceed here. Task B3a: Problems Affecting Project Implementation: A summary of three problems that could impact the project are as follows: One: Cost Overrun – Based on the current project status and trend of activities including estimates from the project team of how much more time is needed on the different project tasks, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely run well over budget and require additional funding in order to be completed. This would mean that there would really need to be an even bigger effort by the new Project Manager to control costs to minimize the cost overruns. Since the planned project duration is 123 days, with 76 days of this project completed, this project should be approximately 62% completed. Till date, the Actual Cost (AC) for labor on the project is only $112,587. Looking at the Cash Flow Report which is part of the Baseline Project Report, it shows that on day 76, the Earned Value (EV) of the project should be around $125,000 with a Percent of Work Complete at approximately 72%. Calculating the Cost Performance Index (CPI) using the EV of $125,000 and AC of $112,587 would give us a value greater than 1.0 (1.12) which would indicate that the project is currently under budget. However, factoring in the new estimates of the amount of work remaining, the Percent of Work Remaining comes in at ~41% which would mean that the project is only 59% completed in terms of tasks. Using the â€Å"% complete† at 59% and the Planned Value (PV or BAC) of $173,329.40 we arrive at an EV of $102,587 with a negative CPI lesser than 1.0 (0.91) indicating a definite cost overrun if something is not done and the project costs are not controlled more tightly moving forward. Two: Schedule Overrun – Based on the current project status and trend of activities, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely finish well beyond the targeted end date at the end of June in time for the start of the third quarter of the year as expected when the project was approved. This will imply that if Senior Management and Stakeholders of this project are serious on this project being completed in time for the third quarter of the year, then many critical steps will need to be taken to try and mitigate and minimize further project delay. There were many contributing factors leading to the delay. One of the biggest contributing factors for the delay in the project schedu le is the time lost in the pilot tests of the several web-based meetings that were planned and that needed to be re-scheduled due to the weather related power outage experienced in the Midwest. Another factor contributing to delay in the schedule is the procurement delay of the 47 new computers which were delayed by two weeks due to being â€Å"back-ordered. This contributed to a late start of the setup and validation of the 47 new computers for the telecommuters. As discussed in the â€Å"Project Status† section the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is calculated to be 0.59. Since this value is below 1.0 this indicates  that the project is currently behind schedule and will most likely be completed much behind schedule if the factors contributing to the delay are not mitigated. There will need to be close attention to the items that are in the critical path to see if they can be accelerated to try and minimize delay moving forward. Three: Quality Challenges – The status report for the Telecommuter Expansion project that is included as part of the case study reveals that typically in any IT Project there are many factors which can easily drive down the quality of the solution that is being worked on. In this case for Xemba Translations the Telecommuter Expansion is a project which involves substantial capital investment in information technology infrastructure and the associated complexities of getting the infrastructure setup a nd functional. As with any complex technology solution, the most critical part involves the initial setup and verification of the complex solution especially in all the many edge cases where the solution’s resilience to security attacks and malicious users is tested. Something which is not specific just to this Telecommuter Expansion project is the strain on resources that is usually experienced in an extremely pronounced way when there are schedule related challenges in a project. This project is tremendously behind schedule and there are many important schedule related decisions which will need to be made as part of the overall progress on this project. Another item that absolutely cannot be ignored is the Quality Management of all the moving pieces of the project. For example, this project involves the setup of computers for 173 telecommuters which include setting up document server access for each of them, shared drives, FTP access and the necessary software and hardware to support a web-based meeting environment for each of the 173 telecommuters. While this seems a tall order for a group of 15 project team members, it adds additional strain when all this needs to be accomplished flawlessly when the project is already behind schedule. Typically when there are schedule related pressures, the tendency is to just complete an item without focusing much on quality. Given the technical complexity of the deliverables of this project compounded with the lack of enough resources, there needs to be steps taken to ensure overall quality of all the technical deliverables in the project are maintained at a high level for the successful completion of this project followed with the successful operation of daily activities in Xemba  Translations. Task B3b: Recommendations for Problem Mitigation: The following is a summary of the mitigation steps to address the above mentioned problems that could negatively impact the project. Although the problems that have been encountered thus far cannot be eliminated, moving forward in the project, till completion the same problems can be minimized or mitigated. Based on the current project status, if we the project is on day 76 out of a planned 123 days of project activity and have spent $112K out of a budgeted 173K, then there is a lot of room for tighter fiscal control and cost management. There needs to be processes in place to confirm and authorize the need for additional hours spent on an activity especially if that activity is behind schedule. For example, there has been substantial amount of time spent on the Web-Based Meetings pilot test. This is an activity where bad weather played a role in causing unexpected delays as well as unnecessary hours spent on an activity which yielded no results. Since we cannot turn back the clock here, moving forward on any planned end-to-end testing activity, there needs to be a quick go/no-go call to first discuss readiness for such activity. Also, there needs to be more diligence paid to estimation of task duration. Given that we have an actual track record of how long different task take, the activity can we more tightly estimated and the duration exactly planned for. This not only helps with cost estimation but also helps with scheduling control. As part of due diligence and planning, there can also be a â€Å"best practices review† organized by the Project Manager where the project team reviews best practices for a task that needs to be worked on and accomplished in the effort to further accelerate the rate of progress while also indirectly bringing in completion dates and shortening the schedule where possible. Given the revised estimates of the remaining 1220 hours of work left on the project, there is a great o pportunity to bring in those dates and reduce the hours spent as the same time. Also, authorization can be obtained from Senior Management on the potential of incentivizing the team with spot bonuses if budget can be allotted accordingly, in order to keep certain tight deadlines. This helps the team focus and work together to achieve the common goal. On another note on the topic of hours spent on the project by the project team, a process can be reviewed with the team and  proposals can be made to Senior Management weekly on whether overtime hours for employees who will be working their full 40 hours for the week can be authorized or not. This will not only keep a handle on costs due to overtime-pay, this will also prevent a certain element of â€Å"burnout† within the team where the team would feel overworked. Historically, overworked teams tend to make mistakes and produce low quality deliverables. Hence at all costs, team burnout will need to be avoided which would indir ectly also improve overall quality and team responsiveness. Quality can be very relative and subjective. In order to take out the subjectivity from quality measurement, the team can be asked to work together and come up with tangible metrics to measure the quality of all the technical deliverables that are worked on. This will serve in obtaining an unbiased and tangible view of the progress made on any of the technical deliverables and measure readiness of the solution that is being worked on. In general this same process can be applied to the processes used for setting up the new computers, document servers, shared drives, FTP sites as well as the web-based meeting software environment. Task C: Executive Summary: The Telecommuting Expansion project is well underway. Another Risk Analysis was performed and new risks have been identified and summarized in a Risk Assessment Matrix. A quick summary of the newly identified risks, its impact and strategies for prevention and mitigation are as follows: Description of Risks Impact Strategies for Prevention and Mitigation Widespread security breach due to unauthorized access to sensitive customer informationNegative publicity of the company and loss of credibility in the eyes of existing and potential customers impacting overall businessIdentify and install the latest security software on all telecommuters’ PCs and enforce strict rules for information access including password policy management. Document Server integration challengesThe setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayedThe repetitive process of installation and setup of the document servers can be potentially scripted and semi-automated t o minimize error and reduce time taken. Technical challenges such as power failure and internet connection outagesThe setup of the environment for the Telecommuters would be delayed if either power or internet connection were impacted. To prevent  and mitigate this risk, the telecommuter PCs can be staged and setup in the Xemba Translations office before shipping to the remote location. In the long term budget can be allocated for individual battery backup for the remote PCs Delay in completion of the Telecommuting Expansion projectInadequate resources available to address the increased customer need causing negative publicity of the company.Manage schedules even more tightly monitoring daily progress of tasks and mitigating schedule delays even before it occurs. Perception of impersonal and below par service due to telecommuters Though there is a subjective aspect to this risk it can lead to the loss of very real customers and negative publicityWork with the marketing team to ens ure the message is clear to large customers on the benefits of real-time web based communications and translation services. The project is at day 76 since its inception. There have been some changes to the initial estimates of schedule and costs to the project. The Earned Value Management technique was used to compute some key schedule and budget metrics for comparison and strategic planning of the project. The following table has a summary of key initially planned and revised estimates of the Schedule and Budget items of the project: Schedule/Budget ItemInitially Planned Revised Estimates Duration in Days123 days209 days Duration in Hours2,693 hrs3,008 hrs Personnel Cost$173,329.40$190,471.87 Hardware/Software Cost$73,670.57$71,300.00 Note: There is additional firewall hardware and software cost of $20,000 which will be accounted for in the IT budget per guidance from CEO – Phuong Wolfing instead of being added to the Telecommuting Expansion Project costs. This cost is excluded in the estimates in the above table. In addition to the above revised estimates, an analysis was done on three problems that the project is facing and recommendations were summarized to address and mitigate the problems. The problems that were discussed and summarized in great detail together with recommendations to address the root of the respective problems are as follows: One: Cost Overrun – Based on the current  project status and trend of activities including estimates from the project team of how much more time is needed on the different project tasks, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely run well over budget and require additional funding in order to be completed. This would mean that there would really need to be an even bigger effort by the new Project Manager to control costs to minimize the cost overruns. Two: Schedule Overrun – Based on the current project status and trend of activities, if there are no major changes, the Project will definitely finish well beyond the targeted end date at the end of June in time for the start of the third quarter of the year as expected when the project was approved. This will imply that if Senior Management and Stakeholders of this project are serious on this project being completed in time for the third quarter of the year, then many critical steps will need to be taken to try and mitigate and minimize further project delay. Three: Quality Challenges – The status report for the Telecommuter Expansion project that is included as part of the case study reveals that typically in any IT Project there are many factors which can easily drive down the quality of the solution that is being worked on. In this case for Xemba Tran slations the Telecommuter Expansion is a project which involves substantial capital investment in information technology infrastructure and the associated complexities of getting the infrastructure setup and functional. As with any complex technology solution, the most critical part involves the initial setup and verification of the complex solution especially in all the many edge cases where the solution’s resilience to security attacks and malicious users is tested. Given the technical complexity of the deliverables of this project compounded with the lack of enough resources, there needs to be steps taken to ensure overall quality of all the technical deliverables in the project are maintained at a high level for the successful completion of this project followed with the successful operation of daily activities in Xemba Translations. Although the problems that have been encountered thus far cannot be eliminated, moving forward in the project, till completion the same prob lems can be minimized or mitigated. The recommendations to address the problems facing the project are as follows: Authorization for additional work: There needs to be processes in place to confirm and authorize the need for additional hours spent on an activity especially if that activity is  behind schedule. Since we cannot turn back the clock here and undo any issues already experienced, moving forward on any planned end-to-end testing activity, there needs to be a quick go/no-go call to first discuss readiness for such activity. Accuracy of Task Estimation with Best Practices: Also, there needs to be more diligence paid to estimation of task duration. Given that we have an actual track record of how long different task take, the activity can we more tightly estimated and the duration exactly planned for. This not only helps with cost estimation but also helps with scheduling control. As part of due diligence and planning, there can also be a â€Å"best practices review† organized by the Project Manager whe re the project team reviews best practices for a task that needs to be worked on and accomplished in the effort to further accelerate the rate of progress while also indirectly bringing in completion dates and shortening the schedule where possible Motivate Project Team through incentives: Also, authorization can be obtained from Senior Management on the potential of incentivizing the team with spot bonuses if budget can be allotted accordingly, in order to keep certain tight deadlines. This helps the team focus and work together to achieve the common goal. Manage Overtime Pay and â€Å"Burnout†: On another note, on the topic of hours spent on the project by the project team, a process can be reviewed with the team and proposals can be made to Senior Management weekly on whether overtime hours for employees who will be working their full 40 hours for the week can be authorized or not. This will not only keep a handle on costs due to overtime-pay, this will also prevent a cert ain element of â€Å"burnout† within the team where the team would feel overworked. Quality Assurance Metrics: Quality can be very relative and subjective. In order to take out the subjectivity from quality measurement, the team can be asked to work together and come up with tangible metrics to measure the quality of all the technical deliverables that are worked on. This will serve in obtaining an unbiased and tangible view of the progress made on any of the technical deliverables and measure readiness of the solution that is being worked on. With all of the above listed recommendations in place this would not only pave the way for the successful completion of the Telecommuting Expansion Project but set a very bold precedent within Xemba Translations as to what to do and what not to do in a project. The successful completion of the Telecommuting Expansion Project  would set a strong foundation for Xemba Translations to handle the additional business that is forecasted starting in Q3.

Advertising and Its Drivers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Advertising and Its Drivers - Essay Example So exactly what is an advertisement or what can we understand by the term advertisement. Their have been different views regarding the concept of advertisement. According to John Burnett, "Advertisement is a non-personal communication of marketing related information to a target audience, usually paid by the advertiser and delivered through mass media in order to reach specific objective of sponsor". However according to the critic of advertising, Judith Williamson (1978, p.57) states that it's "the most ubiquitous form in which we encounter commercial photography" which means advertising is the 'official art' of the advanced industrial nation of the west. (Hackley, 2005)It occupies the newspapers and is covered all over with urban environment, it is highly systematize organization involving many artist, writer and film directors, and consist of a large amount of output of the mass media. Advertisements promote and affect the idea and value which are crucial to a particular economy s ystem. Thus a good advertisement is that, which we should not lose interest in their ideological functions, which is connected to their economic functions (Dyer, 1995 p.2). Another definition by (Longman, 1971) 'Advertising attempts to inform and persuade a large number of people with a single communication'. Therefore in its simple sense the word 'advertising' means capturing the attention to something or telling or advising somebody of something. (Dyer, 1995 p.2). Thus advertising can be seen as a medium for communicating or providing knowledge to the customers from a recognized authority or person. This range of activities also qualifies as marketing communication or marcoms. KEY DRIVERS OF MARCOMS ACTIVITIES Perception: Creating Shopping Power When something has been perceived, then it has been noted and the message is recorded. In the words of psychologist, W. H. Ittelson and F. T. Kilpatrick, perception can't be definite, of 'what is'. Rather what we perceive is created by ourselves, which is mostly based on past experiences (Bogart, 1995). Also people's perceptions of brand are governed by some factors which are personal and public (Fletcher, 1999 p.163). It is one of important challenges for an advertiser trying to reach the customers, either by any form of mass communication like newspaper, or television ad so that they could notice it. Even sometimes the consumer miss out some messages directed to them. So the main thing is to give them exposure. (Wells, Burnett and Moriarty1992, p. 241). For example if all the ads are in colors then a black and white will be noticed, which is what Chanel did with their Nicole Kidman glossy ad for Chanel Perfume which would be place at the back cover of magazines like Cosmopolitan so as to give covert instead of ostensive communication. So by this the customers attention can be taken. (Hackley, 2005) This can be seen in the use of a ground breaking issue to position an advertisement. An example of this may be found in the 'Torches of Liberty Contingent' campaign aimed at expanding cigarette sales manifold by encouraging women to smoke. This campaign was launched and executed by Bernays in 1929. He was inspired by Sigmund Freud's view that actions are crystallised by the subconscious motivations. Another line of thought that he followed was based on the theory of psychoanalyst Brill, who held that women equated smoking as an expression of their freedom. Bernays campaign prompted women to start smoking during the Easter Day parade of 1929. While this enjoyed mixed reactions and extensive media reactions, the combination of liberation and democracy - both of which were emerging trends of the time - helped Barnays earn a place in history besides

MA Graduate Scholarship Application in Media & Communication Essay

MA Graduate Application in Media & Communication - Scholarship Essay Example Evident to this, I have additionally studied media management to supplement my bachelor qualifications. Consequently, I am certain and feel confident applying to a master’s program as a natural progression of my present academic qualifications, considering my majors in marketing, content management, and business administration from the University of Applied Sciences St. Poelten. Through my internships and apprenticeship from various institutions as appears in the attached testimonials, I developed enthusiasm to further my qualification. Through this scholarship, I have seen an opportunity that will alleviate me and my family from financial constraints that we have experienced from my childhood. My parents had a small retail store. This is what sustained us throughout. When I was working full-time while pursuing my apprenticeship degree as well as a high school diploma, I helped their business develop and flourish. I believe that this scholarship will not only help me further my education and hope of being synonymous with media, but also support my family in the retail store business. Media and communications have shaped my life, for example, through my work at the retail store, I became skilled at communicating efficiently with people, and at paying attention to their needs and requests; these early practices set the basis for my ardor in working with people in the PR industry, and the reason I believe this scholarship is pivotal to both my academic and personal life. I have learned the spirit of team work through collegiate activities and in the institutions. For example, during my internship at Bene AG, I collaborated with my supervisors and colleagues to develop strategies to promote Bene’s products and services. Subsequently, my passion for PR campaigns and marketing programs grew. I also achieved essential skills in the world of technology such as web page optimization, e-newsletters preparation, e-marketing

Green Fluorescent Protein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Green Fluorescent Protein - Essay Example This generates a plethora of chemical transformations where glycine forms a chemical bond with serine, as a result a new closed ring is formed, and the process is followed by dehydration. In the next hour, environmental oxygen reacts with the bond in tyrosine resulting in the formation of double bond to form a new fluorescent chromophore. GFP is ideal for genetic engineering as it has its own chromophore. Genetic instructions are provided to the cell under investigation, which eventually builds the GFP protein, GFP folds up in a specific manner and glows. Various research studies involve GFP as a reporter molecule to understand the functioning of genes or molecules in an explicit manner. Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) is a protein molecule generated by a jellyfish Aequorea victoria. The organism displays its fluorescent protein along the margin of its umbrella as the glowing points of light. The light is generated from the yellow tissue masses encompassing approximately 6000-7000 photogenic cells. These photogenic cells produce light by means of bioluminescence, encompassing a calcium-activated photoprotein, popularly known as â€Å"aequorin† that produces green fluorescent protein (GFP) and blue-green light. GFP accepts energy from the protein molecule aequorin and gives out as green light (Green Fluorescent Protein, n.d.). GFP comprises of 238 amino acids in its protein. The protein remains highly stable in neutral buffers even at the temperature of 65 ºC. GFP is also stable at wider pH range from 5.5 to 12. The protein molecule of GFP is strongly fluorescent, with a quantum effectiveness of about 80 percent as well as displays molar extinction coefficient of 2.2 x 104 cm-1 M-1. Maximum fluorescence displayed by GFP is at 400 nm while lesser peak is displayed at 475nm, whereas the fluorescence emission peak is displayed at 509nm. The intrinsic fluorescence of the GFP is attributed to its exclusive covalently bound chromophore, which is

Early Chinese Funerary Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Early Chinese Funerary Art - Essay Example Excavations at B'ei-li-kang near Luo-yang date materials found at that site to 6000-5000 B.C." (Pearson Education, 2007). In order to understand better about early Chinese funerary art, there are several issues in particular which need to be discussed. The Chinese culture itself, the history of Chinese art, and as well the purpose of funerary art in this regards are all incredibly significant and critical issues, and by thoroughly examining and discussing all of these issues, we will be able to attain a more informed and knowledgeable understanding in regards to what Chinese funerary art is all about. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Chinese art has truly varied throughout history, and it has been divided into certain periods by the ruling dynasties of China in particular, and that includes the Yangshao, Dawenkou, Hongshan, Liangzhu, Longshan, Early Shang, Anyang, Eastern and Western Zhou, Warring States, and the Early Qin Dynasties. The difference in art is remarkable throughout each separate dynasty; the way that the art evolved, and the actual purpose and meaning of it as well, especially in regards to funerary art. In the earliest dynasty periods in China, the forms of (funerary) art were typically made from pottery and jade, "to which was added bronze in the Shang Dynasty" (Wikipedia, 2007). It was in early imperial China when porcelain was introduced into the art forms, and this is in fact why in English the word China has become associated with the most valuable and high-quality porcelain. The Shang Dynasty is actually considered as being the first dynasty of all, and inscriptions are one of the most significant art forms that took place during the time of this dynasty, and this meant inscriptions on bronze artifacts and oracle bones for instance, the oracle bones in particular which date back to the latter half of the dynasty, and these divinations can truly be considered as standing for various different things, including for giving information on the politics, economy, culture, and religion at that time. The Western Zhou Dynasty period was another which held incredible significance, and it was during this period in particular in which inscriptions became increasingly common and significant, and as well lengthier, and these were used to truly extol the achievements of the owner, as well as express the 'poignant wish' that the piece will not only be able to honor his forebears, but as well that he will be able to recall his own merits to his descendants, for 'generations without end'. The Yangshao Dynasty is yet another one of great importance in regards to the Chinese (funerary) art which was created during this time, and one of the most common forms of art in particular was that of swirling spirals and geometric designs, of which were often etched onto pottery wares. During the latter part of this dynasty, brush-painted pottery became incredibly popular, and it also became more sophisticated in regards to the way that it was completed, especially in regards to the handling of the design. The Dawenkou Dynasty is another important time period here for Chinese art, and during this period it was ceramics that were incredibly common and as well significant, and here as well inscriptions were used quite frequently,

The media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world Essay

The media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world (Said 1997) How far could public opinion resist the influence of the political and econom - Essay Example Invasion of one country by another is an example of coercive power. Symbolic power works through images (linguistic, pictoral, aural) to create and mobilise support for a cause and it is integral to the operation of the other power forms. Other classifications include position, resource and charismatic (or personality) power, each overlapping with Thompson's categories and each one some how connected with communication processes. A case can be made for recognising technological power, what Karl Marx refereed to as the means of production, as a category in its own right. John of Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in around 1450 was not substantially the result of either economic or political imperatives, but it soon proved to be a winner economically. Politically and culturally it brought about profound changes. By symbolising knowledge as something potentially accessible to all and rendering the act of reading an exercise in individualism and a possible source of subversion, printing transformed the known world by becoming a power in the land. In easily reproducible and permanent form, it spread knowledge and ideas beyond the traditional boundary fence of the privileged to the 'common people'. In doing so, it offered them glimpses of their own potential power. Yet tYet the media have never been either separate from or independent of the forces which create them and which in turn they shape and influence. They work, as Thompson points out, within institutional frameworks. As such they operate as forms of cultural apparatus, part of the machinery of state or of powerful interest groups within the state. Historically the media have more often served as the voice of powerful than of the people. They have been classified by the French philosopher Louis Althusser as one of the prime ISAs, Ideological State Apparatuses, along with religion, family structures, and education: that is, they are crucially important channels for the transmission of 'rules of conduct' in society; the guardians of a culture's dominant norms and values. They play a part in all the power forms, including in a contributory sense - coercive power. Coercion, the exercise of power by force, manifests itself through what Althusser terms RSAs, Repressive State Apparatuses - army, police, prisons. It is ever physically absent but it is in the culturally concealed. Its visible and tangible presence depends on whether the other power forms are considered to be under threat. In war time of course, coercive power moves from the back region to the front region of our lives; and at no other time is symbolic power exercised by the media, so graphically, so blatantly or so persuasively. The media in time of war - with exceptions- become the trumpeters of conflict with the enemy. They do not fire the guns but their clamour for the guns to be fired is an essential part of the process of gathering the people's support for the war effort. ISAs and RSAs conflate, become one and the media speak with a single voice; their task to create consensus and unity at home, to identify and target the enemy; their role that of mobilisers of opinion and,

Global Retail Business - the Keys to Success Research Paper

Global Retail Business - the Keys to Success - Research Paper Example Modern concepts are important to incorporate into a global retail business strategy. Sustainability is essential in providing the consumer with the feeling that their consumer activities are being done with a sense of responsibility. Using modern technology in marketing concerns will provide a company with both good marketing opportunities and the appearance of modernity with respect to current trends. Creating a branding aesthetic will provide for the association of the product to desirable lifestyles, thus, in turn, creating a demand for the products that fall under that brand. Therefore, the experience within the retail environment must be as pleasurable as the satisfaction of that association. Creating a modern retail strategy requires incorporating a great number of factors into the overall design. When dealing with a global strategy for a retail corporation, regulatory differences between different nations can sometimes impact the potential for success. However, creating success from restrictive regulations can involve creative solutions to problems of legal restrictions that are designed to circumvent those restrictions in a way that creates higher levels of profit from competitors. Engaging the global community means creating ways in which to insert a product and brand into a culture without attempting to change the culture, but with the intent of using their traditions and regulations in ways that enhance the success of the product.

ONE of the following Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ONE of the following - Essay Example It is still possible to mitigate, avoiding the worst. The scientific community has offered specific recommendations to governments, but the question is whether politics are going to listen to the recommendations of scientists. Thus, we are going to discuss the challenges that global warming presents to both governments and businesses. First of all, it is necessary to mention that global warming is a tremendous challenge to the whole humanity. To date, the global scientific community has received the irrefutable proofs of the secular trend of global warming, which serves as an indicator of climate changes on the Earth. The surface temperature of the atmosphere has increased by 0, 74 ?C over the past century. Average temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were higher than in any 50-year period in the last 500 years during the second half of the twentieth century, and probably is the highest in the last 1300 years. Thinking about consequences of global warming, Weart (2003) stated that widespread phenomena, such as rising sea levels, melting glaciers and polar ice sheets (particularly in the Arctic), the reduction of snow and ice covered areas of the earth’s surface, the increase in rainfall in some regions (the eastern part of North and South America, Northern Europe, North and Central Asia ) and a decrease in others, the expansion arid zones (Africa, South Asia, part), more frequent tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic, etc. are connected with global warming. Global warming and climate change affect the condition of many natural ecosystems in some ways, and thus, they have an impact on climate conditions in the biosphere as a whole, the biosphere conditions of human existence. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes up to 2500 experts from 130 countries, stated in the Fourth Assessment Report, which was presented in 2007, that global warming is an undeniable and already irreversible fact. The IPCC projected that by the end of the XXI century, if current trends continue to develop, surface temperature can rise to the most accurate estimate on 1,8-4,0 ? C (different scenarios), but likely, a greater value will have a place - from 2,9 to 6,4 ? C. This will entail an increase in climatic ‘shocks’ and disasters, such as more frequent and extensive flooding, flooding of low-lying coastal areas in one regions, drought and desertification in others. The changes, in turn, will lead to a reduction in agricultural productivity, especially in arid zones, water resources depletion, a dramatic reduction of biodiversity, and a spread of dangerous infectious diseases due to worsening conditions of the existence of a huge mass of people, especially in the poorest countries and to general regression in human development throughout the XXI century. Arguing the problem of global warming some researchers declared that the Industrial Revolution has changed the lives of mankind for the better, but the annual e missions of carbon dioxide and other gases that cause a greenhouse effect, has grown considerably at its very beginning. Billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases accumulate in the thin protective layer of the Earth. Nowadays, the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere are half as much again as before the Industrial Revolution. Discussing the challenges that global warmi

Applications of virtual simulation and their impact in education and training Essay Example for Free

Applications of virtual simulation and their impact in education and training Essay By replicating experiences, simulations hold great potential for educating people or training professionals for almost any task. Research shows more learning is acquired through virtual reality than through reading or lectures. Different from other visual technologies such as film, television and photography, virtual simulation is very effective in education and training because it can provide interactive experience with theories and concepts. Students learn while they are situated in the context where what they learn is to be applied. They get immediate feedback as they explore their understanding of the material (Hitlab). Virtual reality transports learners and lets them explore places they are not able to visit or experience in the real world and could also allow them to visit different places in different time periods that they could not experience in one lifetime. Indeed, virtual reality evokes many possibilities for education and training across a whole range of disciplines. Despite prohibitive costs, more and more educational institutions are exploring simulation technologies as teaching aids and research tools (Byrne, 1993). However, the benefits far outweigh the high costs of simulation technologies. For example, virtual simulation could be used to avoid the physical, safety, and cost constraints that limit schools in the types of environments they can provide for learning-by-doing. To expose them to situated learning, Nuclear Engineering students could learn more about the nuclear reactor by studying simulated models with HMD and 3D gloves instead of a real nuclear reactor. Virtual reality technology facilitates constructivist learning activities and also supports different types of learners such as those who are visually oriented. Virtual simulation could also solve the limitations of distance learning in science and engineering education by providing virtual laboratories in place of hands-on experiments. Physical phenomena that are not easily perceived or measured in usual experiments can be presented in a virtual world and can be viewed in many different perspectives in a VR laboratory. Furthermore, virtual simulation could also address the problems of high costs and hazards of complicated experiments (Kim, et al. , 2001). Figure 2. Simulation offers interactive demonstration of the AC and DC generators (from Kim, et al. , 2001) Simulations in education focus on specific lessons or tasks and allow the replication of abstract concepts and ideas. Simulation techniques are used to create a microworld that simulates an abstract concept and allows the learner to experiment or construct objects to facilitate understanding. A good example of a microworld is the Global Challenge Award online STEM learning web site that teaches science concepts related to global warming and the future of energy. Virtual simulation could also be used, for example, by an ecology to study hydrology and population growth and decay for wildlife species in a given geographic region. An astronomer could also simulate the collision of galaxies and the formation of dark matter. Virtual simulation allows professionals to explore their fields without having to run extensive and costly physical, on site, experiments (Fishwick, 1995). The use of simulation environments has been found to be very effective educational tools because they support self-driven learning (Trindade et al. , 2002). Figure 3. Interactive demonstration of different types of waves (from Kim, et al. , 2001) Multisensory immersion would be the best way for science students to learn complex scientific concepts. In a study of virtual reality physics simulation (VRPS) conducted by Kim, et al. (2001), it was found out that students who were exposed to VRPS programs that provide rich interactive learning environments showed higher academic achievement and felt more satisfaction and interest in the learning process. In another study done by Jensen, et al. (2004), it was shown that 3D visualizations can improve learner satisfaction due to the vivid presentation, and at least maintain learning efficacy.

Sex Workers in India

Sex Workers in India Prostitution is a contentious issue in India. Although, prostitution (exchanging sex for money) is not illegal, but the surrounding activities (operating brothels, pimping, soliciting sex etc.) are illegal. In fact the worst part is that the people in India forget that in series of insulting this profession, they put a question mark on the life of that personof that girl who had possibly been just another victim of unexpected and unwanted assault of bad times. It is being heard often, rather always from people that call girls are like this, they are not good, it is not preferred for decent people to be friend with them or to be in contact with them though they forget that it is this crowd who exploits the helplessness of these girls. It is easy to make out from outside that they are themselves indulging in these activities but nobody bothers to take charge to rebuild them. Once these innocent souls of 11 or 12 years are forced into the hell like brothelsa word called LIFE goes away f rom their ruined being and self respect. In 2007, the Ministry of women and child development reported presence of 2.8 million sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years. The number of prostitutes has also doubled in the recent decades. It itself is a proof of one thing that Indias male dominated want this ,do this..that is why prostitution is augmenting at such a pace. Sonagachi in Kolkata, Kamathipura in Mumbai, G.B Road in New Delhi, Reshampura in Gwalior and Budhwar peth in Pune host thousands of sex workers. These are also known as red light areas in the country, where everyday thousands of girls are browbeaten. Ones who are considered to be so called lucky get freed from this cage because of intervention of police or NGOs but being rescued from a brothel is not always the end of a dark tunnel. Rather, it could be the beginning of a more traumatic life. A number of sex workers rescued and repatriated show higher-levels of traumatic disorders than those living in broth els, according to an all-India study. The study conducted by Swanchetan, an NGO, from October 2007 to March 2008, used the five-point Likert scale to map the relative intensity with which each victim experienced and demonstrated trauma. Human trafficking is illegal but prostitution is not .the difference of which people rarely understand. Films made on the life of sex workers or bar girls like Chameli, Chandni bar, Mandi show the true picture of our society where the situation and their family members themselves do not think twice to make life of those girls a deal for them. According to a Human Rights Watch report, Indian anti-trafficking laws are designed to combat commercialized vice; prostitution, as such, is not illegal. A sex worker can be punished for soliciting or seducing in public while clients can be punished for sexual activity close to a public place, and the organization puts the figure of sex workers in India to be around 15 million, with Mumbai alone being home to on e hundred thousand sex workers, the largest sex industry centre in Asia. Over the years, India has seen a growing mandate to legalize prostitution, to avoid exploitation of sex workers and their children by middlemen and also in the wake of growing HIV/AIDS menace. Many NGOs are working towards it but still a considerable change has not been brought in the lives of these girls or women. So the need of the hour is to enlighten ourselves, our spirit and our unconscious soul to rein in the chances of innocent girls getting exploited by the animals in disguise of men in our society.

Comparing Woman’s Social Status in Becky and Blood Burning Moon Essay

Jean Toomer was bi-racial, sometimes being perceived as white and sometimes black. His race was a catalyst for his writings. Toomer wrote prose and poetry reflecting his ideas about race and gender, not wanting either to be an issue in the future. His writings depict people of all races facing struggles, some gender struggles and some racial struggles. In â€Å"Becky† and in â€Å"Blood Burning Moon,† Toomer centers around two females. During the time period of his writings and what is still somewhat evident today, gender decides the role a person plays in society. As a female, one was always inferior to the male, no matter what the race. Therefore, these two works show how being a female affects a woman’s treatment in life; she loses some control of her destiny, which is ultimately decided by a male or a group of males. â€Å"Becky† centers on a white female who has two black sons. She is forced to leave the town and live on the outskirts because interracial relationships are not acceptable to the other citizens. As a female, Becky is unable to deny maternity to the two boys, but the man who impregnated her has no ties to the children and could have denied paternity of the two boys. Becky avoids the criticism from the townspeople by living in her house â€Å"ground islandized between the road and the railroad track.† No one ever sees her. She has no contact with the townspeople, but those who care for her well-being bring her food and leave it outside of her house, anonymously. Louisa, in â€Å"Blood Burning Moon,† is a black female who is loved by two men, one white man and one black man. She works for a white family, the youngest son being Bob Stone. He is in love with Louisa because of her beauty and charisma. He believes that be... ...male characters powerless in a society of males. Louisa is forced to live with two males who love her and is unable to choose between either. Becky is obligated to raise two sons with neither support from the community nor help from their father. The two women are treated as simple objects or at least not characterized as real people with feelings and desires in their lives. Gender inequality is a common theme for Toomer. He wishes gender to be unimportant in daily situations; everyone should be treated equally and no one should be forced to live a life separate from others because of his or her gender. Louisa and Becky are both forced to live a life with no opportunity for equality and no chance to for happiness with another person, because they are females. Works Cited Toomer, Jean. â€Å"Bood-Burning Moon.† Cane. New York: Livericht, 2010. 39-49. Print.

lighthod Light and Dark in Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart

Light and Dark in Conrad's Heart of Darkness In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the author adverts to the idea that the "entrapment of light by darkness [that] is continually suggested" (Bloom 46) is comparative to Marlow's personality and perspective of his expedition down the Congo River. Light symbolizes any object or concept that is positive while darkness represents anything that elicits malice. The way in which Conrad approaches the novel by using darkness constantly prevail over light shows a continual theme of foreboding and gloom. Everything that shows vibrancy is illuminated through Conrad's words. These symbolisms and representations have a undeviating effect on the personality and perspective of the protagonist, Marlow. Conrad's use of a frame tale is exceedingly important when the character that is sharing his recollections has an altered perception. One may scrutinize the perspective of the African landscape as a natural wonder and not a foreboding nightmare as Marlow illustrates. The altered percep tion of Marlow, as using darkness as a victor of light, exhibits that Conrad utilizes the frame tale as a scapegoat for his personal perspective. The accounts of the narrative are the actual happenings of Conrad's individual journey up the Congo River. The reader, through Marlow's speech, can visualize any given atmosphere described in the book. Unfortunately, there are not any existing neutral settings throughout the book. The landscapes are either overcome by darkness or light. The effect of this darkness or light has a direct corollary to the reader. Immediately the reader recognizes a contrast between the peaceful European setting and the disarray of t... ...a dream"(24.). Marlow suddenly becomes aware of his immediate listeners and speaks directly to them as individuals. These listeners are, in essence, the reader. Conrad realizes that at certain junctures in his story the reader may lose interest. As a repercussion, Conrad institutes particular statements that maintain the intellectual involvement of the reader. Once again when Marlow detects disinterest and fiercely responds to someone sighing he questions the integrity of the listener. He automatically assumes that the listener sighs because of the absurdity of what is being stated: "Why do you sigh in this beastly way, somebody?"(43.). As Marlow continues, the intermittent utterances regarding the reader's involvement play a pivotal role in developing the contrast between darkness and light as Marlow nears the actual "heart of darkness." lighthod Light and Dark in Conrad's Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart Light and Dark in Conrad's Heart of Darkness In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the author adverts to the idea that the "entrapment of light by darkness [that] is continually suggested" (Bloom 46) is comparative to Marlow's personality and perspective of his expedition down the Congo River. Light symbolizes any object or concept that is positive while darkness represents anything that elicits malice. The way in which Conrad approaches the novel by using darkness constantly prevail over light shows a continual theme of foreboding and gloom. Everything that shows vibrancy is illuminated through Conrad's words. These symbolisms and representations have a undeviating effect on the personality and perspective of the protagonist, Marlow. Conrad's use of a frame tale is exceedingly important when the character that is sharing his recollections has an altered perception. One may scrutinize the perspective of the African landscape as a natural wonder and not a foreboding nightmare as Marlow illustrates. The altered percep tion of Marlow, as using darkness as a victor of light, exhibits that Conrad utilizes the frame tale as a scapegoat for his personal perspective. The accounts of the narrative are the actual happenings of Conrad's individual journey up the Congo River. The reader, through Marlow's speech, can visualize any given atmosphere described in the book. Unfortunately, there are not any existing neutral settings throughout the book. The landscapes are either overcome by darkness or light. The effect of this darkness or light has a direct corollary to the reader. Immediately the reader recognizes a contrast between the peaceful European setting and the disarray of t... ...a dream"(24.). Marlow suddenly becomes aware of his immediate listeners and speaks directly to them as individuals. These listeners are, in essence, the reader. Conrad realizes that at certain junctures in his story the reader may lose interest. As a repercussion, Conrad institutes particular statements that maintain the intellectual involvement of the reader. Once again when Marlow detects disinterest and fiercely responds to someone sighing he questions the integrity of the listener. He automatically assumes that the listener sighs because of the absurdity of what is being stated: "Why do you sigh in this beastly way, somebody?"(43.). As Marlow continues, the intermittent utterances regarding the reader's involvement play a pivotal role in developing the contrast between darkness and light as Marlow nears the actual "heart of darkness."

Essay --

1. How will you find the right caregiver for our family? During the initial assessment, we take detailed notes about your loved one’s hobbies, interests and needs. We then review our caregiver pool to find the person with the matching personality and skills. A member of our team will also be present on the first day of home care for the caregiver introduction and to ensure a smooth start. 2. Do you train your caregivers? Yes, extensively. We start by hiring caregivers who have experience working in senior care, then we provide education on Senior Helpers’ processes, standards and core values. New caregivers complete a 6-hour orientation training that includes topics such as rights of clients, infection control, client care tips and more. All caregivers have access to dozens of training topics about health care and senior care. 3. Do I pay the caregiver directly? No, you should never pay a caregiver directly. One designated family member will receive an invoice every other week, and payment should be remitted directly to our office. 4. What can I expect in a typical day with my caregiver? It depends on the type of service you have requested. It might include grocery shopping and running errands in the morning, preparing and eating lunch, preparing dinner for later, and going for a walk and playing games in the afternoon. We also have many activities available for our caregivers to check out from our Client Resource Library, including mind-stimulating programs for our clients with Alzheimer’s or dementia. 5. Will we have the same caregiver every time? We can’t guarantee your caregiver will always be available, but we’ll make every effort to have the same caregiver for every visit. We may occasionally introduce a new caregiver ... ...commended by their doctor. 12. How quickly can service start? Right away. Golden Oasis is known for our quick-start home care approach, which provides the care you need, when you need it. 13. Do I have to sign a contract or keep services for a specified period of time? We do have a standard service agreement that outlines the services that we will provide, which protects you and us. However, you can cancel our service at any time with at least two weeks notice. 14. Can I make changes to the schedule if I have an appointment? Absolutely! We just ask that you give us as much notice as possible by calling our office. Any cancellations with less than 24 hours notice may be subject to fees. 15. If I have a problem or question, whom should I contact? If you have any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our office and speak with a member of our team.

Effective inroduction Essay

This essay will be assessing how this section forms an effective introduction to the play. Firstly Miller sets the scene. He begins with describing ‘the backyard of the Keller home, in the outskirts of an American town. ‘ (pg 3) Automatically from this we gather that the play is an American drama. Evidently if you had read previous playwrights by Miller or know his Nationality you would have all ready established the fact of an American play. If not then with-in the first line you are well informed. Next he states the particular time of year in which the play is set â€Å"august of our era† (pg 3) this suggests the weather would be â€Å"beautiful? Not a cloud† (pg 4). It also even goes into further detail informing you of the date and time â€Å"early Sunday morning† (pg 3) He then progresses into describing the house and garden here we can already begin to guess the state, and class of the family. â€Å"The house is two stories high, and has seven rooms† (pg 3. ) He then describes the arrangement of the garden. â€Å"Garden chairs and a table are scattered around† (pg 3) this is very affective as we can imagine a clear picture of where the main conversations and drama will take place. The atmosphere is very cheerful and friendly and suggests that the Keller’s are a popular family. This contrasts later on in the play, when we find out they dint always used to be a popular family due to Joe’s jail incident, and the fact that the neighbour thought he was a ‘murderer. ‘ Also the biggest contrast would be at the end of the play when the tension wouldn’t be calm anymore, instead it is full of resentment by Chris towards Joe, full of guilt on Joe’s behalf, and finally after Joe’s suicide the mood it is upsetting and dramatic. The characters are then introduced; Joe, Chris, and the neighbours. Joe’s character’s first impression is under educated. â€Å"To see what people want you know? † (pg 4/5), and from the stage directions at the beginning of act one: â€Å".. terrible concentration of the uneducated man†(page 3. ) also He asks Dr Bayliss if Frank is: â€Å"Talking sense†(pg 6) this suggests he don’t understand him, This shows us he doesn’t understand people’s ideas, and has a very narrow view of people’s jobs and lively-hoods â€Å"wanted old dictionaries†¦ what’s a man going to do with an old dictionary? † (pg 5) This links into him being very money motivated and materialistic. He cares about money a great deal and values everything by it’s monetary value: â€Å"You mean he’ll make a living out of that? â€Å"(pg 5.) Also we know Joe is very proud and takes good care of his business, this is proven when Miller sets the scene talks about the house â€Å"cost fifteen thousand in the early twenties when it was built† (introduction pg 2) this suggests the house is only about 28-30 years old, as it was built in the twenties, and this play was written around two years of WWII ending in 1945. Meaning Keller has bought this house, and is able to provide and support his family indicating he is a good at his job, and a wealthy business man this is backed up later in the book when he talks to Kate about how he was â€Å"put out† (pg 72) at ten and made to earn for a living. Overall Joe has come from a poorer background, and has managed to work himself up the social ladder. He is not just a serious business man, he is kind and friendly, popular with Bert a young boy he often plays detective games with. Chris is Joe’s son who is introduced on page 9. Together Joe and Chris have a conversation where Ann (Chris’s wife to be as we find out later on in the play) people describe her as a â€Å"beautiful girl† she is seen as mysterious, which draws in the audience. Also Kate (Joe’s wife and Chris’s mother) who is seen as optimistic and living in hope are referred to, however at the start of Act Three there is a contrast between Kate’s idealism and Jim’s practicality. â€Å"you’re so childish Jim† showing she thinks he nai ve and immature. This starts the build up of tension in Act Three. Miller describes Chris as a â€Å"man capable of immense affection and loyalty† (pg 9 stage directions) Before the character even speaks the audience already gets a feel that Chris is going to be the ‘good-guy’ in the play. The other characters introduced are Dr Jim Bayliss our first impression of Jim is that he cynical and realistic when talking to Keller about the rain he says he doesn’t believe in the papers â€Å"then it cant† (pg 4) Hr is critical and sarcastic of the weather. Jim is very against his son being a doctor â€Å"over my dead body† (pg 6) this shows he doesn’t enjoy his profession and we find out later that he had tried to follow his ambition helping humanity, but he couldn’t afford to provide for his family. â€Å"I would love to help humanity on a Warner Brother’s salary† (pg 7) Again another person who is realistic about money, already we get an impression that one of the themes of the play is money and materialism. This also parallels Joes actions, both men have had to compromise their occupation, and had to do things they regret to earn a living. However there is a huge contrast at the start of Act Three. Jim realizes moneys not everything â€Å"money. Money-money-money-money, you say it long enough it doesn’t’ mean anything† (pg 69) This is a sub-plot in the play. But could this need for money all be down to his wife sue? Sue comes in just as Jim talks about â€Å"not a damn thing to look at in the neighbour hood† (pg 7) an awkward moment to introduce a new character but miller purposely picked this so automatically we can get an idea of Sue and Jim’s uneasy relationship. Sue comes across as jealous â€Å"she enjoys it more when you tell her to lay down† (pg 7) implying one of her husbands clients fancies him. Her jealously is seen more stronger later on in the play when she speaks to Ann about trying to convince Chris in moving away, she can be quite harsh and nasty. She is very money obsessed. This is effectual.

Why Global Warming Isn’t Real

Global climate change has been an issue for decades and so people are trying to stop it by going green and blaming carbon dioxide for the cause because there has been an increase of it. The truth is, it is not real. People get tricked into thinking global warming is real and the media makes a big deal about it and because people rely on the media for what is going on, and they believe what they say. That it is why they want them to get fuel efficient cars and energy star products along with solar and wind power to lessen the reliance on fossil fuels to help stop global warming. A lot of research has been done to show that carbon dioxide does not affect global warming. Scientists believe global warming is real based on the data that has been collected over the years. Tim Pawlenty had two claims on global warming, the first one is that evidence points toward climate change being natural and not a man made phenomenon. The U. N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that over the past 50 years, global warming was observed as human induced emissions such as the burning of fossil fuels like gasoline in our cars and clearing forests. The IPCC also claims that between 1995 and 2006, eleven of the twelve years were the warmest years on record. The second claim that Pawlenty made is that science about causes of climate change is dispute. The 2010 survey showed that of 1,372 scientists surveyed, 97-98% of them said that humans are to blame for on climate change. This was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which is the official publication of the US National Academy of Sciences. (Holan, Angie Drobnic, and David G. Taylor) There are a lot of facts and research as well to show why global warming is something that people are overreacting to. The Berkley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) showed that the worldwide temperatures have increased only by 1degree Celsius since 1950 while also showing that in the past decade, the temperature has been unchanged. Anthony Watts analyzed the US temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climate Data Center and found some stunning results. He said that the Earth is cooling and not warming and broke down the data into winter, summer and annual temperatures in nine different regions. Every region has shown a drop in temperature for the winter, ranging from -1. 3 to -8. 4 degrees Fahrenheit in the west and east north central regions respectively. for the summer, five of the nine regions have negative temperature trends falling 1. 95 degrees in the northwest region. Only the northeast region has shown positive temperature trends for the annual temperatures. (Tennant, Michael) The IPCC has no creditable evidence that the Earth is warming like t hey claim. In fact, 17,000 scientists signed a petition saying that there is no convincing evidence that global warming exists. Satellite readings from the troposphere show that there is no warming since they started being used for the past 23 years. These are very accurate in taking temperature readings. The only data that shows there is global warming is the land base stations. With the heating and emissions from vehicles, The data collected shows that human error is factored in therefore would have scientists believe it is real. The efforts to reduce the greenhouse emissions s very costly and it would not stop the climate from changing. Reducing the carbon dioxide to the 1990’s levels within the next couple years requires higher energy taxes and regulations. This will cause 2. million jobs lost and $300 million in annual economic output. The household income nationwide will drop almost $3,000 therefore causing the state revenue taxes to fall almost $93 billion due to less taxable earned income and sales along with lower property values. Over 80% of the carbon dioxide increase in the 20th century was after 1940. Most of the temperature increase happened before 1940 and between the 40’s and mid 70’s, the car bon dioxide increased dramatically as the Earth was cooling. Water vapor is considered a major greenhouse gas and accounts for 95% of any greenhouse effect. According to the Journal Science in 1982, termites produce ten times more carbon dioxide than all the factories and vehicles alone. (Edmund Contoski) There are a lot of facts on why global warming is true, but the evidence does not confirm it. The data that was collected from the US government shows that the Earth is cooling and not warming. Carbon dioxide is not to blame for increasing global warming. All the research that was done on monitoring temperatures and carbon dioxide show that the Earth is not warming and humans are not to blame and it is only natural.

Gender Schema Theory Essay

Martin and Halverson suggested an alternative to the cognitive-developmental approach proposed by Kohlberg and called it the gender schema theory. In Kohlberg’s theory, children must reach gender consistency before they are able to begin imitating the behaviour of same sex role models. In gender schema theory the early gender identity acquired at about the age of three is the starting point to which children will then begin to look for schemas, schemas are packages of organised clutters of information about gender-appropriate behaviour and children learn these schemas by interacting with people, such as learning which toys to play with, which clothes to wear etc. and these help children to make sense of the world around them and help children to organise their experiences and process new information and also to help self-evaluate themselves, this is to help them feel good about themselves. Support for the gender schema theory was conducted by Martin et al 1995 who showed toys to children aged four to five. Children were informed, before choosing a toy to play with that it was either a girls toy or a boys toy, they were then asked whether they and other boys or girls would like to play with the toys. They found that if a toy, such as a magnet, was given the label of being a boys toy then only boys would play with it. However if boys were told that it was a girl toy then they didn’t want to play with it. Similarly girls would not play with toys labelled for boys. The label given at the start consistently affected the children’s toy preference. It is an important finding in that it highlights the labelling and the categorisation of objects that children are subjected to from a young age, and how their toys can be labelled in the same way as appropriate gender behaviour. A limitation of this research is that an observation of the children and although it has high ecological validity as it is in a real life setting, the children may have shown demand characteristics as the toys were stereotyped for their gender it is questionable if they had guessed the aim of the research and the results may have been due to the children trying to please the researcher as they may have thought they would get punished for choosing the wrong gendered toy to play with and how much of the children’s choice was due to free-will. It was also done in a controlled environment which means that the findings cannot be generalised outside of the research setting. Bauer 1993 wanted to investigate this further and set out to study the way in which children call upon gender schemas when processing information. Pre-school-age and older children have been found to process gender consistent and gender inconsistent information differently so Bauer wanted to see if this was the case in very young children as well. Bauer devised a way to test girls and boys as young as twenty-five months of age. Children observed the experimenter carry out short sequences of stereotypically female, male or gender neutral activities, for example, changing a nappy, shaving a teddy bear or going on a treasure hunt. She tested children by ‘elicited imitation’ both immediately after and 24 hours later to see if they would copy what they had seen. Bauer found that girls showed equivalent quality of recall for all three types of sequence, boys on the other hand showed superior recall of male stereotyped activities, meaning they would not imitate any female behaviour and their recall for gender neutral activities was the same as for male stereotyped activities. These results indicate that boys more than girls tend to make use of gender schemas by the age of twenty-five months and boys appear to remember more accurately event sequences consistent with their own gender, whereas girls show no difference in recall of gender consistent and gender inconsistent information. A limitation of this research is that it could be due to boys being more likely to be penalised by their parents, especially their fathers for carrying out female stereotyped activities, so the children may have played with the male stereotyped toys even if they wanted to play with the other female stereotyped toys. The findings may also be down to that Bauer, who modelled the sequences, is female and the boys may have felt uncomfortable in copying her behaviour. Gender schema theory is parsimonious as it tries to explain gender through cognitive development and does not take into consideration biological gender differences, such as chromosomes, genes or hormones. It is also alpha-bias as it exaggerates the differences between men and women.

Measure of Dispersion

The measure of dispersion that most accurately depicts inventory data is standard deviation. When you look at measuring dispersion you are looking to see how the entire spread of data actually measures to each other. Standard deviation presents how much the data will deviate from the normal number. Also what this will show are not just tendencies for a year’s worth of data but this can be analyzed effectively to look at certain month’s inventory numbers. If a trend is able to be developed then all that will have to be done is a minor tweak to get next year’s perdition. It also allows for a simple calculation of a percentage above the norm. This will also show the highs and lows in a very simple form so that you can compare them with last years highs and lows. The mean most accurately depicts the inventory data that is being presented. When you look at the mean you are looking at an average and you are then able to see what a good place to start for future inventory numbers may be. This would also depict what a norm might be for your company if you look at the last 5 years and compare it to the last year. Also if you take the median you are looking at the middle of the number set but you are not accurately depicting the high and low numbers that are within the number set and the raw data. I think that also the inventory number can be anything when you are looking at the mode it all depends on what number may have happened twice or if no repetition in the middle. Inventory management systems are a critical aspect of businesses. Monitoring inventory levels are important for generating revenue and profits. Inventory Management Systems are used to track and monitor inventory levels and are often tracked with modern software systems. Many organizations find it important to maintain an efficient inventory management system to help generate revenue and profit. Even though most Inventory Systems are similar, each company modifies their system to fit the needs of the company in order to be successful. Management needs to have the ability to create, read and decipher frequency distributions, locate the mean, median and mode and show a normal distribution Is this Essay helpful? Join OPPapers to read more and access more than 350,000 just like it! get better grades of raw data collected. The University of Phoenix would also need to be able to compute this raw data into grouped data in order to report distributions and a standard deviation. The executive management team would present this data of the inventory system in order to allow for forecasting, improving customer retention, satisfaction, along with profitability and expenses. The inventory system would gather raw data from multiple inquiries, program frequency, number of student inquiries, and how many students enrolled and into which programs and finally how many graduates there are. The following table shows the mean, median and mode of the Summer Historical Data for the actual demands in units (units being the students). The accompanying presentation provides this data that was used from the Summer Historical data series and shows raw data showing frequency distribution, forecasting for the following year, averages and most frequent numbers, the normal distribution with a symmetrical bell curve.

Instructional Project Analysis Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Instructional Project Analysis Report - Essay Example Reading activities are aimed at increasing reading comprehension, developing vocabulary and research skills. Writing activities are aimed at developing accuracy in written information through simple compositions and accomplishing forms. The course consists of 12 modules. According to Chamut (1995), cognitive language learning fosters school achievement of students who are learning through the medium of a second language. Non-native English speakers face problems in learning academic subjects which use English as the medium of instruction. Due to the widespread use of English worldwide, language courses in English have become part of the academic curriculum in most countries. However, the English course in these situations take on the nature of a foreign language course and fails to really develop language proficiency skills in terms of comprehension, vocabulary and research skills due to limited usage of the language in everyday life. The instructional problem that arises therefore, is how to build on the existing language knowledge of English and implement a training strategy that hones English literacy skills allowing the participants to develop the ability to use oral and written English for daily needs, develop basic conversation skills and voca bulary, and use simple sentence patterns. The training is based on cognitive learning theory in which learners are mentally active participants in the teaching-learning process. Mental activity in the learners occur when they apply prior knowledge to new problems and search for meaning in new information. The instructional problem relates to a cognitive domain performance issues that can be solved by training. The goal of instructional programs is to build knowledge and skills that can be re-used for later learning or in various life situations, such as career. ESL training to help improve academic performance

History of music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of music - Essay Example Assuredly, music has evolved with time and we can now enjoy live concerts, audio music, videos, and instrumentals. It is arguably true that most people think and identify with the idea that only the elite and educated audience enjoys classical music. This follows an observation that only the snobs, intellectuals, racists, and educated people attend classical music concerts. Indeed, this has been a consistent tread and the mindset to believe in this argument has been there for decades. However, this is not necessarily true. In fact, there has been a common belief that the young generation, the less educated, and the less wealthy do not want to attend classical concerts because either they cannot afford entrance fee or they suffer inferiority complex because of the apparent intellectual superiority that entails a classical music concert. However, I can establish that this is not necessarily true as the same class of people easily afford pop and football tickets which are reasonably expensive that classical concert tickets. Hence, I derive that the only reason why the less educated or the public fails to attend classical music concerts is that they lack exposure to this genre of music. Otherwise, with significant exposure, everybody enjoys classical music. Therefore, I suggest that we introduce and encourage children to enjoy and recognize the beauty in classical music while still at school. With this, we will be able to eliminate the apparent inability to attend classical music concerts.

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

Discussions - Essay Example Backing-up data requires software tools, which are clearly the responsibility of the company to make available to the employee. In this line of reasoning, it is the responsibility of the company to purchase and make available the back-up software. However, it is the responsibility of the employee to use the software to back-up her files. --Doug The answer to who should backup company data is, it depends. I can think of two situations where the answer differs. The first situation consists of a typical user who sits in the cube and uses systems provided by the organization. In this situation, the organization must address two issues. First, they must provide a central location for users to securely save their information. They must provide policies, procedures, and technical solutions to backup those backend systems that house all critical information. The employee is not without responsibility in this situation. They must ensure that they are saving their work on those resources that provide the backup solution. Where my answer differs is from the following scenario. I have worked for and know consultants who are responsible for purchasing their own laptops. They are typically road warriors and do not frequent the office on a regular basis. Their laptops house corporate data critical to the organization.