Elementary school Essay

As the end of the semester approaches, there are lots of experiences and learning that I would like to share during my internship at Paul Revere Elementary school. Just like in any experiences there are good things and bad things all at the same time. These experiences made my stay at Paul Revere Elementary school worth spending. Setting goals is something very important because this makes a person knowledgeable of his/her purpose. Even before going into my internship there are different goals that I would like to attain in my stay at Paul Revere Elementary school. Now that I am approaching the end, I believe that I am able to attain the goals that I established even before I entered my internship. It is also during my stay at Paul Revere Elementary school that I learned lots of things. During my stay there are things that I know that I would learn. One of this would be the importance of education to people especially to young students. My stay at Paul Revere Elementary school made me more aware of how important education is. There are also some things that I did not expect to learn at this school and this is how different students have different needs that teachers needs to consider. This is a very important factor consider in education and learning how to cater to these different needs is something that Paul Revere taught me. Because of these experiences, I believe it strengthened my career choice rather than question it. These experiences are enough proof to show how much I value now being a teacher. Being able to shape young minds is a very rewarding experience and I will never exchange this experience for anything else.

Symbolism to the Journey

Whether we are reading a poem or a short story, there is a story to be found within. The writer is able to capture readers with their use of rhythm, characterization, or a fairy tale setting, among many other things throughout their writing. It is imagination that allows us, the readers of these stories and poems, to be able to fill in the blanks or mentally visualize what the writer wants us to see through use of descriptive words or symbolism. In the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost, the short story â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty, and the short story â€Å"Used To Live Here Once† by Jean Rhys I noticed a common theme. No matter what lonely journey we find ourselves on, we determine how the journey ends. The lonely journey that each of these literary pieces tells about is presented differently in each writing. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Frost used â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood† which told me that there was a forthcoming journey; he also used â€Å"and sorry I could not travel both† as a way to share that he had to make this decision of which path to take. Frost also used the word â€Å"I† many times, which allowed me to imagine him alone. In â€Å"A Worn Path†, Welty used the word â€Å"she† throughout the piece which gave me the image of this woman walking alone. The character spoke to animals â€Å"’Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles’† and so forth. When the writer posed this conversation in the story, it gave me the feeling of loneliness. This woman was so lonely, she spoke to animals. The path that she was walking â€Å"ran up hill†. The idea that this path she was on was up a hill provided symbolism of a hard life. To me, walking up a hill would be hard work to get to the destination. Since the description of this woman had been of an aged woman, â€Å"her eyes blue with age† and her numberless branching wrinkles, it was a pity to find this woman walking alone up hill. In â€Å"Used To Live Here Once†, Rhys, too, used the word â€Å"she† many times to describe the character in the story. The usage of a singular word painted the picture of loneliness. â€Å"She was standing by the river† and â€Å"She came to the worn stone steps†. This woman was in this journey alone. In each piece of literary writing being discussed in this paper, the loneliness throughout the journey is clear. However, the ending to the journeys vary because of the choices the characters make. We will address this further on into the paper. The setting of a story or poem is what draws the reader in. I found myself reading â€Å"The Road Not Taken First†. The reason was that it starter out with almost a conflict of where the poem could take me. With the first line being â€Å"Two roads diverged in yellow wood†, I found myself wondering where the pathways would take me. As the poem began, I found it to be written in first person sine the writer used â€Å"I† as the main character term. Frost wrote â€Å"and be one traveler, long I stood†. This enabled me to actually step into the characters’, or the writer’s, shoes and see these pathways from his perspective. I like being able to feel as if I am in the story. Frost wrote about one path that it he could see where it â€Å"bent in the undergrowth†. He went on that the other path â€Å"was grassy and wanted wear†. This painted a picture for me of actual woods, split into two pathways, both different most likely ending in a different place. In the back of my mind, I had an idea that these were symbolic of something much bigger. The symbolism within the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† was abundant. â€Å"Two roads diverged could be seen as two things, two jobs, two ideas, two of anything that one could choose between. The word â€Å"yellow†, as used to describe the two roads in which Frost could choose is symbolic of aging or decay. To me, it seemed as if Frost could have been in a mid-life crisis, in which he felt old and needed change, and he had two new roads, of which the pathways and endings were unknown, to choose from. One path had been the one he was on, but did not know where it would end. The other road was grassy, seemingly vibrant, and the ending, too, was unknown. Frost referred to the both paths as â€Å"in leaves no step had trodden black†. In his description, the use of the word â€Å"black† shows symbolism of death. It seemed as if Frost was analyzing his choices and was seeing that his alternative pathway, although it did look enticing, he wondered why no one else had come back if they had taken that path. He knew that either path would ultimately lead to death, as that was his fate. There came a turning point in the poem where Frost went from indecisiveness to having made up his mind of his choice. Instead of being in front of two paths â€Å"in a yellow wood† he ended the poem that he was in just â€Å"a wood† in which he had chosen to stay â€Å"on the first for another day†. It appeared to me that his analysis of the paths he could choose from lead him to understand that the unknown is not as enticing as the known. According to John Savoie, the contradiction lies within the idea that both paths were â€Å"equally lay† but Frost chose to take the path of least resistance which indeed is arguable as there is â€Å"a lack of distinction between the roads†. (Savoie, 2004) His journey, although seemingly lonely, was determined by the decisions he made or would make. The second piece I read drew me in because the setting was not one of mystery, but instead it was one of pity. Used to Live Here Once† was the second piece I chose to read. The setting was one of sadness. I could visualize this woman â€Å"standing by the river† and â€Å"remembering each one†. It gave me the idea that she had been there long before but had forgotten the beauty of the river over time. Sad beginnings to literary pieces are not something that normal ly draws me in. However, the story grew more intriguing to me as the setting moved to her old home. When she noticed that â€Å"the screw pine was gone†, I still felt the pity and sadness for the character. Since the writer chose to write in a third person perspective, it was difficult for me to actually identify with the character personally. Rhys wrote â€Å"it was strange to see a car standing in front of it†. The personification of this car â€Å"Standing† in front of her old house was difficult to be considered strange since it was not an actual feeling of the character but instead an observation by the writer. In fact, the idea that the writer was this close to the character made me think she was speaking of herself in third person. Elizabeth Abel wrote a piece on Jean Rhys saying that Rhys’ writings typically subject us to â€Å"sparse and repetitive narratives† and â€Å"are variations of themes of failure and rejection. (Abel, 1979) This could be, perhaps, how the writer was able to make me feel as if, although told in third person, I was able to identify with her more closely. I was able to feel was the pity that the writer felt for the character through the words, such as when she spoke â€Å"shyly† to the kids but they did not hear her. This, too, solidifies the idea of Abel that Rhys wrote of perhaps herself in yet another rejected scenario. It seemed as if the journey was lonely for this character. The words â€Å"she† tells me this and also the fact that the setting is very calm and serene but without emotion from the character. From beginning to end, Rhys used symbolism to allow me, the reader, to relate and perhaps dig deeper into the meaning of things. The character stood by the river, which is symbolic of life. She did not walk into the river, she stood by it. This is symbolic of the entire story itself, since in the end of the story we find that the woman was indeed already dead and looking back into her own life. This was a journey that the character took alone. The character then walks down a road. This road is very symbolic to this story. The description is that the road is â€Å"much wider than it used to be†. This indeed tells me that the character took her life for granted. She had never truly taken the time to see the beauty in the things around her; this is why the road seems so much wider to her now that she has passed on. The day â€Å"was a fine blue day†. The color blue is used to tell the reader that it was a peaceful day. Rhys wrote on to tell us that the character noticed the pine tree was missing from outside of her own home, as her journey led her to her old doorstep. This is symbolism of immortality. Her old house had been painted white, which provides the feeling of life or purity. The character’s observation of the boy and girl playing in the yard was one that I will never forget. The colors of the yellow grass as she approached them and the gray in the boy’s eyes as the character tried to speak to him. This is when I first realized that the character was indeed a ghost looking in on her old life. The usage of colors throughout â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† is what drew me into this story. At my initial read of this story, I just thought that the writer liked colors. When linking these colors to symbolism, it gave me a much deeper perspective on what Rhys was trying to tell me, the reader. The lonely journey that this character was on was reflective of the lonely journey she lived when she was alive. It, once again, confirms that the decisions we make in life are what determine the ending of our journey. The last piece, â€Å"A Worn Path† had a setting that would draw in any reader who appreciates in-depth detail that, although in third persona narrative, makes you, the reader, feel as if you are standing there in the story along with the character. The setting throughout this story is indeed a pathway through the woods. Welty started the story out with â€Å"a bright frozen day early in the morning†. I hate being cold, personally, but Welty’s initial setting description made me feel excited to see what would happen if I read on further about the events on the â€Å"frozen day†. According to journal writer, James Robert Sanders, â€Å"the story begins conspicuously on a cold December morning, and just as quickly we are made aware that there is an old black woman†. Suanders, 1992) Continuing my reading, I found the character, again noting the use of the singular â€Å"she† throughout the piece, to be â€Å"an old Negro woman† â€Å"along a path through the pinewoods†. Welty described this woman as â€Å"very old and small and she walked slowly†. The pity set in on me at this point to think that a lady of her age was walking alone in the woods. She carried a cane, â€Å"made from an umbrella†. The setting, although starting out in an exciting manor, had, at this point, turned more so into pitiful. She seemed destitute by this fact. There she was, in the woods alone, using an umbrella to swat through the brush to ensure there were not any animals hiding along her pathway. When Welty wrote that â€Å"the sun made the pine needles almost too bright to look up at†, it brought me back to the excited feeling again. It was as if the story had gone from exciting to pitiful and fearful back to exciting again. I felt like Welty was trying to keep a positive spin on a negative situation. Continuing on with the reading, I found the character again in a battle, but this time with thorns from a bush. Once she freed herself from the thorns, she said â€Å"sun so high† which again gave the offset to the negative event. Shortly after, the character was faced with a log that she must cross over a river. This woman could not catch a break on her journey but still she kept going with intent to succeed and make it to her destination. Within the story â€Å"A Worn Path†, the symbolism, the personification, and the tone are what made this story most appealing. The story, itself is interesting. However, when you add in the extra benefit of symbolism, the reader can get a more in-depth look and feel for what the writer is trying to make us feel. This story, told in third person narrative, starts out on a â€Å"bright frozen† morning. This symbolism provided me with a feeling of hopefulness. Although it was frozen outside, it was bright. The character walked down a path. It seemed she only had one path to walk down. Her only choice was actually going down that path or not to. Her eyes were blue which gave me the feeling of peacefulness. Her face was described with golden color beneath her wrinkles and yellow color under her dark cheekbones. This symbolism gave me the idea that although she was aged and seemingly poor, she still possessed dignity and pride. To describe the wrinkles on her face, Welty personified a little tree to be standing in the middle of the character’s forehead. Immediately, I was able to visualize this much better than I would have without this connection. The character continued on her path in the â€Å"sun† and cold, passing pine trees, thorns, and speaking to animals. The sun is symbolic of life. However, being winter outside, we know this by the use of the word â€Å"frozen† to describe the weather; we know that this is symbolic of death. I took this to mean that the character was dying but trying really hard to fight to stay alive. Along her path, these hurdles, the thorns, the logs and creeks, the path being uphill, passing through a cotton field, the field of dead corn, her speaking to animals and imagining people along her journey in the woods, this is all part of the symbolism of things she was fighting to stay alive. It was her struggle. She began dancing with a scarecrow, something that is supposed to scare away birds, or in this case death, and here she was dancing with it. It just shows her eagerness to stay alive and fight off the negativity, the death. Although she seems crazy throughout this journey, her own focus, the one thing that she stays sane in regard to, is life and her desire to stay alive. When the character started to walk through â€Å"trees silver in their dead leaves† it was certainly symbolic that death was shortly forthcoming. Just as I start to think she is about to die, she comes upon a spring and sweet gum and water. It was as if she was being given one more chance. She laid there on the ground and had a dream that â€Å"she reached her hand up, but nothing reached down and gave her a pull†. This dream symbolized to me that God was not ready to take her, not just yet. That is when the hunter found her. The hunter felt pity on her and I understand this because he says he would have given her money if he could. In town, she asked a lady to tie up her shoe for her before she reached her final destination. Her need to be presentable for her entrance into the medical building to get her grandson’s medicine shows that she still has class and self-respect. Her journey to the medical building, although alone and difficult, was made possible through the love for her grandson. Had she not made that trip, her grandson would have died. Each of these literary pieces was different by means of the nding to the journey in which the character had taken. â€Å"The Road Not Taken† was a solitary journey to make the decision of which path in life to take, the one we know or the one we do not know. â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† was another solitary journey of a life after it has already passed by; it was a lesson that we should not take for grante d the things in life, although simple. â€Å"A Worn Path† was one more solitary journey, but this one taught a lesson that love can conquer all. Each journey I read for this paper has taught a value life lesson. The journeys we take are altered by the decisions we make along the way.

Expected U.S. GDP growth rate going forward Essay

This paper examines the expected growth of the United State’s GDP.   It looks at how the economy is performing, especially after the recent credit crunch that had effects on the whole world’s economy. The paper looks at GDP growth rates expected at different rates for specific periods of time.   According to the World Bank, the economy of the United States of America is the largest amongst the world’s economies. Expected U.S. GDP growth rate going forward Economic growth is a situation in which the value of goods and services produced by a given economy. It is measured in terms of GDP where it is taken as the percentage rate of rise in real GDP.   Growth is an economic parameter that is presented in real terms; this means that it varies according to adjustments in inflation-terms so that the effects of inflation on product prices can be netted out (Lipsey, et al, 2007).   The average living standards of citizens of a nation are measured using real GDP per capita calculated as the total GDP divided by the total population in an economy. Considering the recent economic activities, the economy was on a go slow during the second quarter due to the fact that consumer spending was adversely affected by job scarcity. This condition left the recovery to almost solely dependent on the flow in commercial investments. According to updates of July 28, 2010 by Economic Outlook Index, it predicted that the economy will experience growth in real Gross Domestic Product at an annualized growth rate based on six month period. However, after the end of stimulus initiatives, it is expected to slow to about 2.5% by the end of December 2010. This situation will be greatly influenced by the seemingly perpetual high unemployment, the feeble housing market, high debt and rigid credit. The GDP of U.S., and of course other economies, can be determined either by finding total demand in the economy, total production or total spending. Using total spending, it is projected that during 2010 the total spending will be $6413 billion. This represents about $378 billion or 6.26% increase based on the previous projections of 2009. This is also expected to continue rising in the subsequent years. For instance, the total spending is expected to hit $6713 billion and $6832 billion in 2011 and 2012 respectively (U.S.A. Government spending, 2010). The implication of this is that the U.S. GDP can be expected to grow at the rate 6.26% in 2010, 4.68% in 2011; this represents a drop from the preceding period and in 2012 it is expected to grow at the rate of 1.77% (U.S.A. Government spending, 2010). This means that even though the real GDP is expected to grow between 2010 and 2010, it will happen at a reducing rate. Even, So, some of drivers of the projected growth include the expected increase in employment for the period running from 2008 to 2018 in which   unemployment is to reduce by 10.1% and increased government expenditures amongst other significant economic factors. It is therefore important to note that there is no cause for alarm amongst the business community and the investors. Conclusion The recent credit crunch which started in 2007 affected the U.S.A economy alongside other major world economies hence sending ripple effects to the developing economies (International Monetary Fund, 2008). More jobs were lost during the period, the prices in the real estate market experienced high inflations and generally the cost of basic consumer products went up. However, through stimulus strategy and other economic interventions has seen the U.S GDP growth start increasing. This is due to projected growth in total expenditures and commercial activities within the U.S. economy. It is also expected that unemployment rate will go down and hence have a positive effects on total expenditures.

Face book Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Face book - Coursework Example Since its establishment in 2004, Facebook has added a number of features and applications based on the prevailing trends and user preferences. For example, in 2007, Facebook introduced a feature that allowed friends to gave gifts to friends, post free advertisements and also allowed users to develop their own applications. The trend of adding new features has continued even up to date. For example, as late as February 2014, Facebook launched an application called Paper to be used for delivering news (Phys.org, 2014). Facebook has promised to add more features and applications in order to enhance the experience of the users. Therefore, based on this trend, it is clear that Facebook will continue to attract more users in the future, and hence will remain a dominant force in the social networking market. The projected dominance of Facebook is evidenced by how it managed to outsmart MySpace in 2008. By 2004, when Facebook was being founded, MySpace was the leading social networking site worldwide. However, as of 2008, Facebook had overtaken MySpace and had become the most popular networking site worldwide with the highest number of users. One of the key ingredients in this growth was the ability of Facebook to introduce an Open API platform in 2007 (Jung & Lee, 2011). This platform allowed for group interactions, as opposed to one-to-one communications. Facebook was thus the first site to introduce this type of application, and this had two major advantages. First, both Facebook and MySpace users could interact, and this helped capture some of the MySpace users to Facebook. Secondly, Facebook was able to increase the interactions between its users, and this further facilitated its accelerated growth and eventual outpacing of MySpace in 2008 (Jung & Lee, 2011). Similarly, due to the h igh popularity of Facebook, the interactions it fosters will help it grow its users into the future compared to other social

Broadway Musicals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Broadway Musicals - Essay Example This display created another layer for people to indulge in and become a part of as they watched this very different style. By the 1940s the musicals of the 1920s had fallen on hard times. Because of the War and the economic times people were not able to pay to see theatre as often. The shows that were more unusual or daring fell by the wayside form lack of audience participation. The reviews that had been so popular because it was a place where new actors were show cased, evolved into vaudeville. Many performers from the old musicals were now doing motion pictures. Major composers were either dead, retired or doing something different. The musicals of the 1920s had crated a formula of fast and furious entertainment without a plot, realism or a good story (Mordden 1999:4). By the 1940s audiences were bored with the old musicals and they were looking for something fresh and different. It is important to note that all the musicals of the 1920s to the 1940s had different formulas that e ncouraged comedy with no real plot. An example, many of the Andy Hardy musicals with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were examples of these. Babes on Broadway was to entertain people and make them happy. It had very little plot. Usually the musical started with a bit musical number that evolved the entire chorus. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and the team of Rodgers and Hart were producing singable tunes that also had elements of the music from the time -- ragtime, boogie-woogie, jazz and more (Mordden 24).

Physical apperance presonality development Essay

Physical apperance presonality development - Essay Example This addresses the differences between the ideal self that one imagines and the real self that must be dealt with daily: everyone is not at peak performance at all times and bloating does happen. This can immediately attack one's self-esteem, either in frustration of the event or in guilt to what extent one caused it. The commercial focuses on the latter, claiming that active engagement with school and work cause people to frequently make poor food choices (there's a pizza box on the table) which conflict with other activities that later arise. Part of my, or any woman's gender constancy, creates a sensitivity not just to identification with the bloated woman, but also an awareness of pitfalls to the advertised diet. Activia claims to have something called bifidar regularis, which, aside from sounding made-up, is supposed to regulate the digestive tract to alleviate bloating. What it loudly leaves unsaid is that one must exercise ego (or self) control in eating habits to begin with w hich can easily be interpreted that the yogurt should be an entire meal replacement which is the first step towards developing a case of anorexia nervosa. Frustrated by what was sounding like a panacea, I decided to move along similar lines to a different media, the July 2006 issue of Cooking Light. Cooking Light can be i... al in mind, coping with the body images used in these adds is a little easier to accept, as it doesn't feel quite so much that it is an insistence to conform to these slender women so much as they are displayed as goal weights to achieve through healthier eating. Yet even here, ads focused on more superficial concerns, considering their were two Oil of Olay ads (one facial cream, one boy cream) and one L'Oreal (anti-sagging cream). These first two perpetuate an everlasting myth of adolescence (a mistaken self-concept that one reaches a peak and then declines after it) through early intervention ignoring that age-differentiation attributes more admirable traits (wisdom, experience) to women who have had time to make their way in the world. The sensitive periods in which a woman may become self-conscious enough to begin using Oil of Olay begin when one first recognizes signs of aging. One frequently feels that this results from neglecting to use creams from an early point in puberty, w hen in actuality it is a normative experience and part of maturation. This prejudice against looking older is in direct contrast with today's increased life spans; it seems women want to increase the longevity of their youth, not their life. While these ads angered me as far as their external single mindedness, Cooking Light did have one ad that seemed to bridge the generational gap. An ad for Poise, a sanitary pad designed for weak bladders, is specifically designed for the female gender. The subject itself provokes a number of self-conscious emotions, as well as an understandable social phobia for anyone suffering from the condition. While this problem would prove to be a critical period for anyone, the ad sends a signal of empathy in the picture of a mother hugging her

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

Dyscalculia - Essay Example The Math equivalent of Dyslexia. So what exactly is Dyscalculia and how can educators help ease the stress of the learning disability on the student diagnosed with the handicap? The National Center for Learning Disabilities defines Dyscalculia as â€Å"a term referring to a wide range of life-long learning disabilities involving math. There is no single form of math disability, and difficulties vary from person to person and affect people differently in school and throughout life â€Å" (NCLD, 2006). The 2006 NCLD report indicated that Dyscalculia is a learning problem that can be spotted in a child at a very young age. Some of the symptoms of Dyscalculia include â€Å" Difficulty in recalling numbers, trouble with the concept of time, poor sense of direction, poor mental math ability, and difficulty in playing strategy games of any sort†. (NCLD, 2006) Their research also pointed out that teachers have the duty to help any of their students whom they suspect of having Dyscalculia by identifying the student and moving him to an Inclusive Classroom setting in order to insure that the child will not feel the pressures of having to keep up in the Math lessons of the rest of the class before he is ready to do so. (NCLD, 2006) This is something that should not be difficult to do since the teachers can use a specially designed assessment test on possible Dyscalculia students in order to confirm their suspicions as educators. It is highly important that students suffering from Dyscalculia be moved to an inclusive classroom setting before their fear of math sets in. This is to insure that the child will not unconsciously reject any form of help in Math studies that is offered to him in the form of tutorials. Even though the illness is not one that is curable, Steinbach and Doughty (2008) reported that it could still be possible for students with Dyscalculia to lead normal educational lives provided the full court press of educators, tutors, and parents exists in

The Customer Service Perspective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Customer Service Perspective - Essay Example THE MOST VIABLE OPTION As the world turns into the global village melting all the cultures and blurring all the boundaries with the use of technology, competitive landscape is much tougher than ever before. Information is easily accessible to the customers, availability of substitutes has given more power to the customers and the only choice left to the suppliers is to; â€Å"delight their customers†. Thus the rule of the game is not only to meet the requirements of the customer but to step further in creating a value for the customer. Here, Niven advises that; â€Å"companies need to offer all three – innovation, outstanding customer care and flawless execution – because of today’s hyper-competitive environment. Only then can companies meet customer expectations and succeed at performance management that translates into leadership in the marketplace and customer minds.† (Niven, 2004) Customers make the most important link in the chain of success. C ompanies have to carefully identify their potential customers, segmenting the right market and targeting the potential customers serve as competitive advantages to a company. Innovation, customer care and execution along with quality offerings are required to maintain the customer base. Since now there are so many substitutes for a product that companies need to take a leap in satisfying them by providing the best customer care services. Bollen believes that customer complain is an opportunity for the company to win his trust, loyalty and long term commitment. Only if the company gauge it right and makes the customer feels that he is being valued an enduring relationship can happen. (Bollen, 2008) Bollen has related the choice of a customer to his emotional attachment in order to make companies realize that no matter... No other perspective is given more importance than the customer perspective because no matter how good your product is if you are unable to translate its need to your customer one can’t earn the desired results. After thoroughly reading various articles from the web and examples of companies using balance score card with special important to customers perspective, I felt a lot of tilt towards innovation and value proposition of the product in order to satisfy the customer. What more I would like to add is the â€Å"human factor†. Companies should divert their attention towards customer care; employees should be given a lot of important. But since it is an internet economy and a lot of transactions take place virtually all the aspects that are used to communicate or encounter with the customers should be carefully handled. Web sites and customer portals should be user friendly and incorporate all the answers to the customer. Strong emphasis should be placed on the commun ication strategy of the business. The features and benefits of a product should be translated to the customers as per their needs and wants. Usage of jargons and words customers don’t know can be trouble shooting.

ANALYSIS MOVIE Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ANALYSIS - Movie Review Example The cinematographer (Doug Emmett) filled the screen with strange point of views and dark gloomy shadows. The characters were seen through the doorjamb from or through the windows outside the house. This touch gave the movie that perspective of a horror-movie. 91 minutes movie â€Å"The One I Love† is a feature that is extremely confident having some fun things to talk about such as destiny and connection and also relationship and identity. Additionally, the movie is confined to a smaller location with a twilight zone up and set improvisation was used to flesh out the characters. The movie can be said to classic in its composition, and editorial structure with only two defined characters. In terms of camerawork, the film has a limited bitrate, this left some of the scenes to be too soft, having a lesser shaky camera, but generally, the film looked good and was not distracting while watching (â€Å"The One I

Current Issue Assignment - Article Summary and Analysis Essay

Current Issue Assignment - Article Summary and Analysis - Essay Example ility for the company’s financial misstatements,† according to a news article published in Business Week on 30 October 2006, â€Å"Taro Pharma CFO Resigns after Report,† and submitted through The Associated Press (Hawthorne, NY). Taro has hired a law firm to probe the details of the case gathered by its own audit committee. Furthermore, the company has reported that â€Å"a member of the company’s senior financial management caused Taro to make misleading statements† to the SEC and the company’s auditor, Ernst & Young. The CFO of Taro and the unidentified financial management officer â€Å"vigorously disagreed† with the report before they both resigned. At present, the company has an interim chief administrative and restructuring officer, whose main job is to help Taro reduce its costs and restructure debt. The company is looking to obtain bank waivers as it cannot be compliant with some of its creditors because of the late filing of the annual report. For a company to ensure that it is legally safe and financially sound in the short as well as the long run, it is crucial to have financial statements that are both accurate and foolproof (Spiro 1996). Any financial management officer may blunder with numbers, either deliberately or not so. Inaccurate financial statements may wreck the budgeting process, cause significant damage to a company’s reputation, and make it rather difficult for it to obtain loans in future. True financial statements are the lifeblood of an organization. A company is connected with the public at large through its products and services, and also its shareholders, suppliers, and the families of its employees, besides its lenders (Spiro). A financial misstatement – depending on the discrepancy between a correct financial statement and a financial misstatement – may hurt all the members of society it interacts with, no matter who is responsible for the error. Finally, it is vital for all financial managers to team up with

Proof of God's existence and Human error Research Paper

Proof of God's existence and Human error - Research Paper Example It is a logical reality that in order for something to be created, someone must create it. According to Descartes, in order for an idea to contain objective reality, it must be derived from a cause that contains at least as much of a formal reality as there is objective reality in the idea. With this logic, Descartes explains that the objective reality of an idea cannot come from a man therefore it must be derived from something else. Only a perfect and infinite being could be capable of creating such an idea, and since man is not infinite, therefore such ideas can never be derived from man. On the other hand, God is perfect and an infinite being with infinite formal reality, therefore such objective ideas must have come from God; therefore God exists. Second proof of the existence of God is that; the power and action needed to preserve something are the same as needed for creating something anew. Creation of something is an effect and each effect has a cause, therefore there must be as much reality in the cause as in the effect. According to Descartes, man cannot have power to preserve himself therefore the existence that caused the creation of man must be the one preserving the man himself. Since man can think, the entity that created man must also have the ability to think. Man is not a perfect being and had man been able to create himself, he would have made the man perfect. Since man has ideas of perfection therefore the entity that created man must be perfect. Therefore, through this logical derivation, it can be inferred that God exists. Both these proofs are different from each other due to the perspective through which they are presented. The first proof is presented by using the logic of the infinity of an idea and the cause that created that idea. On the other hand, the second proof is presented by the logic of the existence of man himself. The second proof is more convincing because it provides an easily understandable logic from the perspective of the existence of humans. Descartes needed two proofs to widen the scope of his philosophy. Proving the same fact using two different dimensions only adds to the depth of the argument. Two proofs are also important because different people with different perspectives may be able to understand them easily. Two proves do not do different works for Descartes because these are only two ways of proving the same fact. After proving that God exists and he is perfect, there arises a question regarding the imperfection of man. If God is perfect, why is there room for error or imperfection? Descartes presents a convincing argument as a reply to this question which is; there is a scale having two extremes that are nothingness and perfection, and man exists somewhere between these two extremes. Man is less perfect than God but he is more than mere nothingness. Therefore, error is not a positive reality according to Descartes but it just the absence of what is correct. Thus Descartes infers that man can err without God giving him any ability to do so but error happens only due to the mortality of the ability of the man to judge the truth. Descartes thus describes the existence of human error as the inability of the man to determine why God chose to create the man. It is due to the limited knowledge of the man which is not infinite as that of God. Therefore, it can be said that the arguments presented by Descartes are convincing because he explains the existence of

The Future of Early Childhood Education Essay Example for Free

The Future of Early Childhood Education Essay If you ask someone to list for you the most important jobs of our society, teachers always make the list sometimes beating out careers like doctor or lawyer. Ironically, for a career we value so much, teaching has never been a well paying profession. But times are about to change. Due to an increasing demand and a fixed supply, salaries for early education teachers are expected to increase within the next decade. The United States Board of Labor ranks this career as one of the highest paying of the next ten years, with an expected median tenure salary of over ninety thousand by the year 2012. Even taking into account inflation, working conditions, and different peoples preferred lifestyle, it is reasonable to say that a career in early childhood education can provide a very comfortable living. The law of supply and demand helps us understand how price is set in our society. It states that if the supply of a good increases, or if the demand of a good decreases, then the price of the good drops. The opposite is also true, if the supply decreases and the demand increases, than a good becomes more expensive. The theory of supply and demand is very powerful, and can be applied to many different things. In this paper, it will be used to explain why teachers salaries are expected to increase a great deal. The number of teachers will be the supply, the need for teachers will be the demand, and salaries will be the price that will be affected. In 2002 there were over two million positions for early education teachers in the United States. Of the teachers in those jobs, about 1. 5 million were elementary school teachers, 424,000 were preschool teachers, and 168,000 were kindergarten teachers(Outlook). The majority of these teachers worked for the local government educational services, with about ten percent working for private schools. While the majority of preschool teachers are employed by child daycare services. Geographically, teaching positions vary with the population. Highly populated areas have more employment opportunities. Every year, a greater number of students enroll into the United States school system. More students increase the need for more schools and qualified teachers. In addition to the population growth, a number of initiatives have been implemented in a few states, but not nationwide, to improve the quality of education. The initiatives include the reduction of class size in the early elementary grades, mandatory preschool for four year olds, and all-day kindergarten. More teachers will be needed than are currently available if states and their local districts plan to enact any of these measures, preschool and early elementary school teachers are particularly in demand. Job openings for early childhood teachers within the next ten years are expected to be excellent. This is due in part to a government plan to great new teaching jobs. In the 1999 federal budget, Congress allocated funding to hire approximately 30,000 new teachers nationwide(section1). However the number of openings depends on locality, grade level, and subjects taught. These funds are targeted for needy school districts as part of a seven-year plan to hire 100,000 new teachers(section 1). These new openings will appear in poorer communities were salaries are currently lower, however because of the limited supply of teachers they will have to compete with wealthy distracts in order to attract teachers. Schools will be forced to raise salaries, bonuses, and benefits to attract teachers to these new jobs. These new jobs created by the government are not the only openings for teachers expected in the next ten years. Most job openings will be due to the expected retirement of a large number of teachers. Approximately half of the early childhood teachers in the workforce today are expected to retire within the next ten years. Studies estimate a demand of well over two million new teachers to fill these positions. Adding to the demand is the high turnover rate among new teachers and teachers working in poorer urban schools. Replacing all these teachers would be like trying to replace ever doctor in the United States today, but why will we need all these teachers? The children of the baby boomer generation are getting older, doesnt that mean that we are expecting a lower enrollment for earlier grades? No, in fact the opposite is true. Student enrollments will still be a key factor in the demand for teachers, in the next ten years. While the number or students expected to enter the school system is expected to rise at a slower rate than in the past, the expected number is still growing; resulting in average employment growth for all early childhood teachers. While the demand for teachers is increasing, the supply of teachers has been decreasing steadily since the 1970s. Historically, teachers have been paid significantly less than other professionals with their same level of education. Because of this, people have been more attracted to pursuing careers in business, medicine, or law, which have typically paid more. This resulted in few new entries into the teaching professionals, and an aging of the professionals currently working. As the demand for teachers increases in the next decade, more than half of those currently teaching will retire by 2012. While there is a great need for new teachers, there are barriers of entry into the profession that reduces the amount of people that are qualified to enter the field. All 50 States and the District of Columbia require public school teachers to be licensed. Licensure is not required for teachers in private schools. Usually licensure is granted by the State Board of Education or a licensure advisory committee. Teachers may be licensed to teach the early childhood grades (usually preschool through grade 3); the elementary grades (grades 1 through 6 or 8); the middle grades (grades 5 through 8); a secondary-education subject area (usually grades 7 through 12); or a special subject, such as reading or music (usually grades kindergarten through 12) (Outlook) The requirements for the regular license to teach kindergarten threw twelfth grade are different depending on the state. But no matter which state you apply, all prospective teachers are required to have a bachelors degree, a specified number of subject and education credits in an approved teacher-training program, and have to have supervised practice in teaching in a classroom environment. Different states have additional requirements, like having to complete a masters degree, having to have graduated with a certain grade point average, or special technological training. Most states require applicants to be tested for basic skills, like reading, writing, and in teaching. Almost all states require the teacher to exhibit proficiency in his or her subject. The number of teachers employed is not only dependent on how much the state and local government has set aside in its legislation to increase the quantity and quality in its districts. At the Federal level, the No Child Left Behind Act has recently been enacted. Although the full impact of this act is not yet known, its emphasis on ensuring that all schools hire and retain only qualified teachers, should lead to an increase in funding for schools that currently lack such teachers. The purpose of this legislation has been to increase the quality of the teachers in the workforce. To achieve this goal school systems are working to create a performance-based system for licensure. This would mean that not only would teachers have to have experience, but would have to show reasonable results for a defined period of time before they would be granted a provisional license. Due to No Child Left Behind Act, the test scores that their students attain will undoubtedly measure a teachers performance. All this would be in addition to passing a standardized exam in ones subject. Once a teacher is licensed, most states require continued education in order to have that license renewed. Licensing requirements for preschool teachers are also different in each state. Requirements for public preschool teachers are usually higher than those for private preschool teachers. Some states require a bachelors degree in early childhood education, others require an associates degree, and still others require certification by a nationally recognized authority. The Child Development Associate credential, the most common type of certification, requires a mix of classroom training and experience working with children, along with an independent assessment of an individuals competence. In 2002, the average annual salaries of kindergarten, elementary, and middle school teachers were reported to be forty to forty five thousand dollars a year or greater, with the lowest salaries recorded as twenty five thousand a year and the highest being seventy thousand a year. These salaries differ according to the location of the teacher. For example, teachers in wealthier suburban communities tend to earn more than teachers in urban schools. Also, while public schoolteachers tend to earn an average of forty five thousand dollars a year, private school teachers earn an average of fifteen thousand less. By the year 2012, the Board of Labor estimates the median salary of early childhood teachers to be approximately ninety thousand dollars, with the high salaries reaching as high as one hundred and ten thousand dollars a year. In addition to their salaried, teachers can increase their earnings in several ways. Most public schools, and some private, pay teachers bonuses for coaching sports or working with extra curricular activities. Some public schools pay teachers up to twenty dollars an hour for the overtime work, which can increase their annual income by an average of fifteen thousand dollars a year. Teachers can also raise their salary by getting a greater degree, like a national certification, masters, or PhD. Several teacher also choose to work threw their summer breaks for additional income, by teaching summer school or pervading other labor for the school district. While there is no estimates on how much teachers supplemental income is expected to increase by 2012, is it safe to assume that any benefits and bonuses will increase as well, in order to make teaching more attractive to qualified professionals. Standards of living are very subjective; it is possible that no two people would be able to decide what the standard is for a comfortable lifestyle. Our lifestyle depends on a great many things, our different taste, values, background and culture. However a survey of early education teachers in the New Jersey area shows that most teachers currently enjoy a lower middle class lifestyle. A majority of teachers feel that teaching affords them a comfortable lifestyle. Many live in suburban neighborhoods, own their own homes, own cars, are able to safe for the future, and have a little extra income for luxuries like fine dinning and vacations. Currently, teachers that enjoy this lifestyle are married and live in a multiple income household. However, most teachers that are entry level and rely on a single income find themselves living from paycheck to paycheck. While they feel they have enough to support themselves, they are not afforded the luxuries that their tenured, double income colleagues enjoy. However the future looks bright for early childhood teachers. The average salary for teachers is expected to more than double in the next ten years, from the current average of forty thousand to an expected average of ninety thousand by 2012. Salaries for some are expected to be as high as one hundred and ten thousand, depending on the region and subject taught. Salaries this high would allow teachers depending on only one income to enjoy the same luxuries that their married colleagues enjoy today, and teacher that life in multiple income households are expected to enjoy an upper middle class lifestyle. However, some people might notice that prices are higher today than they where ten years ago, and it seems that every year the average cost of living keeps increasing. This phenomenon is called inflation. Just because teachers will make more money in the future does not mean that that theyre standards of living will increase, because the cost of living will also be higher in the next ten years. To determine if there will be an increase in the standards of living for early high school teachers, we have to compare the increase in their salaries to the expected rate of inflation. Within the next ten years teachers salaries are expected to increase by over fifty percent, while leading economist in the United States Federal Reserve Bank expect inflation in the same period of time to be only eighteen percent. This means salaries are expected to increase more than the cost of living is expected to increase, which means teachers will have more purchasing power. Using these estimates, a salary of ninety thousand in 2012 has the same purchasing power as a seventy five thousand dollar a year salary does today. Even taking inflation into account the standards of living for teachers will increase within the next ten years, but there are more factors than just income than affect peoples lifestyles. Most people on the United States value their family and health as much, if not more, than how much money they make. In a survey of early childhood teachers in New Jersey, most teachers valued the ability to finish work at a reasonable hour and spend more time with their family when asked what they valued most about their careers. Having a two month vacation also allows for more leisure time and, and time to be spent with family. Many teachers also have excellent benefits, provided by either the government or teachers unions. In 2002, more than half of all elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers belonged to unions? mainly the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association? that bargain with school systems over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment (Outlook). Unions also bargain for increased benefits, including medical, dental and vision benefits for teachers and their dependents. How much a person makes and the things they can afford are not the only factors that affect your life style. For some people money may not be important, they may not value compensation as highly as they value personal fulfillment from what they do for a living. Some people need the satisfaction that they are making a difference in the world, and have the desire to do something meaningful with their lives. For people with these values, seeing students develop new skills and gain an appreciation of knowledge and learning can be very rewarding. In this sense, a career in early childhood education also provides. Our society values the importance of teachers as much, if not more than the importance of doctors. Preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school teachers play a vital role in the development of children. What children learn and experience during their early years can shape their views of themselves and the world and can affect their later success or failure in school, work, and their personal lives. Preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school teachers introduce children to mathematics, language, science, and social studies. They use games, music, artwork, films, books, computers, and other tools to teach basic skills. Preschool children learn mainly through play and interactive activities. Preschool teachers capitalize on childrens play to further language and vocabulary development (using storytelling, rhyming games, and acting games), improve social skills (having the children work together to build a neighborhood in a sandbox), and introduce scientific and mathematical concepts (showing the children how to balance and count blocks when building a bridge or how to mix colors when painting). Thus, a less structured approach, including small-group lessons, one-on-one instruction, and learning through creative activities such as art, dance, and music, is adopted to teach preschool children. Play and hands-on teaching also are used in kindergarten classrooms, but there academics begin to take priority. Primarily kindergarten teachers teach letter recognition, phonics, numbers, and awareness of nature and science, introduced at the preschool level. Teachers design classroom presentations to meet students needs and abilities. They also work with students individually. Teachers plan, evaluate, and assign lessons; prepare, administer, and grade tests; listen to oral presentations; and maintain classroom discipline. They observe and evaluate a students performance and potential and increasingly are asked to use new assessment methods. Including school duties performed outside the classroom, many teachers work more than forty hours a week. Part-time schedules are more common among preschool and kindergarten teachers. Although some school districts have gone to all-day kindergartens, most kindergarten teachers still teach two kindergarten classes a day. Most teachers work the traditional ten-month school year with a two-month vacation during the summer One of todays biggest political issues has been that of Social Security, and the fear that there will not be enough money to cover all the people that are currently in the workforce. It is scary, but people that are thirties years old now might not be able to retire under social security, even though they have been paying into it for the past ten years. However, this is a problem that most new teachers will not have to live in fear of. In his 2005 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush made a promise that all municipal workers will be guaranteed a pension when they retire. Weeks later a Federal Commission started planned a new defined contribution pension plan. The new plan resembles what is commonly called a defined benefit plan, which was a popular pension plan for large corporations up until the 1990s when 401k retirement plans became popular. The appeal of the defined benefit plan is that it guarantees you a fixed monthly income for the years you are expected to live after retirement. The amount of that monthly income is based on the salary you have when youre working, and is designed to maintain your same standards of living that you enjoyed while working. Unlike the 401k, the employer funds a defined benefit plan. Most States have tenure laws that prevent teachers from being fired without just cause and due process. Teachers may obtain tenure after they have satisfactorily completed a probationary period of teaching, normally three years. Tenure does not absolutely guarantee a job, but it does provide some security. In conclusion, increasing enrollment in the school system is increasing demand for new teachers. New legislation to increase the quality of education, barriers of entry, as well as a large number of teachers reaching the age of retirement is reducing the supply of qualified teachers. As a result, according to the theory of supply and demand, the price that society must pay for qualified teachers must increase. Salaries for teachers must increase in order to attract enough teachers to fill the demand that society has for them. The greater the gap between supply and demand, the greater the price must increase in order to fill the gap. As salaries increase, so will the standards of living for teachers. A teachers salary will not only provide a person with the means to make a living, but they will also have expendable income for savings and luxuries that will lead to a more comfortable life style. Most teachers will also have benefits that will provide for their well being and health, as well as the health of their families. They will have more time off than other professionals, which will provide them the luxury of pursuing other interests outside of their career. This includes taking vacation, exploring other career opportunities, or just spending time with their families. State employed teachers will not have to worry about retirement, because they are guaranteed a pension salary once they retire. Teachers will not have to stress or fear for the future like some other members of the workforce who were relying on social security. Early childhood teachers also have the satisfaction of having a career in one of the most respected professions in our society. They will have to fulfillment of knowing that what they do makes a difference. Works Cited Case, Karl E. Principles of Macroeconomics Sixth Edition. Prentice Hall Van Dalen, Deobold B. Looking Ahead To Teaching Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Boston. Kahn, Alfred J. Child Care: Facing the Hard Choices Auburn House Publishing Company. Massachusetts. Occupational Outlook Handbook U. S. Department of Labor http://stats. bls. gov/search/ooh. asp? qu=teachersct=OOH (2005) Critical Issues Facing the Teaching Profession The South Carolina Center for Teacher Recrutement (2004) http://www. cerra. org/sectionone. pdf Cameron, Bruce New municiple fund may well be the shape of things to come August 14, 2004 Personal Finance Magazine.

Components Of A Good Password Computer Science Essay

Components Of A Good Password Computer Science Essay Computer manufacturer and OS developers often build and deliver systems in default modes to secure the system from external attacks. From developers view this is the most efficient mode of product delivery. As per the organisation or a user, they require more protected and secured system before it is placed into service. Security baselines are standards which defines a minimum set of security controls for organisations. Security baselines typically address both technical issues such as software configuration and operational issues such as keeping applications up to date with vendor patches. In the security baselines, if hardware, OS, network and application followed the recommended minimum set of security settings then it will significantly decrease its vulnerability to security threats. The process of securing and preparing the system against the internal and external threats and system vulnerabilities is called hardening. Reduce the main reasons of attack that includes the removal of unnecessary services, software and unnecessary usernames or logins. It makes the system more secure, reliable, efficient and gives optimised performance. 12.2 Password Selection Password selection is one of the critical activities that often get neglected as part of a good security baseline. Currently most systems are protected by a user ID and password. If an attacker discovers the correct user ID and password by guessing or by using freely available password cracker tools, then they can gain access to the system. By following basic guidelines and principles in choosing passwords, the passwords used on the system will protect the assets. 12.2.1 Selecting a Password Users should consider a few basic requirements while choosing the password. Set a minimum number of characters and never accept shorter password. Do not use dictionary words and mix of lowercase and uppercase letters with usually one or two numbers. Randomly created passwords are strong passwords and they are difficult to guess and will defeat most password-cracking utilities. However, randomly generated passwords are difficult to remember and users often write down these passwords usually in a location close to the machine. Thus it defeats the purpose of the password. 12.2.2 Components of a Good Password User should create their own easy to remember passwords. Password is meant to protect access and resources from hackers. It should not be easy for them to guess or crack through password cracking tools. Common guidelines to make the password more difficult to guess or obtain are as follows: It should be at least eight characters long. It should include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, special characters or punctuation marks. It should not contain dictionary words. It should not contain the users personal information such as their name, family members name, birth date, pet name, phone number or any other detail that can easily be identified. It should not be the same as the users login name. It should not be the default passwords as supplied by the system vendor such as password, guest, admin and so on. 12.2.3 Password Aging Password aging is technique used by system administrators and it forces the user to change their passwords after specified period of time. If it is not changed within a specific period of time, it expires and must be reset. Password aging can also force a user to keep a password for a certain number of weeks before changing it. Changing passwords periodically will protect against brute-force attacks because when password is changed the attacker must restart the attack from the beginning. If password is changed periodically, an attacker will never be able to cycle through all the possible combinations before the password is changed again. Most operating systems have options that allow system administrators to apply password aging and prevent password reuse. Common guidelines are as follows: User must change their passwords in every 60 to 90 days. A very secured service requires to change passwords every 30 to 45 days. System must remember each users last five to ten passwords and should not allow the user to reuse those passwords. 12.3 Hardening Most computers provide network security features to control outside access to the system. All nonessential softwares such as spyware blockers and antivirus programs prevent malicious software to run on the system. Even with all these security measures, systems are still vulnerable to outside access. System hardening is a step by step process of securely configuring a system to protect it against unauthorised access. It also helps to minimise the security vulnerabilities. The three basic areas of hardening are as follows: Operating system-based hardening It includes information about securing and hardening various operating system. It also includes methods to secure file systems. Network-based hardening It examines the methods and procedures of hardening network devices, services and protocols. Application-based hardening It includes security of client-side user applications and services such as Domain Name Service (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Web servers. 12.3.1 Operating System-Based Hardening Operating system hardening is the first step towards safeguarding systems from intrusion. Systems received from the vendors have preinstalled development tools and utilities which are beneficial to the new user as well as it also provide back-door access to an organisations systems. Operating system hardening includes the removal of all non essential tools, utilities and other systems administration options through which hackers can easily access the system. Hardening process will ensure that all security features are activated and configured correctly. This process makes the system secure, efficient, reliable and gives optimised performance. Some of the security tips to harden the OS include the following: Disable all unnecessary protocols. Disable all unnecessary services. Disable all unnecessary programs and processes. Verify and then install all vendor patches. Install all product updates. Use vulnerability scanner to identify potential security weaknesses. Configure file system security according to the least privilege rule. Note: Least privilege rule states that, allow access to those individuals who require it and allow only as much access required to complete the task. File System Controlling access to the resources is an important factor in maintaining system security. The most secure environment follows the rule of least privilege. The network administrator receives more complaints from users after following this rule as they are unable to access resources. However, receiving complaints from unauthorised users is more beneficial than suffering access violations that damage the organisations capability to conduct business. The least privileged environment can use the user groups to assign the same access to the resources instead of assigning individual access controls. However, in some cases individual users need more or less access than other group members. To maintain security, network administrator provides greater control over what each user can and cannot access. Updates OS updates are provided by the manufacturer of the specific component. Updates contain improvements to the OS and hence, will make the product more secure, efficient and stable to the users. For example, Microsoft updates are labelled with security updates. These updates address security concerns recognised by Microsoft and install them if required. In addition, updates enhance the capability of a specific function that was underdeveloped at the time the system or application was released. Updates should be thoroughly tested in non-production environments before implementation. Since this new and improved function has more security breaches than the original components, it requires complete testing. Hotfixes, security packs and patches are product updates to resolve a known issue. Hotfixes Hotfixes are components that are designed to fix a particular critical system fault. Hotfixes are created by the vendor when a number of client systems indicate that there is compatibility or functional problem with a manufacturers products used on a particular platform. These are fixes for reported or known problems. Hence, hotfixes should only be installed to correct a specific problem. Service Packs Service packs are collection of updates or hotfixes. It correct known issues and provide drivers, updates and system administration tools that extends product functionality that include enhancements developed after the product is released. Service packs are tested on different hardware and applications to ensure compatibility of existing patches and updates. Service packs must be thoroughly tested and verified in non-production environment before it installed on working systems. Patches Patches are used to prevent hackers from invading the system with virus and other malware that exploits the operating systems vulnerabilities. This improves the usability and performance of the system. OS patches are available on the vendor Website that supplies the product. Since patches are issued at unpredictable intervals, it is important to configure the system to automatically connect with the latest security patch updates. When the new update is released, the OS will prompt to install. While preparing clean installation it is advisable to download and install all known patches before introducing the system to the network. 12.3.2 Network-Based Hardening The tremendous growth of the Internet allows to openly access any system on a network. Hence, proper control over network access must be established on systems by controlling the services that are running and the ports that are opened for network access. In addition to the systems, network devices such as hub, routers, switches and modems must be examined for any security vulnerability. Any flaws in the coding of the OS can be exploited to gain access to the network components. These components should be configured with very strict parameters to maintain network security. The softwares of these components require to be updated regularly. By taking necessary steps, network administrator should limit or reduce attacks, accidental damage through their networks. In addition, network hardening also recommend the correct configuration of network devices and the requirement to enable and disable the services and protocols within a network. Firmware Updates Updating the firmware of the hardware device is provided by the manufacturers. These updates fix incompatibility problems or device operation problems. These updates should be applied if the update includes fixes for an existing condition or if it will make the device more secure and more functional or extends its operational life. It is recommended to install and test the firmware updates in a non-production environment to verify if the update contains the necessary fixes and benefits that are required. Device Configuration Network devices such as routers and switches configured with default installation settings. These default settings leave a system extremely vulnerable as it is set for convenience and not for security. Choosing a good password and limiting access to any open ports is very important in maintaining security of the devices. Good passwords are one of the most effective security tools because a good password can be resistant to several forms of attack. Determining the minimum set of services that the devices are running and good passwords is important for maintaining security of those devices. Apply patches and updates that are released by the product vendor in a regular interval. Enabling and Disabling Services and Protocols It is important to measure the current requirements and conditions of the network and infrastructure and then disable the unnecessary services and protocols. This leads to network infrastructure that is less vulnerable to attack. Access Control Lists Configure access list at the network devices to control access to a network. Access list can prevent certain traffic from entering and exiting a network. Access control lists are controlled by an administrator. 12.3.3 Application-Based Hardening Application hardening is the process to prevent exploitation of various types of vulnerabilities in software application by implementing the latest updates. Applications such as browsers, office suites, e-mail client and services provided through servers such as Web servers, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), DNS servers and DHCP servers on a network require regular updates to provide protection against newly developed threats. Web Servers At present most of the organisations have a Web presence on the Internet for numerous business advantages. Due to Internet popularity, Web servers have become extremely popular targets for attackers. Original content on the Websites are replaced with hackers data. E-commerce sites are attacked and users personal account information is stolen. Microsofts Internet Information Server (IIS) or Apache server are most popular Web servers applications in use today. To secure Web servers from hackers, administrator must apply updates and patches, remove unnecessary protocols and services and properly configured all native controls. It is also recommended to place the Web server behind a firewall or a reverse proxy. Microsoft has developed URLScan and IIS Lockdown tools which are designed to secure IIS servers from attacks and exploits. URLScan is a monitoring utility that examines all incoming URLs and rejects any requests for files, directories or services outside the intended scope of the Website. The IIS Lockdown tool turns off unnecessary functions which reduces the attack surface available to an attacker. E-mail Servers E-mail servers and clients are vulnerable to different attacks such as Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, virus attacks, relay and spoofing attacks. There are numerous deficiencies in the different versions of e-mail server software such as Sendmail for Linux and UNIX and the Exchange or Outlook for Microsoft. E-mail servers are constant potential sources of virus attacks and therefore must have the strongest possible protection for scanning incoming and outgoing messages. E-mail servers should not have non-essential services and applications installed. Administrative and system access should also be securely controlled to block installation or execution of unauthorised programs and trojans. The following attack points should be considered while hardening an e-mail server: Open mail relay allows unauthorised users to send e-mail through an e-mail server. Storage limitation, to limit DoS attacks based on message size. Spamming includes identical messages sent to numerous clients by e-mail. Virus propagation, ensure the anti-virus programs and applications are performing correctly. FTP Servers FTP allows number of users to access and download remotely stored data. It distributes application updates, device drivers and free software to users. Users access this data anonymously. This anonymous access to FTP servers becomes a problem as administrator does not provide anonymous access or does not properly secure the FTP service. This involves setting the appropriate permissions, not allowing the FTP process to be run by an unprivileged user and not allowing users to upload or modify files. Some FTP servers allow upload and download service for authorised users and hence, in that case anonymous access should be completely removed. To overcome buffer overflow problem ensure that FTP server software is up to date and patched. DNS Servers DNS server converts systems host names into IP addresses so that the communication can be correctly routed through the network. Client systems use DNS to locate Web servers, e-mail servers, FTP servers and number of other servers and network services. DNS can be major target for an attacker. The DNS server can be exploited by the following ways: Stealing zone transfers DNS servers are configured to provide information such as list of hosts and routers with IP addresses to other secondary DNS servers. This secondary DNS server is used to maintain a backup copy of the DNS database and to provide name resolution services for client systems. An attacker can receive a zone transfer and use it to track victims network and search for potential targets. Zone update spoofing An attacker can spoof the address of the primary DNS server and send a bogus update to a secondary DNS server. Client systems receive incorrect information and network communication from this bogus server and redirects users to a location controlled by the attacker. DNS cache poisoning Some DNS servers allow attackers to insert bogus information into a DNS cache. To secure and harden the DNS server from various types of exploits, actions to be taken are as follows: Do not place any information on publicly accessible DNS server to avoid snooping around the DNS server. Do not provide additional host information in Host Information (HINFO) records of DNS. HINFO record contains descriptive information about the OS and features of particular system and attacker could use this information to gain access. Configure the DNS servers to only allow zone transfers to specific secondary servers. Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) allows zone transfer to be signed. Zone transfer signing allows secondary servers to verify the credentials of the primary server before accepting data. Ensure that DNS software is patched and up to date to avoid DNS cache poisoning. NNTP Servers Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) servers allow news clients to connect to news servers to share information privately or to post articles to a public NNTP server. NNTP servers are vulnerable to DoS attacks, buffer overflows. To exploit server, attackers connect to a private NNTP server to gain any information to compromise network. Sometimes users post accurate diagrams of their network to ask a technical question and attacker can use this information to find ways to exploit a network. They can even offer bogus advice to create a hole in the networks defences. To protect the organisation from NNTP server exploits, block the NNTP port at the firewall to make NNTP server inaccessible to external users. To protect posted private information, authenticate user to prevent anonymous logins to the NNTP server. Also encrypt communications using SSL/TLS to prevent packet sniffing of confidential data. Do not allow users to post confidential information to the public which will compromise their network. File and Print Servers Files and print servers in a network are used to share resources but it is a common way in which hackers can gain information and unauthorised access. When sharing is enabled to share the resources with a trusted internal network over a NIC, the system is also sharing those resources with the entire untrusted external network over the external interface connection. Attackers attempt to make unauthenticated connections to shared resources on the network. If sharing permissions are configured incorrectly for an easily exploited user account, attackers can gain access to resources and alter them. To secure the file and printer shares block access to shares and related information at the firewall. Use the rule of least privilege to secure shares from external attacker. Virtual Private Network (VPN) is also used to encrypt communications between clients and servers to secure data transmission. Data Repositories Data repositories are locations that hold information about networks, applications and users. Attackers can use the information stored in data repositories to formulate attacks against organisation. Hence, ensure that this information is limited and restricted for external users. As well as authentication and encryption of the data is necessary to protect them from external attacks. Directory Services A directory service is used to store, organise and provide access to information in a directory. The information in a directory services can include system accounts, user accounts, mail accounts, service locations and shared resource information. The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a common directory service that organises data in a hierarchical manner. The top entry in a LDAP directory information tree is called root and this LDAP root server creates the hierarchy. The directory service hierarchy and the information it stores provide a good map of network infrastructure. This is convenient for authorised users in a network as well as for attacker. Attacker can use numerous ways to compromise LDAP servers such as attacker can use network resources information stored at directory service to examine network structure, resources and potential targets. Attacker can gain victims network information that is transferred over LDAP through eavesdropping. Some of the ways to protect LDAP hierarchy are as follows: Protect LDAP hierarchy by configuring the strongest authentication to the different versions of LDAP. Both LADP v2 and LDAP v3 support anonymous and simple authentication which are not very secure. Anonymous authentication does not require password and simple authentication uses a password in unencrypted format which attacker can easily hack. Strong authentication over LDAP v2 and LDAP v3 is provided through Kerberos version 4 authentication and Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) communications respectively. Use Secure LDAP (LDAPS) that allows encrypting communications using SSL/TLS. Block access to LDAP ports from the Internet so that attackers cannot make connections using these ports. Databases Database servers are used to store data. Both the data and the database server can be target for an attacker. An attacker can steal the data or take over the database server to exploit it. Some of the ways that the database servers can be exploited are as follows: Unexpected data queries or commands Numerous database servers use Structured Query Language (SQL) which allows for the querying and posting of data. An attacker can use SQL commands to do unexpected things is called SQL injection. Unauthenticated access If unauthenticated access to database server is allowed then the attackers can easily connect and exploit the database server. To secure database servers consider the following points: Test the database by running irrelevant queries and attempt to access unauthorised information. Do not allow unauthenticated connections to the database server. While transferring confidential data to and from database server, use SSL/TLS or VPN connection to protect data. To avoid database server to be queried by external users, block access to it at the firewall. 12.4 Chapter Review Questions 1. How an individual should secure a password? (A) Selecting a password with at least eight characters, at least one change in case and at least one number or special character (C) Storing the password in wallet or purse (B) Using the same password on every system (D) Changing passwords at least once a year Ans: A 2. Which of the following steps is part of the hardening process for OS? (A) Remove unnecessary programs and processes (C) Setting appropriate permissions on files (B) Disable unnecessary services (D) All of these Ans: D 3. Which amongst the following is the correct step to overcome buffer overflow problems? (A) Select strong passwords (C) Install the latest patches (B) Remove sample files (D) Set appropriate permissions on files Ans: C 4. Which of the following requires software up to date and patched? (A) Operating systems (C) Applications (B) Network devices (D) All of these Ans: D 5. Rule of least privilege states that ____. (A) allow access to users who requires it (C) allow limited access (B) allow access to everyone (D) allow full access Ans: A and C 6. Which of the following is designed to fix a particular critical system fault? (A) Hotfixes (C) Patches (B) Service packs (D) None of these Ans: A 7. Which of the following extends product functionality after the release of product? (A) Hotfixes (C) Patches (B) Service packs (D) None of these Ans: B 8. Which of the following fixes incompatibility problems or device operation problems? (A) Hotfixes (C) Firmware update (B) Service packs (D) None of these Ans: C 9. Which of the following steps are used to secure Web servers? (A) Apply patches and updates (C) Place the web server behind a firewall (B) Remove unnecessary protocols and services (D) All of these Ans: D 10. BIND stands for _______. (A) Berkeley Internet Network Domain (C) Berkeley Intranet Name Domain (B) Berkeley Internet Name Domain (D) Business Internet Network Domain Ans: B 12.4.1 Answers 1. A 2. D 3. C 4. D 5. A and C 6. A 7. B 8. C 9. D 10. B Summary In the chapter, Security Baselines, you learnt about: Components of a good password and password aging. Different ways to harden the OS. Different ways to harden the network and its devices. Different ways to harden applications such as browsers, office suites, e-mail client and services provided through servers such as Web servers, E-mail servers, FTP servers, DNS servers, NNTP servers, file and print servers, directory services and databases.

Role of Institutions in Social Policy

Role of Institutions in Social Policy Explore with examples the role of institutions in influencing policy outcomes. The following will discuss the role that institutions can or may have in influencing public policy outcomes, and where relevant examples of such influences will be provided. The role of various institutions will be explored, and any differences in the amount or the importance of those organisations in influencing policy outcomes will be analysed. Included in this study of the influence upon policy outcomes that institutions have, will be an evaluation of whether that influence changes with the type of organisation that is being examined, and upon the circumstances in which the policy outcomes are reached and implemented within. How much influence the roles of institutions allow them in the determination of policy outcomes, or policy decision-making can depend on the functions and objectives of the institutions involved in the decision-making process. The influence any institutions have upon policy outcomes or policy decision-making processes varies with the expertise, knowledge, tech nical know how that the institutions have available, as well as the level of access these institutions have to the decision-makers that are mainly responsible for determining policy outcomes. As will be explored the decision-makers that are responsible for the framing and carrying out of policy outcomes will be more likely to be influenced by the institutions that have the most experience and expertise in the policy areas that the decision-makers are tasked with controlling and administering. An area of policy outcomes in which institutions have played roles in influencing the final policy decisions made and actually carried out has been in issues relating to the environment. Institutions that have been involved in studying the environment in general and environmental changes like the greenhouse effect in particular have been able to influence the policy outcomes in relation to taking measures to limit or reduce environmental damage. Academic and scientific institutions alongside environmentalist groups such as Friends of the Earth have played a significant role influencing policy outcomes. There are a few examples of policy outcomes that could be used in support of this statement, arguably strong supporting evidence as well (Jones et al, 2004 p. 600). These groups and institutions believe they can influence policy outcomes by setting the public agenda (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 5). Prior to the 1960s academic and scientific institutions had a minor role in influencing po licy outcomes with regard to issues concerning the environment. Policy decision-makers would contact institutions that had expertise or knowledge about environmental issues upon an ad hoc basis, for example in the 1950s when the British government wished to solve the problem of smog in the London area. On that occasion institutions gave advice as to the best way of cleaning up the air pollution that had been the cause of the smog (Jones et al, 2004 p. 600). From the 1960s academic and scientific institutions began to suspect that human economic and industrial activities were having a profoundly detrimental affect upon the physical environment. Increased concerns over the environment led to the emergence of pressure groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, these groups have tended to attempt to influence policy outcomes by generating publicity to raise public awareness of environment issues (Jones et al, 2004 p. 695). Arguably, the combined efforts of the academic and scientific institutions and the pressure groups have raised international as well as national awareness of environmental issues. Without the publicity achieved by the environmentalist pressure groups, the academic and scientific institutions would have found it much harder to have had any kind of meaningful influence over policy outcomes relating to the environment. In turn the publicity campaigns of the environmentalist pressure groups would have a had minimal i nfluence over policy outcomes without the strong and convincing scientific evidence of human induced climate change and environmental damage presented by the by the academic and scientific institutions. These were research findings that policy decision-makers believed they have had to react to (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 401). The universal nature and the global scope of environmental issues has meant that institutions and pressure groups have attempted to influence policy outcomes upon a regional or even a global basis as well as at the national level (Jones et al, 2004 p. 599). Now attention needs to be turned to explore when the approach of academic and scientific institutions and environmentalist pressure groups has been able to influence policy outcomes. A good example of this happening was the problem of acid rain, which had its worst affects upon the forests of Scandinavia. Coal fired power stations in Britain were regarded as being the main culprits behind acid rain. Strong scientific evidence produced by research institutions and environmentalist pressure groups proved that this was in fact the case. Pressure from the Scandinavian governments and the European Union coupled with the evidence from academic institutions combined to persuade the British government to take action to solve the problem by cleaning up the emissions from the coal fired power stations (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 406). Perhaps the first significant example of academic and scientific institutions having a global impact as opposed to a national impact over policy outcomes with regard to the environment was over the issue of damage to the ozone layer. During the early 1980s there was increasing scientific evidence of expanding holes in the ozone layer, which is an important barrier against the more harmful effects and forms of radiation emitted by the sun. The depletion of the ozone layer would not be harmful to peoples’ health, and it would increase the environmental damage caused by the greenhouse effect and speed up the process of global warming. Scientific research proved that the hole in the ozone layer was caused by the chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) used as coolants in fridges and freezers, as the propellants in aerosol cans, and in fast food packaging. Media coverage of the problems that the shrinking of the ozone layer was causing increased the ability of institutions to influence policy ou tcomes. International agreement was eventually reached that the use of CFCs would be phased out with less harmful alternatives being used instead (Jones et al, 2004 p. 600). As the scientific evidence of the greenhouse effect grew the role of academic and scientific institutions in influencing policy outcomes has increased as well. Countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and eventually Britain have made efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (Judt, 2007 p. 494). The efforts of institutions concerned with protecting the environment has also strongly affected and influenced the European Union, which has introduced legislation, regulations, and directives for its member states to take policy measures to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and achieve sustainable development. Attempts to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases culminated in the Rio Earth Summit, and the later Kyoto Protocol (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 407). Currently there are ongoing talks to renew the Kyoto Protocol. Over all policy decision-makers have to take into account the environmental affects of the policy outcomes they make decisions on (Coxall , Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 406). An area in which institutions can play a major or significant role in influencing policy outcomes is in relation to medical and public health issue. Hospitals, medical centres, universities, doctors, and nursing unions are all institutions or organisations that influence or attempt to influence policy outcomes. Governments believe that they have a responsibility to ensure that their policy outcomes if possible protect and enhance public health and safety standards. Doctors, nurses, universities, and hospitals also have good reasons to promote public health issues, mainly as that is important part of their objectives as institutions and skilled professionals. When it comes down to these institutions or groups influencing policy outcomes, those that have firmly focused public health and safety objectives are more effective if they have a strong or well developed expertise in their area of specialisation. In Britain the medical institutions that are linked with, or are actually part of the National Health Service (NHS) potentially have a strong influence on health policy outcomes. For instance, doctors and the medical departments of universities have played in developing new medical treatments, diagnosing new diseases, and researching for cures to illnesses. These institutions have helped to progressively improve the quality and quantity of healthcare services and medical treatments available, allowing for increased life expectancy. For instance organ transplants, better cancer treatments, and drugs that delay the onset of the HIV / AIDS virus have all been developed since the 1960s. These medical achievements were primarily developed to prolong both life expectancy and quality, which after all is the purpose of all medical professions (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 556). However, universities, medical research laboratories, and pharmaceutical companies also motivated by the opportunities to raise their reputations for expertise, as well as hoping to gain substantial financial rewards (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 556). Decision-makers that are part of publicly funded health services such as the NHS in Britain can have another major influence over policy outcomes, aside from the influence of medical institutions. That other influence is often decisive in the final determination of policy outcomes, and that is the issue of funding. The majority of the British population has high expectations of the NHS, and they expect or hope that all new medical treatments will be available to patients as soon as those treatments are required. Despite public expenditure on the NHS increasing every year, medical treatments have to be rationed out or provided on the basis of which patients need treatment the most urgently (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 296). The splitting up of the N HS budget into individual budgets for each health trust unit also means that medical institutions now have to attempt to influence policy outcomes at the health unit trust level as well as at the national level. Although the introduction of health trust units was intended to improve efficiency within the NHS, it has also meant that the medical treatments that patients may or may not receive depends on which area of Britain they live in (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 297). Of course those people that chose to have private healthcare there is no worry about their medical treatments being rationed or not available in some areas, all they have to do is have enough money or insurance to pay for their treatment in the first place (Moran, 2005, p. 54). Medical institutions can have an influence over policy outcomes when they diagnose or discover new illnesses, or when they wish to change people’s behaviour to prevent illnesses. When medical institutions diagnose or discover new illnesses it can have drastic consequences, and therefore have a significant influence upon policy outcomes. A prime example of a new illness having such a significant effect on policy outcomes was over the issue of mad cow disease in Britain. The issue of mad cow disease cut across agricultural, trade, and medical areas of government policy. The origin of the crisis began with the farming practice of feeding cattle food that inadvertently used the brains of sheep infected with scrapie, and subsequently led to the emergence of mad cow disease or Bovine Sponigform Encephalopathy (BSE). Medical and scientific evidence proved that BSE could be passed on to humans through the food chain. People infected in such a way went on to develop variant CJD, for wh ich there is currently no cure, and it invariably kills those infected. The initial reaction of the British government to the BSE crisis was slow, and seemed to ignore advice and evidence provided by agricultural and medical institutions in a vain attempt to protect the British beef industry (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 123). Indeed the slowness of the government’s reaction meant that the problem got better rather than worse. The government’s efforts to maintain public confidence in the safety of British beef proved unconvincing. The testing of cattle herds for BSE infection was too slow, leaving the culling of entire herds as the only means of tackling the problem. The government was also slow in issuing safety guidelines in the NHS which meant that blood and organs unknowingly donated by variant CJD victims was used in blood transfusions and organ transplants which therefore infected more people (Moran, 2005 p. 433). The whole handling of the BSE issue clearly demonstrates that if politicians or policy decision-makers within the government fail to heed the advice of suitably qualified or experienced institutions that it can have disastrous consequences in terms of policy outcomes. Tackling an issue before it becomes an intractable problem can be the difference between damage limitation, and unmitigated policy failure (Moran, 2005 p. 433). The delays in tackling the BSE issue meant that peoples lives were put at risk unnecessarily, whilst the European Union ban on British beef and any of its by-products was highly damaging to the British beef industry (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 123). The measures taken to restrict and eventually got rid of BSE cases in British cattle. However the gestation period of variant CJD means that it will be some time before there are no cases at all. The BSE free status of British cattle did eventually lead to the lifting of the ban on British beef exports (Moran, 2005 p. 433). Institutions have been able to influence policy outcomes when it comes to taking preventative health measures. For instance, reducing the number of smokers, heavy drinkers, and the number of people that have heart disease. Medical institutions have been aware for quite some time that many health problems are preventable, especially if people change their behaviour. An example of medical institutions having a strong influence on policy outcomes has been in reducing the number of smokers. Smoking has been proven to be a major cause of various types of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. Anti-smoking groups and medical institutions have sought to influence policy outcomes to reduce the numbers of people killed by smoking related illnesses. Policy outcomes have included a ban on cigarette advertising, government health warnings on packets, and hard -hitting NHS adverts showing the consequences of smoking upon people’s health. Governments have also raised duty levels on cigarettes to persuade people to give up smoking, although this has only had limited success (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 297). The Scottish Parliament took evidence about the harmful effects of smoking from medical institutions, and voted to ban smoking in public places. That decision proved to be the catalyst for the Westminster Parliament to do like likewise in 2006 (Whitaker’s, 2007 p. 1067). Data shows that increasing numbers of British smokers wish to stop, 598,600 attempting to do so in 2006 alone (Schott, 2006 p. 109). Attempts by medical institutions and the Police to reduce heavy drinking have not been so successful. Whilst the government has tried to reduce the amount of binge drinking, most steps have been done voluntarily by the drinks industry to avoid tougher measures been taken. Medical institutions are opposed to heavy drinking due to the medical damage it does, whilst the Police can prove the link between alcohol consumption and crime. The government also decided to extend licensing so pubs could stay open for 24 hours a day, a policy outcome that seems to contradict the objective of reducing alcohol consumption levels (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 330). Britain according to research is the country with the third largest frequency of binge drinkers in the European Union, after Finland and Ireland (Schott, 2006 p. 109). In terms of reducing the risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes, medical institutions seem to have had more influence with food and drinks producers t han with the decision-makers that decide policy outcomes. Once again the government prefers that companies make their products healthier on a voluntarily basis. Governments also prefer not to alienate too many businesses by affecting their ability to make profits (Jones et al, 2004 p.599). Another way in which institutions can have an influence upon policy outcomes is by being involved with organisations or committees that can determine policy decisions. Such organisations are referred to quangos or quasi-autonomous non-government organisation, and they control many areas of public decision-making and expenditure (Comfort, 1993 p. 493). The definition of quangos is now national rather than non-governmental, as they are part of the governmental structure even they are not part of departments or the civil service. Quangos have various functions and therefore levels of power and budgets. Quangos such as regional development bodies have large budgets, and community institutions could have stronger influences on policy outcomes than national institutions. Other Quangos such as regulatory bodies like Ofgem are meant to regulate private businesses rather then being influenced by institutions (Coxall, Robbins, Leach, 2003 p. 332). Quangos therefore have a great deal of inform al power, so to influence with any of them can allow institutions to gain influence over policy outcomes (Jones et al, 2004 p. 663). Potentially institutions could gain influence over policy outcomes by having some of their representatives joining any quangos that operate within their areas of interest or expertise. Alternatively quangos often have the power to award lucrative contracts, or grant funding for research or community projects, that provides further incentives for institutions to gain access to those quangos that can decide policy outcomes. There are quangos that are linked to the relevant government departments, some of which could provide institutions with the ability to communicate with ministers. Some would argue that quangos are undemocratic, and increase the chances of corruption, although ministers can make them accountable to the government if not to Parliament (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p.371). Both the Conservatives and New Labour have made widespread use o f quangos when in government as they argued that quangos make governance more efficient (Jones et al p.664). Another way in which institutions are able to influence policy outcomes is through publicity campaigns, and lobbying the government to make decisions that favour their objectives. Such a mode of operation can mean that the behaviour and strategy of institutions is very similar to pressure groups (Fisher, Denver, Benyon, 2003 p. 171). Publicity campaigns can be either positive or negative in their tone, depending on whether institutions want to encourage or discourage certain decisions (Judt, 2007 p. 544). Examples of positive campaigning include universities encouraging the introduction of tuition fees to fund increasing numbers of students, or campaigns to fund new hospitals or new medical treatments (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 272). More negative campaigns have included medical institutions resisting any reforms of the NHS that they do not like. These campaigns have proved highly effective, as even the Thatcher government could not attempt to dismantle the NHS (Judt, 2007 p. 544). Therefore it could be concluded that institutions could play a significant role in influencing policy outcomes. However, no institution is guaranteed to play a significant role in influencing policy outcomes just because it exists. The roles that institutions play in influencing policy outcomes varies with circumstances, whether the government of the day has strong ideological beliefs, the expertise, campaigning skills, and the objectives of each individual institution. Governments will naturally tend to favour the institutions whose views and objectives are similar to their own, although governments also like to pursue policies that improve their chances of re-election. However, that does not mean that governments are unwilling to hear the opinions of institutions if those institutions lobby the government to influence policy outcomes. Institutions are more likely to succeed in influencing policy outcomes if they can provide strong evidence to back up their arguments or policy sugge stions. Governments prefer to adopt policies that they can convince the electorate is necessary to improve public services, could improve the standard of living, or prevent things going wrong. Examples of governments being influenced by institutions that have altered government policy include taking the environment seriously, measures to reduce smoking, and steps taken to deal with the BSE crisis. The failings that the initially inept handling of the BSE crisis demonstrated that institutions cannot always have had an influence on policy outcomes, and may only be consulted after things have gone wrong. Bibliography Coxall B, Robins L Leach R (2003) Contemporary British Politics 4th edition, Palgrave, Basingstoke Fisher J, Denver D, Benyon J, (2003) Central Debates in British Politics, Longman, London Hobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London Judt T, (2007) Post-war – A History of Europe since 1945, Pimlico, London Moran M, (2005) Politic and Governance in the UK, Palgrave, Basingstoke Schott B, (2006) Schott’s Almanac 2007, Bloomsbury, London Seldon A Kavanagh D, (2005) The Blair Effect 2001 – 5, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Whitaker’s, (2007) Whitaker’s Almanack 2007 – today’s world in one volume, A C Black, London