Case Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Critique - Essay Example The case study clearly identifies expected outcomes and impact which helps managers to implement and introduce a new product. I like a selection of the geographical area and two-phase model of entry. It is evident that before adding a product, however, a company should establish various criteria concerning the size of the available market, the rate of return on investment, the net profit, the patentability of the item, the congruency with current corporate situations, and the impact on the sales organization. Market segmentation often results from substantial growth. The only weaknesses are lack of attention to competition and possible problems caused by market rivalry. Also, the market segmentation involved only age differentiation (20-40, versus 40-60, or hybrid) but does not take into account possible gender differences (males and females) in product perception and satisfaction. If I was working for the Board of the Company I would implement this plan because it proposes great opportunities to expend business but does not require immediate investments in market development.

Im not sure about the topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Im not sure about the topic - Essay Example Thirdly there is the guest account, which cannot implement any changes to the computer settings. â€Å"Network and Sharing Center† is the feature that allows a computer user to check his/her network status, change network settings and set preferences for sharing files and hardware such printers and scanners over a network. Here is where users can uniquely identify computers or other shared hardware that are within their local area network (LAN). Examples of this include use of names such as Michael-PC or HP 1320 LaserJet on Manager-PC and so on. This feature allows users to declare different levels of accessibility over their files and documents or even hardware. This way an organization can implement information abstraction within its corporate LAN. Finally, the â€Å"Folder Options† feature provides users with options on how to manipulate folders. Examples include what the user would like the default folder icon size to be and whether to display or hide certain types of files such as system files and encrypted files. This feature also allows one to select whether to open each folder on the same window or a different window upon clicking the folder icon. Further, â€Å"Folder Options† allows users to select how the search function for files will operate for example using file names only or file names with contents and so on. There are numerous other customizations on folders that could be put in place through the use of this

Replacing a Legacy AIS Application Case Study Research Paper

Replacing a Legacy AIS Application Case Study - Research Paper Example Like any other system AIS is also a system consisting of different components which are interrelated to each other. Each of the sub-systems that make up the whole system performs several specific tasks which get integrated to be able to perform the ultimate task. Different components of AIS include, People, Procedures, Software, Data, and infrastructure for information technology. This study is all about the requirement of the public company which needs to replace its existing AIS. The needs and requirements of such change required by the company, a detailed analysis of all the various alternatives available to the company with regards to this change and the best possible alternative that needs to be implemented by the company have all been discussed in this study. Analysis The company being a publicly traded company must be requiring lot of transactions to be carried out every day. Hence in order to increase its efficiency, new effective AIS are the necessity for the organization. N ew AIS, replacing the old inefficient existing AIS of the company, can prove advantageous for the organization. ... New technologically improved AIS would help the company management to take various critical decisions which could have a significant positive impact on increasing the effectiveness of the management of the company, thereby increasing the profitability of the company. Various critical decisions that could be facilitated through the improved AIS of the company could be related to the accurate and precise information regarding the outstanding debt of the company, the sales trend, the assets possessed by the company, cash inflows and cash outflows, performance of the different product lines of the company, the trend of returns generated by the company, etc. AIS would primarily serve three purposes associated with it. They are a) It would help to effectively store the data related to all the business transactions of the company, b) The data would be then processed into useful information which would facilitate various decision making process and c) It would help in safeguarding the assets of the company through effective control mechanisms using AIS. Thus introducing improved AIS would help the company to have competitive advantage over its competitors and have a sustainable growth in future. However AIS has its demerits and risks as well. AIS are mostly computer based system. It mainly helps in automation of the various business processes done manually. This type of automation is associated with the risk of the inaccurate transaction data going undetected in the system. This could ultimately pave the way for the occurrence of accounting frauds. Since a larger number of users have the facility of accessing the data in the AIS, it is associated with control risk. The information might get edited by unauthorized

Journal Article on Juvenile Delinquency Essay Example for Free

Journal Article on Juvenile Delinquency Essay The study made by Kaplan and Johnson corresponds to the value of how people and corresponding social institutions perceive juvenile delinquency. In particular, it tackled the capacity of creating punishments and sanctions as an ideal norm that needs to be pursued. Such direction then fostered better means of analyzing the response of different social institutions towards these actions. Similarly, the aspect of labeling within the social model was also studied. In particular, it takes into consideration how this process corresponds to how individuals ascertain relationships and function towards functioning effectively within the specific standards established (Kaplan and Howard, p. 99). To achieve this perspective, the process of labeling was studied and determined by its capacity to promote deterrence. Similarly, careful study was also made in how a relationship may exist between the processes of social sanctions and the application of appropriate standards related to a model of deviant behavior (Kaplan and Johnson, p. 100). Through this, the study was able to establish specific patterns that allow the labeling process during deviant behavior to explain the motivation and resistance towards engagement. Such actions then help explain the manner on how people relate with social institutions and others accordingly. After careful analysis, the study then illustrated the value of utilizing labeling within the deviant behavior. Here, the principle is used to create better means of fostering distinctions between responses among individuals and social institutions (Kaplan and Johnson, p. 116). Seeing this, the idea then of labeling becomes both constructive in its capacity to motivate a change in behavior and deterrence of deviance. On the other hand, it also brings about a negative outcome that it promotes biased views and alienation among individuals who engage in such actions. Due to this, the principle then opens up greater opportunities to correlate in the process of role development and the creation of identity and behavior according to specific norms and establish specific responses due to negative social sanctions especially in the formulation of deviance. Reflecting on the article, it can be seen that the process of labeling remains to be an important component shaping perceptions among individuals concerning deviant behavior. It carries along the principle of facilitating norms and maintenance of status quo especially within different social institutions. Due to this, it both serves as deterrence for those who try to engage in such actions and hampers the relationship among peers. Such action then ensures the validity of ensuring stability among individuals and the manner they act and react to their specific environments. Similarly, the idea then of social controls provided towards deviant behavior remains to be innate in social norms. Analyzing these realities, it can be surmised that it functions towards establishing better means for people to act. By setting up these rules and standards, the manner of relationships and functions among people becomes effective and viable. Overall, the usefulness of this article revolves around its capacity to effectively understand the relationships surrounding deviance, social control, and social sanctions. It also tries to support the tenets of deviance theory by providing specific principles shaping and supplementing both its development and application of control. Such actions then increase the likelihood of establishing concrete definition and analysis. Lastly, this direction then opens up the capacity to understand the process of deviant behavior in the lens of sociology; as it tries to understand how it creates specific roles, develops relationship, and maintenance of control.

The Threat of Language :: Essays Papers

The Threat of Language America is a nation that promotes the image of diversity among its citizens. This diversity is what makes American unique and different from any other country in the world. As years pass the ethnic population of the United States grows at a rate comparable to the speed at which a bullet flies. With so many different cultures and languages coexisting within the boundaries of this nation, a question arises. Do languages other than English threaten American’s ability to unite socially, politically, and economically? Richard Rodriguez is a perfect example of an immigrant that came to American with his family and didn’t know any English. Starting when he was a young child Rodriguez had a very difficult time making friends and feeling comfortable out in public. This was because he didn’t know how to communicate with people outside his home. Richard realized that the only way for him to break this social barrier was to be able to speak English like everyone else. Rodriguez was not just able to learn English but he also was able to gain his own individuality with out loosing his ethnic background. â€Å"The bilingualists insist that a student should be reminded of his difference from others in mass society, his heritage. But they equate mere separateness with individuality.† Rodriguez regained his individuality when he was able to communicate and express himself to the community in which he lived. With the tool of the English language under his belt Rodriguez was able to succeed and share with others his experiences and feelings. Is it necessary for people of different cultures and languages to be able to speak English in order to succeed in America? Should their ethnic background be sacrificed in order to fit into American society? The U.S. Department of Education enacted the Lau decision to increase funding for bilingual education all over America. Many immigrants felt that this increased funding wasn’t helping to teach the children well enough. In one case a Chinese man in San Francisco complained that his children were at a disadvantage, both socially and economically because they weren’t being taught English adequately. The statistics are staggering regarding the success rates of minorities throughout high school and college. A report by the American Council of Education states that â€Å"50 percent of all Hispanic youths in America drop out of high school, and only 7 percent finish college.

Final Paper on Philosophy Essay

In its known usage, the word Reality pertains to something that actually exists and which can be felt by the senses. Metaphysics, a branch of Philosophy, tries to discern reality from illusion, as it investigates on things that are real which could also be just illusions of what people want to be real—ideals. However, what can be sensed from the surroundings does not seem to be just mere illusions, as the body and the mind react to everything it senses. In Philosophy, reality usually pertains to existence since it is contrasted with nonexistence—those unreal—and mere possibilities—could be real but does not necessarily exist, unless discovered. To this date, there are still speculations about the Nature of Reality. It could be possible that people are living on their dream worlds, and not in reality (like in the Matrix movie). However, these people perceive their dream worlds as an equal of reality. Hence, they are still living in reality unless someone drags them out of that reality and into another level of reality, which is more real. 2. On a nutshell, the documentary film â€Å"Zen and Now† by Alan Watts points out that people should live in the Now which is actually the main principle of Zen philosophy. Unnecessary baggage could only hinder the person’s progress, in moving on with his or her life. Personal progress seems to be the undying aim of Zen philosophy as it promotes moving forward rather than shackling the self behind in the past. It also does not entail the idea of expecting what could happen in the future. The primary focus is the Now, neither the past nor the future. The principle of Zen pertains to establishing a harmony with the self before people could establish it with others and with the world. Hence, it should be quite simple to understand what Alan Watts wanted to convey. Living in the now is the best way to live life since it gets rid of the excess baggage that drags the person towards his or her sinkhole—the past. This baggage usually make up of the person’s regrets, basically anything negative about his or her past (events, personalities, and the like). 3. The Zimbardo film is about the Stanford Prison Experiment which was conducted by Philip Zimbardo. Basically, it entailed the role-playing of both prisoners and guards by participants who were screened before being accepted. As the film would show, the participants’ imagination grew out of hand, even with the presence of the research team. It may possibly be an act out of human nature, when these participants were given their respective roles. They acted as if it were the real deal; guards taking out their frustration towards the prisoners and prisoners would plan of escaping or creating riots within the prison. The role-playing seemed to unleash genuine human nature of many participants as some would show sadistic tendencies towards the prisoners. It also seemed that imagination initially played a part on this â€Å"unleashing† but it was more the work of the subconscious that guided these people to completely assume their respective roles. The environment, upon which a person belongs to, can have an astounding effect towards him or her. It can actually alter some of the person’s traits as it is part of human nature to adapt to certain environments. It also influences the person’s perception of his or her reality as some situations and conditions involved in the environment would affect the person. 4. The Milgram experiment entailed the testing of a person’s obedience to an authority who orders would instruct him or her to do unethical things that opposes with the person’s conscience. Many of the experiment’s participants were reluctant of administering a high voltage shock of 450 towards the receiver. As the result would show, the willingness of the participant to administer the 450-volts shock greatly conflicts with his or her conscience. They have to be coerced, threatened, or abused in order to successfully administer the shock; unless it served a higher purpose. Humans do not obey commands that can be classified as unethical, immediately. Human conscience seems to prevent the person to follow the commands without hesitation. The experiment could already be perceived as unethical because it entailed the electro-shocking of the learner by the teacher—the participant. The relationship between authority and conscience was tested in this experiment. Many of the participants were reluctant to follow the commands of the authority figure. They showed signs of disobeying the authority figure since they would believe that what they were tasked to perform is unethical. 5. Steve Pinker’s stand is to refurbish the current English Language that has been ravaged by various media influences, by reclaiming the respect for the English language. Every person is capable to speak grammatically but somehow they would choose to follow the English language that popular culture seems to promote (as mentioned, rockers, surfers, valley girls), as well as the standards proposed by Mavens which he utterly despises. As long as these two would continue to promote their version of English, then relearning proper grammar would be a hard task. The promotion of the proper usage of English will definitely be a tough road ahead for the likes of Pinker, as media and the mavens would continue to influence society. 6. Both the environment and free will play a significant role in shaping a person into what he or she can become in the future. Free will would involve decisions to certain situations that could actually be summoned by the person’s environment. However, free will would ultimately shape the person more significantly than the environment as it is his or her decisions that promote the development of the person. The environment could only play a minor role on the person’s development. It is the person’s free will that shapes his or her future. I believe on free will as the catalyst in shaping the person. Free will enables the person to participate with the environment like making the right decisions for certain situations wherein some are raised by the environment. A person could not and should not rely on fate in order to help him or her progress in life or move forward. It is all the work of free will that allows such change to occur within the person and his or her life. 7. Charlie Manson experienced social regression in his childhood life, as his mother rejected him a few times; at one point, even trading him for a pitcher of alcohol. In prison, he learned the teachings of Scientology (a cult led by L Ron Hubbard) and applied many of it to his own established philosophy that he and his followers believed in. The growing crisis of the racial tension between the whites and blacks made him fear that one day, the blacks will take over the whites’ position in society, upon which believing that the Manson family will then have control over the blacks and their society. The Manson philosophy (coded: Helter Skelter) was as destructive as it can be, as it involved spurring chaos in society. His followers were made to believe that they were following the commands of a Jesus Christ incarnate, as they were forced to do anything he commands. It was not fate that brought him into becoming the person that everyone feared in the past. It was his free will that spurred the numerous murders, ordered his â€Å"family† to commit these killings, and sent him to prison. Apparently, he did not have control over his free will as he did everything that seemed to please him. 8. There would be a noise created as it falls to the ground. However, it would not be heard by anything or anyone as there are no living creatures in the forest; unless one would consider the surrounding trees as living things (frankly speaking, they are). It is for certain that there will be noise created as the tree would come crashing down, but without a creature to hear the noise, then it would not be considered as noise in the first place. Two sides could be drawn up from this question: (1) There is a noise since it fell to the ground hard (I suppose it would be hard), and (2) there would not be a single noise as no living creature heard it. For (1), anything can make a noise, intentionally or unintentionally. So it is impossible for the tree to fall down hard silently. In (2), even if the tree creates a noise while falling down, who would be there to receive the sound and conclude it as a sort of noise? That seems to be the main problem here as most living creatures (if not, all) could hear sound. Then again, noise was created but nothing was able to receive it and conclude that it was noise. 9. The Sensory Transduction involves the detection and translation of any form of stimulus. It involves the five senses, making sensory transduction an indispensable part of people’s lives. It involves how people would interpret what they could sense. It may be possible for people to control the transduction of sensorial vibrations (usually associated with feelings), although it might require immense amounts of concentration and will power. The brain would translate these sensorial vibrations for the benefit of the individual; which he or she later translates into experience by how he or she reacts to the translated sensorial vibrations (by the brain). On the other hand, these sensorial vibrations may travel too fast for the person, enabling instinct to take its course in providing the individual how to react on the given situation; given that he or she already experienced the same condition before. I believe people could control the transduction of sensorial vibrations simply because they could choose what they want to sense. A child would close his or her eyes on the scariest parts of the horror movie simply because he or she does not want to get scared. However, it could also be considered that instinct comes into play when the person would fail to react to these transductions. 10. Universal reality is simply the existence of all things; the totality of time, space, and being. Yes, there is a Universal reality in people’s lives because everything around them exists and it will continue to exist until it is removed from time, space, and being. Basically, Universal Reality makes up everything that people could sense around them inside this chamber. People may be unaware of this fact but the Universal reality does not remain constant forever, as it could experience constant changes; changes that enable people to adapt to an altered perception of that supposed Universal reality. Somehow it is thought that all realities originated from a single source of energy or force, upon which all top religions considered as God—the universal being. Basically, the answer would be that there is an existing Universal reality as it entails everything that people would perceive as real and those that can be unreal—as some individuals could perceive them while others could not. Universal reality is all that exists in people’s realities. Hence, there is such a thing.

Genetically Modified Foods: Helpful or Harmful? Essay

Genetically modified (GM) foods have been around for thousands of years. In the 1990s, they started being sold commercially in the United States, which was the start of this controversy: Are GM foods good or bad for us? Do the pros outweigh the cons? In my opinion, genetically modified foods are nothing to worry about. GM foods are produced from genetic engineering. Scientists take a certain gene from an organism that is desired and put it into another organism. For example, scientists might take a drought resistant gene from a plant and insert it into a crop, so that crop will not die during a period of low rainfall. There are various ways to add in these desired genes, such as crossbreeding, which has been used since the beginning of agriculture, bacterial transfer of DNA into a cell, and a newer method of shooting DNA particles into a cell with particle gun, developed by Cornell University (Freedman, 83). There are numerous advantages of genetically modified foods. Crops can become impervious to insects. According to Whitman, â€Å"Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. † Making the crops pest resistant makes more people want to buy them and is safer on the environment. Since farmers can use less pesticide, the cost of the food decreases and less people go hungry. â€Å"It has raised the output of corn, cotton and soy by 20 to 30 percent, allowing some people to survive who would not have without it (Freedman, 82). † Another advantage is adding vitamins and minerals to foods that lack them. Foods become more nutritious. For example, â€Å"Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However, rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated (Whitman). † LaPensee also agrees: â€Å"Genetic manipulation could increase agricultural yields in developing countries with the development of more sustainable crops. For example, disease- and pest-resistant fruits and vegetables with higher nutritional value (e. g. , more iron, vitamin A, and protein) could improve the health of people in developing regions where the imbalanced indigenous diet is overly dependent on grains such as rice and corn. † This can decrease hunger and sickness world-wide. On the contrary, GM foods do have some disadvantages. When you modify plants and animals genetically, biodiversity decreases. â€Å"Homogeneity may make crops more susceptible to disease. Thus, the present uncertainty about the cumulative effects in ecosystems or the food chain is making consumers wary (Hoyle and Lerner). † With a decrease in biodiversity, all crops that are genetically similar are more susceptible to die during a natural disaster. Also, scientists do not know all of the effects of these GM foods on our health. â€Å"For a variety of reasons, not all scientifically based, some people argue that transgenic food is a consumer safety issue because not all of the effects of transgenic foods have been fully explored (Transgenics). † GM foods should definitely be labeled. People have a right to know whether or not their foods have been genetically modified. Businesses argue that it would cost more for the consumer if their was a label, but â€Å"the demand for transparency is unlikely to go away so, for crying out loud, just label it (O’Brian). † Genetically engineered foods are very helpful. They can be more nutritious and better for the environment. These modifications help people all over the world, especially people dependent on certain crops. There are some criticisms, but the good outweighs the bad. GM foods should all be labelled, because people need to know what is in their food. Biblography Freedman, David H.. â€Å"Are Engineered Foods Evil?. † Scientific American 1 Sept. 2013: 80-85. Print. Hoyle, Brian, and K. Lee Lerner. â€Å"Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms. † The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2008. 1900-1902. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 May 2014. LaPensee, Kenneth T. â€Å"Biotechnology and the Manipulation of Genes. † Scientific Thought: In Context. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 532-536. In Context Series. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 May 2014. O’Brian, Mark R.. â€Å"Don’t fear GMOs: Genetically modified food is just the latest chapter in 10,000 years of high-tech agriculture. † The Buffalo News 6 Apr. 2014: 1. Print. â€Å"Transgenics. † The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale, 2008. 4414-4416. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 May 2014. Whitman, Deborah B.. â€Å"Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?. † . N. p. , 1 Apr. 2000. Web. 11 May 2014.

The Sociologically Imagined Self †Sociology Essay

The Sociologically Imagined Self – Sociology Essay Free Online Research Papers The Sociologically Imagined Self Sociology Essay In today’s society, it is easy to spot someone blaming themselves for the occurrence of their personal life problems. For example, a single-mother may blame herself for not being able to support her children well due to shortage of money and unavailability to find a decent job. Another could be a newly-wed couple having daily arguments which may lead to their divorce or a case of where women are facing difficulties perceiving their housekeeping responsibilities as a mother wanting to become something more than just a housewife. These various private tensions may seem very personal, yet according to sociologist C. Wright Mills, these dilemmas are all related to a bigger world called society and this is known as the sociological imagination. Sociological imagination suggests that people look at their own personal troubles as social issues and, in general try to connect their own individual encounters with the workings of society. The personal problems are closely related to societal issues such as unemployment, marriage, war and even the city life where the private troubles and the public issues become clearly apparent. With the understanding of the sociological imagination, I began to notice the dail y choices I make, the classes I attend, the way I was raised by my parents, the group of people I choose to hang out with, the things I like to converse about with others are all somehow affected by public issues and what society tends to make us believe is right. There are many areas in my life where I feel that I am greatly affected by various sociological theories such as events dealing with gender and sexuality, family and culture, ethnicity and race, and social class and work. Even though our country supports equality in gender and women are rising up to be treated same as men, there still exist differences in sexuality in our society. This issue of gender and sexuality of our society has had one of the biggest impacts in my life since I was raised with my twin brother Alex. When I saw light of the world, I was immediately assumed the role of a daughter and a girl to my parents. My brother was given tanks, robots and Lego to play with, while I was given Barbie dolls, mini-baking sets and etc. I loved playing with dolls, but there was always that little thought in back of mind that I wanted to play with whatever my brother got to play with as well. However, I soon realized that boys’ toys weren’t for me and that I should be satisfied with whatever toys were given to me by my parents. I believe that toys contribute to the gender socialization with the help of parents who tend to treat boys and girls differently since their births. Because Barbi e is likely one of the most identifiable symbols of femininity in the world, parents feel the need to expose it to their daughters at an early age. According to this, there are obviously different social positions assumed by women and men because even at a young age, one adopts a gender role closely related to gender identity which is â€Å"your identification with, or sense of belonging to, a particular sex-biologically, psychologically, and socially† (288). After numerous incidents where I was denied to play with my brother’s toys or to play guys’ sports such as baseball, I was slowly beginning to understand my role as a female, a daughter and a sister through everyday social interactions and social learning of gender which I believed was the correct thing to do. I suppose that gender is not just created biologically; rather, it is also felt and learned through the moments one experiences within the society. Also, the cultural factors influencing the structural factors in gender can also be experienced through the society. I believe that having a twin brother has influenced me even more in recognizing my gender identity. With strict distinction drawn by my parents and those around me, I was taught that playing with Barbie dolls was the socially accepted thing to do. If I had not learned abou t how social beliefs affect personal lives, I wouldn’t have even thought about questioning what would have happened if I had no clear social interactions or learning to help me identify my gender. Another sociological theory that has affected my way of thinking was social issues dealing with family and culture. I grew up in a traditional Korean family before I moved here in United States and those were the times when my views and my behaviors were shaped by my parents and grandparents. My grandfather used to tell me many stories about when Korea was a colony of Japan and Japanese people stole, rooted, and ruined the lives of innocent Korean people. While he angrily expressed his feelings toward Japanese people, I, as a child, could feel myself slowly believing in my grandfather’s beliefs. I think that as a child I was going through an anticipatory socialization where I was taking on the norms and behaviors of a role to which one aspires but does not yet occupy. It could also be said that I was completely rejecting self socialization and was making my family an aspect of my primary socialization. Due to this, while I was growing up, I tended to avoid Japanese people. I s tarted to feel that the culture was limiting the â€Å"choices† at my disposal. Due to this experience as a child, I realized that I had almost no control over my beliefs and most were issued to me by my family, culture and society and still do not have control over these things. Because my grandfather was basically socializing me when I was a child, I still have problems developing my individual beliefs alone. Even to this day, society plays such a big role in my making of choices everyday and social influences can be most of times, uncontrollable; however, sometimes one could use those social influences to one’s own advantage to form the socially understood beliefs. This experience helped me to realize that society does indeed play a main role in developing my cultural and traditional family views and values. As I continued to live in America, my racial identity became clearer as I was considered to be part of a minor racial group in my class full of Caucasian people. At first, I was surprised by the enormous variety of races that existed. The first day I went to school, I realized I was the only Asian in the class and soon fell silent feeling maybe I wasn’t supposed to be there, I simply did not belong in there. However, later during the day, I was moved to an ESL class where I met at least seven Korean people. Soon, I started to feel that I was part of a distinct ethnic group and I would feel more accepted when I am with other people of my ethnic group. According to Brym and Lie, ethnic group is composed of people who perceived cultural markers are deemed socially significant. It is true that ethnic groups differ from one another in terms of language, religion, customs, values, and ancestors, but these are not the only causes of differences in races, but much of the social-struct ural differences typically underlie cultural differences. I felt more comfortable being with other Koreans because I thought they shared similar ideas as me, but another reason was because while I was in the classroom filled with mostly Caucasian people, I felt as if they were saying, â€Å"What is she doing here? She’s not one of us.† Somehow, I felt like an outcast among the fluent English speakers and thought even my teacher looked down on me because I could not speak the language. However, after couple years of living in America, I started to make Caucasian friends and slowly began to experience a shift in my racial identity. Even before I knew it, I was shaping and reshaping my ethnic identity through the experiences I was encountering with different groups of people. Consequently, I would meet new people and they would ask where I am from and I find myself answering, â€Å"Chicago,† whereas couple years ago I used to respond with â€Å"Seoul, South Korea. † According to Brym and Lie, assimilation is the process by which a minority group blends into the majority population and eventually disappears as a distinct group. I believe that through goodwill, I was allowed to fuse socially and culturally into an American culture. Unlike the years before, I now believe that racial identity was not forced upon me; rather I shaped it throughout the years through my own experiences with different race people. Following the changes in my attitude toward different group of people, I started to become more aware of my current social standings living with my parents. I believe that social inequality still have big consequences for the way we live which sketches out the pattern of social inequality in the United States and globally. The meaning of social stratification, the way society is organized in layers or strata, we start to identify issues that need to be resolved before we can achieve a more adequate understanding of social stratification, one of the fundamentally important aspects of social life (195). Wealth is not just how much money you have or how expensive of things you can afford to buy; rather it’s something that you own. It may be many different things. For example, my parents’ wealth helped to purchase a house of their own, a new Mercedes and to pay for two kids’ college tuitions. I agree with the fact that wealth even improves your health because you can afford to engage in leisure pursuits, turn off stress, consume high-quality food and all this will lead you to live a healthier and longer life than someone who lacks these advantages. My dad, who has lost his mother when he was only six years old, has lived under difficult conditions. His father did not have a job, he had five siblings who now had no mother to cook for them or take care of them. They lived in poor conditioned house where rain would go right through the roof of the house leading to another night of wet floor to be bucketed out. Not until my dad started to work on his own, he was not able to achieve any social status with his family living in such poverty. Now he works as a financial manager for a prosperous company called Molex Co. and earns a high income annually. Since your income is what you earn in a given period, there is less income inequality in the distribution of wealth. People of social stratification usually divide populations into categories of unequal size that differ in their lifestyle. Also, there is a relationship between wealth and culture as one defines class such as the â€Å"cultural capital† which is widely shared high status cultural signals that really can’t be counted due to its invisibility. I realized after hearing my dad’s life story of working his way up in his social and economic status that it is possible for people to move up and down following economy. In order to do this however, our society needs to promote marriage, decent paying jobs, and raise the minimum wage. I sometimes wonder how my parents would react if I brought someone home to introduce him as my future husband but he’s social standing is dramatically lower than my family’s. I believe that my parents would try to convince me to rethink because by marrying him I will not be able to enjoy the privileges I got to enjoy living with my family. Even now, I realized that I usually hang out with those who’s standin g on a similar social status as me because I can relate to them more when talking about things rather than with people who never got to do things that I was privileged to due to my social standing. Even at school, there are certain social events that only people who can afford to buy the tickets can attend. Those who are not able to afford such things are not allowed to attend the event. This shows how the society makes social stratification seem almost natural and bound to happen. Our society promotes the differences in social classes and is telling us to accept it the way it is. I believe that if I had not been aware of these sociological theories, I would not have been able to understand how society relates to my daily choice makings and beliefs I have developed throughout the years. I always thought that my personal problems were only affected by my private issues and did not think that sociological issues could be such a big of an impact. In many areas such as gender and sexuality, family and culture, race and ethnicity, and social class and stratification were all the causes and results of various personal problems I had throughout my life. Once I began to learn these sociological concepts, I was able to relate them more to my life and started to question how society can be changed. People must realize and accept that little actions can change the society which can bring dramatic changes to their daily lives. We have to stop thinking that society is merely a big institution that we as â€Å"little people† can’t really do anything to bring about a change. We have to realize that we may be created and controlled by the social world, but at the same time we create the society. As I raise my children, I am going to try to raise them as individuals rather than a boy and a girl. As I meet people of different races, I am not only going to limit myself to Koreans and other Asians, rather I will try to get off from my comfort zone and be part of different groups of people. These things may not be easy as it sounds because of beliefs that society has already formed in my head, however, I am going to try to stay open-minded and that society can indeed change if we all become aware of each of our own sociological imaginations. Research Papers on The Sociologically Imagined Self - Sociology EssayInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New Employees19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyTrailblazing by Eric AndersonRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andMind TravelThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Effects of Illegal Immigration

Death Be Not Proud Essays

Death Be Not Proud Essays Death Be Not Proud Paper Death Be Not Proud Paper Harridans poem is completely opposite to Donnas as it tells the reader about his personal life ND the unfortunate passing of his Mother. Death be not Proud was written three hundred and fifty years ago and written in sonnet form, a traditional form of writing at that time. In Death be not Proud, Done personifies death, calling death thee and thou, this makes death seem less influential and demonstrates that Done Is not scared of death. Indeed, he challenges and threatens It by saying, In line four, Die not, poor death, nor yet cants thou kill me. Done compares death, a word which normally carries negative connotations, to sleep which Is a pleasant experience. By saying this, Done suggests inconsequently that death is an enjoyable experience. In lines five to six, it states From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow. Here, Done mocks death as even in the title, death be not proud, Done is saying that death should not be so full of itself and calls death a slave who lives with all sorts of atrocious things. He refers to death as poison, war and sickness. Done is not afraid to say the word death or die and this is shown by the fact that he repeats the word death several times to show he is not afraid of it. By contrast, in conversation, people often evade the word death, preferring to use phrases such as passed away because even mentioning the word death may scare them. This also links back to death and how It Is perceived with very negative connotations. Done has no fear of death because he believes In the afterlife (he was a religious man and believed that when people died they went to Heaven). His last line is very powerful, expressing Donnas belief that, through the afterlife, death is redundant (as in Heaven, no one dies). An example of this is in the penultimate and IANAL line where Done says One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shall die. The last line contains 10 monosyllabic words. This emphasis the iambic pentameter of the line and adds force and authority to the words. Iambic pentameter is heard by the reader as almost the repeated drumming of the heartbeat, which in turn symbolizes life, this contrasting image in a poem where death Is so widely used again emphasis Donnas message that death Is not final and that there Is hope against It. Death appears In the last line three times ND this repetition emphasis the message that Done Is conveying, and by stating the word death three times, Done Is using rhetoric In the form of triplet phrasing to further illustrate his message. Monetary to Dean De not Proud, Long Distance II Is a deeply personal poem Ana Tony Harrison uses the personal pronouns my and l to convey the message that he is talking about his life and his fathers personal grief. During the poem the word death is seldom used and it seems that here, the poet is portraying to the reader just how scared the father is to admit what has happened. Harrison tells how his father refused to believe that his mother had died and we are given a series of pitiable, depressing and futile rituals that the father went through. In lines 2-4, Harrison writes, Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas, put hot water bottles her side of the bed and still went to renew her transport pass. This demonstrates to the reader that the father is clearly in denial and he carries on as if his wife were still alive, pretending in his own mind that she has Just popped out to tea. Possibly the saddest feature of the poem is the fact that, although both Harrison and his father myself know that the father isnt coping very well, neither of them can bring themselves to talk about it. This exposes the inability of men (especially old, proud Yorkshire men like Harridans father) to speak openly about their feelings. Harridans father would see it as a sign of weakness to openly show his great sorrow and his still raw love to his son. The word raw is used to describe his love as an undressed wound and the pain is still constant. The poem is therefore painfully well observed and frustratingly honest. We feel very sorry for Harridans father and indeed for Harrison himself, who allowed his father to carry on the pretence without ever feeling able to help. His father is now dead, his phone number is disconnected and it is too late for Harrison to call. The final verse presents the reader with an antithetic juxtaposition. Harrison begins with stating that, l believe life ends with death, and that is all, (this contrasts to Done, as he doesnt believe in the afterlife). However, his actions do not support his statement, as although his parents are both dead, he still keeps their memory alive in his new black leather phone book, still calling heir disconnected number. Harridans behavior is hugely ironic, given the almost critical way in which he exposed his fathers frailties in the opening three verses, now, Just like his father; he is forced to mourn in secret, performing similarly pointless rituals as a mark of both his love and his private suffering. An example of this is found in lines 14-16; Mimi havent both gone shopping; Just the same, in my new black leather phone book theres your name and the disconnected number I still call. Although this is a far more modern poem than Donnas, it is still written in a airily traditional form. Like Donnas poem, the rhythm is iambic pentameter and forms of rhetoric such as rhyming couplets are used to emphasis the meaning of the words. Both poets talk about death and the effect that death has on individuals. In my view, John Donnas Death be not Proud is the better poem. In Death be not Proud, Done attacks death in a very hostile way, saying Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men. Done expresses his anger at death, saying that it is nothing and can be left down to chance. Donnas victory over death is concluded in the last nine of the poem where he says Death shall be no more; death, thou shall die.

Ace Your University of Wisconsin Personal Statements

Ace Your University of Wisconsin Personal Statements The University of Wisconsin System has a holistic admissions process that includes at least one personal statement. The flagship campus in Madison requires two essays. Applicants can apply using either the Common Application or the University of Wisconsin Application. This article addresses strategies for responding to the essay prompts.   Personal Statements for the University of Wisconsin-Madison The main campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison is the most selective of all the UW schools, and it has an application separate from all the other campuses. It also asks for two personal statements. If you apply using the Common Application, you will need to respond to one of the seven essay prompts. This gives you the freedom to write about anything you choose, for not only do the prompts cover a wide range of topics, but option #7 allows you to write on a topic of your choice.   If you use the University of Wisconsin application,  the first essay prompt asks the following: Consider something in your life you think goes unnoticed and write about why its important to you. You have so many options here that you might find the essay prompt daunting. As you figure out what the something in your life is that you should write about, keep in mind the reason why UW-Madison is asking this question. The admissions process is holistic, so the university wants to get to know you as a whole person, not just as a set of empirical data such as grades, class rank, and standardized test scores. Your extracurricular activities and employment history are part of the holistic portrait, but they dont tell the whole story.   Use this prompt to explore something that isnt obvious from the rest of your application. If one of your jobs or extracurricular activities is particularly important to you, you could use this essay to explain why that is so (much like a typical  short answer essay  on the Common Application). Or you could use this essay to present a side of your personality that doesnt appear on your application at all. Perhaps you like rebuilding motorcycles, fishing with your younger sister, or writing poetry. Almost anything thats important to you is fair game here, just make sure you follow through and explain  why  its important to you. If you fail to address the why of the question, youve failed to present the admissions folks a full window into your passions and interests. The second essay prompt is the same whether you use the Common Application or the UW Application. It asks the following: Tell us why you decided to apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, share with us the academic, extracurricular, or research opportunities you would take advantage of as a student. If applicable, provide details of any circumstance that could have had an impact on your academic performance and/or extracurricular involvement. UW-Madison has packed a lot into this essay prompt, and it might be best to view it as three essay prompts, not one. The first- why UW-Madison?- is typical of the supplemental essays for many other colleges. The key here is to be specific. If your answer could be applied to schools other than UW-Madison, then youre being too vague and generic. What  specifically  about UW-Madison appeals to you? What unique features of the university distinguish it from other places youre considering? Similarly, with the question about academic, extracurricular and research opportunities, be sure to do your research. Make sure you know what the university offers so that you know what opportunities you can take advantage of should you be admitted. UW-Madison is trying to make sure applicants are familiar with the university and can imagine themselves being active and engaged members of the campus community. When it comes to explaining circumstances that may have had a negative impact on your grades and extracurricular involvement, keep in mind that this part of the prompt is optional. As the article Should You Explain A Bad Grade? notes, youre not always doing yourself a favor if you make a big deal out of slightly off semester in high school. That said, if you did have a major disruption in your life- a significant injury, a death of a parent or sibling, divorce of your parents, or an ill-timed move to a different school- it can be a good idea to comment on the event if it impacted your academic or extracurricular record in a significant way. The Personal Statement for all Other UW Campuses For all of the other University of Wisconsin campuses, youll be asked to respond to this personal essay prompt: Please tell us about the particular life experiences, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring to our specific campus that will enrich our community. The question is refreshing in its directness, for, in truth, it is asking what every college admissions essay asks- How will you enrich our community? Colleges want more than students with good grades and high test scores; they also want students who will contribute to campus life in a positive way. Before you write your essay or take part in a college interview, youd be wise to figure out your own answer to the question. What is it that you will contribute? Why will the college be a better place because of your presence? Think about your hobbies, your sense of humor, your quirks, your academic passions... all of the features that make you you. Each of the Common Application essay options  is really getting at this very issue. Whether you are writing about a a challenge youve faced, a problem youve solved, an important accomplishment in your life, or an important dimension of your life experiences, a good essay shows that you bring to campus the type of passion and personality that will enrich the university community. Make Your University of Wisconsin Essay Shine You have lots of breadth in choosing what to write about, but youd be wise to steer clear of bad essay topics that often go astray. Also, dont just focus on what to write, but also how you write it. Pay attention to the style of your essay so that your narrative is tight, engaging, and powerful.   Also be sure to follow the tips on the UW website. One important tip relates to your essay length. While the application allows you to write essays that are up to 650 words, UW recommends essays in the 300-500 word range. While you may be tempted to use the entire available space, youd be wise to heed the universitys recommendation and exceed 500 words.

One night with the King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

One night with the King - Essay Example Though the image of Esther, played by Tiffany Dupont, in the film may be called untypical for the biblical female character, it provides us with the insight into the religious history from the fresh but credible point of view. We are accustomed to perceive biblical female characters as humble and obedient, devoted wives, hot believers and followers of the divine commandments, or as sinful creatures, bringing only woe to their men. The negative female image even seems to prevail and be more typical for the Bible and Christianity. Virgin Mary had to acquit the biblical women, atoning for Eve’s sin. However, Esther is one of the characters winning good name and restoring the female reputation in the history of the mankind. We do not know whether the story took place in reality or if it is fictious, yet the image of Queen Esther is one of those, people will always admire. She is the character distinguished by bright individuality, untypical for the biblical women as we are used to perceive them. The Biblical Esther appears as a rather schematic personage. We only know that she was a beautiful and charming maiden, evidently clever and sexual enough to capture the King’s heart. She was loved by people who saw her. This also indicates her ability to influence the masses. She was smart as the real woman should be. We could compare her with Cleopatra, who achieved her aims with the help of men. Esther managed to charm the major eunuch Hegai by name, so that he gave her the best apartments and seven chosen maids from the king’s palace. Hegai taught Esther things that could please the King. Esther knew how to behave with her husband in order to make him satisfy her request. Twice she invited him to banquets, before uttering her will. Esther was obedient to her husband as the law demanded. She was obviously a good lover, and perhaps an advisor of the King. It was she who reported about the plot against her husband. All the news passed through her

Case4.0 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case4.0 - Essay Example There is also the lack of social responsibility from the stakeholders. The manufacturers, medical specialists, technicians fail to realize that they are dealing with human lives of other human beings. Radiation accidents are caused by factors categorized into three. First is Management. It is for the management to ensure that there is proper coordination between the oncologist and the machines technicians and make sure all rules are followed. The use of understaffed, unqualified and undertrained technicians leads to laxity in the job. Thirdly is technology. Improving technology brings about more complex machines used in the radiation therapy. System and software updates lead to unpredictable system response hence increase these cases. 3. Do you feel that any of the groups involved with this issue (hospital administrators, technicians, and medical equipment and software manufacturers) should accept the majority of the blame for these incidents? Why or why not? The hospital administrators, who are the once to lay down the policies. The technicians who need to vigilant and check the equipment and the settings to ensure that it is in line with the treatment plan prescribed by the oncologist. The medical equipment affects the results. Complex machines increase the system errors and software manufacturers need to design software that’s easy to use. The agency should have the mandate of gathering data on all radiation related accidents from all the hospitals in the states. The data should include the cause of the accident, and what factors that led to that accident. The agency should set rules and guidelines on how these accidents are to be investigated. This will make each person responsible of their mistakes and enhance diligence from all players. In the design of the linear accelerator software, one key feature is the use of a simple user interface that the technicians can easily navigate through. Secondly the use of

Self-Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Self-Reflection - Essay Example nationality being that of Somalia (check 1st week blog).The two Chinese girls in my group had been friends before and therefore were in good terms with one another. At the beginning of the project, we did not all have very strong ties with each other. Opening discussions however brought us closer. We started discussing our goals and aims and reflected upon our previous accomplishments. Such discussions assisted us in understanding each other and we began to get closer as group. The best explanation of the way we adopted the model, interacted with each other and settles on what would be done by who is the Tuckman’s stages of group development (Chapman, 2009) shown below; The â€Å"Forming† part took us a lot of time to cover. From the time we started the group, we not only added each other as friends on Facebook but also created a group profile which facilitated our exchanging of messages and everyone could see this simultaneously. In accordance to Belbin (1993), so as for a group to function well, it is very important that the members know each other something that assists in the Forming and Norming process. We gradually covered the stages of â€Å"forming† to â€Å"norming†. So as to accomplish this, we decided to do these roles together and everybody comes with whatever information they gathered to the meetings. After this, we did not spend much time trying to hit the â€Å"storming† section of the theory Tuckman (1965).As time went by I felt that the participation of other group members was very minute since they were all expecting me to do all the work and had to inform our supervisor regarding this. It was thus agreed that tasks should be delegated and had to stop doing tasks together as had been before since it was no longer working. Consequently, it is at that point that we proceeded to the last phase of Truckman theory (1965), which is performing. At this stage Tang and I were already well versed with what was required of us to do and were thorough with

THE EFFECT OF FAIR DEALING (FD) FOR DIGITAL CONTENT (DC) IN CANADIAN Research Paper

THE EFFECT OF FAIR DEALING (FD) FOR DIGITAL CONTENT (DC) IN CANADIAN DISTANCE EDUCATION (DE) - Research Paper Example IF YOU IMPROVE THIS ASPECT OF YOUR PAPER, YOUR MARK WILL IMPROVE. This paper is about Canada’s move towards copyright reform and how it affects distance education. Copyright affects education in a fundamental way as all course books and reference books come under the Copyright act. Due to the explosion of technology, vast quantity of information is available on the internet to be used by educators and students; but by accessing that information they might be stepping on legal boundaries. It is necessary that students and educators are aware of complex copyright issues that may make their institutions liable. The field of distance education is dependent on telecommunication and digital content, thus copyright laws directly affect distance education. It is important that distance educators and instructors involved in online courses are aware of copyright laws and clearance procedures, and the resources available to assist in these procedures (Wallace, 2004). Distance educators are the developers of academic and course content for this form of education; they should be fully aware of copyright laws as well as their rights according to fair dealing. The CCH, (2004) case established that fair dealing encompasses use of copyrighted material for private study purposes. Bill C-32 takes matters further by including education under fair dealing thus aiding distance educators in compiling course materials. However, Bill C-32 contains provisions that prohibit use of materials on digital formats which are digitally locked. These provisions are detrimental to distance education as they exclude legal uses of copyrighted material due to digital locks (Guest, 2010; Chan, 2009). Based on these developments, the distance educators and instructors must make sure that they and their students do not violate complicated copyright laws by circumventing digital locks. This paper focuses on the consequences of copyright laws and fair

Preformance Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Preformance Appraisal - Essay Example The book covers crucial elements of an effective performance review such as clear job expectations, training, and the establishment of performance-based rewards. This book provides useful information for understanding and developing effective performance appraisal systems, thus remain very crucial for every management scholar as well as practicing managers. This book outlines performance appraisal system aimed at enabling managers to appraise their employees effectively. The book identifies setting task objectives, documentation of employee performance, training employees, creating feedback mechanism and developing performance-reward system as some of the most crucial elements of an effective appraisal system. The book thus remains crucial for providing indispensible information about performance appraisal. In this book, Sims explores organisational performance in the dimension of employees. The author identifies employees as the main driver of organisational success. Sims proceed to explore performance appraisal as a means of boosting employee performance identifying specific elements of effective appraisal system that can ensure high level of employee performance and hence the performance of the overall

THE EFFECT OF FAIR DEALING (FD) FOR DIGITAL CONTENT (DC) IN CANADIAN Research Paper

THE EFFECT OF FAIR DEALING (FD) FOR DIGITAL CONTENT (DC) IN CANADIAN DISTANCE EDUCATION (DE) - Research Paper Example IF YOU IMPROVE THIS ASPECT OF YOUR PAPER, YOUR MARK WILL IMPROVE. This paper is about Canada’s move towards copyright reform and how it affects distance education. Copyright affects education in a fundamental way as all course books and reference books come under the Copyright act. Due to the explosion of technology, vast quantity of information is available on the internet to be used by educators and students; but by accessing that information they might be stepping on legal boundaries. It is necessary that students and educators are aware of complex copyright issues that may make their institutions liable. The field of distance education is dependent on telecommunication and digital content, thus copyright laws directly affect distance education. It is important that distance educators and instructors involved in online courses are aware of copyright laws and clearance procedures, and the resources available to assist in these procedures (Wallace, 2004). Distance educators are the developers of academic and course content for this form of education; they should be fully aware of copyright laws as well as their rights according to fair dealing. The CCH, (2004) case established that fair dealing encompasses use of copyrighted material for private study purposes. Bill C-32 takes matters further by including education under fair dealing thus aiding distance educators in compiling course materials. However, Bill C-32 contains provisions that prohibit use of materials on digital formats which are digitally locked. These provisions are detrimental to distance education as they exclude legal uses of copyrighted material due to digital locks (Guest, 2010; Chan, 2009). Based on these developments, the distance educators and instructors must make sure that they and their students do not violate complicated copyright laws by circumventing digital locks. This paper focuses on the consequences of copyright laws and fair

Islamic Politics and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Islamic Politics and Culture - Essay Example From the Sunnis point of view, the immediate caliphs (four in number), were the rightful heirs of Mohammad and they are the one recognized as the leaders of Muslims (Lyon 86). This therefore implies that the Sunnis believed that authority is dictated from the immediate descendants of Prophet Mohammad. Shiites, on the other hand, believe that Prophet Mohammad’s son in law, Ali, was the rightful heir of the Islamic throne ((Lyon 86)). This therefore implies that Shia only recognized Ali as the legitimate successors of Prophet Mohammed. Therefore, even though both of these sects believed in Mohammad as their initial leader, upon his death, there arose differences on who was rightfully supposed to inherit his throne. Mostly, stand out differences between these two sects is not usually religious but political. According to Sigh, Shiites believed that their leader was pure and blameless by nature, they believed that they were absolutely sinless and that their authority is out of question since it is given directly from Allah (26). Therefore, Shia Muslims often look at the Imams as saints and perform excursions to their tombs and shrines in the anticipation of divine intervention. Sunni Muslims on the other hand pledge that there is no foundation in Islam for a heritable advantaged class of spiritual leaders, and there is certainly no base for the honor or intercession of saints. Sunni Muslims maintain that the headship of the community is not a patrimony, but an earned trust that could be assigned or taken away by the Islamic people. Equally important, the Islamic religion entitles both the Sunni and Shiite are to a daily organized prayers at a specific time. However, these two sects usually practice certain rituals in different ways. Sacred practices also vary in terms of the scriptures that are conventional to them. While Shiites generally only recognize hadith attributable to Muhammads direct lineage or to descendants of Ali, Sunni on the contrary take a

Pilot fatigue as a causal factor in aviation accidents Essay Example for Free

Pilot fatigue as a causal factor in aviation accidents Essay This paper aims to delve into the processes and effects of pilot fatigue and its role as a causal factor in aviation accidents. Pilot fatigue as a term is hard to define since different kind of people feel it in different ways and in certain degrees. For the purpose of this paper, however, we will define pilot fatigue as a state of mental and physical exhaustion resulting in a decrease in the ability to perform and maintain activities. The paper will examine the causes of pilot fatigue, its effect to pilot performance in the aircraft and its role in causing aviation accidents. The feeling of fatigue is usually associated with two factors; lack of sleep and disruption of the body’s normal circadian rhythm. The occurrence of one or both usually results in a feeling of sleepiness, tiredness and exhaustion. One of the most essential functions in the human body is sleep. Sleep is the main way by which the body receives rest and enables it to resume activities after wakening. The effects of sleep have been almost based mostly on the results felt with and without it. Generally, having the proper amount of sleep, about 6-8 hours, results in a feeling of well being and freshness. Sleep loss means the time getting less sleep than what is required by the body to perform functions effectively upon awakening. The amount of sleep one needs to perform effectively varies per person, with some needing eight hours while others can simply make do with four. If one needs only 4 hours, and he only sleeps two, two hours of sleep loss occurs. The first night of sleep loss may or may not have a perceptible impact on work activities but after cumulative sleep losses, the impact also increases. Sleep is one of the various body processes regulated by our circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm deals with regulating processes based on cycles of night and day. When one alters the circadian rhythm, it disrupts the body’s natural cycle of rest and sleep. (Sanquist, Raby, Forsythe, Carvalhais, 1997) Fatigue effects are generally the body’s way of attempting to get some rest. These include drowsiness, lapsing in and out of sleep, reduced alertness and muscle coordination, loss of concentration and spotty memory. A fatigued person has sluggish movements, slow reaction times and a tendency to lose focus of the task at hand. Graver is the tendency to become unconscious for brief periods of time, neglecting whatever action at hand. (Conway, Mode, Berman, Martin, Hill, 2005) In pilots, any one of these could lead to disaster. However, when a combination of them occurs, the risks rise dramatically. (Caldwell, 2005) Being a pilot exposes one to situations that result in fatigue. The schedule takes it toll. The paperwork and checks that a pilot has to undergo before the flight proper results in stress. However, it is the flight itself which is the main factor for fatigue in pilots. The long flights leave a pilot almost no time for rest, much less sleep. The banality of looking at controls aids in boring the pilot. Also, the travel of the plane may take it across one or more flight zones. One of the main indicators in the circadian rhythm is daylight. Taking a trip across time zones exposes the pilot to varying amounts of daylight in a single day. This is what’s properly known as jet lag. (Petrie, Powell, Broadbent, 2004) A fatigued pilot may find it easy to succumb to the effects of fatigue during a flight. Bourgeois-Bougrine, Carbon, Gounelle, Mollard, Coblentz, 2003) The cabin pressure, the dim lights, the monotonous sounds, all this have the potential to lure a tired pilot to sleep. Although resting periods are prescribed during flight, no relaxing sleep is derived from them. (Samel, Vejvoda, Maass, 2004) Pilots may also succumb to boredom fatigue, when their tasks become dull and monotonous. (Caldwell, 2001) Whatever discipline or training a pilot may have, it is no much to the needs of the body. It is true that as a pilot, one must be at peak alertness and performance. The effect of fatigue disrupts this and would logically lead to a disturbance in pilot activities. Once airborne, pilots must be vigilant in maintaining airspeed, altitude, pitch and course. In landing, they must be sure of themselves and their movements when banking, controlling the flaps and lowering the wheels. (Raymond Moser, 1995) Fatigue can make a pilot fail in any one of these tasks. This can cause aviation accidents. (Goode, 2003) However, data on the subject cannot empirically say what role fatigue plays. The effects of fatigue may be causative to accidents, but these effects can be induced by other means. There have been many cases where pilot error was cited to be the cause of the crash. However the reasons behind those errors may or may not be due to fatigue. Also, even with a fatigued pilot, it is possible to avoid incidents. (Goode, 2003)Co-pilots are in place not just to assist, but when necessary, take over a pilot. Although no empirical data supports fatigue as a major cause of aviation incidents, the fact that it can lead to such events have led aviation industry officials to take precautionary measures to prevent as well as minimize the effect of fatigue and the risks it entails to both passenger and crew. Guidelines regarding scheduling, medication and on air conduct are aimed to reduce pilot fatigue and boredom. (Conway et al. , 2004) Ensuring that the pilot is rested and is free from fatigue does not ensure an incident-free flight, but it does minimize the risks that the effects of fatigue could lead to disaster. (Smith Mason, 2001) Research Log The first step that I did was to identify the topic. I chose fatigue in pilots and its role in accidents since I have often looked up to pilots and wishes to know what happens when they are fatigued when flying. I researched materials relevant to my topic, from books I had to the internet. I began my paper by clearly stating what I wanted to express,as to avoid confusion and backtracking by the reader. The definition of terms was next to aid the reader in digesting the paper. The body consisted of a cause, effect and then role format. I presented the causes with the desire to impress upon the reader that fatigue happens to any one and everyone. I then enumerated the effects of fatigue to show how such a common event can lead to many risks. Next, particular focus was given to the pilots and their susceptibility to conditions leading to fatigue and conducive to its effects. Afterwards, I expressed that the effects of fatigue in pilots can lead to accidents. However, I refrained from directly pressing the role of fatigue since no data supports it directly. I used the effect of fatigue to show that since A causes B, then C which is caused by B is indirectly related to A. Afterwards, I wrapped up the paper with the measures being taken to prevent fatigue as well as a brief concluding statement.

Impact Of Social Networking Sites on Youth

Impact Of Social Networking Sites on Youth Just when many of us thought we understood how to use email, could shop online, and search the web for recipes or the long- lost instruction manual for a piece of equipment in the garage, the web is evolving. Now we hear about blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Myspace and Orkut. These are some of the tools and technology associated with a recent phenomenon called social networking and it is everywhere. Social networking has become part of the daily life experience for an increasing number of people. The rapid adoption of social network sites by teenagers in the United States and in many other countries around the world raises some important questions. Why do teenagers flock to these sites? What are they expressing on them? How do these sites fit into their lives? What are they learning from their participation? Are these online activities like face-to-face friendships or are they different, or complementary? (Danah Boyd, 2007). Penuel and Riel define social networking as a set of people and the relationships between them. That definition is found today in the social networking services that promote the development of online communities of people. Social networking such as Facebook, Orkut, Myspace, Flickr and Youtube are sites where users apply for membership and maintain their personal profile information in a centrally organized database. Each network members controls access to t heir profile by accepting or declining requests from other network members to be friends. By expanding and developing their network of friends, social networking members are able to maintain online relationships for work, study, special- interests or leisure- related purposes. Social networking services utilize the participation technology and software tools to facilitate communication and interaction between members. Social software communication tools include blogs, wikis, instant messaging, chat rooms, message boards and social bookmarking. Members use these tools to share online ideas, documents, photos, videos, and favorite websites actually almost anything. As more people participate in social networking, the question becomes is it merely a social activity or are they involved in learning? And social networking websites is very popular among the youth so that they contribute the majority percentage of the users of these sites. So, the researcher wanted to study the impact of these social networking sites on their education. LITERATURE REVIEW Jeff Cain (2008), in the research paper Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education has discussed that Facebook is a tool that aids students in developing their identities and finding their fit within a college community. Helping students connect and stay in contact with old and new friends is touted as one of the significant benefits of Facebook. Making connections on campus which help them feel that they belong may be an important factor in student retention. These capabilities along with the many facets of communicating with their friends make social networking sites very appealing. Although extremely popular, especially among younger generations, social networking sites are not without their issues. Controversy surrounds the use of these sites, specifically in terms of privacy, safety, and attitudes toward revealing personal information to the world. Most of the press concerning these sites has been negative in focus. Newspapers and magazines related to higher education are replete with cases of college students who experienced negative repercussions from questionable activities that were made public online.9,15-26 The list of incidences are long and revolve around a myriad of issues related to photos, posts, and/or personal profiles. Social networking sites such as Facebook provide individuals with a way of maintaining and strengthening social ties, which can be beneficial in both social and academic settings. These same sites, however, also pose a danger to students privacy, safety, and professional reputations if proper precautions are not taken. Colleges and schools of pharmacy would be advised to consider how these issues might affect their students. At a minimum, schools should take appropriate steps to educate students about these matters. Research is needed on professional students usage and attitudes toward online social networking sites. Monitoring and usage of these sites by institutions venture into legal grey areas concerning the Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, and duty of care, and should be approached with caution. Discussion is warranted on how, if at all, material found on student social networking sites should be used in colleges of pharmacy admissions decisions and/or matters of a discip linary nature. Further research is needed on how best to address the issues surrounding online social networking. Ana M Martinez Aleman, Katherine Lynk Wartman and M Aleman Ana (2009) in their book Online Social Networking on Campus said that Teenagers online social needs are similar to those of college students. High school students want to stay up to date with their friends status; they plan activities online; they are social searchers who investigate other users with whom they have a real- life connection, and also like college students, they perceive their Facebook community to correspond to their existing real-life social relationships at school or other institutional affiliations (sports teams, music groups, etc.). Though perhaps not a user community that engages in social browsing to connect with other users offline, the high school user seems less alien and disparate to Facebooks traditional and original niche user than the older adult user. Henk Huijser (2007) explores potential educational applications of Web 2.0 technologies, and cuts through some of the hype generated around these technologies, as well as around characteristics of Generation Y, and their implications for learning and teaching. Web 2.0 technologies both reflect and drive a blurring of the lines between students and university educators, which has a potentially profound impact on learning and teaching in higher education. This paper argues that Web 2.0 technologies, and Social Network Sites in particular, offer exciting opportunities but that educational applications of these technologies should be based on sound pedagogical principles and driven by empirical research and careful evaluation, if they are to effect meaningful learning experiences for all students. Vincent Miller (2008) in his research paper New Media, Networking and Phatic Culture has discussed that This article will demonstrate how the notion of phatic communion has become an increasingly significant part of digital media culture alongside the rise of online networking practices. Through a consideration of the new media objects of blogs, social networking profiles and microblogs, along with their associated practices, I will argue, that the social contexts of individualization and network sociality, alongside the technological developments associated with pervasive communication and connected presence has led to an online media culture increasingly dominated by phatic communications. That is, communications which have purely social (networking) and not informational or dialogic intents. I conclude with a discussion of the potential nihilistic consequences of such a culture. Doris de Almeida Soares and Escola Naval (2008) in their resarch paper Understanding class blogs as a tool for language development it has been said that Web 2.0 has allowed for the development of cyber spaces where any computer user can create their own public pages to share knowledge, feelings and thoughts inviting linguistic interactions with people around the globe. This innovation has caught the attention of language practitioners who wish to experiment with blogging to enhance the teaching and learning experience. In 2007 I set up a class blog with my nine pre-intermediate EFL students in a language school in Brazil. This experience gave rise to two central questions: a) did my students see our blog as a learning tool? and b) what was blogging like in other language teaching contexts? To answer the first question I carried out some Exploratory Practice for three months. As for the second question, I designed an online survey which was answered by 16 members of a community of pr actice called the Webheads. Ultimately I learned that my students saw our blog as a learning tool and that blogs are being used in different ways around the world. This article presents the rationale behind using blogs in language classes, describes my research process and discusses the understanding my students and I have gained from exploring our own practices. R. Cachia, R. Compano and O. Da Costa (2005) in their research paper Students Actually Use the Internet for Education says that New research released by the National School Boards Association reveals data showing we all might need to reevaluate our assumptions: It turns out kids are actually using the Internet for educational purposes. In fact, according to the study, Creating Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Socialand EducationalNetworking, the percentage of children specifically discussing schoolwork online outpaces the percentage that spend time downloading music. For the survey, the NSBA teamed up with Grunwald Associates to poll 1,277 9- to 17-year-olds, 1,039 parents, and 250 school district leaders who make decisions on Internet policy. It found that a full 50 percent of students who are online spend time discussing schoolwork, and 59 percent spend time talking about education-related topics, including college or college planning; learning outside of school; news; careers or jobs; politics, ideas, religion, or morals; and schoolwork. Further, these students are spending almost as much time on the Internet visiting websites and social networking services (nine hours per week for teens) as they spend watching television (10 hours). A full 96 percent of students surveyed responded that they use the Internet for social networking purposes, including Facebook, MySpace, Webkins, and Nick.com chat. Seventy-one percent said they use these services at least on a weekly basis. Yet, the study asserts, the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school dayeven though students and parents report few problem behaviors online. Indeed, both district leaders and parents believe that social networking could play a positive role in students lives and they recognize opportunities for using it in educationat a time when teachers now routinely assign homework that requires Internet use to complete. In light of the study findings, school districts may want to consider reexamining their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes. Jeff Cain (2008) in Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education it has been said that Facebook is a tool that aids students in developing their identities and finding their fit within a college community. Helping students connect and stay in contact with old and new friends is touted as one of the significant benefits of Facebook. Making connections on campus which help them feel that they belong may be an important factor in student retention. These capabilities along with the many facets of communicating with their friends make social networking sites very appealing. Although extremely popular, especially among younger generations, social networking sites are not without their issues. Controversy surrounds the use of these sites, specifically in terms of privacy, safety, and attitudes toward revealing personal information to the world. Most of the press concerning these sites has been negative in focus. Newspapers and magazines related to higher education are replete with cases of college students who experienced negative repercussions from questionable activities that were made public online.9,15-26 The list of incidences are long and revolve around a myriad of issues related to photos, posts, and/or personal profiles. Social networking sites such as Facebook provide individuals with a way of maintaining and strengthening social ties, which can be beneficial in both social and academic settings. These same sites, however, also pose a danger to students privacy, safety, and professional reputations if proper precautions are not taken. Colleges and schools of pharmacy would be advised to consider how these issues might affect their students. At a minimum, schools should take appropriate steps to educate students about these matters. Research is needed on professional students usage and attitudes toward online social networking sites. Monitoring and usage of these sites by institutions venture into legal grey areas concerning the Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, and duty of care, and should be approached with caution. Discussion is warranted on how, if at all, material found on student social networking sites should be used in colleges of pharmacy admissions decisions and/or matters of a discip linary nature. Further research is needed on how best to address the issues surrounding online social networking. Danah M. Boyd and N.B. Ellison (2007) in their research paper Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship it has been said that Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, the authors describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition. They then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, they discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research. The work described above and included in this special theme section contributes to an on-going dialogue about the importance of social network sites, both for practitioners and researchers. Vast, uncharted waters still remain to be explored. Methodologically, SNS researchers ability to make causal claims is limited by a lack of experimental or longitudinal studies. Although the situation is rapidly changing, scholars still have a limited understanding of who is and who is not using these sites, why, and for what purposes, especially outside the U.S. Such questions will require large-scale quantitative and qualitative research. Richer, ethnographic research on populations more difficult to access (including non-users) would further aid scholars ability to understand the long-term implications of these tools. They hope that the work described here and included in this collection will help build a foundation for future investigations of these and other important issues surrounding socia l network sites. M. Brendesha Tynes (2007), in Internet Safety Gone Wild? Sacrificing the Educational and Psychosocial Benefits of Online Social Environments it has been said that Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk. But we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can far outweigh the potential dangers. These benefits include developing cognitive skills that are consistent with those required in educational settings and perspective-taking skills that are necessary for citizenship in an increasingly multiracial society. Alternative strategies for keeping adolescents safe online should build on the increasing technological awareness and sophistication of teens themselves. Danah Boyd (2007) in her research paper Why Youth Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life has said that Although news media give the impression that all online teens in the United States are on MySpace, this is not the case. For this reason, I want to take a moment to discuss who is not participating. In 2004, PEW found that 87 percent of teenagers aged twelve to seventeen have some level of Internet access.5 In a study conducted in late 2006, they found that 55 percent of online teens aged twelve to seventeen have created profiles on social network sites with 64 percent of teens aged fifteen to seventeen.6 While these numbers are most likely low,7 it is very clear that not all high school students participate in online communities that require public content creation like social network sites. Gender also appears to influence participation on social network sites. Younger boys are more likely to participate than younger girls (46 percent vs. 44 percent) but older girls are far more likely to participate than older boys (70 percent vs. 57 percent). Older boys are twice as likely to use the sites to flirt and slightly more likely to use the sites to meet new people than girls of their age. Older girls are far more likely to use these sites to communicate with friends they see in person than younger people or boys of their age.10 While gender differences do exist and should not be ignored, most of what I discuss in this article concerns practices that are common to both boys and girls. The research paper Exploring the Educational Potential of Social Networking Sites: The Fine Line between Exploiting Opportunities and Unwelcome Imposition by Henk Huijser (2007) University of Southern Queensland explores potential educational applications of Web 2.0 technologies, and cuts through some of the hype generated around these technologies, as well as around characteristics of Generation Y, and their implications for learning and teaching. Web 2.0 technologies both reflect and drive a blurring of the lines between students and university educators, which has a potentially profound impact on learning and teaching in higher education. This paper argues that Web 2.0 technologies, and Social Network Sites in particular, offer exciting opportunities but that educational applications of these technologies should be based on sound pedagogical principles and driven by empirical research and careful evaluation, if they are to effect meaningful learning experiences for all students. In the research paper Social networking sites within Higher Education threat or opportunity? by Neville Palmer, Jomo Batola, Margaret Jones and Sheila Baron (2007) it has been said that a Southampton Solent University, students predominantly use Facebook to advertise social and sporting events, make new friends, or chat among existing friends. There are currently over 6,200 members of the official Southampton Solent network, which represents around 40% of all students at the University, though there may be more in other groups. Currently there seem to be at least 150 different groups representing areas of interest under the umbrella of the University, ranging from the bizarre to sports clubs, social activities and academic related interests. Most of these groups have a small membership. There are also alumni groups, and some specific course related groups. These seem to have been formed, not by staff, but by students. For example there is a group for journalism students and another for business studies. There is a mixture of social chitchat, but also course related self help discussion. The journalism students are also giving each other leads on where they can get work experience. Forums are a form of Social Software that can be a useful tool in education. Forums are also related to Blogs, though a blog is centered on an individual, whereas a forum is centered more on an area of interest (Holzsclag 2005). There are many blogs on the Internet posted by individuals to discuss subjects ranging from their personal lives to World events. However some students are using blogs to post and discuss their work and ideas so that others can comment and advice on it (Polly 2007). A forum can be useful when a particular topic or area of interest requires discussion on the Web. This concept is being used at Southampton Solent University. In the research paper Youth Impact I has been said that A combination of the words iPod and broadcast, podcasts are digital media files distributed over the Internet and listened to on a portable media player. A related term is vodcast, which describes podcasts that incorporate video. Podcasts were originally conceived as a way for people to create their own radio shows without needing a recording studio or transmission network. They evolved into a means of recording and distributing speeches, classes and training sessions, and public safety messages. They are especially popular in K-12 schools and colleges: Teachers and professors use them to record lessons, debates, and guest speakers for absent students or later use, and students use them to record their presentations, projects, and experiments Podcasters and vodcasters record their audio and video sessions, edit them, and upload them to a feed. Listeners and viewers use a podcatcher service such as iTunes to search for and subscribe to one or more feeds. When a new podcast or vodcast is released on the feed, the audio or video file will download automatically to the subscribers iPod, computer, or other device so that they can listen to or view it at their leisure. The review of literature gave a clear idea on the use of social networking websites and the aim of the study was formulated to find the Impact of Social Networking Websites on the education of Youth and the objective is to find the trends in the Internet use by youth and to study the impact of social networking websites on the education of youth. METHODOLOGY For conducting the research, the researcher has chosen the following two methodologies: Survey and In-depth Interview. The researcher adopted the Stratified Random Sampling technique. Stratified random sampling is done when the universe is heterogeneous i.e. if the people are of different kinds. So the universe is sub-divided into many homogeneous groups or strata. And the random sampling is done in each stratum and the sample size from each stratum is taken proportionally. The total number of samples taken were 500 i.e., 125 in each stratum. The researcher has sub- divided the universe as following strata Stratum 1- +1 +2 students Stratum 2- Engineering students Stratum 3- medical students Stratum 4- Arts Science and others Also, the researcher has interviewed experts from the field to know their perspectives of the impact of the Internet on education and to know the impact of social networking sites and how far it complements the students education. ANALYSIS Survey: Statistical Analysis Survey has been done among five hundred respondents, one hundred and twenty five students from each stratum. Among the five hundred respondents 295 were male and 205 were female. 100 students accessing Internet for more than five years, 140 students for 3-5 years, highest of all- 205 students for 1-3 years and the lowest of all- 55 students for less than a year. 210 students access Internet several times in a week, 125- once in a week, 70- once in a day, 45- several times in a day and 50- rarely. When asked about the number of years the students are using social networking sites (SNS), majority of the students from all stratum have selected the option 1-3 years. Majority of the students sit in the social networking sites several times in a week. Next highest is the option once in a week. The lowest is several times a day. Maximum number of respondents uses social networking sites more than one hour and exactly only 185 students sit for less than hour. Maximum respondents said the SNS is rarely useful for their education and 140 students said it is useful only during the exams. 65 said it is useful for the education at all times and 85 said it is never useful for the education. 310 students said SNS is time consuming, 195 said they use SNS for education and 135 said they chat regarding academics in SNS. 190 students have not agreed that social networking is time consuming. But out of 190 students, 150 of them sit in SNS more than hour. 75 of them sit for 2-4 hours and 5 sit for more than four once they access the social networking sites. 260 students said their academic performance didnt change because of using SNS and only 15 students said that it has decreased. Others said it has improved. 455 students have an account in Orkut and some of them have account in Facebook, Hi-5 etc. But next to Orkut many are familiar with the Youtube website and the next is Facebook. SNS is highly used by the students as a messenger, then it is used for sharing photos and videos and then it is used to find new friends. Only 140 students have joined in the communities regarding academics, out of which 110 had said that those communities were helpful for the education. And only 40 students have said that the social networking sites distract them from the studies. Thus, from the percentage analysis of the survey data, it is found that 41% of the students are accessing Internet for 1-3 years and 28% for 3-5 years. 42% access Internet several times in a week and 25% once in a week. Apart from social networking many students use the Internet for sending e-mails and chatting. Apart from social networking 51% of the respondents use Internet for downloading music/videos, 76% for sending e-mails/chatting and 60% for educational purposes. Maximum percentage of the students accessing social networking sites for 1-3 years. Figure 1.1 No. of years students accessing SNS 33% of the students access SNS several times in a week, 28% once in a week, 18% rarely, 14% once in a day and 7% several times in a day. More percentage of the students sits in SNS more than an hour when accessed. Figure 1.2 Time spent in SNS 13% said that SNS is useful in education at all times, 28% said it is useful only during exams, 42% said it is rarely useful and 17% said it is never used for education. Figure 1.3 SNS in education 62% had accepted that SNSs are time consuming, 39% agreed that they use SNS for education, 27% chat regarding academic subjects in SNS. Figure 1.4 SNS is time consuming 52% of the students said that their academic performance didnt change because of using SNS and only 3% said that it has decreased. 39% said it has improved and 9% said it has improved a lot. Figure 1.5 Academic performance Interview with Prof. V. Sundareswaran Dr. V. Sundareswaran, the Professor Head, Department of Media Sciences, Anna University Chennai has thirty one years of experience in the teaching field. When asked about the difference between knowledge level of students ten years back and the students at present he said that retrieval or gathering of information was very difficult in those days. It took a lot of time to reach the source materials which are in libraries. But nowadays students gather lot of information very quickly and easily using Internet. And said because of the Internet the students at present are more knowledgeable than the students in the past. And also added at times students know more than the teachers also. He said no one knows about how students are using the Internet. When a student is at home, teachers doesnt know how and for what he/she is using the Internet and when the students are at the institution, parents doesnt know what he/she is doing. When asked about students- teachers interaction via Internet he said that it is a good and easy way for a student to reach the teacher and clear some doubts or get some guidance at any time. But nothing is equivalent to the conventional class room. He always prefers the traditional classroom teaching method and specifically chalk and board teaching. He doesnt prefer to use the Over Head Projectors and Powerpoint slides also. When asked whether he thinks the information is better conveyed through the interactions with the teachers by the students in the Internet, he said he dont know as he doesnt use Internet much. He rarely uses Internet only to guide his research students. When asked about websites like Orkut and Facebook, he said he dont know about those sites and remembered me his point that at times students know more than their teachers. Interview with Mr. Kiruba Shankar Mr. Kiruba Shankar, CEO of f5ive technologies, a web based company is also a social media enthusiast. When asked about his opinion about the social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook they are wonderful tools to expand ones contact beyond the first circle of friends. Its a wonderful way to keep ones friends updated about whats happening in his/her life. That said, Social Networking sites are like a two edged knife. While they can be extremely useful, they can also be misused and become a time sink. He doesnt think social networking sites help improve students education. But what they do well is improve connections which can be quite useful in the real life. In corporate life, connections and contacts are everything. He believes that SN sites in colleges helps prepare for the real world. He said most students are using SN sites for the following 1) To maintain friendship connection with existing friends 2) Reaching out to friends of friends who they would like to be in touch with 3) To improve the brand image of the person in the community 4) Reach out to the opposite sex. He says that these websites definitely distracting the students from their studies. These SN sites are a big time sink and before we know it, they would have sucked away a lot of our time. It can easily become an addiction. He also said that in future, academic institutions will embrace the concept of SN and tweak it to be an integral part of the education system. Thats the right way of doing it. Elements like blogging, podcasting and wikis are already being actively used in documenting the lessons. FINDINGS CONCLUSION The study reveals that 41% of the students are accessing Internet for 1-3 years and 28% for 3-5 years. 42% access Internet several times in a week and 25% once in a week. Apart from social networking many students use the Internet for sending e-mails and chatting. Apart from social networking 51% of the respondents use Internet for downloading music/videos, 76% for sending e-mails/chatting and 60% for educational purposes. More percentage of the students accessing social networking sites for 1-3 years. 33% of the students access SNS several times in a week, 28% once in a week, 18% rarely, 14% once in a day and 7% several times in a day. More percentage of the students sits in SNS more than an hour when accessed. 13% said that SNS is useful in education at all times, 28% said it is useful only during exams, 42% said it is rarely useful and 17% said it is never used for education. 62% had accepted that SNSs are time consuming, 39% agreed that they use SNS for education, 27% chat regarding academic subjects in SNS. 52% of the students said that their academic performance didnt change because of using SNS and only 3% said that it has decreased. 39% said it has improved and 9% said it has improved a lot. Though students dont accept that SNS distracts them from their studies, it is clear that SNS is time consuming which