Personal financial planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Personal financial planning - Essay Example Many countries use the Bismarck System that combines insurance with private health care providers. Most Americans pay for and received medical services in a manner that resembles the Bismarck System, although many insurance providers in other countries are not operated for profit and cannot discriminate against persons for pre-existing medical conditions. The Medicare System of healthcare, like the system in Canada, combines private healthcare providers with government payer insurance. While some American healthcare programs combine private providers with a single government payer, these programs are funded through taxes rather than insurance premiums. A few countries have adopted the Beveridge System of healthcare in which the government is both the provider and payer of healthcare. Healthcare for American military veterans utilizes the Beveridge System. Unlike the healthcare systems in other countries, the American healthcare system combines elements of different systems. It has ye t to be determined how long this mixed system will remain viable. Works Cited Kaiser Commission. â€Å"Medicaid and the Uninsured.† 2010.

Pharmacoeconomics Notes Essay Example for Free

Pharmacoeconomics Notes Essay The Confessions is a work by Augustine that outlines his sinful youth and conversion to Christianity. Augustine wrote it between 397 and 401 while serving as the bishop of Hippo Regius. In his book, Augustine gives an account of his own life from birth up to that point. He then wrote about other matters such as the creation of the world, memory and time. A big segment of the book is spent on Augustine’s confession of sins that he had struggled with and how he had pled to God for deliverance from those sins. Augustine writes about his disappointment in living an immoral lifestyle. He regrets having believed in astrology and followed the Manichaean religion. He also writes about how Nebridius helped persuade him that astrology was evil and how St. Ambrose helped in his conversion to Christianity. The Confessions is finally an address by Augustine to God in which he confesses his sins, faith, and praise. Augustine says that he wrote the Confessions for a people curious to know the lives of others, but careless to amend their own. Augustine was aware that people loved to gossip and look deeply into the lives of others to see how they could talk down a person and ultimately make themselves feel better. Augustine knew that his writing was going to be scrutinized but made it his purpose to tell the truth and demonstrate the providence of God in the life of a sinner. He didn’t want anyone to think any better of himself than he actually was. Another purpose in writing Confessions was to create an immediate bond between his new Christian community. His colleagues were distrustful of his pagan influenced education as well as his standing as an ex-Manichee. He wanted to let them know that he was trustworthy and he did that by putting on display the worst and best of his life. In essence, Augustine’s life became an open book for everyone to read and get to know personally. Augustine could have also written Confessions as an attempt to understand himself. He might have considered his enjoyment of sex and the pleasures of this world to be an unbearable weakness and he needed to confess in writing that God alone was his true love. It is obvious that Augustine is broken over his sin and it is probably something that consumed his mind. Getting this horrific past behind him was of the utmost importance and he did it through writing Confessions to God. The writing style with which Augustine writes the Confessions is  amongst other things openly bold, encouraging, and without remorse. This is definitely different from modern writers who try and disguise their true inner feelings while still trying to write with meaningful style. Augustine is not trying to hold back any part of his life that he might be ashamed of. It is quite the contrary as he confidently praises the Lord and declares God’s greatness. Augustine recognizes his place as a speck of dust that vies for a place in the presence of almighty God who created the universe. He is not ashamed to speak highly of his Lord and continuously gives you a feeling that he is not satisfied until he finds his rest in God. He is encouraging throughout his book as he conveys God’s faithfulness to him even when he was deep into sin. No matter what portion of the book one reads, he or she can always take comfort in the fact that no matter how far one runs from God, He is always right there waiting for us with arms wide open. In conclusion, Augustine is so focused on God, that he has no regret in sharing his mishaps and declaring God’s forgiveness. He knows that he ran far from God but that God was right there the entire time. He feels extremely foolish but at the same time so grateful for God’s unending grace. Augustine asserts with passion that he wants to be filled by God and as a result he can truly live.

Humor and Criticism in Erasmuss Praise of Folly Essay -- essays papers

Humor and Criticism in Erasmuss Praise of Folly Humor and Criticism in Praise of Folly Erasmus’s Praise of Folly is a humor-filled satire of pretty much everything. It is filled with wit and sarcasm which make light of serious problems and blow insignificant issues out of proportion all the while bringing a smile to the reader’s face. It is not stinging humor at the expense of others (unless, of course, the shoe fits), rather it is directed towards everyone. Erasmus even includes himself in the joke, practically parodying himself in the first section (xvi). In Praise of Folly, Erasmus uses this humor to criticize without the harsh judgment of seriousness. His humor parallels the import of his subject. When Folly discusses the issues most significant to Erasmus, she loses her jocularity and ironic tone, whereas in her first voice, Folly laughs at those whose foolish ways are reason for criticism but not for scorn. This section finds great ironic humor in the folly of all types of conceit, pointing out that the most condescending of people have little reason for such egotism. Folly laughs at the conceit of â€Å"the general run of gentry and scholars† with their â€Å"distorted sense of modesty† (11) including â€Å"those who lay special claim to be called the personification of wisdom, even though they strut about ‘like apes in purple’ and ‘asses in lion-skins’† (13). Folly, of course, is guilty of this most of all in dedicating a whole book to praising herself, and she admits the great folly behind this when she asks, â€Å"What could be more fitting than for Folly to trumpet her own merits abroad and ‘sing her own praises’† (11). Erasmus jokes about this type of conceit because it is innocent and commonplace. His point is to en... ...art for any lack of seriousness. Here we see the culmination of Folly’s progression towards Erasmus’s most serious subject and away from humor. Erasmus demonstrates the value of humor by making fun of insignificant issues and teaching us how to laugh at ourselves. â€Å"Jokes of this kind . . . which aren’t lacking in learning and wit† (4) help us put the less significant aspects of life in perspective. They also aim to moderate the level of his criticism making it more constructive than insulting. For it is â€Å"the ridiculous rather than the squalid† (7) to which his humor applies. He reserves a more serious voice for more serious wrongdoing. We see this parallel between humor and subject clearly as Erasmus progresses from constructive criticism of insignificant folly to harsh indictment of religious pretension and most of all in his solemn praise of Christian folly.

U.S. Attacked :: essays research papers

America was attacked Tuesday September 11th, 2001. How could we be attacked we are the strongest countries in the world? We have one of the world's strongest economies in the world. We have a massive army with equipment to destroy a whole country. Why would someone do this? Who would do this? Who ever did this doesn't value life. They actually made four of our own planes filled with fuel into bomb. They crashed into three buildings. Attacking a military base is bad enough, but to attack innocent people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that this could have been prevented. We should have been expecting this. We bombed other countries before killing innocent people. Our atom bomb did not distinguish between military, and civilian personal. We, America, did this to end the war to ensure our freedom. I think we could have been prepared a lot more than we were.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Should we seek justice or revenge? Justice would be to kill who ever did this so anything like this can never happen again. Revenge would be to kill who ever did this and who ever harbors the terrorist. I think that we should seek justice so this can never happen again to us or anyone else. We have to be careful though because this could be the start to world war3. This time if a war breaks out life with have a lesser value than it ever did. There are so many nuclear and biological weapons that nobody life would be safe from side effects. Many more people are going to die in the process of seeking justice. Talk of sending ground troops I think would be one of the worst things that could be done. The only people that win from a war are the people that make military equipment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I don't want a war to start because I know people that are in the are and the

History in America Essay

Domestic abuse has a long and harmful history in America. Generally it occurs when the man within the family seeks to maintain or create control over his wife or loved one through a variety of motives which in the end, are counterproductive and which usually further the distance between the victim and the perpetrator which had already existed in the beginning and which contributed to the start of the abuse. What is starting to gain some light in recent years is the fact that men sometimes can be the victims of intimate partner abuse, both from homosexual and heterosexual relationships and which can be very damaging to the relationship in both cases. Abuse can be divided into physical, emotional, economic and spiritual. (Cook, 2003 pg. 13) All four can and often times do, place irreversible damage on the victim which if they are to ever recover from the abuse, can often times takes years and sometimes decades to recover. Others will never fully recover and in carrying that hurt, such abuse serves as a severe impediment to the victim ever carrying out successful and intimate relationships with future individuals. This is how intimate partner abuse can be so destructive. A black eye will completely heal in the matter of a couple of weeks at the most. However, a bruised psyche and emotional hurt can often times linger when there seems to be no outside effects on the victim. Only when that victim engages in a intimate relationship with an outside party will such hurt often times come to the surface and can sometimes completely negate the ability of the couple to continue in a successful and loving relationship as the victim may be forever scarred as a result of the previous abuse. Further understanding of the causes of domestic violence and the ways in which it can be dealt with and even prevented is so very important to not only the victim and his or her loved ones, but also their future relationships and also, the perpetrator himself. In doing this, the individual can better identify the reasons why he acts out in such a fashion and in doing so, it becomes that much more likely for the motivation to be identified and then corrected in one way or another. In the end, domestic violence can take on many forms and each case of intimate partner abuse can be the result of a single motivating factor or the combination of various factors and all to varying degrees. Domestic violence will not be disappearing anytime soon from our society but in the recognition of the causes and lasting and damaging effects of such abuse, one may be better educated and prepared to identify it and stop it from ever occurring. In first attempting to understand family violence, one must first define it. There are four major categories which are to be included when talking about family violence and the dangers that it imposes on the victims involved. The first and most obvious is physical violence. This constitutes unwanted physical contact which can also include rape and murder. It can also include indirect physical violence as for example, the throwing of objects from one person or another with the intent of committing injury on the receiver of the object. The second major category of family violence is mental or emotional violence. This constitutes verbal threats of physical violence to the victim, his or her children, animals or the use of possessions of any kind. Verbal threats also do not have an exact time frame associated to it as the threat of physical violence can be impending or is relegated to some inexact time in the future. Facial expressions or threatening body postures can also constitute an example of emotional or mental violence. The third is economic or social abuse. This is where one member of the family controls the other’s money in such a stringent sense that the victim is under strict economic dependence upon the perpetrator to a degree that a sense of empowerment is concluded and usually is the chief motivating factor. Social abuse is when the social life of the victim is dependent completely upon the perpetrator as he or she dictates who, the victim will see and how often. The victim usually suffers from a decrease in the number of friends in comparison to the time when the victim was not under the control of the perpetrator. Lastly, the fourth most common form of family violence or abuse is spiritual abuse. This is the prevention of the victim’s spiritual faith to be practiced in the home. This can also constitute a repeated harassment of the victim’s faith and personal beliefs to the point of ridicule. This also takes a toll on the victim but is one that has not received the same amount of coverage from violence prevention groups and therefore, there is less known as the repetitive of the violence as well as its direct effects upon the victim. All forms of family violence is harmful to the individual but the one that is the most common as well as the most dangerous is physical violence within the home. Often times, this relates to sexual violence. â€Å"Sexual violence is defined as the use of physical force to compel an individual to participate in a sexual act which is against the will of both people involved. † (Cook, 2003 pg. 23) When one of the participating parties is forced into the sexual act, this is an example of sexual violence. Also, the sexual advances upon somebody who is unwilling to refuse the advances, whether that be a result of the victim being intoxicated or his or her mental or physical disability preventing the victim from refusing. This is an example of sexual violence as well. It is a sad fact but one that is well established despite men’s reluctance to report as being victims of both sexual and physical abuse by their partners, it is much more common for men to be the perpetrators than women. One of the impediments to achieving an exact study on this problem is the fact that many men will not report such cases to the police out of fear of embarrassment as well as the police or their loved ones from taking the incident seriously. It is estimated that as many as 70% of all abuses of women towards men goes unreported. (Cook, 2003 pg. 118) This reluctance speaks to the misunderstanding of society as to the importance that the recognition of female abuse towards men. Mental and emotional violence which has a direct and negative effect upon the psychological make up of the individual is one of the four main categories of family violence. One aspect of this is when a threat is made from one person to another which promises bodily harm in the immediate future as well as an indeterminate time in the future. However, this is only one aspect of the psychological violence which occurs most often within the home. Harmful and repeated words of aggression or an attempt to bring down the family member with repeal hostile words or gestures in an attempt to maintain the supposed authority of one individual over another. A threat of a physical injury only constitutes a percentage of the abuse which can fall under the category of psychological abuse. This abuse is basically any intentional verbal assault which is designed to maintain the believed authority of one person over another. â€Å"When it is perceived that the victim is slipping away from the authority of his or her perpetrator, the abuse will often times intensify. † (Jones 2001 pg. 14) This feeling of a loss of power will only increase the abuse so when a victim feels as though the abuse will stop or is coming to a stop, often times, it is simply the calm before the storm as a more intensified version of the abuse is to soon follow. Psychological abuse can also use the children as weapons as the parents are seeking a divorce and the custody of the children is at stake. One parent will use the child to alienate the parent and to make the other feel as though he or she is powerless in their child’s life and that the authority, influence and love which the parent has present in the child’s life, is no longer valid and will soon be completely erased. These are very powerful feelings which often times can evoke a powerful response. In a very sad case in Hazel Crest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the fall of 2006, John Jacobs, a forty one year old man in the middle of a bitter custody battle with his wife over his only child, an eight year old girl, the man, an avid pilot, piloted his plane along with his daughter inside and purposely, flew his plane into his ex wife’s house, killing both him and his eight year old daughter. The mother was not home at the time of the incident. The suicide note that the man left for his friends, and the testimony of those who knew the family was able to substantiate his story; that his wife was daily threatening him with their daughter and the possibility that she would never see her father again. Before killing both himself and his only daughter, Mr. Jacobs stated in his ransom note: â€Å"Julie, ( his wife) you have done everything in your power to try to take my daughter away from me. That is not right and I feel compelled to do the only thing that I have any power over. For your efforts, I will now take the daughter away from you forever. † (Pearson, 2003 pg. C3) This of course, was not a justified reaction to the parental alimentation which the mother reportedly used as a weapon against his ex husband. Hurt feelings were at a premium and when the child is used as a weapon, parents often times, do not possess all of their rational faculties. This was one very sad and tragic example of what can happen when the emotional abuse of one person over another reaches its zenith and the victim will often times become the aggressor in response as he or she feels completely helpless by the abuse and now seeks to eliminate the gap in power between the victim and the perpetrator which had existed. † (Roberts 2002 pg. 114) Often times in such cases, the courts are dragged in to take sides and in the process, usually will contribute the parental alienation as well. Economic abuse is when one person, usually a spouse, has complete control over the finances of the family and over the other person. This goes beyond the responsible actions of one who seeks to place his or her family on a budget and adheres to the strict restrictions himself, as well as what he imposes upon the other members of the family. Economic abuse occurs when there is an unnecessary and very fiscally stringent limitations placed upon the other’s spending habits while at the same time, not following the advice of his own actions. This is designed, not for the sake of fiscal responsibility but in order to create a dominion over the other in the form of financial power. If one does not have the economic freedom to act in accordance with his or her own financial earning power, then the person who controls that money, also controls the person who earns it. When one speaks of family violence and abuse, economic abuse often times is forgotten as physical abuse monopolizes the conversation. However, over time, economic abuse can be just as effective in the pursuit of one person to create or maintain control over another. This is true because â€Å"at the center of all abuse, whether it be physical, emotional or economic, there exists the desire of one person to create or maintain their control over another person† (Roberts 2002 pg. 200) Now that the various types of abuse has been defined, it now behooves the reader to realize the various facts which are associated with domestic violence. However, one must realize that by its very nature, domestic violence in all of its various forms, will usually remain underreported. However, these are some of the established and published statistics which are available to the public. In 2001, there occurred in the United States, 588,420 incidents of intimate partner violence (FBI 2004 pg. 15) Those incidents cost the United States between three and five billion dollars on medical expenses and an additional 90 million dollars is lost to businesses as the victims of domestic violence are therefore compelled to miss work out of a medical necessity or from the embarrassment that often times is associated with being a victim of intimate partner abuse. In the United States, 35% of violent crimes against women, occurred as a result of their intimate partner’s abuse within the home in 2003. ( FBI 2004 pg. 117) This is a stark comparison to the fact than less than 3$ of violence towards men occur as a result of their intimate partner as well. This latter figure and the fact that our society does not take seriously the occurrence of violence towards males, the reported 3% is only a ballpark estimate and there is no way of knowing exactly what percentage of men are being victimized by their intimate partner within the home. 23% of men of men who live with their homosexual partner, experience physical violence. 3. 2 million men experience â€Å"minor† abuse such as pushing, shoving and slapping from their intimidate partner. Nearly ? a million men are stalked annually and it has been reported that at least 22% of men have experienced some form of physical, emotional or sexual abuse in their lifetime from an intimate partner during their lifetime. (Cook 2003 pg. 118) except for the above mentioned, there seems to be a shortage on the information about men as being the victims of abuse of various kinds. This will continue until the stigma is completely erased and men feel an absence of guilt and embarrassment from being the victims of such crimes. The embarrassment comes from the fact that society perceives men as being stronger than women and therefore, it is always possible to fend off the attacker. In this erroneous assumption, one believes that the only form of abuse is physical. If that were the case, then society would be correct a majority of the time as men usually are stronger than women but this does not exclude a woman from using a weapon of any kind in which to overcome the difference in physical strength. Over 70% of men who were victims of physical abuse by their wives or girlfriends, were used on them, some sort of object which was then used as a weapon. However, often times, abuse does not take the form of physical violence and as it was seen in the case of the Jacobs, emotional abuse can for some people be more damaging than any form of financial or physical abuse. A man who is torn down every day for not fulfilling the expectations of his wife or girlfriend, who is made to feel as though he is not good enough and undeserving of her, who feels inferior in comparison to not only her, but as a man himself, will likely react in a wide array of different ways in which he seeks to regain control of the power which he felt he once had or as he feels emasculated by the entire process, the man now seeks to gain any sort of dominance over the perpetrator and in the process often times, is transformed from the victim to the perpetrator and physical violence will many times follow. Also, when there first is psychological violence, physical violence will likely follow. As it was touched on previously, the causes of domestic violence revolves around the fact that the victim, either intentionally or unintentionally is challenging the power and control of the perpetrator who is committing these various forms of abuse upon the victim. The need to control their victims also surrounds feelings of lose self esteem and the belief in the inadequacy of the person and that through the control of the victim, the gap which exists in their self esteem can somehow be corrected. Also, the more that these efforts fail to fill that â€Å"gap within their self esteem, often times, the abuse will intensify. † (Cook, 2003 pg. 134) However, there are other causes of abuse and often times, it is the childhood environment in which the perpetrator was subject to and which predisposed him or her to abusing a loved one in the future. A man is six times more likely to abuse a loved one if he was abused himself. A man is seven times more likely to abuse his loved one if he came from a broken home where the parents got divorced after a prolonged period of fighting and four times more likely to lack the emotional capacity to abstain from any aspect of the various abuses, if the person came from a broken home in which only one parent had always been present. (Roberts, 2003 pg. 190) Also, if a boy grows up in a family where his father routinely mistreated his wife, then when that boy grows up to become a man, as the sociologists all say that individuals are products of their environment more than then biology, it can sometimes become a certainty that the boy will grow up to repeat what he had spent his life witnessing. † (Jones, 2001 pg. 113) Substance abuse, mental illness and a low self esteem are among some of the various motivating factors which are somewhat to blame for a perpetrator’s likelihood to commit violence towards an intimate partner. What can be agreed upon, is the fact that intimate partner abuse can be the result of one chief motivating factor or is the result of various factors and all to a varying degree. This is what contributes to the complexity of the problem and the fact that spousal abuse, in all of its various forms, will not be eradicated from the social scene any time soon. Another cause of spousal abuse comes from the ability or desire of the man to devalue the woman for a wide range of reasons. This relates to the overwhelming percentage of spousal abuse in which the woman is the victim of the aggressive and hurtful behavior of the man. This is called dehumanization or the reduction of the other person to the importance of nothing at all; less than an object. Something that id disposable and therefore can be replaced and is of little importance. Only when the perpetrator values the victim as not only a person, not only an individual but one that is of a great value and cannot be replaced will the occurrences of abuse either stop of be curtailed. † (Cook, 2003 pg. 210) This also speaks to the gender differences of abuse. This is certainly not always the case but men’s abuse is preceded by physical violence and women are more known for psychological violence. However, an important issue to recognize is the fact that often times, physical abuse so preceded by psychological abuse and as a result, hospital records report a higher percentage of females seeking treatment than men for spousal abuse. Another factor in the high rate of physical abuse of women in comparison to men is the idea that women, had a predisposition towards being the victims of violence. In Erin Pizzey’s controversial book on abuse of women, Prone to Violence, Pizzey who was the founder of a women’s shelter in England stated that some women had a predisposition towards being the victim of abuses since they were seeking out the â€Å"bad boys;† the ones who were known to act out against society and therefore had within them a sense of danger which some of the women would find exciting. In the same book, Pizzey stated that of the first 100 female victims of spousal abuse, 62 were in her opinion, more violent than the men that they were running away from. Her book does not state if she thought that these women were instead made to act out violently because of the experiences that were placed upon them by their abusing spouses. These findings, no doubt, were the cause of a controversial discussion as to what was the cause of spousal abuse. Nowhere did Ms. Pizzey blatantly state that it was the fault of the women for being abused as it is not the fault of women who enter a bar wearing provocative clothing and gets raped. What is similar is that women, according to Ms. Pizzey, possess the power to many times, prevent the abuse from occurring by responsible behavior. This is not to say that women are to blame for the abuse since there does not seem to be any legitimate cause for the abuse of anyone, regardless of their gender, age or relation to the perpetrator. What next must follow is that the law will become involved. This is done reluctantly as the judicial system wishes to stay out of such affairs. This changes however, when one or more of the many crimes which are associated with spousal abuse, are deemed to have occurred or is about to occur. This includes but is not limited to murder, manslaughter, rape, threats to kill, kidnapping, false imprisonment, obstruction of justice and criminal damage as well as harassment and blackmail. When the above mentioned is present with a spousal abuse case, often times it is designed to create or maintain control over another person or the overreaction that the victim had towards the abuse of the perpetrator. In any event, the initial presence of the abuse increases into more than just a private family dispute. Often times, the presence of police and the judicial system often times will compound the problem. In a recent issue of the television show COPS, an individual’s common law wife called the police as she has become the victim of physical abuse by her husband. The cops responded to the call and tried to talk rationally to the man. The presence of the cops enraged the man and as he was being tackled to the floor, yelled that he was going to kill his wife and that he would never forgive her for what SHE had done. The police stated over and over, once the man was subdued, that they had not intention of arresting the man, despite the fact that it was obvious that the man had caused physical harm to both their home and to the woman but she was not going to press charges, the man was not going to be arrested until he decided to assault the police. Not only was the feelings of the man hurt and he was now more enraged by what he perceived to be the incorrect actions of his wife, the court case which followed, only prolonged the negative feelings that the man had towards his wife. Also, both the family disturbance and the court trial that was to follow, occurred in front of their small child. It seems unlikely that all three people will walk away from this event totally unaffected. The negative effects may last for decades to come in all three individuals. This speaks volumes as to the lasting dangers that domestic violence has on those who are involved and those who witness it. In an ideal world, everyone would find that one person that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together in heavenly bliss. This still occurs but those are the lucky ones. Nearly every one of the millions of couples which have gotten divorced in America, either one or both of the people involved, were victims of one form of abuse or another. This is one of the leading reasons why divorce so severely scars the parents as well as the children involved as such abuse does not disappear quickly. Therefore, it would behoove all those involved, to abstain from such abuse on others, especially their loved ones and in front of their children. This is easier said than done for most people but if those who have a disposition towards either being the victim or perpetrator of physical violence, can recognize both the causes and effects of this most dangerous and harmful abuse, they can therefore be given much more of a chance to avoid its pitfalls and to enjoy the happiness of a mutually loving relationship; free from physical, emotional, economic and spiritual abuse which plagues the happiness of millions of people in this country and around the world. WORKS CITED Cook. P (2003) Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers Jones, A ( 2001 ) More Than Victims: Battered Women, the Syndrome Society, and the Law (Morality and Society Series Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pearson, D. Man and Daughter are Killed in Tragic Plane Crash. Chicago Tribune October 14, 2006 Roberts. A ( 2002) Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies New York: Oxford University Press Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the U. S. , 2004 (Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the U. S. ) Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington D. C Government Printing Office

Fitting Quotations

Fitting Quotations Fitting Quotations Fitting Quotations By Maeve Maddox Incorporating direct quotations effectively is an important writing skill. Here is an example of an ill-fitting quotation in an article about media doctor Mehmet Oz who was recently the subject of a Senate hearing. It’s from an article by Terrence McCoy in The Washington Post (print and digital): â€Å"I recognize that oftentimes they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact,† Oz said at a U.S. Senate hearing, adding that he â€Å"personally believes in the items I talk about in my show.† One obvious problem with this example is the use of pronouns that don’t go together. Not so obvious is the fact that the quotation differs from what Oz actually said. Quotation marks represent a covenant between writer and reader, a promise that the words enclosed by them are exactly what the person being quoted said. Here’s the original response to Senator McCaskill’s question: I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about in the show. In quoting Oz’s original statement, the writer has fallen into a crack between direct and indirect quotation. The word he is outside the quoted material, but the writer (or editor) has added an -s to believe to make it agree with he. Without noticing that the pronoun I does not fit with the preceding he, the writer adds a my that was not in the original quotation. The writer could have reported the words as an indirect quotation, putting only part of it in quotation marks: he â€Å"personally believes† in the products he talks about in his show. Or, he could have introduced the quotation with a colon: â€Å"I recognize that oftentimes they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact,† Oz said at a U.S. Senate hearing, adding: â€Å"I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about in the show.† A quotation should not be dropped into an essay or a news article without adequate introduction. It should agree grammatically with surrounding text, reproduce the exact words that were said, and it should not stand alone. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and ToesStory Writing 101Grammatical Case in English

Contemporary issues in Forest Schools The WritePass Journal

Contemporary issues in Forest Schools   CONCLUSION Contemporary issues in Forest Schools IntroductionChild well-beingObesityBehavioural problems and poor social skillsForest School in the local area.  CONCLUSIONRelated Introduction This report explains the philosophy behind ‘Forest Schools’ and why it has been introduced in England and its relevance to the Early Years National Curriculum.  Ã‚   It will outline the History and benefits of ‘Forest Schools’ in the Early Years; how it can address current crises in the U.K.; and explains the problems encountered in delivering the initiative.   Ã‚  It looks into the implementation of ‘Forest Schools’ locally, taking into consideration the necessity to change attitudes and the complications with logistics of putting this approach in place. ‘Forest School’ approach has not been a Government led initiative, although they do appreciate its benefits.  Ã‚   The Department of Health (DOH) and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) have realised ‘Forest Schools’ are a positive step towards the health and education of young children (Alexander and Hargreaves, 2007). The UK Parliament House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills, agreed with the principle of outside classroom education saying, â€Å"we are convinced that out of classroom education enriches the curriculum and can improve educational attainment† (U.K. Parliament, 2004;   part 7, para. 1). The Early Years Curriculum has seen many alterations in the last ten years to accommodate the changing requirements for educational settings.  Ã‚   The British educational culture is formal, lessons are planned and children assessed routinely.  Ã‚   As   the need for children to attend educational settings at an earlier age and pedagogy changes to keep in line with new research, the curriculum changes accordingly. The UK Government believes parents should return to work as soon as possible after Maternity Leave to help to eradicate child poverty and childrens’ learning would benefit from early intervention too.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ball (2010 p, 49) states Surestart emerged as an early intervention to â€Å"†¦give children†¦ a good start†¦. in their learning and development†¦ and combined with Child Tax Credits, is intended to enable more mothers to return to the workforce.† To allow mothers to return to work, Government felt it their responsibility to provide adequate provision for affordable, flexible childcare in Childcare Act 2006 and so the DCSF was set up in June, 2007.  Ã‚   Its role was to promote educational excellence, raise standards in education, reduce child poverty, re-engage disaffected children and to ensure integrated services.  Ã‚   The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) became statutory in September, 2008, it is central to the development and welfare of children   and also acknowledged the importance of outdoor learning (DfES, 2007).  Ã‚   This policy combined the ‘Curriculum for Guidance for the Foundation Stage’ (QCA/DfEE, 2000), ‘Birth to Three Matters Framework’ (DfES, 2002) and also ‘National Standards for Under Eight’s Day Care and Childminding’ (Sure Start, 2003). There has been much discussion questioning the approach to educating the under 7’s (Yelland, 2005).  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Cambridge Primary Review made 75 recommendations. (www.guardian.co.uk/education accessed 21.2.2011)  Ã‚   In comparison in other countries children do not start formal education as early as in the U.K.  Ã‚   In Primary Review interim report, 2008, it indicates that these countries reap social and emotional benefits, without any delays in education. Over time children have become disconnected from nature according to   Richard Louv (2005). He identified this as ‘nature deficit disorder’.  Ã‚   An article in the Spring 2011 National Trust magazine states, â€Å"there is growing empirical evidence to show that exposure to nature brings substantial mental health benefits†. Policy makers, education services, health care providers, residential developers and organisations such as Natural England, British Mental Health Charity and the National Trust are beginning to realise there needs to be a deep cultural change to connect children back with nature. In the 19th Century outdoor life was a normal part of a child’s life and this was where they learnt their skills for life and, therefore, they did not need the educational system for guidance.  Ã‚   However, industrialisation meant that families moved to urban areas to find work which resulted in children being separated from the countryside and fresh air. (Knight,2009)  Ã‚   Thence, mainly the middle and upper classes used the countryside and educationalists and health professionals began to notice the effects caused by the lack of outdoor space. The MacMillan sisters founded outdoor nurseries to counteract this insisting quality time to play and fresh air were needed for healthy bodies and minds (Pugh and Duffey,2010).  Ã‚   Susan Isaacs started a nursery for privileged children, based around the outdoor environment.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Badon Powell initiated the Scout Movement to improve the welfare of boys in our society and he encouraged them to engage with the environment.  Ã‚   The Outward Bound Movement was introduced by Kurt Hahan in response to the moral decline of young people.  Ã‚   These educationalists initiatives were in response to crises in society caused by industrialisation.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Practitioners are always looking for new ways of helping children learn.  Ã‚   Rudolph Steiner schools’ endorse outdoor play for learning (Pound,2009).  Ã‚  Ã‚   Froebel realised the importance of play and Stalozzi the importance of physical education (Pound, 2009).Over time society seems to have lost sight of the importance of regular outdoor opportunities, e.g. playing fields have been sold to boost funding.  Ã‚   Recently there is talk of the Forestry Commission selling forests to private enterprises and charities – Article in the Daily Mail, 2011, â€Å"Outcry stalls  £100m forest sell off†.  Ã‚   The government identified the need to be active outdoors but their actions do not confirm.  Ã‚   Increase in reports of crime in society means parents no longer feel it is safe to let children play, outdoors, unsupervised.   There are many reasons for the lack of outside play but children need fresh air and exercise for their wellbeing. Research endorses outside play as being essential to children’s learning and well-being. (Bilton, 2008)  Ã‚  Ã‚   One response to learning in the outdoors, is ‘Forest School’, an idea derived from a culture of education in an outdoor environment in Scandinavia (Knight, 2009). Williams-Siegfredsen (20 05, p.26) acknowledged   â€Å"for Foundation Stage children Forest School exactly addresses their developmental needs, fostering skills that then help them to succeed in our conventional learning environments†. Practitioners from the Early Years department of Bridgwater College visited a nursery in Denmark in 1990.  Ã‚   Children were playing outside in all weathers, being in woodland, close to nature.  Ã‚   They learnt about the environment, how to look after it and how to respect each other.  Ã‚   Their physical skills were developed as they ran and balanced, they had open fires and whittled with knives.  Ã‚   It was noted that when the children attended formal schooling, after Forest School, at the age of 7, they arrived with high self-esteem and strong social skills and were confident and competent learners, attributes that would boost their academic learning. (Knight, 2009)  Ã‚   The Bridgwater practitioners brought the idea back to England and developed it in their college nursery. The Forestry Commission paid The New Economics Foundation (NEF) to research the benefits of ‘Forest Schools’ (See Appendix 1)  Ã‚   They found children who attended ‘Forest Schools’ took pride in their surroundings, had improved confidence, could work well in a team and had more motivation to learn and so in 2002 The Forestry Commission saw the relevance of ‘Forest Schools’ and supported it by piloting ‘Forest Schools’ in England, replicating the research.  Ã‚   In 2003, Green Light Trust (GLT) launched ‘Forest Schools’ across England and ran Open College Network (O.C.N) courses to train practitioners. Knight (2009) recognised that not only could ‘forest school’ approach help with educational attainment but could also help tackle other current social crises in the UK, such as child well-being, obesity, child behavioural problems and poor social skills. Child well-being One in three children are living in poverty in the United Kingdom (UK) this rate is the highest in the industrialised world.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Child poverty creates problems in education, employment, mental and physical health and social interaction.  Ã‚   Tony Blair set targets to end child poverty, in the UK, by 2020. The Government introduced ‘Every Child Matters (ECM)’ (DfES, 2003) to protect all children and improve their well being it was intended to â€Å"personalise learning to meet the full diversity of learners needs† (Chemisnais, 2008). The child’s wellbeing in ECM (2003) is defined as: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieve, making a positive contribution to society achieving economic wellbeing. Since 2003 ECM has underpinned all government initiatives. ECM (2003) was designed to bring together all relevant agencies and share information to protect the wellbeing of all children by â€Å"encouraging a holistic approach to children and young people, with the possibility of support for parents and carers through universal services such as schools, health and social services and child care† (Ball, 2010, p.190). However in 2007 UNICEF reported that England was 21st out of 21 industrialised countries in a survey on child well being. Child wellbeing cannot eradicate child poverty but motivates children to want to better their life.  Ã‚   ‘Forest Schools’ has been identified as a philosophy which will â€Å"encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive experiences and participation in engaging and motivating achievable tasks and activities in a woodland environment, helping to develop personal, social and emotional skills:   independence, self discovery, confidence, communication skills, raised self-esteem† (www.foresteducation.org).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The government promoted outdoor learning in its ‘Learning outside the classroom’ manifesto (DfES, 2006).  Ã‚   It aimed to identify weaknesses and strengths in educational settings so as to share practice and overcome barriers to learning in the outdoors, but it did not prescribe how to go about it. The report did not recognise that not all educational settings have the facilities needed for out door learning, e.g. inner city schools find it harder to access a woodland environment and logistics could prove costly.  Ã‚   The Forest school approach was not mentioned in this report and is not known about by many practitioners it seems – â€Å"only a handful of British schools have fully embraced the Danish model† (The Independent www.independent.co.uk. Feb. 2010).  Ã‚   It has proved challenging for the researcher to access information as to how many settings practise the Forest School ethos in the U.K. Obesity Obesity in children has been identified as a National priority.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts there will be 700 million obese adults in the world by 2015 (www.news.bbc.co.uk.) Childhood obesity is constantly in the news for example an article in www.news.bbc.co.uk/health stated ‘childhood obesity soars in UK† It is a modern problem, data on obesity was not available fifty years ago. (see appendix 1) The DOH quoted â€Å"one in four children is obese† (DOH, 2006).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Early interventions are being sought as part of an anti-obesity campaign to counteract this costly problem.  Ã‚   The Government recognised the need to reduce obesity in its report â€Å"Healthy weight, healthy lives† in January, 2008.  Ã‚   The DOH and the DCSF,   have also endorsed the need to increase levels of exercise in children.  Ã‚   Many causes of obesity have been recognised.  Ã‚   The two obvious causes being eating too much and lack of exercise.   Another reason for obesity is â€Å"sedentary behaviour/low energy activities† suggests Knight (2009, p.32), e.g. using motorised transport, sitting in a classroom, listening to music, using the computer.  Ã‚   The issues of TV viewing and use of computers contributing to the lack of exercise is discussed by Sue Palmer in ‘Toxic Childhood’ (2006).  Ã‚   Slage says that lack of exercise is more the cause than the food intake, agreeing with BUPA, (2007), who say â€Å"it’s habits in eating and exercise† and these trends need to be reversed.  Ã‚   Children are not getting outside playing time so government suggests it is down to schools to give the children time for outside play and the opportunity to make decisions.  Ã‚   DCSF increased the amount of Physical Education (P.E.) in schools in 2007.  Ã‚   However, P.E. is often sacrificed due to curriculum constraints and lack of time, suggesting exercise has a low pri ority in society. The BMA report ‘Preventing childhood obesity’ considered competitive sports are not for all children.  Ã‚   ‘Forest Schools’ offers a good alternative.  Ã‚   Children appreciate walking in the countryside and ‘Forest Schools’ encourages children to form good habits they can take into later life.  Ã‚   Knight (2009) says, it is easier to change habits whilst they are young.  Ã‚   The DOH says that habits and attitudes to exercise are formed whilst they are children and stay with them when they become adults.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Not only do the children form good habits, but children take the idea home to their parents, therefore, it could be considered as part of an anti-obesity campaign for the whole population (O’Brien and Murray, 2006, p.44) However Forest School developed from a Scandinavian lifestyle and culture, one which is family orientated, with a love of the outdoors and being active, in a country which has a natural abundance of woodland unlike the UK.  Ã‚   Not only does the environment impact on the implementation of ‘Forest Schools’ in the U.K, but the traditional cultures of countries affect it too, e.g. attitudes towards maternal employment, views of the child, source of funding and control over provision (See Appendix 4).  Ã‚  Ã‚   Forest School sessions run for short periods of time, (normally 10 sessions, half a day each week) it is unrealistic to think that the Forest school experiences will remain with them into later life.  Ã‚   Adults are needed to supervise and take their children out walking in the countryside, on a regular basis, to instil these habits but parents do not always have the time or the inclination, even if the child is keen to continue, therefore, making it an unlike ly solution to solving obesity. Behavioural problems and poor social skills ‘Forest Schools’ not only act as an early intervention to obesity but are recognised as a means to tackling behavioural problems.  Ã‚   BUPA, 2007, realised obesity not only caused chronic illness but also affects children’s emotional wellbeing, causing depression, low self-esteem dissatisfaction and dislike of their appearance. Consideration to social and emotional issues needs considering.  Ã‚   Children used to play on building sites, this was not allowed but in the past adults turned a blind eye to it, whereas this would now be considered, ‘bad behaviour’. Has society changed its perception of ‘bad behaviour’?  Ã‚   Children seek adventure and because of all the boundaries and restrictions their behaviour is identified as anti-social.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As children have lost their outside play spaces, e.g. closure of school playing fields, they have also begun to lose their independence and freedom, which means children are losing their ability to be decisive and take risks.  Ã‚   Outside places where children can play are (parks or forests) are often not open to unaccompanied children and are bound by so many restrictions, e.g. the necessity to lay soft surfacing.  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the UK has become a ‘risk averse’, litigious society, playgrounds have been made so safe that the excitement has been taken out of them.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Play Safety Forum (www.hortweek.com Jan. 2009) now encourages parks to be a little more adventurous and slowly loosening their approaches to safety, to encourage risk taking opportunities, e.g. parks now have skate boarding ramps. However outdoors is perceived as more risky than indoors but in taking away the chance for children to learn about danger, we are taking away children’s rights (UNCRC, 1989).  Ã‚   Children need to learn how to take safe risks and how to assess dangers and respond accordingly.  Ã‚   ‘Forest Schools’ offer them the opportunity to take risks in an area that is as safe as possible and in so doing it might change the perception of what ‘anti-social behaviour’ is. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (DfES, 2007) describes how government initiatives have impacted on children’s poor social skills.  Ã‚   As parents return to work whilst the child is still very young, the child does not get devoted, uninterrupted attention and the relevant positive feedback from one consistent person needed to develop self awareness.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Continuity of care isn’t always possible in childcare settings due to changes in staff, making children’s boundaries inconsistent which are needed to learn right from wrong and for developing self confidence and self-esteem.  Ã‚   As a child builds in confidence their self-image improves and they respect themselves and then they can respect other people’s diversities and cultures. (Knight,2009) ‘Forest Schools’ as an early intervention helps children prepare for the stress of modern day living.  Ã‚   ‘Forest Schools’ can help children to boost their confidence, self-esteem, self-control and improve their attitude whilst building relationships to encourage a sense of community.  Ã‚   But Forest School mainly happens within the school community.   However, Sue Palmer (2006) links the way children are raised by their parents, to their behavioural problems and says that it leads to lack of motivation and social skills.  Ã‚   Children spend more time at home with their parents than in school.  Ã‚   QCA 2000 identifies the role of a parent partnership and suggests that settings â€Å"extend relevant learning and play activities, so that they continue at home† (Devereux and Miller,2004).  Ã‚   It is unrealistic to think that the short time spent in a Forest School experience can replace children’s day to day life experience.  Ã ‚   Brofenbrenner (1979) suggests that the mesosystem (government initiative), macrosystem (educational setting) and microsystem (family), combined, can impact on a child’s experiences. Forest School in the local area. As previously mentioned, there appears to be little information regarding â€Å"Forest Schools† within the local area.  Ã‚   Nursery settings appear to be the main users of this approach.  Ã‚   Funding is more available for nurseries or schools where the need is seen as greater.  Ã‚   Grants are offered by the Forest Education Initiative, One Planet Living, Green Watch and Big Lottery, in the local area. Individual settings are responsible for incorporating ‘Forest Schools’ approach into their outdoor routines as appropriate.  Ã‚   Some use local outdoor centres, others have land-owners permission, some use woodlands on school grounds, whilst others share their grounds.  Ã‚   Provision is patchy but is spreading quickly with little written evidence to support it.  Ã‚   The responsibility of the NEF is to research social issues and support proposals for change, developing ways of researching to measure outcomes (Murray, 2004).  Ã‚   They have gathered short-term evidence but need to further research the long term.   Murray and O’Brien (2005, p.79) acknowledge the lack of research on the long-term effects of ‘Forest Schools’ on young children.  Ã‚   It is difficult to identify behavioural or educational achievement as being due to outdoor education.  Ã‚   (Swarbrick, Eastwood and Tutton, 2004) report that in one of the longest running ‘Forest Schools’ projects, in Somerset, children going into the primary phase of schooling are going in with increased confidence.  Ã‚   The NEF have provided a self-appraisal tool kit, consisting of a project story board, reporting templates and the evaluation poster workshop, for local settings to gather evidence on the eight outcomes of ‘Forest Schools’ (See Appendix 3).  Ã‚   Effective Early learning programme (EEL, 2003) suggests assessing children’s involvement as an excellent measure of the quality of the experience and their mate rial could be used to evaluate the quality of children’s involvement and adult interaction with children on Forest School visits (Swarbrick, Eastwood and Tutton, 2004).   Evidence is needed to persuade head teachers, staff and parents to support the concept and ethos.  Ã‚   FEI has set up a group to maintain the ethos of the ‘Forest Schools’ approach in the U.K., as it is likely the original idea will be lost due to the lack of understanding.  Ã‚   It has been deemed important to keep checking that settings are adhering to its unique ethos.  Ã‚   Knight (2009) developed a description of   a   true ‘Forest Schools’ ethos and the researcher   has compared the local rural co-educational pre-preparatory independent school to her criteria, below: On hearing about ‘Forest Schools’ the setting decided that a member of staff would go on an Open College Network (OCN) level 1 course to access more information about this philosophy and to find out how the school could make the most of its existing facilities.  Ã‚   The member of staff has now taken the OCN level 2 course and the information acquired has been circulated throughout the pre-preparatory department and put into practise with every child fortnightly in place of a PE lesson. The setting tries to keep the ethos of ‘Forest Schools’ but does not meet all of Knight’s (2009) criteria. To protect the ethos of ‘Forest Schools’ it is important to discuss the problems in collaboration with practitioners and parents in the local community.  Ã‚   Some schools find it difficult to fund the logistics, for example, wheelchair access and transporting the children to the Forest School can be expensive, therefore they bring the idea into the school grounds and try to create a natural area within it.  Ã‚   O’Brien (2004) would consider this as unsuitable as it does not provide the greenery to allow opportunities of creating ‘secret places’, which he regards as important for a child’s development.  Ã‚   The setting needs to be different to get the atmosphere and encourage creativity.  Ã‚   In the report ‘A school becomes a Forest School’ an inner city urban Primary School has converted ‘a nearby patch of abandoned woodland into their very own natural setting’.  Ã‚   This was assisted by a Park Ranger wh o believes that ‘any school is never far away from a natural setting, whether it is a local park or an abandoned allotment’ (www.tes.co.uk June, 2010). Head teachers need to know that the investment is worth it (staffing, outlay for clothing, equipment, transport), but it is difficult to prove the success that ‘Forest Schools’ claim.  Ã‚   ‘Observations’ are time consuming and removes an adult from participating with the children.  Ã‚   If sessions are recorded then it is difficult to transcribe due to background noise and tricky to record information about individual children. Head teachers and staff are conscious of the need to achieve targets.  Ã‚   Adults generally agree with the concept that ‘Forest Schools’ improve confidence and self-esteem but feel the need for academic justification for taking a day out of the classroom to go into the woodland.  Ã‚   The question might be asked, do children learn a lot in ‘Forest Schools’?   Hovelynck Peeters, (2003) argue that outdoor education needs to be examined for educational value as well as pleasure.   The Curriculum for Excellence advocates that ‘real life’ learning has always proved successful in different ways for different children (DfEE, 1997 cited in Ball, 2008, p.90).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During a Forest School session there is no need to have separate PHSE lessons as this is incorporated with academic skills such as numeracy and literacy, which is initiated through the children’s interests.   Ofsted report ‘Learning outside the classr oom’ (DfES, 2006) found that outside education ‘when planned and implemented well, learning outside the classroom contributed significantly to raising standards and improving pupil’s personal, social and emotional development’. However, according to Knight, a true Forest school should be ‘play-based, and, as far as possible, child-initiated and child-led’ as that is when children learn the skills needed to socially interact (Knight, 2009).   The Early Years Foundation stage agrees children need to initiate and lead play (DfES, 2007) and is supported by Bruce, who also adds that the children need a varying degree of intervention and support from adults, as â€Å"sensitive co-ordinators† Bruce (1997, p.48). Practitioners realise children get a deeper understanding of the world when they use all their senses to explore, but it takes courage to let the children lead the learning and to change their perception that children can be outdoors all day and still learn, e.g. mark making equipment is not only for indoor use and outdoor space is not just for letting off steam.  Ã‚  Ã‚   ‘Forest School’ approach has been perceived as more beneficial for students who struggle in the classroom but Maslow (1949) would argue that the skills acquired are beneficial for self-actualisation, which benefits all students. Sue Palmer (2008) identifies that all real play involves an element of risk and the more ‘real play’ is allowed the better they become at managing the risks, agreeing with Lindon (1999, p.11).  Ã‚   Staff and parents are inevitably concerned about the risk involvement when letting children loose in a woodland environment.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parents are reassured and many settings have twilight meetings for practitioners and parents to meet and access the woods to identify the risks.  Ã‚   The teachers explain to the children how to avoid accidents and practise being safe.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lindon (1999, p.10) takes the view that â€Å"a well intentioned focus on keeping children as safe as possible has shifted towards looking for anything and everything that can go wrong†.  Ã‚   Practitioners and parents need to be educated about the need for risk taking.  Ã‚   New policies are called for to allow for more risk and all practitioners need to be involved.  Ã‚   It is challenging for practitioners to learn to trust the children to test their boundaries, rather than to intrude.  Ã‚   However, we live in a culture of ‘safety first’, where children aren’t encouraged to play outside due to the fear of abduction, blame or legal action.  Ã‚   In other countries such as Scandinavia, Forest School type activities are a normal part of early education and they worry less about litigation.  Ã‚   In reality self-preservation is instinctive in children and they tend to stay quite close to an adult in an unknown environment until they have built their confidence.  Ã‚   An article â€Å"I climbed right up to here† (www.forestschool.com March 2011) says that the word ‘risk’ would be better named ‘challenge’ and c hildren should be allowed to work through the challenges.  Ã‚   Practitioners can make more informed decisions regarding risk taking as they observe the children they work with.  Ã‚   Blair recommends that schools use generic risk assessment forms in â€Å"It’s safe to go outdoors† (TES, 2005).  Ã‚   If the children are not allowed to take risks because of Health Safety regulations they may express themselves in challenging behaviour.  Ã‚   Mortlock (2000, p.22) believes ideal learning should be adventurous but hazards manageable. True ‘Forest Schools’ have a saying, â€Å"there is no such things as bad weather, only bad clothing† (Knight, 2009).  Ã‚   Parents are inevitably concerned about their children’s wellbeing and the risk of becoming ill if allowed to be outside in all weathers.  Ã‚   Waterproof clothing is usually provided for only one group of children at a time and one size has to fit all.  Ã‚   The clothing is ideal for wet weather but in summer the children often wear short sleeves and short socks, leading to small scratches and grazes.  Ã‚   If the clothing is not stored on the site, it is impractical to think young children will carry the clothes to the site, to allow for England’s unpredictable weather.  Ã‚   It can also become colder as children walk deeper into the woods, therefore it proves difficult to decide which clothing is suitable for the weather.  Ã‚   Adults also need to be suitably attired depending on the weather.  Ã‚   Realistically ‘Forest School’ experience does not appeal to all practitioners. Training the staff can also be costly and once the training has been paid for staff may move onto another school, leaving the setting without an O.C.N. Level 3 trained member of staff, required for a Forest School.  Ã‚   The model needs to be sustainable once the funding has gone, it must not rely on one enthusiastic, well trained, member of staff.   CONCLUSION O’Brien and Murray (2006) called ‘Forest Schools’ a marvellous opportunity for children to learn.  Ã‚   This report has looked at the advantages and disadvantages, both nationally and locally and found that the approach works well in Denmark but is difficult to adapt to our National culture and climate.  Ã‚   Swarbrick, Eastwood and Tutton (2004) recommend â€Å"a secure justification for Forest School would need to include some measurement of progress and attainment in order to place the project firmly in the arena of measuring quality in ways that would justify investment on a national scale†. Locally an up-to-date data base of schools and settings engaged in Forest Schools would be necessary.  Ã‚   Government is promoting outside learning to improve attainment of which ‘Forest School’ approach has been identified as a possible initiativebut it would seem that the main target is in improving childrens’ attainment rather than improving the learning experiences and well-being of each child.

Business Etiquette Goodbye Message

Business Etiquette Goodbye Message (Issue 20: July, 2009) by Mary CullenIt is summertime, and my deepest wish is that you are enjoying some time off, rejuvenating and relaxing. Sadly, many in this economy are encountering forced time off. This issue looks at the challenging business etiquette quandry of how to professionally write a goodbye message if you have lost your job.It is painful to lose your job. Whether it is due to a merger, layoffs, poor sales or a personality conflict, so many emotions rage: worry, stress and resentment. There is a hilarious layoff scene in the movie "Broadcast News:"Manager: Now, if there's anything I can do for you...Employee: Well, I certainly hope you'll die soon. As much as we might momentarily feel better with this scathing retort, it will not help us find new and better work.Instead, respond professionally to the notification, close out all work responsibilities fully, and foster connection with all contacts. Here is an example of a good message notifying colleagues you are leaving:Hi Carmen, (If you are friendly enough for a personal message notifying the recipient of your departure, use the more personal salutation "Hi" followed by a comma. More on salutations.)Tomorrow, July 29, will be my last day at Acme Company. I'm departing to new adventures. I don't yet know what they'll be, but I'm sure they will be wonderful. (Without overtly stating so, it's clear this person did not leave for another position. Yet, there is absolutely no bitterness. If you know what you will be doing, state it here..."I will be taking time off to care for my infant son." or "I am entering an MBA program at Rutgers.")It has been a joy to work with you during my time here. You are so energetic and positive, and I sincerely hope we stay in touch and find future opportunities to work together. (State something truthful and specific about this particular recipient, so it feels sincere and targeted, not a mass email. Also indicate your desire to stay in touch.)Gerry Malvers (gmalvers@acme.com) and Suresh Patel (spatel@acme.com) will be your new contacts for procurement. Feel free to contact them with any questions regarding your accounting services in the future. I have given them your contact information and briefed them on the work you've done so well for Acme. (Provide clear information about how your recipient will connect with your company or department, and any relevant information they need.)I wish you great success, and hope we get to work with each other again! I look forward to your updates on Facebook and/or LinkedIn. (This assumes you are already connected on Facebook and LinkedIn. If not, tell them you will be sending them a connec tion request, or provide your own contact information on these networks. If you do not yet use LinkedIn or Facebook, let this be a reminder to establish your presence on these social networks before you may need it. This is most important - you have honed good relationships, so stay connected with them. If you do not use LinkedIn or Facebook, provide your personal email address instead.)Best regards,Jeanine Ready to commit to improving your business writing so it is a career advantage?

Staffing a Growing Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Staffing a Growing Business - Research Paper Example The paper predicts the major legal issues that the Human Resource Manager might encounter in the process of establishing equal employment opportunities and diversity within the workplace while still aiming to acquire employees with the necessary credentials. A Corporation cannot have an inclusive work setting short of the interdependent elements of Equal Employment Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Diversity. Equal Employment Opportunity abbreviated as (EEO) is a body of federal laws mandated with the responsibility of protecting applicants and employees from discrimination in any employment aspect. The Human Resource Manager of the technology company has to comply with the current EEO laws (Nielsen, Nelson & Lancaster, 2010). The Human Resource Manager will encounter the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) that protects women and men who perform equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination. The manager will have to ensure equal wage benefits to both men and women with the same credentials and tasks. The Human Resource Manager will equally encounter Title VII of the Civil Right Act of the year 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Besides acquiring employees with the needed credentials and certifications, the Human Resource Manager must also ensure that it does not discriminate potential employees based on color, religion, sex, race or national origin. The HR manager needs to provide equal employment opportunities and diversity within the workplace by complying with the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition, the Human Resource Manager has to comply with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of the year 1967 (ADEA) that protects individuals who are above forty years old. The HR Manager has to ensure that the failure of overlooking more aged people in efforts to acquire new employees does not occur

Major civil strife Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Major civil strife - Research Paper Example This civil strife began in 1993 following tension that had been building between the two tribes. Report indicates that the Hutus who were the minority in the country used to oppress the majority Tutsis something, which did not go well with the Tutsis, forcing them to resort to valance in order for their voice to be hard and gain respect. The war lasted in 2005 leaving more than 300,000 people dead2. Lack of democracy has also been another factor that has contributed to the high number of ethnic-related civil strife in different parts of the world3. For instance, the Kenya’s post election valance of 2007/2008 was arguably caused because of lack of democracy as the majority Kikuyu tribe was accused by other tribes of having stolen the election in order to remain in power, thereby resulting in ethnic violence that saw more than 1,300 people death plus millions worth of properties destroyed. Despite some isolated cases still being reported in different parts of the world, such civil strife has declined significantly. There is several reason that explains why this is so. First, world has undergone through high level of the democratization process in which people nowadays feel secure with their neighbors4. The democratization processes have helped bring people from different ethnic groups together thereby easing any tension and subspecies among different tribes in a given country something, which was lacking in the past5. A good example can be seen in Rwanda and Burundi in which the democratization processes witnessed since the end of the civil strife in 2005 has helped bring together the protagonists Hutus and Tutsis together for a common goal, which is the development6. Secondly, several countries around the world have undergone through constitutional arrangements, which have helped bring people from different ethnic communities

PORTFOLIO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PORTFOLIO - Essay Example This type of analysis is less time consuming and cost effective. Secondary sources available in academic journals and publications of the industry associations are reliable. 1. ‘Facilities Management’ reports on customer service, operational efficiency, service recovery in providing ‘Brand experience’ for the customers, asset management, risk management and development of human resources. 2. ‘Outsourcing’ covers key considerations such as quality of customer service, cost of outsourcing and type of customers involved in decision making. 3. ‘Environmental Management’ deals with environmental pollution, conservation of resources and corporate social responsibility with a view to enhance the company’s image with the public and customers and for a sustainable development. 4. ‘Technology’ discusses about the impact of technological developments in the industry with a view to enhance the level of customer service and g uest experience. Recommendations: Important recommendations in respect of facilities management include providing training facilities to employees, refurbishment and renovation on continuous basis and encouraging diversity in work place. It should be ensured that outsourcing does not affect quality of customer service. ... Recommendations References Outsourcing in Hotel Industry Introduction Broad areas of Outsourcing Opportunities for Outsourcing in Hotel Industry Conclusions and Recommendations References Environmental Management in Hotel Industry Introduction Customer Education and Employee Involvement Environmental Management Conclusions and Recommendations References Technology in Hotel Industry Introduction Technology in Hotel Industry Conclusions and Recommendations References Facilities Management in Hotel Industry Introduction According to the International Facilities Management Association (2013a), â€Å"Facility management is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.† Therefore, with reference to hotel industry it refers to the whole host of operations which includes front office management, house-keeping, property management and customer service. The metamorphosis of the in dustry over the period of time calls for internationalization at all level for survival. The main aim of this report is concerned with maintenance of quality standards, improving performance through training and development and refurbishment and renovation of the facilities for enhancing the level of customer service. Improved facilities management and HRD practices increase operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Training and development programs suitably designed will motivate the employees and ensures safety of the employees and guests. This will also make the service recovery process efficient in case of service failures. Facilities management According to Mass and Pleunis (2001, p. 28) FM is the responsibility of coordinating efforts in respect of buildings, technology, furniture and

Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education Research Paper

Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education - Research Paper Example An important finding from the study is that integrated information technology can have both negative as well as positive impacts on the above mentioned factors, therefore, the tools need to be used with the right balance. Additionally, empirical and quantitative studies related to the impact of integrated information technology on early childhood and factors such as education, family atmosphere, parenting style and the relationship between the parents and children are still in their nascent stages. Introduction It is often said that children of today belong to the 'Technology Generation' (Jukes and Dosaj, 2006) or the digital natives (Presnsky, 2005). Information technology becomes a part of their life even when they are very young and has a deep influence during the growth years. Over the past decade, the use of integrated information technology continues to increase in early childhood education. During the initial years, both parents as well as teachers were concerned whether using instruments of integrated information technology would be beneficial or harmful to the children (Prensky, 2005). However, the advantages offered by Information technology in education is immense and cannot be ignored. Traditionally, using information technology meant just the use of computers. ... This study takes a look at how integrated information technology can have a major impact on early childhood education, especially from parenting and character education perspectives. In doing so, the study looks at how the instruments of integrated information technology co-related with early childhood education, parenting styles, effectiveness on children's learning, character development, parent-children relationship and family atmosphere. Literature Review and Proposition Development 1. Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education With advancements in information technology, a number of instruments are used to aid learning in children, even those who are in pre-school and kindergarten stages (Donald et al,. 2012). Modern day classrooms for early children are equipped with devices such as computers, cameras, multimedia equipment, voice recorders, conferencing instruments, Internet connection and so on. All these instruments are also integrated with each other to form one cohesive medium of integrated information technology (Presensky, 2006). While there was considerable skepticism on whether integrated information technology should be used for early childhood education, over the past few years, integrated information technology has become an integral part of early childhood education. Additionally, as the world is becoming increasingly technology dependent, it is also necessary that such technology is integrated with their learning process from an early age. One reason as to why early childhood education is effective through information technology is that the human brain is able to relate more to the visual images, 3-d videos, communication tools

Foundation of public heath open book Exam Assignment

Foundation of public heath open book Exam - Assignment Example Statistics also report high levels of cirrhosis in poverty-stricken countries, and the cause of such increased incidence rates in those places is partly due to malnutrition. Malnutrition, therefore, is an indirect cause of cirrhosis as it disrupts the immune mechanisms of the human body. Further, infections may lead to the development of cirrhosis. For instance, hepatitis non-A, non-B, or B can cause cirrhosis cases (Prasad, n.d.). Hepatitis B, non-A, or non-B are all diseases that affect the liver, and consequently lead to the development of liver cirrhosis. Studies continue to document the relationship between various agents and cirrhosis. What remains clear though is that alcohol-containing substances appear to have a more direct relationship while other factors such a disease and malnutrition aggravate cirrhosis or spur it development. The direct and indirect contributing factors are of equal importance as they are associated with a disease that does not have any treatment. Health disparities mean variations that exist between cohorts or groups of people. These variations can impact the frequency that group gets diseases, the number of people who get sick, and the frequency of mortality due to the disease. Common populations affected by health disparities include ethnic and racial minorities, rural areas’ residents, children, women, and the elderly, and people with disabilities (NIH, 2013). Health disparities mirror a deficiency of efficiency with health care systems and thus lead to unnecessary costs. Mortality ratios for cancer of the lungs are elevated for men from Ireland and Scotland. The rates are also elevated for women from the two countries. Contrarily, the rates of lung cancer are low for women as well as men in migrant groups in the UK from countries such as W Africa, E Africa, S Asia, and Caribbean (Aspinall PJ, 2004). Still on cancer, prostate cancer appears to affect more black people than

Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education Research Paper

Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education - Research Paper Example An important finding from the study is that integrated information technology can have both negative as well as positive impacts on the above mentioned factors, therefore, the tools need to be used with the right balance. Additionally, empirical and quantitative studies related to the impact of integrated information technology on early childhood and factors such as education, family atmosphere, parenting style and the relationship between the parents and children are still in their nascent stages. Introduction It is often said that children of today belong to the 'Technology Generation' (Jukes and Dosaj, 2006) or the digital natives (Presnsky, 2005). Information technology becomes a part of their life even when they are very young and has a deep influence during the growth years. Over the past decade, the use of integrated information technology continues to increase in early childhood education. During the initial years, both parents as well as teachers were concerned whether using instruments of integrated information technology would be beneficial or harmful to the children (Prensky, 2005). However, the advantages offered by Information technology in education is immense and cannot be ignored. Traditionally, using information technology meant just the use of computers. ... This study takes a look at how integrated information technology can have a major impact on early childhood education, especially from parenting and character education perspectives. In doing so, the study looks at how the instruments of integrated information technology co-related with early childhood education, parenting styles, effectiveness on children's learning, character development, parent-children relationship and family atmosphere. Literature Review and Proposition Development 1. Integrated Information Technology and Early Childhood Education With advancements in information technology, a number of instruments are used to aid learning in children, even those who are in pre-school and kindergarten stages (Donald et al,. 2012). Modern day classrooms for early children are equipped with devices such as computers, cameras, multimedia equipment, voice recorders, conferencing instruments, Internet connection and so on. All these instruments are also integrated with each other to form one cohesive medium of integrated information technology (Presensky, 2006). While there was considerable skepticism on whether integrated information technology should be used for early childhood education, over the past few years, integrated information technology has become an integral part of early childhood education. Additionally, as the world is becoming increasingly technology dependent, it is also necessary that such technology is integrated with their learning process from an early age. One reason as to why early childhood education is effective through information technology is that the human brain is able to relate more to the visual images, 3-d videos, communication tools

Propaganda and War Document Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Propaganda and War Document Analysis - Essay Example At the end of the war, Russia withdrew its claims on the territories in the peninsular region and the Ottoman Empire maintained its sovereignty until the next war. However, there were severe casualties on either side: While over 220,000 died on the Russian side, total casualties of the French, English and Ottoman empires amounted to 375,000. It should be noted that the Allied forces began with more manpower than Russia – 1,000,000 as opposed to 720,000. The Crimean war has the distinction for being the first war that was covered exclusively by war correspondents. One among them was William Howard Russell; who wrote for the Times. The English public (the intended audience for the article in question) was kept informed of the day-to-day incidents at the war front. Towards the end of the war, there was widespread antagonism among the English public that culminated in several riots; the â€Å"Snowball riot† 1 the most famous among them. War correspondents like Russell, who travelled with the English forces and gave first hand accounts of their activities, were to a large extent responsible for the way the English public felt about the war – this2 was in part due to several tactical errors on the English, the ‘Charge of the light Brigade’ among them. ... ently in flowing praise for the English hence: â€Å"It was as much as our Heavy Cavalry Brigade could do to cover the retreat of the miserable remnants of that band of heroes as they returned to the place they had so lately quitted in all the pride of life. At thirty-five minutes past eleven not a British soldier, except the dead and dying, was left in front of these bloody Muscovite guns3†. Journalists by trade are expected to give as objective an account of the events as possible, but that this has not been possible since as long as the beginning of war correspondence is evident in these lines. It is however equally questionable whether the author portraits the enemy (the Russians) in any more monstrosity as a correspondent might do today. Further, the author has remained neutral in tone for the larger part of the article. However, it does seem that the author has the traditional English values of valour and courage in a battlefield. The English, being a people that have fo ught many wars have always been quick to praise and reward bravery in the face of death, particularly in the defence of the nation. At the beginning of the given article (itself a subtext of a more detailed account of the Battle of Balaclava) Russell point to the line of Turkish soldiers who run away at the sight of the enemy and remarks that he and the other soldiers observed this with â€Å"disgust†. He is profuse in praise for the generals who are willing to plunge into battle despite knowing that they are facing certain death. The narration is unlike the reports that we read today in newspapers, that tend to be objective and remain as factual as possible. The use of metaphoric language, poetic phrases, overly description of the geography of the land etc is unheard of in modern newspaper

The Introduction of Belt Conveyor Characteristics Essay Example for Free

The Introduction of Belt Conveyor Characteristics Essay Belt conveyor, also called continuity conveyor, is a kind of machinery transporting materials in a certain line continuously. Its transmission line is generally constant, and able to take horizontal or tilting transmission as well as form space transmission lines. The machine has a great transmission capacity and long distance, which can also achieve some process operations simultaneously. Belt conveyor made by our company has the advantages of large transportation amount, simple structure, convenient maintenance, standard components and so on. It is widely used in mining, metallurgy, coal and other departments in order to transport loose materials and finished products. Based on the transmission process requirements, all kinds of transmission methods are available to meet the needs of different operation lines. This conveyor has the characteristics of the following aspects: (1) nose structural steel frame structure, the main structure of a release channel steel welding processed, the nose section of the large belt conveyors use of higher strength of H-shaped steel welding, angle steel, channel as an auxiliary component. See more: how to start a paragraph Depending on the transport and installation conditions, can be designed as a whole or split modular. (2) the conveyor can be used single-motor drives, can also be used for the dual motor drive to adapt to a variety of transportation tasks and the length of the conveyor. Gear is equipped with a hydraulic coupling, in order to improve the startup performance of the conveyor, and to ensure that tend to balance load distribution in the two-motor drive. 3) the middle part of the steel frame or tube frame structure, a simple structure, transport disassembly and adjustment easy. A longer service life of the middle frame and high recycling rate swaps, to reduce production inputs in the same specification conveyor. (4) H-shaped support of the middle frame brittle can be designed to be adjustable type,to adapt to the conditions of a high degree of fluctuation of the roadway floor, to ensure that the conveyor belt to almost straight, reducing the amount of roadway engineering. 5) The tape tensioning device according to site conditions, set in the machine head, the engine department, or the middle of the Ministry of Depending on the length of the belt conveyor, conveyor and layout needs, you can worm volume simply tensioning device tensioning winches tensioning device or hydraulic tensioning device for the timely adjustment of the tape tension.

Nuclear Weapons In The Middle East Politics Essay

Nuclear Weapons In The Middle East Politics Essay Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction which are capable of wiping out an unimaginably large number of people. Today, five member nations, the United States of America, Russia, United Kingdom, France and the Peoples Republic of China are internationally recognized as nuclear weapons nations by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and are thus permitted to possess nuclear weapons. Two non-signatory members, India and Pakistan also possess these weapons and have conducted nuclear weapon tests. In addition to these seven members, Israel is strongly suspected of possessing nuclear weapons although it has neither confirmed it nor denied it. There is also speculation the Iran might be running a covert nuclear weapons program. Finally, North Korea has publicly declared itself to be in possession of nuclear weapons but this fact has never been confirmed as it has not conducted any substantial nuclear tests. There is an urgent need to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons across the world as they pose a great threat to international security and their usage could lead to catastrophe. Today, this issue is especially relevant to North Korea and the Middle East where the lack of agreements and the prevalence of ambiguities regarding nuclear programs is becoming an issue of global concern. Countries associated with nuclear weapons3 Definition of Key Terms Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) The NPT is a treaty that came into force in 1970, in order to limit nuclear proliferation. It prohibits non nuclear weapon states from developing, possessing or acquiring nuclear weapons or explosives. The three pillars of the treaty are non proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Currently, it has not been signed by India, Pakistan and Israel. Nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons are extremely destructive and explosive weapons that derives its force through either fission reactions or both fission and fusion. Nuclear Proliferation Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as Nuclear Weapon States by the NPT. 1 Nuclear weapons free zone A Nuclear weapons free zone is a geographical area recognized by the United Nations that has banned the use and development of nuclear weapon technology and has put measures into place to check its implementation. Nuclear Disarmament Nuclear disarmament is a proposal to dismantle nuclear weapons in order to reduce the possibility of the occurrence of a nuclear war. Background Information The first nuclear weapon was invented by USA, Britain and Canada during the Second World War. USA remains the only country to have ever used it. Soon after, during the Cold War, the world saw the beginning of the nuclear arms race. Following the Second World War, Korea was divided into two geographical regions: the northern controlled by the Soviets and the southern controlled by USA. Also, Israel is believed to have begun investigating the nuclear field soon after it was founded in 1948. In the 1950s the nuclear program in Iran was established for peaceful purposes under the supervision of the United States. The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) was signed in 1963 which banned the test of nuclear weapons underwater, in the atmosphere or in outer space. This treaty was not signed by China and France who are both nuclear weapons states today. The conflict between the communist North Korea and the capitalist South Korea has been going on since 1950 and there have been repeated failures to consolidate the two as one unified nation. Even today, the two countries have not officially made peace. Hence, ever since the 1970s, North Korea began its pursuit of acquiring nuclear weapons. In 1967, a CIA report claimed that Israel had the materials required to construct a bomb. In 1979, a US satellite reported a flash in the Indian Ocean that was similar to a nuclear denotation and could have possibly been a nuclear test conducted by Israel. It is speculated to be one of the apparently few joint nuclear tests conducted by South Africa and Israel. Minimal progress was made in nuclear disarmament until 1991 and the Comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT) was adopted in 1996 which banned all nuclear explosions in all environment for military or civilian testing. It was signed by 182 countries and ratified by 153 and was aimed at stopping the nuclear arms race. Iran ratified the NPT in 1970s which subjected it to IAEA inspections. Today, the main reason for suspicion of Irans nuclear program is its failure to declare sensitive enrichment and reprocessing activities to the IAEA. In 1992, North Korea entered a safe guards agreement under Article 3 of the NPT which allowed IAEA inspectors to inspect North Koreas nuclear materials. In 1993, North Korea threatened to withdraw from the NPT which it had acceded to earlier. However, this did not ultimately happen as USA and North Korea came to an agreement by which North Korea would suspend all nuclear reactors in exchange for in exchange for alternative energy resources. North Korea withdrew from the IAEA in 1994 and launched a missile over the Sea of Japan in 1998 which caused USA to review its policies towards the country. Relations between the two countries remained turbulent. In 2002, the North Korean Deputy Secretary apparently acknowledged the existence of a covert nuclear-weapons development program. North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003 and in response; the US launched six way talks about the issue with North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. North Korea, once again, agreed to abandon all nuclear weapon activities. However, like previous agreements, North Korea did not commit to it. It declared that it had nuclear weapons and withdrew from the six party talks in 2005. In October, 2006 North Korea announced plans for its first nuclear test. North Korea did conduct an explosive underground test but there are doubts as to whether it really was a nuclear test since the magnitude of the blast was less than expected. As far as Iran is concerned, in March 2010, Iran declared itself as a nuclear state and president Ahmadinejad announced I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first consignment of 20 percent enriched uranium was produced and was put at the disposal of the scientists. However, Iran reiterated that it will use this only for peaceful purposes. We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent but we dont enrich (to this level) because we dont need it. Evidently, there has been a great turn of events regarding the development and legitimacy of nuclear weapons in North Korea, Iran and Israel. A clear agreement in the case of all three countries has yet to be formed. General Overview Nuclear Deterrence The argument of those who possess nuclear weapons is that it enables them to ward off or deter nuclear or conventional attack through threat of disastrous retaliation. This could be incentive to possess nuclear weapons. DPRK has been accused of using nuclear weapons as a political tool to normalize relations with USA, Japan, and South Korea and to end the embargo against North Korea. North Korea will thus be unwilling to give up nuclear weapons without substantial concessions from USA and South Korea, among others. On the other hand, Iran has entirely denied seeking nuclear weapons for retaliation or nuclear deterrence. Transfer One of the greatest concerns with nuclear weapons is that it could end up in the wrong hands. Not only could countries possessing them sell them to others, thus encouraging nuclear proliferation, but nuclear weapons could also be sold to or stolen by non-state actors. If such a situation were to arise, it would have severe implications on the national security of several countries. For instance, DPRK has refrained from selling its nuclear weapons and materials. However, in the case of harsh sanctions being imposed on the country, it could retaliate and sell its nuclear weapons. Out of this fear, China has prevented the Security Council from authorizing the use of force or imposing truly harsh sanctions on the country. Similarly, in 1975, there were rumors that Israel offered to sell its nuclear weapons to South Africa. Israel has vehemently denied the claim. Israel-Iran Relations The turbulent relationship between Israel and Iran dates back to the Islamic Revolution in the 1970s. Both countries are suspected of having a nuclear weapons program and blame each other for threatening the security of the Middle East by doing so. Irans extreme hostility towards USA and Israel is probably the reason that has caused many to consider Iran to be the greatest threat in the Middle East. Iran itself is not a democracy and does not recognize the right to freedom of speech and expression. In addition, it refuses to acknowledge Israel as a country and refers to Israel as an occupied territory. However, many are angered at the fact that although there is no proof that Iran plans on developing nuclear weapons it is being faced with threats of dire consequences by the USA and Europe where as there is comparatively less pressure on Israel which is practicing opacity as far as its nuclear plan is concerned. On the other hand, seeing as Israel is a democracy, people believe that it can be trusted with its power. Israel also has a reputation of being relatively more reliable and predictable. It is considered less likely to misuse its nuclear weapons through and arbitrary attack. However, Israels intentional ambiguity regarding nuclear development in the country could be considered as a catalyst for the prospect of a nuclear arms race in the region. There are rumours that Israel may have up to 400 nuclear warheads. Egypt and 17 other Middle Eastern countries want Israels nuclear capabilities to be discussed with the IAEA since they have all signed the NPT and believe that Israels accession to the NPT is essential to establish regional peace. Israels current status is considered by some to be a provocation of nuclear proliferation. Israel refuses to sign the NPT without a comprehensive regional peace agreement as until then it requires its ambiguity about its nuclear weapons capability as a deterrent. It is important to note that although the world is split regarding who is to be blamed, both Israel and Iran are in a situation that can possibly lead to a destabilizing arms race in the Middle East and are key players in the possibility of establishing a nuclear free zone in the Middle East. Thus any agreement that does not involve the two countries will result in stalemate. Major Countries and Organizations Involved Israel Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is not a part of the NPT and is suspected by the IAEA to have nuclear weapons. Israel refuses to admit or deny possessing nuclear arsenal, or developing nuclear weapons and is using this ambiguity about its nuclear weapons capability as a deterrent. It is a good ally of USA and a hostile enemy of Iran. Iran Iran is a part of the NPT and strongly asserts that its nuclear technology, including enrichment is solely for civilian purposes but the IAEA has been unable to verify it. It is strongly suspected that the program is concealing the development of nuclear weapons. Iran claims that Israel is the only obstacle to establishing a nuclear weapons free zone and has stated its intentions to wipe Israel of the map. Iran has been subjected to four rounds of sanctions by the Security Council of the United Nation in order to urge it to halt its nuclear program. USA USA, today, has the largest quantity of nuclear weapons in the world but is trying to gradually cut them down under the Obama administration. It strongly condemns both North Korea and Iran for their nuclear program and is unwilling to accept either of the two as nuclear powers. China China has been reluctant to back the sanctions against Iran as it supports the Irans nuclear program for civilian use. It is believed to have helped Iran with its missile development programs. It is North Koreas most important ally, biggest trading partner and main source of food, arms and fuel. China has not expressed outright defiance against USA in order to protect its relations with the country and has supported some UN sanctions against Iran. Russia Russia believes that every nation has the right to self defense and therefore sees Irans nuclear program as legitimate. It has strong ties with Iran and has opposed unilateral sanction imposed on it by USA. However, Russia has urged Iran to change its stance. Russia has also been accused of assisting North Korea and Iran with their nuclear program. IAEA The IAEA is an international organization that promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The IAEA believes that every nation has the right to an authorized and monitored nuclear program for peaceful purposes; however, nations should not attempt to pursue nuclear weapons in any form. Timeline of Events Date Description of event 1945 USA conducts its first nuclear test 1946 Russia conducts its first nuclear test 1952 UK conducts its first nuclear test 1964 China conducts its first nuclear test 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty 1968 NPT signed 1974 Indias first nuclear test 1985 North Korea accedes to the NPT 1990 Frances first nuclear test December 31, 1991 North and South Korea sign the South-North Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. March 6, 1992 US imposes sanctions upon North Korea for missile proliferation activities September, 1992 IAEA inspectors discover discrepancies in North Koreas initial report on its nuclear program and ask for clarification on several issues, including the amount of reprocessed plutonium in North Korea. February 9, 1993 North Korea denies IAEA inspections of two sites believed to store nuclear waste. 1993 North Korea threatens to withdraw from the NPT 1994 Agreed Framework June 13, 1994 North Korea withdraws from NPT 1996 Comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT) adopted 1998 Pakistans first nuclear test Feb 15, 1994 North Korea permits IAEA inspections in 7 of its sites May 24, 1996 The United States imposes sanctions on North Korea and Iran for missile technology-related transfers April 25, 1999 The United States, South Korea, and Japan establish the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group to institutionalize close consultation and policy coordination in dealing with North Korea 4 2002 President G W Bush names North Korea as a member of the Axis of Evil October 16, 2002 US announces that North Korea has admitted to possessing nuclear weapons January 10, 2003 North Korea withdraws from NPT October 9, 2006 North Korea conducts an underground explosive test 2009 North Korea conducts another test Previous Attempts to solve the Issue Sanctions on Iran The Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanction upon Iran in its resolutions 1737, 1747, 1803 and 1929. The UN Security Council began imposing sanctions on Iran since 2006, when it failed to comply with IAEA requirements and continued uranium enrichment activities. The sanctions have included bans on exports of nuclear, missile, and dual-use technologies; limiting travel by dozens of Iranian officials; and freezing the assets of forty individuals and entities, including Bank Sepah and various front companies.2 In addition, USA and EU have individually imposed further sanctions on Iran which have targeted its trade, finances and energy sector. Russia has supported the weaker Security Council sanctions against Iran but opposed the stronger ones imposed individually by the USA. It is against any unilateral sanctions and although a fourth round of sanctions was imposed, it faced resistance from Russia and China, both of which maintain strong economic ties with Iran. They opposed it due to their individual economic and political interests. According to critics, the lack of support from these two nations could have weakened the overall affect of the sanctions. The sanctions imposed are believed to have had limited success as Iran still holds an aggressive stance as to continuing its nuclear program and asserts that is it permitted to do so for civilian use as per the NPT. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said: The Iranian nation will not succumb to bullying, invasion and the violation of its rights.5 Talks with DPRK Several attempts have been made to establish a nuclear free Korean-peninsula but all efforts until today have been unsuccessful and DPRK has withdrawn from all treaties it has acceded to. This is probably because DRPK has only been signing treaties out of international pressure, not voluntarily. Agreed Framework The United States and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework on October 21, 1994 by which DPRK agreed to freeze operation and construction of nuclear reactors in exchange for two light water reactors and the relaxation of economic sanctions. The Agreed Framework resolved the ongoing 18 month crisis during which DRPK threatened to withdraw from the NPT. However, there were difficulties regarding the financing of reactors caused the plan to be behind schedule. Infuriated, DPRK violated the agreements which caused USA to persuade KEDO suspend shipments to the country. This marked the end of the agreement. In comparison to other attempts, this one probably had the greatest chance of success as it offered DPRK to end its nuclear program in exchange for realistic concessions made by other countries. Six Party Talks The six party concerning DPRKs nuclear program involved United States, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and, South Korea as was a result of North Korea withdrawing from the NPT in 2003. Until today, six rounds of the six party talks have been held. Due to the conflicting aims of the members involved, minimal progress was achieved. During the third phase of the fifth round, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange for fuel aid the normalization of relations with Japan and USA. These talks eventually ended when North Korea launched a satellite despite international pressure not to do so. It was believed to be a test of its prototype Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). In February 2005, North Korea declared that it had nuclear weapons for self defense and pulled out of the six party talks. DPRK expelled all nuclear inspectors and resumed its nuclear weapons program. Possible Solutions As evident from the past, Iran has been adamant about its position and the authenticity of its nuclear program. For any further progress to be made Iran and the West need to cooperate. Prior to creating any framework for agreements, Iran must be given recognition for its right to exist as an Islamic Republic, and its minimum security concerns must be acknowledged as legitimate. Thus, military strike either by USA or by Israel against Irans possible nuclear program would be disastrous as it would possibly cause Iran to retaliate which is a concern of global security and lead to regional catastrophe. The underlying problem in the Middle East crisis is the lack of trust and the increasing hostility between Iran and Israel. Solutions to resolve this issue should focus on reduce the fears of existential destruction that the two nations harbor towards each other. Iran must recognize the importance of moderating its bellicose stance whereas Israel checks its threats to attack Iran. In order to moderate any development of the negotiations between Israel and Iran, the Security Council should provide security guarantees to both countries and assess their concerns of security risks. Another way of addressing the issue would be to provide financial incentives to Iran; large enough to buy up the nuclear energy specialized for civilian use, if Iran completely halts its current nuclear program. One way of addressing the issue of North Korea would be to provide it with concessions such as providing it with substitute forms of energy for its civilian nuclear program and cutting back economic sanctions based on any agreement that has been reached upon. However, these are only possible if North Korea agrees to comply with any solutions reached upon. Although diplomacy is a great tool to resolve conflicts, many believe that as North Korea has repeatedly proved itself to be unreliable as far as agreements are concerned, a more aggressive option might be appropriate. However, it is important to note that any aggressive military action could possibly worsen matters. Constructive solutions would include measures to normalize relations between North Korea and all other states. As of today the most viable solution would be to establish a nuclear free zone in North Korea but it is difficult to implement. All problems that arise as a consequence of implementing such a solution must therefore also be addressed.