Integrative Therapy Essay

I started my first class of counselling today. I was very nervous and excited at the same time. I was nervous because I had not been in formal education for the past ten years and excited because I was going to do something for myself after 3 years of sitting at home and focus on something other than domestic issues. I arrived to my first class late and that made me more apprehensive. Looking around I noticed that there were people from different age and background. I started the class by telling others about myself and listened to them. I felt like I was in a group therapy, in a way it actually was because we were using our listening skills, which I believe is essential part of counselling. As it happened at the end of the task I was less nervous than I was at the beginning. Our next task was to find a partner and talk about ourselves to each other. We talked about our lives and it was up to us how much to tell our partner and to share it with the rest of the group. Again here, our listening skills were tested. This task also acted as ice breaker where the atmosphere of the class become more relaxed as we listened to each individual’s life and their achievements as well as their aspirations. I realised that most of the people who attended the course were there because of their life experiences propelled them to this course and that they felt they have something to give back as counsellor, or that they may learn some counselling skills to help them with their own lives. As for myself, since studying counselling as part of my degree course 10 years ago, I have wanted to become a counsellor. I always was motivated to help others. My only inability is and has been my lack of confidence. This is not because I don’t have the ability to listen and help others, but just that I am not a confident speaker and my communication skills needs to be enhanced and by doing this course I am hoping to overcome both and be prepared for further qualifications in counselling. During the class in groups we also discussed, what we want from rest of the group and what is required of me. There were some points, such as, Respect, Confidentially, Honesty, Being non- judgmental, etc, that we all agreed on. We ended the class by â€Å"checking out†, where we said how we felt and what we learned, like me, the rest of group was also more relaxed and were looking forward to the rest of the course. I see this course as learning route, where by the end of it I have learned some counselling skills, hopefully I will also overcome my own issues, which might have an impact on my role as a helper.

Creative educational tools Essay

â€Å"We visualise and develop creative educational tools that provoke inspirational activity and bring positive recurring stimuli for children in their learning process and creative play. We believe on the power of creative education.† – Innospark Our team has chosen Innospark, Lithuania, which is actually a new company who produces educational toys for young children. Education is very important aspect of each persons life, especially in this century, so having the children start their educational journey in the early age is very important. Growing bigger, becoming a competitor on the Lithuanian market, Innospark decides to go outside the local market and take a chance on different European markets. Us being able to choose the market we came to agreement to have two markets, first Poland and second, Scandinavia. Considering that Poland is one of EU’s fast developing countries, which also has a lot of investors coming from around the globe and where the middle i ncome is growing rapidly, we decided that Innospark would have a big chance in conquering the Polish market fast. Also there is almost no competition on the market, on their particular product. Scandinavia on the other hand is developed and open for new companies, giving them new opportunities. Even though, there is one actual competitor, Innospark has different kind of products which can easily compete with the others. Our decision on the entry mode is direct export. It is easy to implement in smaller countries, trade barriers are reduced to minimum, because all the countries are EU members and capital requirement is limited. The potential of getting profits are greater, because of the intermediaries are eliminated. All aspects of the transaction are controlled by us. We know who are customers are, our customers know who we are and business trips are more efficient and effective with meeting the customers face to face, for more confidence and trust. Customer relations are one of the most important part, they will feel more confident and secure with our product, once we establish the worming contact with them. We also have to have a total control over the negotiations and transactions, also the patents, copyright and trademarks. For future plans we are considering bigger improvements and expansions on the markets. We also considered about three employees with standard salary (Poland), proximately 410 euros, which is a normal salary for Poland. Advertisement for our product will be throughout the internet.  First the webpage of Innospark and the possibility of Facebook, opening a page is free and getting more customers will be faster and easier, we also would be able to advertise our page with a very low cost. 1. Market Segmentation As stated in the previous section, the market has been segmented by Innospark into two distinct customers, i.e. individuals and businesses. Individuals: The purchases made by this segment are usually single purchases for own kids or someone known to the individual customer. The demographics of this segment can be classified as: An average household income of 1500 Euros Parents have high aspirations for children with respect to education and development Businesses: This category includes business clients who buy toys for children. These clients are also organizations such as day-care, as well as school-based organizations like pre-school and/or nursery. This segment generally caters for seven to twenty five children. 2. Target Market Segment Strategy Exporting is a method of increasing sales potential for businesses. To go international, a company does not need to be big in size or have a huge marketing department. The Lithuanian market represents enough sales potential for Innospark. However, it is important for the firm to grow and the only way to do so is by exploiting the untapped markets, one of them being Poland. As per Euromonitor, the traditional toys and games market in Poland has been dominated by global brands for many years by companies such as Lego, Hasbro, Mattel and Simba. These companies have dictated general trends in the Poland toys market. This indicates that the Poland toys market represents a good opportunity for Innospark since consumers seem to be accepting global brands. Apart from increasing the customer base, exporting would also mean increased market share, and therefore increased profitability by lowering per unit cost. As per a general trend, an average order from international customer is often large r as compared to that from a domestic buyer. This means that exporting its toys can result in an increase in Innospark’s perceived size and stature. Additionally, it will also improve its competitive position, as compared to other similar-sized  startups in its sector. Through growth in business, Innospark may also look at overseas licensing, franchising, or may even set up its production unit in Poland. Additionally, the educational toys that Innospark is offering are very unique and innovative in nature. This opportunity can be exploited by commanding greater profit margins in Poland than in Lithuania. Although Lithuania helped the export-oriented economy in avoiding exchange-rate fluctuation by pegging the Lithuanian currency (the Lithai) to the Euro in 2002, other fluctuations in the economy and business cycles cannot be avoided altogether. Diversifying the market is therefore a feasible option for Innospark to reduce the risks. Also, exporting the products to Poland will help put the idle capacity at work, which will help Innospark to enjoy pure economies of scale with toys that are more global in scope. These products are also most likely to have a wider range of acceptance globally in the long run when Innospark grows and penetrates into other markets. From consumer point of view, Innospark will have to make sure that it offers products of the highest quality at a competitive price in Poland. If it becomes successful as an exporter, chances are highly likely that the educational toys will have increased acceptance in Poland as well due to Innospark’s heightened efficiency and focus on product quality. Lastly, Innospark also stands to gain from the export activities by a potential gain of knowledge. The myriad experiences and gain of information on new technologies, marketing ideas and product line extension that it will have in Poland can help Innospark to improve and grow not only its export business, but also the domestic business. 3. Entry mode As both countries (Lithuania and Poland) are part of EU, trade barriers are minimal. With reference to this information two the most attractive ways for â€Å"Innospark† to entry the new market has been selected: Indirect exports Direct exports Criteria Indirect exports Direct exports Implementation Find an export agent or freight forwarder from Poland, which could handle exporting and would be responsible for coordinating, could be a good choice, as local employees know their home market (customer’s needs, ways to attract them) better. Directly export products to customers (could be wholesalers or individual consumers) which are interested in purchasing them, without any intermediaries. This could lead to a better representation and protection of company’s trademark. Involvement in process Requires minimal involvement in exporting process. The company would be responsible only for finding any kind of intermediary (export agent or export managing company, freight forwarder, etc.).In that way â€Å"Innospark† would be able to continuously concentrate on Lithuania’s market and at the same time increase its market share in Poland. Requires maximum involvement in exporting process as company becomes responsible for developing understanding of a marketplace, handling logistics of shipment, collecting any kind of payments that might be needed to be paid, implementing support service. The market share in Poland might increase greater; however, domestic market would be a little bit â€Å"neglected†. Risk Almost none. This is the best way to field-test export potential for certain products. It might appear that it takes more time, money, energy than company is able to afford. Responsibility Intermediary would be responsible for failures, because indirect export requires minimal involvement in processes – there would always be someone to point the finger at if something went wrong, or not the way it was expected. The â€Å"Innospark† would be accountable for its failures. Being responsible for all exporting process will demand more effort from every level of the company. Potential profits Profits would be lower. Profits would be greater. Control Company would lose control over foreign sales because of the intermediary’s existence in the exporting-selling process. Company would have a better control of all phases of the transaction (ex. Shipment, selling, etc.) Contact with customers â€Å"Innospark† would have no direct contact with its customers. As a result, company might lose the opportunity to get to know the evolving needs of the consumers. â€Å"Innospark† would have direct contact with its customers. As a result, not only company will be able to get to know its customers and their needs, but also customers will know who â€Å"Innospark† is. Business trips Business trips might seem useless as company would be step removed from actual transaction because only intermediary would be able to know the latest information. Business trips would be efficient, useful and informative. There would be an opportunity to meet customers responsible for representing the products of the company. Long-term goals If suddenly the long-term outlook and goals of the company change, the reorientation of the company will be harder as production would already be in someone else’s hands. The reorientation would be easier as the â€Å"Innospark† would be the only unit responsible for exporting production of the company to Poland. As it is clearly visible from the table above direct exports has both, advantages and disadvantages. Analogue situation is with indirect exports. However, because the one of the main concerns on which is based the decision which entry mode should be selected, is contact with customers, the advantages of direct exports had outweighed advantages of indirect exports. With reference to information mentioned previously, the suggested entry mode for â€Å"Innospark† to entry Poland market is – Direct exports. The â€Å"Innospark† will focus on two types of consumers during this entry: Individual consumers (ex. parents, grandparents, aunts, etc.) Wholesale consumers (ex. kindergartens, daycare centers, etc.) The main and most important question is – why? Why consumers are such an essential part of the entry mode? The table below should answer this question. Reason Explanation Consequences Better margins Despite the fact that sales scope will be smaller, margins will be higher. More profit Closer contact with customers Stronger relationships which lead to loyalty will be developed by selling directly to customers, excluding any kind of intermediaries. This will form a more accurate feedback – better knowledge about evolving consumers’ needs. Products that satisfies consumers’ needs better > Customers’ loyalty > Word of mouth advertising > Increase in the market share > More profit More efficiency Fewer layers involved in distribution Simpler managing of the distribution processes Future plans â€Å"Innospark† will sell direct to the consumers and also to wholesaler purchasers, who will be responsible for representing the trademark and the products of the company. While this entry mode (Direct export) creates more work for â€Å"Innospark† in terms of generating sales, it provides better margins. Additionally, this process will be more costly, having in mind not only money, but also time and energy, for the first few years; however, once loyal relationships will be developed with individual consumers as well as the wholesale purchasers, the marketing expenses will decrease extremely as the customers become familiar with the â€Å"Innospark’s† extraordinary and exclusive products and continue to make purchases. What is more, loyal customers will not only constantly acquire products, but also introduce them to their friends, family members, etc. – company will get free word of mouth advertising. 4. Industry Analysis The toy industry in Poland is characterized by many different domestic toy manufacturers (ex. TUBAN, KANWIL) also as global manufacturers who exports their production to the country (ex. Mattel, LEGO). Nevertheless, there is a  niche of educational toys which „Innospark† can take advantage from as this niche is quite new (within the last five years) and more legitimized nowadays comparing to the situation ten years ago when it was believed that toy can’t have any educational value – it was assumed that toy is just a meaningless way to occupy children giving parents’ a brake from parenthood. Only recently it was proved that there are some special designed toys which not only attracts children’s attention but also teach them constructrive skills at the same time as develop their imagination and ability to concentrate. It would be a great opportunity for „Innospark† to establisth itself while this niche is not overloaded. As it is clearly visible from the table above, competitors mainly focus is on eco-friendly wooden toys or constructors. â€Å"Innospark† would be like a â€Å"gust of the fresh air† in the Poland’s market with its creative solutions applied  to make outstanding educational toys and wide assortment of the products. 5. Staffing policy We decided to start with Warsaw and hire local staff, because, introducing our product, advertising will be more efficient in capital city than in other small towns. The minimum salary will be 405 and more, depending on the work level (Minimum wage in Poland is 404,16 â‚ ¬). The salary will be transferred to their accounts which also can be opened by us in one particular bank, which will be better for the company for not loosing money in transferring etc. We also will have 3 employees, till we expend on the market. Decision is to use local staff. Reasons: Local employees and managers know more of the local market and therefor can build reliable and trustful relationships with the customers. Local customers may prefer interactions with local employees and managers due to the common cultural background and lack of language barriers. Local managers and employees working together can increase employees morale, work satisfaction, organizational commitment and as a result effective performance. 6. Marketing strategy (business scheme) The business scheme will point out the fact that products are absolutely educational tools that are entertaining. This is a meaningful message because parents will desire their kids to play with this kind of toy. The essential feature of the „toyâ€Å", in the product is used to make the kids bound with the product, something mostly hard to do with most educational tools. â€Å"Innospark† create ideas in our minds and develop creative educational devices that provokes developmental activity and makes positive recurring stimulation for kids in their studying process and creative play. â€Å"Innospark† trust in the capability of clever education. Cleverness- clever person is a curious explorer. Let’s create a place where creativity grows Hopes, goals- the first years of children’s life are most important time in the growth of hopes. Let’s have the hopes high. Permitting- a kid so deeply wants to believe his or her wishes can come true. It is our job to help them  build a feeling of inner confidence, fearlessness and toughness. Progress- cleverness has developed into a highly treasured skill in the century. It is an important building block for changes in business, history and nowadays life. Let’s grow clever The business scheme will identify and describe for the fact that there are two definite client groups that must be drawn attention to. To take the awareness of both groups sees that the groups are very dissimilar despite the fact that they are buy identical product. (http://www.edu2.lt/lv/kas-mes-esam/) â€Å"Innospark† will use direct mailings and advertisements. â€Å"Innopark† is a new company, is a little two years old, so for the beginning we recommend choose the „Innospark† website (http://www.innospark.lt/). Will be used like the main tool to spread the product. It will be a cheap and productive way of spreading information regarding and its product. The site will be divided in two fields, one for general information and the other for dealers/traders. The second part will have greater amount of information outside business information like stock. Also, â€Å"Innospark† as a new company, choose the Internet as a cheaper and more effective your advertising apparel and corporate types. To ensure the effective promotion of the search results, one of the ways to register â€Å"Google AdWords†. Next would be placement of advertisements in various, popular international social networks such as â€Å"Facebook†, â€Å"Twitter† etc. Social networks provide advertisements wide spread not only the Internet but also Internet users communicating with each other, as well as commenting on a product on the Internet, writing reviews, etc. Often, when choosing a product, service or business other people’s reviews are crucial selection. Homegrown web sites the opportunity to advertise, is the largest news portals.Like the ad placement site, an important aspect of creating their advertisements, is to choose the advertising audience. Audience determined to run at end-customers, which is a very important part of a successful advertising campaign. The website business scheme is easy to understand and clear, have the webpage shortcuts on all available materials as well as mention it in all talks with clients. To make it easy to find for greater amount of people. Will add the site to more spacious extent of search engineers so even if a specific customer is not informed of but has knowledge of the product category, they will still be pointed to site. 6.1 Sales strategy (Marketing scheme) The marketing scheme will be adjusted for every client group. The marketing scheme for individuals is to make plenty knowledge of. So that clients are asking their dealers to carry for them. To address the marketing part it is future plan that the businesses are not just purchasing one or two of the items but that they are purchasing entire products addressing dissimilar abilities, all of which are valuable. In most cases this is particularly valuable as businesses repeat clients, meaning that if buyer is satisfied with the bought item, they will probably become a long term clients and not search for other dealers. 6.2 Operations strategy (Action plan) Will make manufacture widely popular of all of its products. We choose the publicizing system for many reasons: None of them have been involved in manufacturing action  Popularizing will lower the cost to smallest amount, making all products costs variable Popularizing will make it available for the business team to pay more attention on marketing and new product growth Minimizing the possible financial dangers by not committing to the cost of a manufacturing facility Making business plans sales grow bigger Bibliography Delaney, L. (2014). About Money. Retrieved from http://importexport.about.com/: http://importexport.about.com/od/DevelopingSalesAndDistribution/a/Direct-Exporting-Advantages-And-Disadvantages-To-Direct-Exporting.htm Innospark. (2012, December). Innospark. Retrieved from http://www.innospark.lt/ Martins, R. (2014, November 28). Poland. Retrieved from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/poland/gdp-growth www.eulerhermes.com. (2014). Country Reports. Retrieved from http://www.eulerhermes.com/: http://www.eulerhermes.com/economic-research/country-reports/Pages/Poland.aspx?gclid=Cj0KEQiA-uWjBRChu9ie05m5ipgBEiQAuHIuK_uF1FFr62ciCHwCl1nLspSxhq8sG8r3y0oqDNP-1IQaAsK68P8HAQ www.investopedia.com. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketsegmentation.asp

Educational practice Essay

In the United States, bilingualism is a crucial issue that must be addressed. Although bilingualism has no clear cut definition yet, Shenker (no date) provides one appropriate definition of bilingualism. According to him, bilingual children are â€Å"are those†¦ who speak/have been spoken to in two (or more) languages in the home since birth and who are spoken to in only one or both of those two languages at school. † (Shenker, no date). These children may also be spoken in one language at home but acquired (or is exposed to) a second-language when they start attending school. There is a common misperception that bilingual children are more unsuccessful academically than monolingual children. However, researches show that bilingual children have superior performances than their monolingual counterparts. Perhaps the first one to radically change this perception is the study done Peal and Lambert in 1962. They conducted research regarding the premise that bilingualism causes retardation. However, their conclusion proved otherwise. They found that experiences from two cultures provide bilingual children an advantage such as increased mental dexterity and superior ability to think abstractly than that experienced by monolinguals (Peal & Lambert, 1962). Other researches show an association between bilingualism and greater cognitive flexibility and awareness of language (Cummins & Culutsan, 1974; Diaz, 1983; Hakuta & Diaz, 1984). Moreover, bilingual children were proven to have more effective controlled processes. Although their study was conducted among adults only, they generally concluded â€Å"that controlled processing is carried out more effectively by bilinguals and that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses in certain executive processes† (Bialystok, Klein, Craik, & Viswanathan, 2004). Because of their greater cognitive flexibility, bilingual children outperform their monolingual counterparts in virtually almost every subject including mathematics. Nevertheless, bilingual children, including their parents, still do not have the confidence to learn and interact with others. This is due to a punishment in the early 1900s where bilingual children are severely punished for speaking their home language. Although researches have found that bilingual children have greater cognitive flexibility than monolingual children, none has yet been undertaken investigating what practice can be used in teaching bilingual children to interact with other people. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate what teaching practice can be used in teaching bilingual children, in which they can improve not just their understanding of the project but also their interaction with other people. Statement of the Problem Mathematics is considered as one of the most difficult subjects to understand. Students have difficulty applying the basic computational skills to a more complex mathematics or science (Seceda & dela Cruz, n. d. ). Researchers argue that this difficulty in understanding the concepts of mathematics is due to most educators’ strict observation to procedure (Schoenfeld, 1988). Although there is a steady rise in students’ achievement scores in mathematics since the early 1980’s (Seceda, 1992) showing that educators are successful in teaching basic computational skills to students, they have been less successful in teaching the students when to apply the skills they have taught (Dossey, Mullis, & Jones, 1993; Dossey, Mullis, Lindquist, & Chambers, 1988; Mullis, Dossey, Foertsch, Jones, & Gentile, 1991; Mullis, Dossey, Owen, & Phillips, 1993; Seceda & dela Cruz, n. d. ). Thus, it is important that educators should focus in teaching mathematics for understanding to students rather than in observing strict procedures. However, one must note the fact that teaching for understanding does not just concern the mainstream or majority students. As Seceda and Cruz emphasize that â€Å"teaching for understanding concerns more generally all students including those with diverse social backgrounds. It is believed that mathematics involves considerable use of English, especially word problems† (Seceda & dela Cruz, n. d. ). Due to this belief, it only follows that children who are studying English as a second-language (or second language learners) have difficulty in studying mathematics. In this context, the term â€Å"bilingual children† means students who are second-language learners. Most schools in the United States teach mathematics in a â€Å"procedural† manner. That is, when students solved a particular mathematical problem in an unconventional way (the computations are not presented in the algorithm taught by the teacher), their solutions are marked incorrect and will be drilled further (Seceda & dela Cruz, n. d. ), even though their solutions meant that they understand the problem but resolved to write their solution in their own way. In so doing, bilingual children, feeling that they cannot understand and cannot be understood, are being left out in classroom conversations. When teaching and learning is continued in this manner, this will eventually lead to the bilingual children’s failure in mathematics, adding to the conventional belief that bilingual children cannot engage in mathematics. Another consequence of teaching mathematics in a â€Å"procedural† manner is that children begin to perceive that mathematics makes no sense (Seceda & dela Cruz, n. d. ). This perception will increase children’s capacity to understand something which is not sensible, not practical and not applicable using with the outside world (that is, world outside the classroom). In this paper, the author investigated which educational practice is best to apply in teaching mathematics for understanding to bilingual children. Two educational theories will be examined — Pask’s Conversation Theory and Landa’s Algo-Heuristic Theory. Furthermore, the study aims to find which practice can help students not just understand mathematics but to have confidence in solving problems and in interacting with others. Research Questions The study specifically aims to: 1. compare Pask’s Conversation Theory and Landa’s Algo-Heuristic Theory; and 2. examine which one of these two is best to apply in teaching mathematics for understanding to bilingual children. Significance of the Study Results of the study will help educators find the best way to teach mathematics in which bilingual children will be able to understand and apply outside the classroom. In general, results of the study will help in finding the best way to teach children who are limited English proficient in such a way that these children can understand and apply the lessons with other activities. Moreover, the study will help teachers train their students with confidence. Overview of the Paper In Chapter 2, a review of literature is provided. In this chapter, the definition of bilingualism is discussed. Researches undertaken on bilingual children’s cognitive development are provided. Then bilingual education is defined according to literature. Historical background on the evolution of bilingual education (1800s-1900s) is also provided. The author also discusses emotional, linguistic and academic issues bilingual education is concerned with. Mathematics education is also discussed in this chapter. Theories applied in mathematics teaching are discussed. Problem solving is given importance in the discussion on mathematics education. Cognitive background information on addition, subtraction multiplication and division is also given which provides as basis for the word problems given to the participants of the study. Finally, in this chapter, researches done involving mathematics and bilingualism are provided. Chapter 3 provides the theoretical framework used in the study. The first part discusses Pask’s Conversation Theory and the second part discussed Landa’s Algo-Heuristic Theory. Chapter 4 provides the methodology used for obtaining the results needed. This section explains the research design the study used. Sample, sample setting, procedure and data collection and analysis are discussed. The sample and sample setting for the study is discussed in the first part. In the second part, the author explained the procedures done from the pre-assessment stage to the classroom setting to the final assessment stage. The third part discussed how the data was collected and analyzed. In Chapter 5, results obtained from the experiment are discussed. The students’ scores obtained in the pre-assessment, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, and final assessment examinations are shown in the first part. In the second part, results from the interview are discussed. Finally, Chapter 6 concludes the paper. The first part summarized the main findings discussed in Chapter 5. The second part gives recommendations for the teachers on how to teach mathematics for understanding to bilingual students. The third part provides limitations for the study as well as recommendations for future researches that can be carried on from this study. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Bilingualism Bilingualism has no clear-cut definition yet but Shenker (no date) provided a definition in terms of young children. According to Shenker (no date), bilingual children are â€Å"are those†¦ who speak/have been spoken to in two (or more) languages in the home since birth and who are spoken to in only one or both of those two languages at school. † (Shenker, no date). These children may also be spoken in one language at home but acquired (or is exposed to) a second-language when they start attending school. Bilingual children were perceived to have less advantageous situations than monolingual children. This perception was radically changed in 1962 by Peal and Lambert. Peal and Lambert (1962) conducted a research regarding the premise that bilingualism causes retardation. Their study reached the conclusion that experiences from two cultures provide bilingual children with greater benefits than that experienced by monolinguals such as increased mental dexterity and superior ability to think abstractly (Peal & Lambert, 1962). Other researches prove that bilingual children have superior performances than their monolingual counterparts. Researches show an association between bilingualism and greater cognitive flexibility and awareness of language (Cummins & Culutsan, 1974; Diaz, 1983; Hakuta & Diaz, 1984). Moreover, bilingual children were proven to have more effective controlled processes. Although their study was conducted among adults only, they generally concluded â€Å"that controlled processing is carried out more effectively by bilinguals and that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses in certain executive processes† (Bialystok, Klein, Craik, & Viswanathan, 2004). Bilingual Education Despite having many researches proving that bilingual children provide greater than (or at least at the same level as) the monolingual children, there is constant debate whether to provide bilingual children with bilingual education or programs that focus uniquely on acquiring English. Bilingual education is the teaching of all subjects in school using two different languages — English and Spanish or Chinese depending which is the native language of the student. Definition According to Ovando, Combs and Collier (2006) bilingual education is not a single uniform program or a consistent methodology for teaching language minority students. Bilingual education includes a number of different program models with a number of distinct goals. Other programs may promote the development of two languages for bilingualism and biliteracy while others use the students’ first language so that students may better learn English. Some bilingual education programs preserve an indigenous or heritage language as an ethnic, cultural, or community resource. There are programs that aim to incorporate students into the mainstream of society (Baker 2001). Thus, as Cazden and Snow (1990) stress, bilingual education is â€Å"a simple label for a complex phenomenon† since not all programs necessarily â€Å"concern the balanced use of two languages in the classroom† (Baker, 2001). (Throughout this paper, the terms L1 and L2 to denote the child’s language, L1 for their native language and L2 for the language they are acquiring. ) The inseparable connection between language and culture brings bilingual programs to include historical and cultural components associated with the languages being used. As Ulibarri (1972) says: In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was made flesh. It was so in the beginning and it is so today. The language, the Word, carries within it the history, the culture, the traditions, the very life of a people, the flesh. Language is people. We cannot conceive of a people without a language, or a language without a people. The two are one and the same. To know one is to know the other (p. 295). Historical Background Discussing the historical background of bilingual education in the United States indicates that there is a cyclical pattern with regard to language policies and programs (Korschun, 2006). Furthermore, studying the origins of bilingual education helps to understand its present undertakings and its future effectiveness. There are few references that account the history of bilingual education. In this paper, I rely predominantly on Ovando et al’s account of the history of bilingual education. The 1800s. Contrary to the common perception in the United States, schools in the United States use for instruction multiple languages other than English during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Because of the increasing establishments of homesteads of different groups of different languages and countries of origin in US territories, a general sense of geographical and psychological openness existed. Some communities were self-sufficient and agrarian based while some were ethnic pockets in urban areas (Ovando, 1978b). According to historical records, many schools in the nineteenth century, both public and private, used languages other than English for instruction. In fact, during this century, following the annexation of the Territory of New Mexico, a school’s curriculum may use either Spanish or English or even both as medium for instruction (Leibowitz, 1971). In 1900, at least 600,000 children in US received part or all of their schooling in German in public and parochial schools (Crawford, 2004; Ovando &Wiley, 2003; Kloss, 1977; Tyack, 1974). Many other states passed laws providing for schooling in languages other than English (Crawford, 1992, 2004). Some public schools provided bilingual or non-English-language instruction during the second half of the nineteenth century. The 1900s. Between 1900 and 1910, over 8 million immigrants were admitted to the United States majority of which came from Europe (Stewart, 1993). Because of this, the struggle for power to control institutions became imminent. One solution to this power struggle focused on schools. This solution came in the form of â€Å"Americanizing† all immigrants. By 1919, 15 state laws had been passed calling for English Only instruction (Higham, 1992). During the first half of the twentieth century, many schools already implemented the English dominant instruction which was impelled by many factors such as the standardization and bureaucratization of urban schools (Tyack, 1974), the need for national unity during the two world wars, and the desire to centralize and solidify national gains around unified goals for the country (Gonzalez, 1975). In fact, from World War I to the 1960s, language-minority students were severely punished whenever they used a language other than English in the classroom, or even on the playground. This policy continued until the 1950s resulting to an enormous loss of many indigenous languages (Crawford, 2004; Ovando & Wiley, 2003). The consequence of this action is still visible today. The ambivalence of language-minority parents toward bilingual education reflects fears that their children will be punished for using a language other than English (Arias & Cassanova, 1993). The early 1920s saw yet another restrictive immigration laws. These immigration laws, passed by the US congress, created a national-origins quota system. These extremely restrictive laws discriminated against eastern and southern Europeans and even excluded Asians. This resulted to fewer numbers of new immigrants while second-generation immigrants dropped the use of their native languages. Moreover, bilingual education disappeared for nearly have a century in US public schools (Crawford, 1992a). Indigenous groups whose land was eventually assimilated into the United States suffered even more repressive experiences. They endured more discrimination than any other language-minority groups. From the 1850s to the 1950s, native Spanish speakers in Texas and California were taught in English Only instructions while Mexican Americans in Texas segregated to other schools. This discrimination only stopped when segregation was ruled illegal. Even though the US government initially recognized the language rights of the Cherokees in an 1828 treaty, records show that many other American Indian groups suffered an oppression of their native languages and cultural traditions which also applied to the Cherokees during that period. In 1879, American Indian children were sent to boarding schools, where they were punished for using their native language. As mentioned earlier, this resulted to the loss of languages of many indigenous groups. In North America, 210 out of 300 original languages remain. In the United States, it is only 175. Of these languages, only 18 are still being passed on to the children, namely, Hawaiian (in Hawaii), Siberian Yupi’k, Central Yupi’k (in Alaska), Cocopah, Havasupai, Hualapai, Yaqui, Hopi, Navajo, Tohono O’odham, Western Apache, Mescalero, Jemez, Zuni, Tiwa, Keresan, (in Arizona and New Mexico), Cherokee (in Oklahoma), Choctaw (in Mississippi) (Krauss, 1996). Reyhner (1996) emphasized the importance of stabilizing and restoring indigenous languages: Many of the keys to the psychological, social, and physical survival of humankind may well be held by the smaller speech communities of the world. These keys will be lost as languages and cultures die. Our languages are joint creative productions that each generation adds to. Languages contain generations of wisdom, going back into antiquity. Our languages contain a significant part of the world’s knowledge and wisdom. When a language is lost, much of the knowledge that language represents is also gone (p. 4). Aside from the fear of severe punishment, this repression of non-English-languages also resulted to the lack of foreign-language skills among the US populace. This became evident when the need for military and civilian personnel who were proficient in many languages during World War II. Because of this, a radical change happened. US personnel returning overseas helped convince the government of the importance of multiple language resources (Pena, 1976a). The United States’ increasing need to compete for international status and power, influenced by the cold war mentality and the Soviets’ launching of Sputnik, led to an increasing need to expand their foreign-language skills. In 1958, the National Defense Education Act was approved providing federal money for the expansion of foreign-language teaching.

The Race and the Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Race and the Community - Essay Example Some years ago members of certain races were discriminated in the communities and were seen to be inferior to others. This posed a threat to peaceful coexistence of the different people from different races. However with the civilization the racial discrimination slowly ebbed out. Today racial difference between different parties is almost meaningless. In this paper I will show the extent of a peaceful co-existent of the Cubans in the Bradenton county, Florida, among different races and how and racial identities in the county has helped built healthy and just communities though normally considered to be divisive (Herrera, 2001). The Bradenton county seat is located in the manatee county of Florida, a western state of the United States of America. Manatee County is found on the west coast of the state and is well connected to the other parts of the country. It is situated on the tamiana trail, and the paradise loop that connects top the Dixie highway. The town of Bradenton on the other hands connects well to the entire town and the villages of the county. Bradenton is the most metropolitan of the west coast state and the most rapidly growing county in the state. The county seat is located on the south bank of the manatee river which is useful in fishing, bathing boating and other sports. The county seat town is beautiful and has magnificent architectural designs, magnificent theatres, and hotels and a leader in celery distribution. The manatee county is one of the areas in Florida with the highest concentration of Latin American immigrants and specifically the Cuban Americans due to proximity to Cuba .Cuban Americans are people who emigrated from Cuba to America during the Spanish rule, and also those who emigrated in search of better lives, others were offered political refuge against the harsh Cuban rulers and became permanent citizens of USA. The population of Cubans is estimated to stand at 11% of the total migrant population with Mexicans comprising the highest percentage of the population. Assimilation of Cubans Apart from these Cuban ethnic communities other communities also have residence in the county (Maria, 1994). Some of them include the Bradenton town is a relatively, which is a cosmopolitan modern city. Other Migrants into the county comprised Mexicans, Mayans, Indians from Guatemala Asians and Spanish speakers. Just like the other communities, Cubans have well been assimilated into the cultures and the way of life of Americans. the people in this neighborhood travels and reside together and work together not just accidental but a well knit social unit bound together by the family relationships and the common local cultures of the different ethnicities. The Cuban have adopted all the aspect of the Americans, the language, tastes such that it is difficult to differentiate between a Cuban and other communities were it not for the physical characteristics. Cuban Americans have successfully establishing businesses and developing political clout by transforming Bradenton into a modern cit y (Herrera, 2001). Coexistence The threat of the coexistence of the races together and the subsequent emergence of the racial discrimination could be attributed to some cause. Racism evolved during the European exploration of the world and the discovery of new worlds. As the explores reached new lands the found the original inhabitants of such a place where more they waged

What about drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What about drugs - Essay Example Substance abuse is frightening and I pride myself on keeping my body as healthy as can be. Recreational drug users are filling certain needs when they take drugs and this is directly related to the addictive nature as well as the chemical properties of certain drugs. Accordingly, recreational drug users who need their â€Å"fix† are actually filling a need which they themselves have created. We are not born with addictions, such as an addiction to tobacco or cocaine, these addictions are created by us and they become self-fulfilling prophecies. It has been medically proven that physical activity helps people overcome the issues associated with drug use and chemical dependency. Promoting activity, whether it is going to the gym, going for a run or playing a sport, can help people overcome the challenges associated with drug addiction. Children need to know that drugs are out there but that there is a fundamental difference between drugs which are legal and drugs which are illegal. I will talk to my kids about drugs and aim to provide an open forum for them to ask any questions they may have about drug use. Children are naturally curious and many teenagers experiment with drugs in high school. It is important to keep them knowledgeable about the effects of drugs so that they are aware of the ramifications of drug use. Kids should not be encouraged to experiment but they should be given opportunities to ask questions about drugs and expert an honest answer in return. My personal opinion is that alcohol and nicotine are dangerous and that both should be illegal. More people are killed by alcohol related violence or accidents than those cause by drugs such as marijuana and we as a society should not be promoting alcohol as a good thing. Smoking as kills millions of people but it remains legal and the government continues to earn tremendous revenue from the sale of tobacco products. Dangerous drugs

Critically compare and contrast the methods and aims of Husserls epoch Essay

Critically compare and contrast the methods and aims of Husserls epoch with Descartes method of doubt - Essay Example Anything that surpasses this method is considered as certain by Descartes. For him, the universe fails to survive this method at this juncture. Rather, the only thing that seems to survive according to Descartes is a pure individuality of his cogitations. It is mainly for this that he has perceived as a form of unconditionally unquestionable survival (Taylor, 2009). Descartes perceives this as indubitable since in phrases such as â€Å"I think† or â€Å"I doubt† there exists a being that performs the act of thinking or doubting. In this regard, it would be contradictory for one to doubt of their existence since one must first exists in order to doubt. It is through this ego, as well as its guiding tenets that an objective universe can be deduced. In contrast, Husserl queries whether Descartes’ postulations are worth an investigation because they may not augur well with the current time. Indeed, Husserl acknowledges that those sciences that ought to be grounded in absolute certainty by Descartes have accorded little attention to them. It is notable that in the recent times, the sciences have become faced with several obscurities of their very foundation. By regressing back to concepts of pure ego, Descartes had developed a new form of philosophy that tends to strive towards a situation where true self may be demonstrated in a genuine science. According to Husserl, the failure by Descartes to unify philosophy as a science can be discerned in the modern-day philosophies. Rather than a unitary philosophy, there is a philosophical literature that has superseded all boundaries without coherence. One notable difference in Husserl’s epoch is that as a philosophizing ego, he does not regard the world or other objects as existing. Instead, he only accepts them as mere phenomena. Because these objects are not apodictic, he resorts to parenthesizing of putting them aside in order to perceive what can be left.

The rise of online shopping Speech or Presentation

The rise of online shopping - Speech or Presentation Example I will elaborate on the factors contributing to effective online shopping, in other words its feasibility, its advantages and limitations and some of the strategies to be put in place to enhance the process further. Please feel comfortable and enjoy the session. The start of online shopping can be traced back to the era of internet development. The internet is a global computer network established in the 1960s in the United Kingdom, and it has developed to its current state. The initial version of the network was meant to enable communication between government agencies without necessarily traveling to certain destinations. Top politicians also used the network to reach their subjects. The internet experienced a wide spread in various regions of the globe after ARPANET, the founder of the network, was decommissioned to make the internet a public domain. Asia and its surroundings embraced the network in 1980s and this is the era it was employed in commerce. The network has improved an d currently, there are more than a million internet tools and applications and countless users in the entire globe. It has several applications in the commercial sector, for example it enables online banking (e-banking), online shopping, commercial interactions or communications, biddings and the actual purchase of products. We are a generation where one can purchase his or her favorite dress or watch in a single click. One would be required logging in to respective web sites or blogs and selecting the favorite product. He or she is required to make some payment through internet tools and currently we have the money bookers and wire transfer among other online payment methods. The product is then packed and delivered to the client’s destination. Allow me to elaborate on some of the aspects making online shopping a success. Internet is currently not only well established but also affordable in both developed and developing nations. There are more than a million companies respo nsible for the distribution and management of the network. Rapid increase of such companies has an enhanced reduction of internet costs. Online shopping has also been enhanced by the rapid increase of digital appliances like mobile phones, tablets, personal computers and smart phones among others. And I am certain each of you owns one, perhaps two or more such devices. There are at least two or more such appliances in each homestead. Technology being the talk of the current generation is incorporated in almost all the teaching curricula all over the globe. The need for online shopping has also enhanced the process. It has been proven that one can purchase whatever product despite the bulkiness and the distance provided the costs can be met. We live in an age where people have invest so much time in their career that there is no time for shopping. However, one can spare at least 30 minutes to go through their budget list and select their favorite products in the comfort of their livi ng rooms. I certainly appreciate and acknowledge the fact that I exist in this digital generation where one can buy anything just by clicking in the comfort of own home, and I hardly need to urge you all to appreciate the same. My speech would have no meaning if I did not talk of the advantages or benefits associated with online shopping. Online shopping is comfortable; imagine buying your best phone at the comfort of your living room or bedroom. One

Firm Research Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Firm Research - Term Paper Example In order to spread its business across the United States, the company follows a franchising business expansion strategy. Five Guys increased its number of locations 6 in 2002 to more than 670 in 2010 (Restaurant News.com, 2011). The company has received several awards for its quality foods and service efficiency. Although Five Guys was rated as one of the fast developing and most profitable food chains in US in recent years, it still does little amount of business the federal government. Since Five Guys is a small business, the company has to take several actions to be able to participate in federal government contracting actions. Firstly, Five Guys has to register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) in order to be a federal contractor. The CCR is an online data-base of companies maintained by the federal government so as to find firms wanted to do business with the government. Governmental agencies will search this database to choose prospective partners. Once this registration process is completed, the company should enter its business profile information on the Dynamic Small Business Search page. As per SBA guidelines, by creating a business profile in CCR and Dynamic Small Business Search and keeping the profile information up to date, Five Guys can ensure that it has access to various federal contracting opportunities. Five Guys’ business profile containing detailed business information would assist contracting officers, prime contractors, and state and local government buyers to learn well about the organization. If the organization has competitive strengths and capabilities over other, it will be chosen immediately (U. S. Small Business Administration, n.d). It is a general misconception that small business organizations have to compete head to head with large corporations to win contracts. In reality, the federal government has created wide categories of

Forensic soils examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forensic soils examination - Essay Example A separate squad has been set up in US federal investigating agencies for this aspect of forensic research which play a vital role in leading to the culprit as he not immune from my commiting a blunder while carrying out his crime. In real-life crimes, colour is one way that forensic scientists analyse soil from a crime scene or suspect. They can also check mineral composition, the density of the soil and its pollen content. The evidential value of soil stands on large variation in its characteristics.Soil has extreme complexity not only in components such as minerals, oxides, organic matter, micro organisms and their materials butalso physical nature such as particle sizes and densities. Considering the granite rock alone, for instance, there are an almost unlimited number of kinds. They are easily recognized according to difference of color, mineralogy, texture and a lot of other characteristics. Diversity of soil is the results of many kind of formations process on diverse kind of parent materials, which strongly depends on topography, climate, course of years, botanical and microbiological functions, conditions of watering, and even human activities.

Motivating Employees Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivating Employees - Coursework Example Poor leadership creates low morale on the part of the employees. (Lipman, 2013). You find that many of the doctors and nurses may want to succeed but once they make mistakes, they are criticized and dubbed a failures and this lowers their morale hence their commitment. Kaluyu memorial hospital will embark on giving personalized thank you notes to exceptional staff members, giving timely feedback on exceptional work, giving gifts as well as organizing random luncheons and night outs for the celebration of good work.Lack of career growth and development can also be one of the factors that demotivate the employees of Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. From observations and assessments conducted, it has been noticed that the hospital has been offering very few regular career training and development programs aimed at motivating the employees. Lack of these opportunities brings a sense of stagnancy in terms of skills and knowledge. The hospital management will get regular feedback on the best trai ning programs to be undertaken depending on the majority vote. From research and observations, it is very clear that the employees of Kaluyu can be motivated using the basis of the Maslow’s theory of motivation whereby people are pushed into action by certain motivation factors at different levels and times. Maslow’s model of motivation asserts that humans have 5 basic needs that are categorized into physiological needs, security needs, love needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization needs. (Maslow, 2013).

What are Financial Statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What are Financial Statements - Essay Example The main objective of financial reporting is to transfer the information, whether qualitative or quantitative, about a certain business to others who are interested in investing. Financial reporting provides financial information regarding the corporation’s capital investors, creditors and lenders who have to make decisions on their ability as capital providers. It is as a summary of the performance, or capability, in increasing, managing, and utilization of the capital by an entity. Financial reporting is represented by four types of financial statements which show the company’s financial position. These financial statements are quite exacting and provide a quantitative overview of the company’s financial health. The balance sheet represents the financial situation of a company by giving the assets, liabilities, and owners equity at a particular point in time or it points outs the company's net worth. Assets are economic benefits held a company due to its past transactions. Secondly, liabilities are the debts and obligations that a company had because if the company’s past transactions. The income statement, also known as the profit and loss statement shows the company’s net profit or loss during a given period of time by reporting the company’s earning to its investors. The third statement, the statement of cash flow reports the cash flow for the operating, financing and investing activities. Lastly, the statement of retained earnings reports the changes in the retained earnings of the company. Financial statements also include notes which give supplementary information about the company’s financial situation by describing the principles used in the accounting format, the explanation of the information in the statements or some other explanation that is not part of the statement.   Financial statements also help in the calculation of the financial ratios which are used to assess and estimate the financial situation of the company and these also of assistance in analyzing the statements themselves.  Ã‚  

China, an Engine of Growth, Faces a Global Slump Essay Example for Free

China, an Engine of Growth, Faces a Global Slump Essay Yardley, J. , Bradsher, K. (2008). China, an Engine of Growth, Faces a Global Slump. New York Times, October 23, p. A6. In the article Yardley and Bradsher discuss China’s’ economic and financial slump caused by the global financial crisis. For three decades China has been one of the most powerful and promising countries in the world. The country has managed to booster its economic development due to flood of low-priced exports. However, global crisis negatively affects the country that faces the possibility of global recession. The question is whether the ruling Communist Party is able to prevent global financial crisis and to support China’s economic miracle. Economists and analysts say that China’s economic development plays crucial role for economies of the United States and European countries as they face serious downturns. Nonetheless, Chinese economic model is to be recalibrated, domestic investments are be stricken with government spending, and policies aimed at increasing consumer demand are to be promoted. China is in need of better health care network, improvements in social safety network, and lower fees for education establishments. Chinese government claims that global crisis insulates country’s financial system and, thus, leaders argue country’s banks would remain domestically concentrated. The overall economic growth has decreased, unemployment rates have increased and many factories have closed export region. China is recommended to use its foreign reserves for purchasing stocks in European as it gives China an excellent opportunity to gain more experience in global business. Some researcher say that America’s decline is inevitable and if China is prepared to manage it, it will be ready to stand as a superpower. In its turns, China isn’t willing to be considered as a replacement of the USA as it is still a developing country with more foreign reserves and more problems than other countries.

Transparency in Central Banks: An Analysis

Transparency in Central Banks: An Analysis Introduction The origin of central banking system can be traced back to 1694 when the Bank of England came into being as the first ever central bank. The bank was established to help King William III out of his governments financial crisis but it did not behave as a lender of last resort until much later (See Lovell, 1957)1. Central banking has undergone a remarkable change during the last decade. The new paradigm in monetary policy appears to be central bank self-governing and transparent. First of all lets see what central bank and transparency means, a central bank is a Government agency that performs a number of key functions: (1) central bank is the only bank which has the authority to issue currency on behalf of its nation; (2) central bank has authority to increase and decrease the supply of credit in the economy which controls the interest rates; (3) manages the external value of its currency in the foreign exchange markets; (4) central bank holds a percentage of deposits as reserves of other banks and other central banks so as to reduce the risk of banks overextending themselves and suffering from bank runs, (5) acts as Fiscal Agent for the central government, when the government sells new issues of securities to finance its operations; and (6) The central bank also plays a vital role of reserving the nations emergency funds, and it is because of this the central bank is called lender of last resort. Transparency in the physically meaning, transmitting light, in the conceptually meaning, clarity, in the economically meaning, symmetric information, and in the practically meaning, openness, honesty, clarity, common understanding2. We can say that central bank is a combination all these that is, it openly correspond or communicates important and necessary information to the investors, shareholders and the public in short absence of asymmetric information between central bank and other economic agents. Therefore a central bank is said to be transparent when there is less or no information asymmetry. Moreover a central bank is said to be transparent if its actions are easily identified, its policies are readily understood, and its statements are honest or true. A central bank is transparent when it provides at all times sufficient information for the public to understand the policy regime, to check whether the banks actions match the regime and to pass judgment on its performance.3 Over the past years, financial institutions have tried to implement various strategies to increase its transparency. One of the important strategies among these is, disclosure of information in published accounts has been prominent even though it was present but less prominent. A great amount of focus was given towards economic policymaking so as to become more transparent particularly with respect to monetary policy, inflation targeting a very transparent monetary policy regime was adopted by and a number of central banks, including Swedens Riksbank and Britains Bank of England. Yet, few other countries like the United States have not yet subscribed to inflation targeting, but the Fed has also become much more transparent about its policymaking and operations over the past 15 years. The New Basel Accord (Pillar 3) has introduced a number of disclosure requirements that aim to improve the markets ability to assess a banks risk and value. The drift towards central bank being more transparent can be easily seen in our day to day life by casual observation. Some of the prominent examples of various central banks who have given great importance to becoming transparent are the central banks of New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and Sweden. These few nations have adopted a framework of inflation targeting from the early 1990s itself, which is characterized by an explicit inflation target and the publication of inflation forecasts.4 Many others countries have even started to give importance to having adopted greater openness as well, even if its not in the form of inflation targeting or inflation forecasting. The few other central banks which have adopted this includes central banks in emerging markets like Brazil, the recently founded European Central Bank (ECB), and even the well established central banks like those of the United States, Japan and Switzerland. Literature Review Consider the legions of economists whose sole function it is to interpret U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspans every twist and turn of phrase so as to divine which way the monetary winds are blowing. Caroline A. Baum, The Last Word p.645 From the above phrase, two important points can be looked upon; one is that by trying to assume what the actions of monitory policy will be the resources are used up. The other is that statements are being made by the central bank that might yield some insight into its future plans, but the messages are not typically transparent. The economic policy outcome can easily be identified to a great extend by the increased transparency on central bank through various channels. It cannot be assumed that all the aspects points out the same way. Moreover, central bank transparency cannot be universally defined in all aspects6. The concept of transparency differs from authors to author in various ways, some may focus mainly on the decision-making process, while some others may focus on various other aspects like models, preferences, and even more some may look into the knowledge about the shocks hitting the economy, or the implementation of policy decisions.7 The private informations about the central banks objectives or intentions can be easily assumed from the models derived by Faust and Svensson (2000, 2001), Jensen (2000), Geraats (2001a), and Tarkka and Mayes (1999). The model by these eminent economist states that, transparency is modeled as the degree of asymmetric information about control errors (Faust and Svensson (2001) and Jensen (2000)) or (anticipated) economic shocks reflected in the policy instrument (Cukierman (2000a,b) and Tarkka and Mayes (1999)). Kuttner and Posen (2000) yet another eminent economists explains about the reduction of exchange rate volatility when there was a shift in the Federal Reserves and the Bank of Japans degrees of transparency.8 In addition to this, political pressures, increased accountability, facilitation of fiscal and monetary policy co-ordination, and improved internal organization of central bank analysis is yet another arguments in favor of transparency in monetary policy.9 Analytically, the three different regimes of transparency that is the least transparent, highly transparent and the extreme transparent are being distinguished by Faust and Svensson (2001). In the first regime, that is the least transparent, neither the employment goals nor the intentions of the central bank can be seen by the public. Inflation intentions of the central bank can be easily observed by using the second regime that is highly transparent. As a result of this increased transparency in inflation intentions there arises a lower inflation rate because the sensitivity of a central bank is increased which in-turn increases the reputation to its actions, making it more costly for the central bank to pursue a high-inflation policy. In the extreme transparency regime, that is the third according to the author, both the intentions of the central bank as well as the employment goals can be seen. The central banks reputation as well as its actions are no longer conveyed about the in flation bias. Higher inflation, inflation volatility and unemployment variability can be reached at as a result of inflationary bias.10 Yet another similar structure to Faust and Svensson (2001) was adopted by Jensen (2000) assuming that central bank is informed privately about its output target and that publics capacity to assume the inflation control error is greater. On comparison with Faust and Svensson (2001), whos main focus was on the future credibility effect of central bank, while Jensen (2000) focus was towards the marginal cost of inflation within the current period with the help of new Keynesian elements (staggered price-setting and monopolistic competition). Due to this increase in the transparency, there was an increase in the discipline and credibility to the reputational costs of deviations from the inflation target. According to some of the eminent economist, transparency is not only the tool used for independent central banks to be held accountable, but it is often argued that the economic point of view too can be desirable from it. The effect of central bank being transparent is being immensely discussed by various policymakers and researchers. Although most of the literature tends to favor transparency of central bank, its not the case, the debate still continuous whether or not central bank should be transparent or not. Most of the practical and observed research concludes that the transparency maintained by central bank previously were desirable from an economic point of view. An important question to be asked is, whether central banks pushing toward more disclosure of information are beneficial or not. Indeed, there are a number of good reasons to it. First, it can be argued that banks from the early time itself are opaque institutions, and increase in disclosure might not change this opaqueness. Second of all, transparency might not necessarily be reached at by just simply increasing the quantitative disclosures. In the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan: A more complex question is whether greater volume of information has led to comparable improvements in transparency of firms. In the minds of some, public disclosure and transparency are interchangeable. But they are not. Transparency challenges market participants not only to provide information but also to place that information into a context that makes it meaningful (Greenspan 2003, p. 7).11 Third, disclosure is costly. Clearly, requiring disclosure of information imposes a cost on banks, as on any firm, and this cost must be offset by resulting benefits for it to be justified (Schaffer 1995, p. 26).12 Publishing information and producing information are some of the direct cost involved in the cost of disclosure, even though these are the direct cost involved, when a bank publishes its information in the financial market, there arises a threat of its competitors exploiting the information which might result in indirect cost. Cukierman and Meltzer (1986) eminent economists developed concept of central bank transparency13. Bankers, mainly the central banks use of monitory policy control was in great fault or imperfect in order to hide their intentions. In other words, the absence of transparency with control error was evident to meet the central banks objective, at least possible reputation cost. More recently, with the setup from the Cukierman and Meltzer, Faust and Svensson (1999) was able to differentiate more between transparency and control error. Central bank chose the pair that maximizes it objective and it was to be opaque. There are still some argument that incomplete transparency is optimal, as by being incomplete optimal, the central banks ability to control inflation has to be balanced against the private sectors wish to see price stability, employment and output.(see for example Faust and Svensson, 2001 or Jensen, 2000). Others argue that for operational reasons, it is important to have certain restrictions on transparency. The main idea behind this is to differentiate between the need to know (see Eijffinger and Hoeberichts, 2002) and the need to understand factor (Issing, 1999) and to reinforce the Banks credibility. There are yet more evidence of central bank being transparent and central bank transparency being one of the important feature of monetary policy, which is been recorded in one of the most comprehensive survey being conducted till date on monitory policy of central bank. Its been recorded in the 1998 survey of 94 central banks by Fry, Julius, Mahadeva, Roger and Sterne (2000). This survey discloses that about 74% of central banks consider transparency as a vital or very important component of their monetary policy framework, only exceeded by central bank independence and the maintenance of low inflation expectations (with 83% and 82%, respectively; Fry et al. (2000, p. 135)). Subsequently, the relevance of transparency have only increased when certain changes are being done by central bank. Analysis According to one of the famous journalist, Caroline A. Baum, she says that from the phrase given by Alan Greenspan, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, the resources are being used up at the same time the statements made by the central bank are far too less transparent. What it means to say is that the central bank should be more transparent enough so that its monitory policy at the same time its future plans can be easily understood by even a layman who might have little knowledge about the norms and policies of the central bank. By central bank being more transparent, the economic policy outcome can be know to a certain extend through various means, but it cannot be said that by central bank being transparent, all the aspects related to it can be easily viewed at. The concept of transparency differs from person to person, while so concentrate on the decision making process, others may look into the fact of policy making etc. Therefore it can be said that there is no universal meaning to central bank and varies from person to person and country to country. For example the transparency of central bank in India might not be same as the transparency in England besides taking into some common facts. According to some of the eminent economist, central bank should have an optimal degree of transparency mainly for the monitory policy, but on analysing the facts by few others about whether central bank should be more transparent or not, two aspects can be taken into account, one is the uncertainty and the other is information overload. If central banks becomes more transparent, it could lead to uncertainty, that is, when lots of information are provided to the public, they tend to look at the complexity of monitory policy making and the uncertainly around it which might not be as complex as it seems to be. The second is the high degree of information overload or confusion. If large amount of information is being disclosed to the public, there is a high risk of information getting overloaded or confused. Therefore analyst say central bank should have an optimal transparency. Kuttner and Posen states that when central bank becomes more transparent, there is less volatility in the exchange rate. Yet other important factors supporting central bank transparency are the fiscal and monitory policy coordination, political pressures, accountability etc. According to Faust and Sevensson, transparency can be segregated into three divisions, the least transparent where in the public does not know about the employment goals as well as the intentions, this has also been stated by Cukierman and Meltzer. In the second division, that is if central bank in highly transparent, the inflation intention can atleast be know by the public and finally in the case of extreme transparency, both the intentions as well as the employment goals can be seen. It can seen that Jensen another eminent economist has also taken up a similar structure to that of Faust and Svensson where the difference is that while Faust and Svensson focus on the future credibility effect of central bank, Jensens focus was on the marginal cost of inflation. Some argue that by increasing its disclosure doesnt completely increase the transparency, to support this economist states that banks have been an opaque institution from the past itself. Greenspan says that transparency is not reached at by just simply giving quantitative disclosure; it should be both quantitative and at the same time should be relevant and meaningful. Moreover disclosure is costly, that is when central bank publishes information, it incur cost both direct and indirect. Some other economists (Eijffinger and Hoeberichts and Issing) state that central bank should transparent in such a way that the information which should be known to the public should be disclosed rather than disclosing all the information. Conclusion The dispute whether central bank should be more transparent or not is still being discussed immensely by various researchers and policymakers. Most of the economist favour central bank being transparent, as well as according to the study done, it can be understood that central bank being transparent will give a clear cut information to the public regarding the various monitory policies, its decision process as well as its goals and intentions. Moreover by central bank being transparent, it reduces the macroeconomic uncertainty like the interest rates, inflation etc, promotes financial stability and mainly helps the central bank to stand out from the various other banks that is being independent. References Petra M. Geraats, Central Bank Transparency, (2007). Cruijsen and Eijffinger, Actual versus perceived central bank transparency: The case of the European central Bank, (2007). Ursel Baumann and Erlend Nier, Disclosure, Volatility, and Transparency: An Empirical Investigation into the Value of Bank Disclosure, (2004). Petra M. Geraats, Central Bank Transparency, (2002). Joseph H. Haslag, On Fed Watching and Central Bank Transparency, (2001). Georgios Chortareas, David Stasavage and Gabriel Sterne, Does it pay to be transparent? International evidence from central bank forecasts, (2001). ICMB, Why do Central Banks Need to Talk, (2001). Gary Gorton and Lixin Huang, Banking Panics and the Origin of Central Banking, (2001). Websites http://www.blurtit.com/ http://www.answers.com/ http://papers.ssrn.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/ Analysis of Hospital | Advocate Good Samaritan Analysis of Hospital | Advocate Good Samaritan ADVOCATE GOOD SAMARITAN 1 Advocate Good Samaritan is an hospital located in Illinois, and it is one of the best hospitals in United States. This organization has some of the best medical facilities, and highly skilled doctors and medical practitioners working for it. This medical organization was founded on the biblical principles of taking care of your neighbor, and it is managed by religious organizations. Introduction: Advocate Good Samaritan is a medical organization that is found in Downers Grove, a location in Illinois. This organization was opened in 1976, and since then, it has transformed itself into a national health care leader, managing to be listed as a top 100 hospitals for four times. This paper addresses the mission of the organization, its organizational structure, its SWOT analysis, sources of funding, its management information system, and the nature of the hospital. Mission and Goals of the Organization: Advocate health care is a hospital which has about 12 acute care facilities, with more than 250 outpatient locations. The mission of the organization is to offer home health care services, corporate health services, hospice and occupational health services. The company aims to achieve this mission by employing highly skilled medical personnel who have a dedication to research, education and patient care delivery. These skilled medical personnel will also be involved in the development of policies that the organization needs to pursue. The policy under consideration must be one that reflects the mission of the organization that is providing high quality services in health care (Montalvo and Dunton, 2007). The hospitals core values of excellence, compassion, stewardship and partnership provides the foundation upon which the patient and his or her family are the nucleus of the organization. On this basis, the policies that the hospital formulates are centered on the needs of the patient. In regard to this, the mission of the organization is to formulate and pursue policies aimed at taking care of the needs of the patients. By taking care of these needs, the organization believes that patients will be able to recover quickly from the various diseases and medical problems that they encounter. The organization does not only seek to carter for the needs of patients (Montalvo and Dunton, 2007). It also seeks to ensure that its employees get an opportunity to advance their career, and succeed. This is by training its medical personnel on the better medical and nursing practices. It also seeks to achieve this objective through research and development aimed at developing better medical practices that its employees need to use and adapt. In conclusion Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital values human beings as people created by God, and on this basis, it seeks to carter for their health needs based on the knowledge that people are creatures of God (Montalvo and Dunton, 2007). Organization Structure and Corporate Culture of the Hospital: For any organization to succeed, it must have an organizational structure that helps employees to know who their leaders are, and how they should relate to one another. Advocate Health Care has a top to down organizational structure whereby orders come from the top, and are channeled to the various officers down the ladder. This is for purposes of implementing the policy under consideration. The following is the organizational structure of Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital from the top, to the junior managerial staff. The President, who also acts as the Chief Executive Officer. The Executive Vice President who also acts as the Chief Operating Officer. The Executive Vice President who also acts as the Chief Medical Officer. The Senior Vice President who takes up the roles of the Chief Human Resources Officer. President of Advocate Medical Care Group. President of the Ambulatory and Physicians services. Senior Vice President who acts as the Chief Marketing Officer. Senior Vice President who acts as the Treasurer. Senior Vice President who is in charge of strategic planning. Senior Vice President who is in charge of Spiritual Care. Senior Vice President who is in charge of information. Advocate Good Samaritan also has an organizational culture, and it is diversity. The employees of the organization came from different backgrounds, cultures and racial origins. These people help in bringing about their experiences, personalities, and talents into the business organization. This is one of the main reasons as to why the organization managed to achieve success in the provision of health care, making it a top 100 hospital in United States of America. The organization does not only encourage diversity in its work force, but also focuses on meeting the various diverse needs of its customers. SWOT Analysis of the Organization: The following are the strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the organization (Truven Health Analysis, 2013); Strengths: It is the biggest integrated health care system in the US. It operates the largest emergency trauma network in the state of Illinois. The organization treats the highest number of pediatric patients in Illinois. The organization diagnoses and treats the highest number of cancer patients in the state of Illinois. It has more than 250 health care sites and this includes 10 hospitals that offer acute care, and a children’s hospital, which has two campuses. It has a high number of human resource personnel, and this includes approximately 30,000 associates, 9000 nurses, and about 6000 physicians. The hospital has teaching and academic affiliations with major universities that are located at the Chicago Metropolitan Area. The organization also has teaching hospitals namely Lutheran General Hospital, Christ Medical Centre, and Masonic Medical Centre. These institutions are responsible for training health care workers on primary health care systems. Weaknesses: Due to the large size of the organization, policy formulation always takes a long process. The top to down management policy makes it impossible for junior officers to participate in the process of policy formulation. The organization spends so much money on paying salaries and wages, at the expense of providing other services such as research and development of new medical practices/ techniques. Opportunities: The opportunity to earn more customers and referrals because of the high quality of its services, and the availability of resources to handle any type of medical condition/diseases. Opportunity to form more partnerships with learning institutions and health care providers for purposes of carrying out a research on the various medical problems that affect the society. The opportunity to attract highly skilled and talented medical practitioners because of the organizations attractive salary package and benefits. Threats: Financial uncertainty is one threat that faces the organization. This arises because of high levels of unemployment, and the state of the American economy, which is only coming out of recession. The health care reforms initiated by the Obama administration, and specifically the affordable care act, popularly referred to as the Obama Care laws. These laws area aimed at changing the structure of the health care system in the United States, creating uncertainties on how the hospital will work with other stakeholders for purposes of providing better health care services. Sources of Funding: Advocate Good Samaritan is a not for profit hospital, and it gets most of its funding from donors. The organization runs a program referred to as Giving, which aims at raising money for its various activities/ programs. People are encouraged to make a donation through a secure online payment system, or through a cheque payable through the internet. The office responsible for receiving these funds is Advocate Charitable Foundation (Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, 2014). The following are the programs initiated by Advocate Good Samaritan for purposes of raising funds. Thee first program is referred to as Matching Gift Program. Under this program, the organization encourages companies to prevail upon their employees to contribute some amount of money to the organization. It also encourages the employees of these companies to offer some volunteering services to the company. The company also accepts bonds or stocks offered by donors (Truven Health Analysis, 2013). This is also advantageous to the donor because he or she will receive a tax break, or pay less taxes incase his or her stocks increase in value. The organization also encourages co-operation organizations to give under the co-operate giving program. This program aims at providing information to cooperate organizations on the various programs and activities of the company, and hence the need of supporting the activities under consideration. To raise funds also, the organization has created the Presidents Health Society Association. People of all walks of life are encouraged to become members, but they have to pay an annual membership fee of $ 1000. (Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, 2014) Finally, the organization has an endowment policy, which is a long term financing program for the activities of the organization. Under this strategy, an individual finds an activity that he or she wants to support. The same individual must make a commitment that he or she plans to support the program over a long period of time. The Nature of the Hospital: The hospital is a teaching and referral hospital. It has approximately three hospital units that are responsible for teaching and training medical practitioners, and this includes nurses and doctors. These teaching centers are, Lutheran General Hospital, Christ Medical Centre, and Masonic Medical Centre (Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, 2014). The organization is also a referral hospital, and this is because of the facilities and resources it has. The organization has an up-to date cancer care centers, making it the leading center for cancer diagnoses and treatment in the state of Illinois. Management Information System: The organization uses technology for purposes of communicating with its employees, and patients. For example, the organization has developed computerized software referred to as Active FAX. This software helps the organization to store all the information concerning patients, and members of staff, electronically. This information management system aims to reduce the usage of files for purposes of keeping information (Truven Health Analysis, 2013) . The main advantage of this type of information management system is that information is readily available to the concerned party, at the click of a button. The organization advocates and uses the CPOE. As of 2009, it was the target of Advocate hospital that 55% of all patients must make an order, using the physician computerized order entry. Conclusion: In conclusion, Advocate Good Samaritan is one of the best hospital organizations in the United States. The hospital enjoys a good public image and reputation, partly because of the quality of services it offers, and its philosophy of putting the needs of patients at the fore-front. The hospital is not a profit making organization, and it mostly depends on donors and financial grants for purposes of carrying out its various programs and activities. This paper therefore manages to highlight virtually all aspects of the hospital. This includes its mission and goals, organizational stricter, its swot analysis, its management information system, and the kind of services it offers. References: Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. (n.d.). Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. Retrieved  January 21, 2012, from http://www.advocatehealth.com/gsam/ Montalvo, I., Dunton, N. (2007). Transforming nursing data into quality care: profiles of  quality improvement in U.S. healthcare facilities. Silver Spring, Md.: Nursesbooks.org,  American Nurses Association. Truven Health Analysis. (2013). 100 top hospitals: study overview. (20TH ed.). Ann Arbor:  Truven Healt Analytics.

Defining And Analysing Computer Crimes

Defining And Analysing Computer Crimes Computer crime comes in many different forms and can cause serious amounts of damage. It has been around as long as the computer has and criminals are always finding new ways to beat the system. With the constant advancements in technology, it has become easier for criminals to hide information about their crime. Evidence is now handled and collected differently than it was in the past and requires a significant amount of careful forensic investigation. What is computer crime? Computer crime is illegal activity that is committed on the internet or through networks. The department of justice has three separate categories in which computer crime can be labeled. The first category is attacking computers of others, such as spreading a virus. The second category is using the computer to commit a crime which could also be committed the physical world, such as fraud or illegal gambling. The third and last category is using the computer to store stolen or illegal information (Citizenship.org). There are several different types of computer crime committed in the world today. Of those include: fraud, identity theft, phishing scams, malware, viruses, cyber stalking, and child pornography. Computer crime has been around for nearly two centuries, with the first ever recorded occurring in the year 1820 (hubpages.com). With the continual advancements in technology, it has been made easier for criminals to hide information about their crimes. Cyber crimes are handled differently than they have in the past because of this fact. When computers are attacked, it can completely alter the system and most times it will even cause damage. Also, computers that have been attacked have the capability to spread the attack to other systems within the same network (CERT.org). Statistics on Computer crime According to Minnesotas Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2008 Internet Crime Report, a total of 3,578 complaints came in. There are several different categories that the complaints are separated into. To name a few of those categories, there is check fraud, hacking, credit card fraud, Nigerian letter fraud, and identity theft. Here are some statistics that were collected during the year 2008: Non Delivery of Merchandise/Payment was the top complaint and accounted for 31.9% of all internet crime called in. Auction fraud came in second accounting for 27.5% of all internet fraud 78.5% of all perpetrators were male Within the country, California is the home to the largest percentage of perpetrators accounting for 15.8% Of the world, the United States is home to 66.1% of all perpetrators This is just a small percentage of the statistics I discovered when visiting the website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (fbi.org). According to the IC3, the rate of computer crime continues to climb as the years pass by. The group has been collecting information and statistics on internet crime for the past three years in hopes to find trends among perpetrators and crimes committed in order to better solve the crimes of the future. Hacking: What is it? The term hacking has several different meanings and it means different things to different generations. In the 1950s and 1960s, computer programmers viewed hacking as an intellectual exercise and prefer to use the term cracking instead in order to separate themselves with the negative connotation that came along with being considered a hacker. The younger generation feels that hackers of today are doing the real work of exploration which was made necessary due to the prior generation selling out (Thomas). According to the dictionary, the official definition of hacker is a computer enthusiast and a microcomputer user who attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems (dictionary.com). Hacking has its own meaning to different people. To some its a means of exploration and education; to others its more about playing childish, but costly, pranks on people and companies (Thomas). Hacking Then Hackers of the 1960s and 1970s were found to be university graduate students with a profound interest in computers. Hacking grew to be quite popular in the labs of well respected colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cornell, and Harvard. Students would play around with computers on their college campus and solve problems that eventually led to the creation of the personal computer. It was the birth of something that would lead to a new culture of innovative technological advances. Those who were able to hack were considered to be computer geniuses or nerds, rather than hackers (Thomas). Hacking Now Hackers of today are commonly found to be in their teenage years. The reason for such age difference between the times is that fifty to sixty years ago, you could only find computers on college campuses whereas today, it is uncommon to find a household that does not own at least one computer. They are more readily available for young children not yet in college to dupe around with. Technology today is also very different than it used to be. There are now passwords and PIN numbers in order to protect the user from having any information stolen. Security is stronger now, which is good for the common users of online systems such as eBay, online banking, or any other accounts which are password protected. However, as Thomas clearly states, security today is a double-edged sword. Although people are more protected, it also protects the hackers from becoming easily identified (Thomas). Hackers are able to take advantage of this and often continue to hack into systems of major companies, or even your personal computer at home. It seems that hacking was something more positive 60 years ago. It was used to discover new technology and helped to design and create more advanced machines and programs for people to use. It was something great that only those who were quite knowledgeable were capable of doing. However, with such great accomplishments, it has been made easier for the younger generation to turn the term hacker into something negative. Thomas describes these hackers as new-school hackers and soon a new hacking culture was born. Soon, hackers of the new generation began to use their knowledge against the world. They would meet to share what they have learned and would develop new ways to attack systems (Thomas). This new generation would turn hacking into crime that so many were willing to commit. Ethical Evaluation of Hacking From what it seems, hacking can be used to do both good and bad, which may make one wonder whether or not it can be viewed as ethical. I have always assumed that hacking was a bad thing and went along with its ever common negative connotation. I feel that people hack into systems to steal information from another party; whether it be a large corporations secret files, or your next door neighbors bank account. From what Ive studied so far, hackers from the past acted on a more ethical basis than the hacker of today. They used their knowledge for the better and acted on good will to try and find new ways to improve the age of computers. In order to really dig into it, I studied the ethics of hacking using two different working ethical theories; Kantianism and the Social Contract Theory. Hacking and Kantianism Kantianism has a lot to do with good will and the desire to do the right thing. The reason for doing a certain act, in this case hacking, should cultivate the desire to what is right. There are two categorical imperatives correlated with this theory. The first states that if you act on moral rule, you must first see how it will affect the universal more laws. This means that before you commit an act, first think about what would happen if everyone were to commit this same act (Quinn). To put this into perspective, hackers basically break security barriers to obtain information which they are probably not allowed to see in the first place. If there is a rule that makes it okay for everyone to break security barriers, it would completely defeat the purpose of having a secure system set up in the first place. There would no longer be such a thing as unauthorized information. Everyone would be allowed to somehow break in to the system and read it. The company might as well just display t his information freely, for the world to see. This would not be right as the information is protected for a reason. It is for certain peoples eyes, and their eyes only and is not for anyone else to see. The second categorical imperative states that you should treat both yourself and other as ends in themselves and not as a means to an end. This basically states that it is unethical to use someone for your benefit (Quinn). When relating this to the act of hacking, it tells us that we need to respect others and their right to privacy. When a hacker breaks into a system, they are using other peoples information to their benefit. They are invading privacy to get what they want, which is personal information. The first categorical imperative seems to correspond better with the topic, but both imperatives basically state the hacking is an unethical act. It is not right to disrespect people or to treat them unfairly, and when hacking occurs, that is exactly what happens. Therefore, according to the Kantianism, hacking is deemed to be unethical Hacking and the Social Contract Theory The social contract takes place in a civilized society and is based upon two things. The first thing is that there is an establishment of moral rules to govern relations among citizens. The second thing is that there must be a government capable of enforcing such rules. The social contract theory states, Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another; that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow those rules as well. This contract suggests that no man has authority over another and that no one lives above the law. The community is supposed to determine the rules for its members, and all who is part of that community must abide by such rules. In order for this theory to work, the laws must not only be stated, but enforced as well. This will prevent anyone from trying to cheat the system (Quinn). If hacking were to ever be considered socially acceptable, it would almost defeat the purpose of having secure systems. People would have the right to invade other peoples privacy and basically steal what does not belong to them. This type of crime is not accepted in the physical world, so why should we choose to accept it in cyberspace? The answer to that is we should not. The social contract theory has much to do with respect for yourself and respect for others. It is not very respectful to be deceitful and steal information or items which do not belong to you. Therefore, according to the social contract theory, hacking is deemed to be unethical. How Does the FBI control Cyber Crime? The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a four-fold method that works to control and eliminate cyber crime. The first step in this process is to stop those behind the most serious computer invasions and the spread of malevolent code. Second, they must identify and put a stop to online sexual predators that use the internet to meet and exploit children and to produce, possess, or share child pornography. The third step is to counteract operations that target United States intellectual property, endangering our national security and competitiveness. Lastly, dismantle national and transnational organized criminal enterprises engaging in internet fraud (fbi.gov). Computer invasions are not taken lightly and it is very important that the FBI work to control such a crime. Here are some facts taken from the Federal Bureau of Investigation website on how serious these cyber crimes are taken: A Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters to address cyber crime in a coordinated and cohesive manner Specially trained cyber squads at FBI headquarters and in each of the 56 field offices, staffed with agents and analysts who protect against investigate computer intrusions, theft of intellectual property and personal information, child pornography and exploitation, and online fraud New Cyber Action Teams that travel around the world on a moments notice to assist in computer intrusion cases and that gather vital intelligence that helps us identify the cyber crimes that are most dangerous to our national security and to our economy; 93 Computer Crimes Task Forces nationwide that combine state-of-the-art technology and the resources of our federal, state, and local counterparts; A growing partnership with other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and others-which share similar concerns and resolve in combating cyber crime. There are different levels of cyber crime, but we can never be too careful when it comes to protecting our people and our national security. There are several different ways of course in which the FBI will take action and that all depends on the type of cyber crime that is being committed. For example if it is trying to catch an online predator, a sting operation will be created and a member of the FBI will pose as a young child in hopes that someone will fall in to the trap. The FBI is full of highly trained professionals that know what they are doing and work their hardest to catch anyone who is being unlawful. How is Cyber Crime Different Than Physical Crime? Crime that takes place on in cyberspace is quite similar to physical crime. It is a person using their knowledge to break into another someone elses personal property. There are several laws against both types of crimes, and the penalties are just as harsh in the cyber crime world as they are in the physical. Also, both of them have the potential to cause a lot of harm and damage to others. The difference between the two is the way that the victims, or potential victims, feel about such cyber and physical crime. In recent surveys, it states that more people believe that their chances of being victims of cyber crime are much higher than being victims of physical crime. Many people are scared to participate in online banking or to shop online in fear of someone intercepting and hacking into their accounts. Also, it has been found that people are very cautious when it comes to documents that contain personal information on them by completely destroying them or assuring that they are safely stored (crime-research.org). According to a survey conducted by IBM, more than half of the businesses located in the United States believe that cyber crime is more costly to them than physical crime. The ways in which it costs them are through lost revenue, loss of current and prospective customers, and loss of employee productivity (allaboutroimag.org). Conclusion Cyber crime and hacking have been around for many years to date. It is something that developed as soon as the computing machine did. There have always been computer geniuses out there to use their knowledge for good, along with bad. After doing a lot of research and in my ethical evaluations, I have concluded that hacking is an unethical act. What started out as something that seemed like a good thing, quickly turned bad as soon as the personal computer became widely available. People began to use their knowledge against others and today we are faced with more cyber crime than ever. It is important for us and our government to keep it under control as it can cause a lot of damage to anyone who becomes a victim.