Criminal Prosecution and Competencies

Through movies, we get the impression that police officers have all the right to arrest someone and bring him to court. But the underlying fact in this is that there are some things that must be done before a trial can be reached. For instance, an offender is arrested for committing a crime. There are steps in a criminal prosecution which leads to sentencing. During the arrest, the offender is handcuffed and taken to jail. The offender is then taken for booking wherein his photograph and fingerprints will be taken and he will be searched. A strip-search may be necessary at some point.Then, the police will ask about the offender’s personal information such as name, address, date of birth and social security number (American Hunt Saboteurs Association, n. d. ). The next step would be arraignment, which signals the court appearance for a felony or misdemeanor. During this process, the charges to be filed and the penalty applicable once convicted, and the Constitutional rights are recited to the defendant (Nichols, n. d. ). The offender also pleads guilty or not guilty during arraignment, after which the pretrial, readiness hearing and trial dates are set.If the offender does not plead guilty, the next step would be the pretrial hearing. This is the time for both parties to file pretrial motions or issues. Then there would be the discovery. Discovery refers to the information needed for the parties to prepare the case. The next step is motions, wherein both parties can present testimonies or arguments. The readiness hearing will follow. This hearing is mainly held to find out if both parties are ready to proceed (City of Oak, 2003). After these steps, the trial follows.For an offender who pleads not guilty, he will be tried and convicted by either a judge or a jury (American Hunt Saboteurs Association, n. d. ). The judge or the jury decides upon the verdict. This leads to the final step, which is the sentencing. In some areas in the United States, sentencing can be delivered in an expedite manner, or the defendant can return to be sentenced. Before a judge or a jury can put down a sentence, the judge must first hear the sides of the prosecution, victims or their representatives, the defendant and the defense attorney (City of Oak, 2003).Foundational and Decisional Competencies Foundational competencies, which are sometimes called Work Readiness Competencies, refer to competencies which serve as foundation for success whether in the workplace or school. Having foundational skills is very essential especially for workers to be able to learn new industry-specific skills. Foundational competencies are considered fundamental in occupations and industries (State of Minnesota, 2009). Foundational competencies transcend many other forms of competencies, such as ethical competencies, personal effectiveness, work place competencies and so on.Individual and cultural diversity and professional development are also classified as foundational. Take academic competencies as example. The critical competencies that people have learned in an academic setting such as communication, reading and writing, and basic computer skills are necessary in order to succeed in one’s chosen career. Academic competencies are the foundation for other competencies such as occupation and industry specific competencies. Decisional competencies, on the other hand, are categorized under workplace competencies. Possessing excellent decision-making skills is critical in both work place and school.Decisional competencies aid an individual in functioning â€Å"in an organizational setting† (Long Island University, n. d. ). Foundational and decisional competencies can be related in criminal cases, especially ones wherein the defendant suffers from a mental disorder. Foundational competencies can include the defendant’s basic knowledge of the charges and the adversary system as a whole. They also include the ability to â€Å"disclose re levant information to counsel. † Decisional competencies, on the other hand, would include one’s ability to understand legal alternatives and choose among these when necessary (Skeem, et.al, 2004). References American Hunt Saboteurs Association. (n. d. ). Arrest. Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www. huntsab. org/arrest. htm City of Oak. (2003). Steps in a criminal case. Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www. oakharbor. org/subcategory. cfm? id=12&sid=19 Long Island University. (n. d. ). The practitioner scholar model: Program competencies, goals and objectives. Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www. cwpost. liu. edu/cwis/cwp/clas/psych/doctoral/forms/PractitionerScholarModel. pdf Nichols, W. P. (n. d. ). Steps in a criminal case.Office of Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www. co. monroe. mi. us/Monroe/default. aspx? PageId=387 Skeem, J. , Golding, S.. L. & Emke-Francis,P. (2004). Assessing adjudicative competency: Using l egal and empirical principles to inform practice. In Donohue, W. T. & Levensky, E. R. (Eds. ). Forensic psychology: A handbook for mental health and legal professionals. New York: Academic Press. State of Minnesota. (2009). â€Å"Building blocks† for competency models. Retrieved February 4, 2009, from http://www. careeronestop. org/CompetencyModel/pyramid_definition. aspx

Educational programs Essay

There are of course limits to the parallel between the regulation of firms and the regulation of churches. A basic difference is that a church draws its support on the basis of religious commitment–presumably a quite different source of commitment than consumer preference for many people. In the fundamental relationship between the church and its members, there is no clear unit of exchange that lends itself to quantification. Perhaps much more so than firms, however, churches have the capacity to mobilize their memberships on behalf of their objectives in negotiating with the state. Another difference is that states’ seeking to regulate churches often lack doctrinal competence. They may be ill-equipped to understand the church’s mission and lack information as to church resources and the best uses of those resources. Finally, another principal difference is that the relationship between a nation and the religious commitments of its citizens is the consequence of many forces acting over long periods of time. These forces may have created in a population religious commitments of singular intensity or, on the other hand, apparent disinterest that has little to do with the direction of contemporary state regulation of religion. Despite these differences, however, the case can still be made that regulatory theory is relevant to the understanding of church-state relationships. This essay argues that the direction of contemporary state regulation may help shape the direction of a church’s priorities and activities independently of the condition of the population’s religious commitment. Churches as organizations will respond to regulatory incentives and costs, just as they respond to the political environment. Why do states seek to regulate churches? Historically, as will be shown below, rulers may have sought to impose on their subjects their own respective judgments about the correct institutional expression of their faith. States have seen regulation as a means to weed out corruption or to redress the distribution of resources in their society. Quite often, states have appeared to fear churches as challenges to the political order that need to be contained. Historically, regulation of churches by the US and European states has embraced some or all of a number of areas. States have played significant roles in regulating or ultimately selecting senior church readerships within the country. States have assumed the power to determine the numbers and types of clergy allowed to practice their religious responsibilities within the nation. The state’s approval has been sought in determining the boundaries of church administrative territories. The state’s acquiescence has played a role in church reform of doctrine or liturgy. States have from time to time set limits on the nature of church participation in education, public communication, social welfare, and health care. Finally, states have limited- or enhanced- churches’ ability to own property or businesses. At this time, virtually every church, at least in Western Europe, has achieved a remarkable measure of autonomy in the determination of its leadership, its size, and the direction of its clergy. By contrast, historically in Roman Catholic countries, the state or the aristocracy controlled higher-level clerical appointments or shared in appointment decisions with the Vatican. In many Protestant states, the state exercised the power of appointment with relatively little formal consultation with church hierarchies. At the same time, the capacity of the church to establish a central role in a society’s institutions has diminished and a review of church attendance in Western Europe suggests remarkable declines in membership. Churches may find that regulation benefits their own positions in society. In many cases these churches confront receding memberships. Catholic churches in nearly all Western European states enjoy sustained and significant declines in the conflicts with state authorities that were recurring crises during the nineteenth and a good deal of the twentieth century. This decline in conflict undoubtedly is related to the effective dechurching of many of the US and European populations. Regulation in these cases appears to be actively sought by churches as a means of sustaining resource flows. This relationship of negotiating support in exchange for some measure of regulation appears to be the emerging norm of convergence in state-church policy throughout Europe. But it raises the perplexing question of how new churches will respond to a structure of church-state relations that does not reflect the neutral tradition of liberalism but rather expresses clear although measured support for some churches over others in practice and often in theory as well. A church may seek several objectives in regulation. These objectives may undergo change as the regulatory context shifts. A church may conclude that regulation provides a competitive advantage in dealing with competition with other churches. Established, long-existing churches that now enjoy some measure of recognition from the state may wish to stabilize the situation by delimiting the boundaries of state recognition from newer or missionary churches that threaten the membership base of the established churches. The established churches may simply be concerned with maintaining their existing obligations to staffs, buildings, and educational programs. The longer established the church, presumably the greater the obligations it has to sustain existing organizations. The theory of regulatory capture would predict these observations. There is always the risk, however, that the capture model of regulation is not predictive of future state-church relationships, given the possibilities for new directions coming from within the state or from groups found neither in established church(es) nor in the state. New churches are the most likely sources of pressure for changes in the direction of regulation.

Res wk 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Res wk 8 - Essay Example Qualitative and quantitative researches both have their strengths and weaknesses as well as their contributions to analyze various issues have a unique and conclusive approach. That being said, it is quantitative research that I am more drawn towards. The exploratory and in depth analyses that it entails seems to offer much more in terms of formulating an understanding of a certain concept. Compared to the open and the personal elements that qualitative research comprises of qualitative research is more prone towards numbers, formulas and models that determine a basic link between variables. I feel that qualitative research merely scratches the surface whereas qualitative research dives deep into the problem and looks at the personal experiences of participants through the use of surveys and interviews all of which aim at analyzing thoughts and emotions attached to the issue under investigation. Having always been drawn to words, images and descriptions basing a perspective on number s has never appealed to me. Furthermore I feel as a researcher the contribution that you can put into qualitative research has a more unique and challenging touch to it as you get to know your subjects for what they truly are; compared to that quantitative research seems dry as you analyze and compare numbers and formulas to come to a conclusion. Assignment 4 The argument presented by the writer is much like that of my own opinion when it comes to the debate of qualitative vs. quantitative research. In fact it brings to my mind this interesting article that I had read online called ‘The Qualitative-Quantitative Debate’, during my research. It talks about how the debate between the differences between and relative advantages of qualitative and quantitative methods has been one on which considerable energy has been expended. So much that it is referred to as a ‘hot-button’ issue in social research. It then goes on to delivering a interesting perspective to th e issue (one that I found very fascinating) about there being little differences between qualitative and quantitative data. The pillars for the writer’s argument are firstly that ‘All qualitative data can be coded quantitatively’, that is, anything that is qualitative can be assigned meaningful numerical values. Second, All quantitative data is based on qualitative judgment that is numbers in and of themselves can't be interpreted without understanding the assumptions which underlie them. References Trochim. W. (2006). The Qualitative-Quantitative Debate. Knowledge base. Retrieved from: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualdeb.php Response to professor assignment 1. I understand the common error I made during the formulation of my research question merely because I associated qualitative research questions firmly on their nature to investigate why something is the way it is. However as far as Creswell (2009) suggestion that we avoid using the word ‘w hy’ I will reformulate by question from: ‘Why do juveniles commit crimes?’ to ‘What are the reasons that contribute to juveniles ability to commit crimes?’ I went through the aspect of interpretive inquiry again and I see how I

Its a Job Application Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Its a Job Application Paper - Essay Example Having acquired substantial professional insight through the experience and observation gained in my clinical placements, I have been able to observe that this leads to improved outcomes. My Nursing Bachelor degree has given me an outstanding knowledge of conventional nursing practices, caring values and latest technology. Throughout my clinical placements, I learned a variety of nursing skills in the profession, while developing the capacity to think and learn practically. I have also been able to expand knowledge in an array of practice settings and have been trained in clinical reasoning and problem-solving. As a dedicated nurse, devoted to working in the demanding career, working at there would develop active participation that call for critical thinking, patience and organizational skills that are prerequisites in delivering a perfect job in every healthcare center. Based on the its mission statement â€Å"To be the top provider of primary and specialized tertiary care, accompany by an appropriate array of inpatient, outpatient and outreach services that improve health and meet community needs,† as a graduate nurse, it can be credible to learn and participate in the nursing programs presented at the medical center that will advance and build my nursing skills. The busy medical center would increase proficiency and efficiency in giving my services in diverse experiences within my scholarly career. Some of the services given at medical center of vast importance in my professional development and career includes Ortho and Spine, level 1 trauma care, Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Cancer Therapy, Urology, Psychiatric services, Gastroenterology, wound and broad stroke centers correspondingly. The supposed weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities gained after would increase the ability to convey my skills in different departments in the nursing career. As an active youth with the interest, I will be of vast importance at the medical

Training and Development Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Training and Development Paper - Essay Example This can be done with proper training and education system in place. Following paper deals with 3 aspects: Importance of training and education in health care: It is of vital importance to create awareness among masses and it can be done through training. Importance of measuring competencies: This helps to understand abilities and requirements of people. The process of tracking and evaluating training effectiveness: This forms an important step to understand if efforts are in right direction. Training and Education in Health Care Health care is amongst the most serious problems faced by many countries today. One of the most influential economies; the U.S. economy, has had a huge impact because of rising health care costs associated with health insurance and medical care (â€Å"Health care†, 2011). Because of increasing expenditures on health care, it has become essential to address this issue. Importance of training and education in health care: Let us understand the importanc e of healthcare from a very basic point of view. Each time that a kid enters his house after playing, how many times does he touch food items only after washing his hands clean? The answer is ‘almost never’, until his parents shout at him. Point to take from this is that psychologically we all neglect taking care of our health unless something adverse happens to us. Neglected health care can be fatal at times! For the same reason, training and education is of vital importance in health care. Training basically includes imparting knowledge about certain issues. This is done to improve the skill sets of a person in order to benefit the individual personally or the organization he/she is working with. Training and education are also the ways to spread awareness and hone skills. We are familiar with a popular saying: Health is Wealth. And right it is! If we are able to maintain our health and stay fit, only then we can successfully march towards achieving our goal. With rap id scientific progress, health care is associated with constant introduction of newer technologies. For example, few decades back, it was not possible to measure blood sugar level at home. However with the advent of new technology and better devices which were compact and portable, this measurement became possible within our homes. Thus, developing awareness about the importance of maintaining blood sugar level within certain limits and therefore monitoring it regularly became evident. Here arose the need for training and education in this area. To put forth another simple example, the spot bicycles and the treadmills used for exercises were not available long back. People never knew how to keep track of calories burnt. With the introduction of these machines, our tasks became easy. Being obese or unfit is a sign of bad health. The use of these machines required many dieticians/doctors to explain the importance of fitness and maintaining good health. Health care comes in many facets related to: skin, general cleanliness, hygiene, women’s healthcare, midwifery practice, family planning, nursing, children’s health, dietary health, etc. (Johnson, 2006). Training for all these things can be arranged in various ways as mentioned below: 1. Seminars. 2. Workshops. 3. Case study analysis and evaluation. 4. On-task training. 5. Lecture series. 6. Group projects. 7. Surveys. 8. Short time voluntary service with institutions providing health care support, etc. Importance of

Finance problems Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finance problems - Speech or Presentation Example What is the component cost of debt for use in the WACC calculation? Tapley Inc. recently hired you as a consultant to estimate the company’s WACC. You have obtained the following information. (1) Tapleys bonds mature in 25 years, have a 7.5% annual coupon, a par value of $1,000, and a market price of $936.49. (2) The company’s tax rate is 40%. (3) The risk-free rate is 6.0%, the market risk premium is 5.0%, and the stock’s beta is 1.5. (4) The target capital structure consists of 30% debt and 70% equity. Tapley uses the CAPM to estimate the cost of equity, and it does not expect to have to issue any new common stock. What is its WACC? Wagner Inc estimates that its average-risk projects have a WACC of 10%, its below-average risk projects have a WACC of 8%, and its above-average risk projects have a WACC of 12%. Which of the following projects (A, B, and C) should the company accept? The Nunnally Company has equal amounts of low-risk, average-risk, and high-risk projects. Nunnally estimates that its overall WACC is 12%. The CFO believes that this is the correct WACC for the company’s average-risk projects, but that a lower rate should be used for lower risk projects and a higher rate for higher risk projects. However, the CEO argues that, even though the company’s projects have different risks, the WACC used to evaluate each project should be the same because the company obtains capital for all projects from the same sources. If the CEO’s opinion is followed, what is likely to happen over time? Since according to the CEO’s opinion all projects, whether risky or non-risky, should be evaluated by using the average WACC therefore the riskier project’s cash flows would be discounted by using a lower WACC as a result the firm will accept too many risky projects. Similarly, low risk project’s cash flows would be discounted by using a higher WACC which will reject too many low-risk projects. Percy Motors has a target capital

History final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History final exam - Essay Example It was some time before the terms and concepts fundamental to Hinduism was defined under the Law of Manu during the Mauryan Empire. The Law of Manu made the concepts of karma, dharma, Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Sudras, the Untouchables, jati, as well as Brahma central elements of the Hindu civilisation within Ancient India. When added altogether these concepts and the Law of Manu effectively formed Hindu culture, morality, and religious practices, as well as been the basis of the caste system. At that foundation stage Hinduism, was not linked with any attempt to tightly control the social and economic relationships between everybody within Indian society.1 The Indus civilisation lasted for around a thousand years before it was overrun by the successful incursions of the Aryans. With the Aryans came the caste system that was adopted as part of Hinduism. It was widely believed that this system delayed the development of large cities and meant that the pace of technological developments was slowed down.2 The caste system affected Indian both the social and economic development due to it being used to determine the economic, social, employment, and legal status of all Hindus within the country. The operation of the Hindu caste system did not prevent India from enjoying extensive and lucrative trading links during the Mauriyan Empire. Those trading links stretched as far west as Rome and as far east as China.3 Another reason the caste system has had such a strong influence upon Indian social and economic development was because the ownership of land, as well as the means of production, and the work that people could perform was chiefly determined by the position they were born into. This rigidly adhered to caste system allowed for the concentration of wealth as well as leading to a highly regulated social and economic order. It also arguably meant that people

A letter to the shop personnel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A letter to the shop personnel - Essay Example Assistance was to be provided then in the solution implementation, and improvement monitoring. The time line for the measurement phase was two weeks, with each of the following phases taking a week. In the initial phase, it was found data flow was slower than expected, with workers in the team claiming lack of time to utilize the tools. The involvement of the shop management was sought, as the means to persuade the workers to use the tools. Management pressure resulted in the desired flow of data, but the data did not provide any sensible findings. The tools worked fine, and the workers were trained in their use. So the data had to be flawed. Time was also running out. This strong resistance from workers in the team was unexpected, and the challenge faced. I realized that the solution to the challenge lay in obtaining cooperation from the workers in the team, rather than compliance. For this an understanding of the reasons for lack of cooperation was required. This led to talks with shop employees on their perspective of our engagement, which concluded in our finding that despite their respect for us, they feared loss of jobs. To resolve the problem I realized that the shop employees needed to be convinced of our mission, which was increasing their efficiency. Increased efficiency would lead to more jobs rather than retrenchment. Working with the researchers in the team, three actions were initiated. The first action involved the writing of a letter to the shop personnel informing them that they were in fact assisting.

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operation management - Essay Example rations (chemical, mechanical, assembly, electrical, transportation, assembly, inspection, etc), number, and sequence are usually specified for each and every input. In this case, the output will be chemicals, complete parts/products etc. the production function illustrates the relationship between an organization’s inputs and outputs. The maximum output which can be realized with specific inputs or resources can be determined by studying the production function; this is dependent on factors like the available technology among others. Relationship between Production Function and Operations Management Both operations management and production are essential in achieving an organization’s desired goals and objectives (Heizer and Render 2001, pg. 26). The core essence of any organization/business is to satisfy the needs of its customers through the provision of goods and services, and consequently solve their problems and create value for them. Production function and opera tions management are about applying management and business organization concepts in the creation of goods and services. When applied together, the production function and operations are very essential and influential in realizing an organization’s goals and meeting objectives. In order to create and supply value for customers in services and products, it is imperative that a company identifies customers’ preferences and then convert them into specific products or services (quantity of products needed for a known period of time). An organization must also conduct backdating (backward working) so as to know the raw material needs; this is based on the requirements of a particular product. Finally, using operations management, it is necessary to involve internal and external retailers with the...The Nature of the Relationship between Operations Management and other. Operations management facilitates collaboration among operation management professionals and other executives and managers in order to establish how operational planning can improve and sustain an organization’s long-term marketing strategy. This planning may include identifying policies and goals for marketing management, support services planning and budget management. Operations management (with the assistance of the operations manager) ensures that the marketing department is fulfilling its expected responsibilities within the company by meeting budgetary guidelines and productivity goals. In service operations like Heathrow’s, customers frequently participate in the conversion process. Manufacturing operations like Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s employ very sophisticated and complex techniques for gauging resource consumption and production activities during the conversion process. Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s operations, for example, take into consideration the manufacturing layout. In Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s manufacturing environment, operations managers are in charge of the processes required to convert raw materials into finished products. In Heathrow’s service operations, operations managers delegate duties to workers in order to make the handling of customer demand easier. Manufacturing and service organizations usually face many similar challenges that affect the eventual result of their operations.

Oedipus Fate and Outline Paper Essay Example for Free

Oedipus Fate and Outline Paper Essay The play Oedipus the King, translated by Robert Fagles, is a story of drama and tragedy. Oedipus’ pride and morals cause him to take fate into his own hands and it ends up blowing up in his face. He was abandoned as a baby and was raised by the king and queen of Corinth. When he reached manhood, he was informed by an oracle that he would one day kill his father and marry his mother. He left Corinth forever and along his way he came to cart carrying his real father. Out of rage, he killed everyone including his father. In Thebes, he defeated the Sphinx. His reward was kingship and the dead king’s wife, his mother. Oedipus tried to change his future but eventually fate caught up with him. Oedipus, as a king, was both caring and conceited. He talked as though everyone should know his name but at the same time worked to solve the illness that plagued his people. As an investigator, he was harsh, determined, and at times mean to the ones that he interrogated. As a husband and father, he was loving and caring, and as an arch-criminal, he was humble and accepting. His most predominant characteristic is being moral. He ran when he was told that he destined to kill his father and marry his mother. He gouged his eyes out when he found out that he was married to his mother and fathered her children. The characteristics that soften his as being moral were that he was prideful and determined. His pride and determination caused the events of his life to be brought to light and made him look unmoral. His personality causes him to continue with the investigation because he is prideful, determined, and in denial. His determination drives him to push the investigation into who killed King Laius. His pride keeps him from being the royal scapegoat when asked to be. His denial that he actually killed his father, married his mother, and fathered her children kept him investigating the death of King Laius. Eventually in the end he accepts his fate which he tried to avoid for a long time. He accepted his fate which was a humble and noble act by a king. That’s what makes his act the greatest act of kingship of all. He sacrificed himself for the betterment of his people knowing that he had done wrong and needed to be punished. In this play, Oedipus tried so very hard to control his own fate from the time he reached manhood to when it caught up to him. His fate caught up with him. Everything he didn’t want to become and tried to avoid came true in the end. It was a tragic ending for a man who tried so hard not be who ended up being. Oedipus Fate Outline Thesis: Oedipus the King tries to take fate into his own hands and it backfires. I. Discuss the character Oedipus as king, investigator, husband, father, and arch-criminal A. King is caring, investigator he is determined, as a husband and father he is loving, and as an arch-criminal he is reluctant to give up power II. What seems to be his predominant characteristic A. the King’s predominant characteristic is that he moral III. Under what circumstances does he exhibit this characteristic A. He feels for his people and tries to find a cure for them to heal their suffering IV. What additional characteristics does he have that soften this predominant characteristic A. Pride and Determination, they were the down fall of Oedipus V. How does his personality essentially force him to first begin his investigation A. He is caring and determined to find a cure for his people, which turned into an investigation into who killed King Laius VI. In what way is this final acceptance perhaps the greatest act of kingship of all, thus showing forth his arà ªte in the best light possible A.

Image Steganography by Enhanced Pixel Indicator Method

Image Steganography by Enhanced Pixel Indicator Method Image Steganography by Enhanced Pixel Indicator Method Using Most Significant Bit (MSB) Compare Vijaya Raghava Kukapalli ,Dr.B. Tarakeswara Rao, Mr.B.Satyanarayana Reddy AbstractSteganography is one of the secure ways of protecting data. It provides secrete communication between user and client. The current paper presents an enhanced Pixel Indicator Method (PIM) by comparing three MSB bits at each pixel to embed the data. And we also use Blowfish algorithm to convert message into cipher text. By using the combination of these two techniques we can achieve greater complexity. Due to this mechanism proposed method makes the message difficult to be discovered with less distortion and embedding rates. Keywords: Steganography, Pixel Indicator, Blowfish, Distortions, Embedding Rates. INTRODUCTION Since the rise of the www (World Wide Web) one of the most important facts of Internet. Cryptography is one of the method through which we can achieve security. Two main methods of cryptography are encryption and decryption. By using these two techniques we can provide security for our secrete data. But there are some drawbacks in cryptography such as Brute-force attacks by which the intruders can identify the data. To avoid brute-force attacks it is necessary to have a larger key space [1]. And using Cryptanalysis the can extract the original data. Steganography is a technique to hide the secrete information. It I related to Cryptography is just about old technique. It was used by the Ancient Greeks to hide information from other troops. The word steganography I derived from the Greek word â€Å"stegos† meaning â€Å"cover† and â€Å"grapy† meaning â€Å"writing† defining as covered writing. Essentially information hiding is the main task of steganography. The embedding process creates a stego image which contains information. The basic method used to hide data in image is LSB technique. By using this technique we store the information in least significant bit of each pixel. One of the common encoding performed over the secret image before embedding is Huffman Encoding [2]. Steganography has two primary goals: 1) Security-It is the hidden data stored by either person or a computer.2) Capacity-It shows how much data can be hidden in a given cover image. These two goals are often in competition. As a result, steganography started to attract the attention of computer researchers and users. In fact, the goal of steganography is to hide the important information of communication by embedding the secrete data to transmit into a digital media file such as image or text files. OVERVIEW OF STEGANOGRAPHY Least Significant Bit (LSB) Method This is one of the most important and popular techniques of steganography. By this method, least significant bits of the pixel (in black white images) or colors are used to embed secret message bits. It is a good steganography mechanism since changes in a least significant bit yield few changes in the original image. The stego-image quality is improved by using LSB technique. In this technique, certain least significant bits of cover image are replaced with secrete data [3]. Suppose, for example, the by the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) with the numerical value as 01000111, is replaced with the following pixel values (the underlined bits represent the embedded bits): Pixel 1= (R=00011101, G=00111010, B=11001010) =>(R=00011100, G=00111011, B=11001010) Pixel 2= (R=01011001, G=10011011, B=11001110) =>(R=01011000, G=10011010, B=11001111) Pixel 3= (R=10010100, G=10101001, B=00110000) =>(R=10010101, G=10101001, B=00110000) The LSB approaches are divided into two fixed- and variable-length categories [4]. By the fixed-length methods, a given number of least significant bits of a byte are selected for embedding the data. In the variable-length method an assortment numbers of least significant bits of the proposed byte are chosen [5]. Cleanness and the pace of little changes in the portrait are the advantages of these techniques, while the disadvantage includes the chance of fast revealing. Pixel Indicator Process Adnan Gutub(2010)[6] in reference developed a method where a single color among three color components of a pixel was served as the pixel indicator; meaning that it indicates which colors in the pixel contains hiding bits of a secret message. Random values are selected for the indicator of each pixel, based on which message bits are placed in other colors of that pixel. The indicator uses two bits inserted inside two least significant bits of a specific color considered as the indicator. To increase the security of this technique, the color chosen as the pixel indicator is varied, so in the first pixel, Red is the indicator, Green is Channel 1, and Blue is Channel 2. For second pixel, Green is the indicator for pixel, Red and Blue act as Channel 1 and Channel 2, respectively. Finally, in third pixel, Blue is the indicator, while Red and Green act as Channel 1,Channel 2. The embedding of message is flowcharted in Figure 1.Pixel Indicator Embedding Process Because of the application of indicator; this method needs a wide space and, obviously, registration of color Figure 1: Pixel indicator embedding process The study uses the basic model of LSB swap along with Pixel Indicator and follows the same but with different think [7].Two such methods are described here: one with evade indicator and other with recurring indicator.LSB swap offers enhanced quality and capacity. On the words, confidential data is entrenched in data channels by modifying the cover image bits. In his propose method we first estimate the mean and standard deviation of every pixel if the entire image.The accidental traversing path is used for embedding to increase messiness .The representation for this study is given by the author. Before embedding process starts up, each cover image submits itself to control by means of translation of matrix and modulo [8].Hence the cover image undergoes successive alterations even before embedding. The plan of calculating mean and also standard deviation increases the difficulty of embedding rates. PROPOSED SOLUTION The study uses the primary concept of LSB swap along with Pixel Indicator and follows the same but with different methodology .The technique uses the MSB bit of RGB channels of a pixel. The channels can be choose in random (or) in sequence i.e. RGB, RBG etc soon [9] .However the indicated MSB bits are available at random based on image size, quality and its properties. The relationship between the hidden data in 3 channels is shown in Table 1. Indicator values based action. TABLE 1: INDICATOR VALUES BASED ACTION We have selected the indicator channels in sequence that is Red, Green and Blue. And then we find the MSB bit of each channel to know the bits. Once we got the bits we needed then we can perform the following process. The process of encryption and decryption takes place before hiding and after retrieving original information. During the encryption and decryption both sender and receiver uses same key/password. The encryption technique we used here is Blowfish which is having key length from 32 bits to 448 bits and it uses symmetric block cipher. Blowfish is developed in 1993 by Bruce Schneier as an alternative to existing algorithms. Blowfish algorithm [10] is a Feistel Network in which there are 16 rounds. In each round different sub keys are used. The block size is of 64 bits and key can be any length up to 448 bits. Figure-2: Flow chart for embedding data Algorithm for embedding Read the cover image(C) and secrete data to be embedded (D). Converting the secrete data into cipher text using BLOWFISH algorithm. Extract the length of the secrete data and store it in first 8 bytes. Divide each pixel into R, G, and B planes. And find the MSB bits of the 3 planes. By using the Tabel-1 select the channels where you want to store data. Repeat the process till all the secrete data is stored. Store the resultant stego image. Algorithm for Extraction Read the stego image. Split the pixel into RGB channels and find the MSB bit of each channel. Compare the retrieved bits with the Table 1 to find the channels that contain data. Now get the encrypted data and perform the decryption process to get original data. Repeat the process until the all data is retrieved. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The technique was implemented and tested in java. The technique accepts all mainly JPEG, PNG; BMP images of size 260Ãâ€"349.We can select a bmp image for testing the proposed Enhanced PIT algorithm. The PIT method is compared with the Stegoimage-1bit, Stegoimage-2bit, Stegoimage-3bit, Stegoimage-4bit. The approximate BMP image size used is 512 X 384 used to veil a text message of 11,733 characters length. The algorithm is used to hide 1-bit, 2-bits, to find the effect of transparency, security and capacity. Tests results showed different levels of diagrammatic inspections and histograms based study. For influence obligation the numbers of pixels used are recorded in each trial run. Figure 3: Original image Figure 4: Stego image Higher PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio) [11] indicates that the steganography images are of high feature and does not hunt for the interest of the intruder because if zilch image artifacts. MSE (Mean Squared Error) and PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio) are given by: MSE=)2 Where M, N=Dimensions of the image. Ci,j=The pixels in the original image. Si,j=The pixels of the stego image. PSNR=) DB Where, for color image =255. CONCLUSION The current paper provided a technique by exploiting differences made between colors to embed message bits in two least significant bits. Since color selection is based on color differences and values of variable N, the message will be hard to detect. Furthermore, as there is no need to insert additional information, changes in image will be small and image quality will be higher. Another important point to be mentioned is that embedding which is first applied on first least significant bits and, then, second least significant bits yields few changes in the original image for messages with small sizes. Because changes in second least significant bits will make more changes in color values. Therefore, it is likely to be avoided, unless this approach needs to be worked. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to be grateful Dr. B. Tarakeshwar Rao for his most support and encouragement. He benevolently read my paper and offered valuable meticulous advices on grammar, association, and the idea of the paper. Finally, I honestly thank to my parents and friends. REFERENCES [1] Enhanced chaotic key-based algorithm for low-entropy image encryptionYavuz, E.Yazici, R.Kasapbasi,M.C.Yamac, E.Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference(SIU),s201422ndDOI:10.1109/SIU.2014.6830246Publication Year: 2014, Page(s): 385 388 [2] A novelsteganographymethod forimagebased on Huffman EncodingDas, R.;Tuithung, T.Emerging Trends and Applications in Computer Science (NCETACS), 2012, 3rdNationalConference nDOI:10.1109/NCETACS.2012.6203290Publication Year: 2012, Page(s): 14 18. [3] Enhancing the Security and Quality ofLSBBased ImageSteganographyAkhtar, N.Johri,P.Khan,S.Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks (CICN), 20135thInternationalConferenceonDOI:10.1109/CICN.2013.85Publication Year: 2013, Page(s): 385 390 [4] Potdar, Vidyasagar M., Song Han, and Elizabeth Chang,Finger printed secret sharing steganography for toughness against image crop attacks, INDIN05. 2005 3rd IEEE International Conference, 2005, pp. 717-724. [5] Lou, Der-Chyuan, and Jiang-Lung Liu, Steganographic method for secure communications, Computers Security 21, no. 5, 2002, pp. 449-460. [6] Gutub, Adnan, Mahmoud Ankeer, Muhammad Abu-Ghalioun, AbdulrahmanShaheen, and AleemAlvi, Pixel indicator soaring capacity performance for RGB image based Steganography, WoSPA 2008-5th IEEE International. [7] Evaluating image steganographytechniques: Future research challengesRoy, RatnakirtiChangder,Suvamoy;Sarkar,Anirban;Debnath,NarayanComputing, Management and Telecommunications (ComManTel), 2013 International Conference,onDOI:10.1109/ComManTel.2013.6482411 Publication Year: 2013, Page(s): 309 – 314. [8]Free vibration analysis of circular cylindrical shells using transfermatrixmethodGuanmoXieElectric Information and Control Engineering (ICEICE), 2011InternationalConferenceonDOI:10.1109/ICEICE.2011.5778195Publication Year: 2011, Page(s): 423 – 426. [9] RGBbased dual key imagesteganography Dagar, S.Confluence 2013: The Next Generation Information Technology Summit (4th International Conference)DOI:10.1049/cp.2013.2334Publication Year: 2013, Page(s): 316 320 [10] Security analysis ofblowfishalgorithmAlabaichi, A.;Ahmad, F.;Mahmod, R. Informatics and Applications (ICIA),2013 Second International Conference on DOI:10.1109/ICoIA.2013.6650222Publication Year: 2013, Page(s): 12 – 18. [11] Stego image quality and the reliability ofPSNRAlmohammad, A.;Ghinea, G. Image Processing Theory Tools and Applications (IPTA), 2010 2nd International Conference onDOI:10.1109/IPTA.2010.5586786Publication Year: 2010, Page(s): 215 – 220.

internet government control :: essays research papers

In the 21st century we live in an economy, relatively unhindered by the government, a policy called â€Å"lassier faire† which allows the market to run without the government’s control. Although there is a certain invisible hand that the government posses to ensure that monopolies, or any of the harmful businesses are being operated to ensure safety for the average citizen. â€Å"Napster† founded by Shawn Flanning is a web site which can be joined on any home computer with access to the internet, where there after can trade and download virtually any song that person desires. For this simple reason this website is under attack from lawsuits coming from the music industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Musicians are at the head of the charge aimed against Napster for the exploitation of their music. A panel of U.S circuit of appeals that are a panel of judges ruled that Napster is in a violation of copyright infringements. It is a way to receive music without actually purchasing it and some many companies feel for the loss of revenues Napster should pay royalties or seize to exist. The RIAA, which represents many record companies, filed a federal lawsuit against Napster just months after the song trading website began in 1999. The lawsuit claims that Napster could rob the music industry of billions of dollars in lost profits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In defense against the courts, and angry musicians founder Shawn Flanning has stated â€Å" any decision the courts decide to enforce will be heavily matched with appeals to keep Napster going† according to the NY times. Also quoted saying â€Å"Napster works because people who love music share and participate, people said it wouldn’t survive Page 2 when there was only 700,000 users, and again when there was 17,000,000 members, now today we have more than 50 million members, and we’ll find a way to multiply and stay around†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The court found that Napster had infringed upon copyright holders’ rights to control the reproduction and distribution of their music, also stating that the recording industry would likely prevail. Having the preliminary injunction smack on Napster last July only to overturned being found to be â€Å"overbroad† and must be redrawn.

Lipsets American Creed :: essays research papers

Lipset's American Creed Liberty. Egalitarianism. Individualism. Populism. Laissez-faire. These five concepts embody the "American creed" as described by author Seymour Martin Lipset. Lipset feels that this "American creed" is representative of an ideology that all Americans share. Lipset's argument is on shaky ground, however, when scrutinized under the microscope of race. Racial relations in this country do much to undermine the validity of Lipset's argument, especially the concepts of egalitarianism and populism. Take, for example, The Deforming Mirror of Truth, the introduction to a book by Nathan Huggins entitled Black Odyssey: The African-American Ordeal in Slavery. This introduction focuses on how slavery fit into the national consciousness. Without a doubt, there is a powerful abnormality in the founding of America. The documents establishing a country where all men are created equal neglect to address, or even mention by name, those people whose lives were "merely the extension of the master's will" (Huggins xiv). Indeed, this suggests that the Founding Fathers had an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality towards the issue of slavery. While Huggins understands why the Founding Fathers may have elected to ignore the issue, he hardly thinks that it was a good idea. "It encouraged the belief that American history-its institutions, its values, its people- was one thing and racial slavery and oppression were a different story" (Huggins xii). He reinforces this idea by looking at the historical perspective that was prevalent in America until only recently. "American historians, guarding the ideological integrity of the center, have wanted to treat race and slavery as matters apart from the real, central story of American history" (Huggins xvi). Race and slavery. Two concepts that most people would agree are forever linked in America. To assume that blacks and white became equals after the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War is ludicrous. The South immediately began establishing what came to be known as Jim Crow laws. Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, wrote in a court document that "black" Americans (which is to say any American of African decent) had "no rights a white man need respect". This statement included those blacks who were not slaves. Furthermore, it was only in the latter half of this century that the nation became integrated, and there are still Affirmative Action laws in place to ensure fair consideration of all individuals on the job market. Is this a country of equality? Is egalitarianism a value embraced by all Americans? It is obvious what Nathan Huggins thinks of the matter. The concept of populism also falls under fire when considered from a racial standpoint.

When Religion Hurts :: Suicide Death Medical Essays

When Religion Hurts "The question is do I have a God complex? †¦I have a MD from Harvard. I am board certified in cardio-thoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from 7 different medical boards in New England and I am never, ever sick at sea. So I ask you, when someone goes into that chapel and they fall on their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn’t miscarriage, or that their daughter doesn’t bleed to death or that their mother doesn’t suffer acute neuro-trauma from post-operative shock, who do you think they are praying to? Now you go ahead and read your bible Dennis. And you go to your church and with any luck you might win the annual raffle, but if you are looking for God, he was in operating room number 2 on November 17th and he doesn’t like to be second-guessed. You ask me if I have a God complex, let me tell you something, I am God." (Becker, 1993) This quote was taken from the movie Malice. A doctor removed an ovary that he thought was necrotic and the lab result came back that it wasn’t. Unfortunately he removed the other one prior due to having a cyst on it. He was sued for malpractice and during his questioning he was asked if he had a God complex. A God complex is when a doctor believes that he has the power to save a person’s life when God might intend that person to die. The doctor then plays God by trying to undermine the plan that God has created for the patient. Many battles are fought in our society today over who actually controls our destiny. Although euthanasia is not a new concept, it is receiving more attention today. The main advisory for euthanasia is the same one as it was from the start of euthanasia. This advisory is our religious belief. Religion is said to be the key to our salvation, but it also puts blinders on our ethical values. Although religion gives us hope for a better life after death, it is this same belief that prolongs our suffering while still in this p lane of existence. Euthanasia is defined as "The act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.

Communication in a Maternity Ward Essay

Interpersonal communication is the process of sending and receiving information between two or more people but it has to be visual for example, a conversation with between a midwife and a patient. Whereas written communication is where you send and receive information but it has to be non visual for example typing up a patients details or sending an email as reference. When using nonverbal communication you should: Use gestures to help to clarify messages to the patients as differences in body language can cause a misunderstanding * Make sure to use the correct grammar and be clear as all documents are official When using verbal communication you should: * Listen carefully and patiently * Speak slowly, clearly and avoid slang * Be respectful, assertive, empathetic, clear, attentive, honest and non-judgmental. These are key things that shall keep your patient at ease and help to create a bond with your patient. * Remember that body language is still part of the communication we are al ways communicating, whether we’re speaking or not. Only 7% of communication is verbal, 55% comes from facial expressions and 38% comes from the way the words were said. So make sure you’re relaxed and clam then the patient shall feel this way and feel like they are in safe hands. There are many different audiences in communication varying on: age, culture and social and educational differences. Some examples of these audiences can be a business woman or young teenager. The type of communication will differ between them as will the way you communicate the message. You can adapt the way you communicate to suit the situation your patient is going through such as helping a first time mum who is scared by reassuring them and explain things calmly and clearly or someone who’s had more than one child by listening to them clearly. You can change your voice, language and body language to suit the different situations and how each patient feels. From using verbal communication the nurse comes to know the patient as a unique individual, this means that the patient come to trust the nurse which would put them at ease. Many techniques can be used to keep your patient calm. Such as asking questions or telling a story to distract and explain the situation easily and clearly. By using these techniques you shall keep your patient at ease throughout labour. Written communication is vital within the nursing industry as anything that is documented such as patients record/chart is a legal document which could be relied on in court if anything went wrong. If something isn’t documented then legally it didn’t happen. Other things that a midwife would need to document are a patient’s assessment, plan of care, change in status, health care and how the nurse left the patient. A report should be clear and concise.

Research Paper on a Tale of Two Cities

Formal Plot Summary Lucie Manette is a central character in the novel. She tends to affect the characters around her in a brightening manor. For instance she mends her father’s psyche through her unconditional love. Because of her ability to affect others in a liberating sense she attracts other characters such as Stryver, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton. She also is able to bring light to the life of family friend Jarvis Lorry. Another way Lucie is central is through her constant placement in â€Å"love triangles† the most obvious being Carton and Darnay. A second triangle she finds herself in is between Dr. Manette and Darnay. Sydney Carton is the protagonist of the novel. He dies by the blade of the guillotine to save Darnay. Carton is introduced in the beginning of the novel as an indifferent, drunkard of a lawyer. He seeks no true meaning to life or find pursuit in attaining any future goals. He is a complex character, because he ends up finding meaning, when he falls in love with Lucie Manette. He works early hours for Stryver while wearing sopping towels. He has thrown away much potential, yet he retains sympathy from people by fulfilling a promise to Lucie. Another dimension to Sydney Carton is that he is a social outcast. He has no place in the English class system. Yet, when Carton goes to Paris he becomes a new person. He finds fulfillment in life and in his death. Charles Darnay plays the role of romantic lead. He becomes the love interest and eventually the husband of Lucie. Darnay’s real name is revealed to Dr. Mannette in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage—his name is revealed to be St. Evremonde. Darnay is a symbol of sacrifice, when he gives up his home in France to pursue a life in England. He gives up his old privileges to become a tutor of the French language. Dr. Manette spent eighteen years in jail. To keep his mind in prison, he developed a skill in shoemaking. Dr. Manette suffers from spells of amnesia. Throughout the novel Dr. Manette grows as a character. He develops strength and confidence that he had lost in solitary confinement. An example of this is his ability to reason with the revolutionaries to keep Darnay alive. Five years later Charles Darnay is introduced on the stand of a court house. He is being tried for treason. Lorry and Lucie testify to save Darnay, but he saved by his Lawyer Stryver. The case that was made to save Darnay was that he could not possibly be spy because of his resemblance to Sydney Carton—an indifferent lawyer. As this is going on, Darnay, proposes to Lucie. They become engaged. Sydney Carton also reveals his love for Lucie. He understand that he cannot have her, so he promises to give his life for anyone sacred to her. While the marriage ceremony is commencing it is told to Dr. Manette that there were hidden papers found in a prison. This event sends Dr. Manette into shock for several days. Earlier in the day Darnay tells Dr. Manette his true name—Charles St. Evremonde. The French Revolution has now broken out, it is 1789. Defarge has lead an attack on the Bastille while his wife controls the revolutionary women. They burn down everything related with the St. Evremonde name. Gabelle, father of the killed child, is imprisoned. Darnay hears of this tragic event and rushes to France. While he is attempting to help Gabelle, Darnay is seized by revolutionaries as an aristocrat. Dr. Manette has much influence because of his time spent in the Bastille, he is able to visit Darnay, but no free him. Fifteen months later Darnay is brought up before the French Tribunal. As a result of Dr Manette and Gabelles’ testimonies he is set free. As Darnay is leaving, he is rearrested due to the efforts of Madame and Monsieur Defarge. Sydney Carton appears and informs Travis Lorry. Sydney Carton forces John Basard (he once testified against Darnay) to cooperate with him, or he’d reveal Basards illegal maneuvers of spying on prisoners. The following day Carton goes to visit Darnay, drugs him, and takes his clothes. Carton planned on fulfilling his promise to Lucie. Barsard rushes Darnay’s unconscious body out of jail to be with his family and flee safely. Madame Defarge goes to Manette’s apartment to kill Lucie, but meets Miss Pross. Miss Pross fights off Defarge who fires the pistol killing herself. Carton meets the guillotine. He is calm and is optimistic of his death. He dies with a face that is at peace. One major conflict in the novel is between Charles Darnay and his uncle. The conflict is external. There is a fight about Darnay selling the old establishment in France. Darnay’s uncle curses him. There is no resolution to this conflict, but Darnay’s uncle meets his demise when he is stabbed to death by Gabelle. One major internal conflict is between Carton and his inability to pursue any goals. He is revealed as a waste. He becomes the saddest story, when he is born with all the potential in the world but does nothing with it. The conflict is finally resolved when he keeps his promise to Lucie, when he takes his life for Darnay. He is able to come to terms and feel at peace. Sacrifice becomes a central theme in the novel. One example is when Darnay gives up his aristocratic lifestyle to pursue life in England. Another example is Carton when he sacrifices his life in order to save Darnay, so that Darnay can flee the country with Lucie. Another obvious them in A Tale of Two Cities is love and hate. An obvious example of love is Miss Pross protecting Lucie’s life by fighting off Madame Defarge. Miss Pross risks her own life to save another. The best example of love is Carton’s promise to Lucie. In order to promise his life to Lucie, he had to love someone more than himself. An example of hate is Madame Defarge’s attempts to kill those who had relations with Darnay. She wanted vengeance, which is a byproduct of hate. Her hate for aristocracy drives her to almost successfully getting Darnay killed by the guillotine. Another major theme which should be mentioned is death. Carton has to die in order for Darnayto live. Throughout the novel there is speak of death and violence. There were multiple descriptions in the novel of death by guillotine and scenes of the bloodshed due to revolutionary violence. One example I was able to clearly recognize was the guillotine. It symbolized death. Such as when it killed Carton. It also symbolized revolutionary violence. Evidence of this was whenever speak of revolutionary actions were shown, the guillotine was mentioned. Another example was Madame Defarge’s knitting. She would knit the names of the people she desired to kill. It was a symbol of their fate. Her knitting was a symbol of fate because every time she knitted someone’s name into her pattern, they would be marked to die. My personal reaction to the book was that it was very complicated to understand. Dickens’ word usage made simple sentences much too complicated to understand. I had to read the book with a dictionary. It took me from anywhere between twenty and thirty minutes to read eight to nine pages. Although I struggled much with the novel, I enjoyed it. My research paper will be concentrated on the complexity of Sydney Carton. He constantly changed my view of him in the novel. At one point I might dislike him, but then in another section I gained understanding for him. I feel that I will be centering my thesis on paralleling the lives and views of both Sydney Carton and Charles Dickens. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Cassia Press, 1998.

Math Self-efficacy

Math Self-efficacy 1 Running head: SELF-EFFICACY AND STANDARDIZED TEST PERFORMANCE Accepted for publication in the Journal of Educational Psychology. This version may slightly differ from the published version. Does Math Self-efficacy Mediate the Effect of the Perceived Classroom Environment on Standardized Math Test Performance? Lisa A. Fast University of California, Riverside James Lewis University of California, Riverside Michael J. Bryant California Institute of the Arts Kathleen A. Bocian University of California, Riverside Richard A.Cardullo University of California, Riverside Michael Rettig University of California, Riverside Kimberly A. Hammond University of California, Riverside Math Self-efficacy 2 Abstract We examined the effect of the perceived classroom environment on math self-efficacy and the effect of math self-efficacy on standardized math test performance. Upper elementary school students (n = 1163) provided self-reports of their perceived math selfefficacy and the degree to which their math classroom environment was masteryoriented, challenging, and caring. Individual student scores on the California Standards Test for Mathematics were also collected.A series of two-level models revealed that students who perceived their classroom environments as more caring, challenging, and mastery-oriented had significantly higher levels of math efficacy, and higher levels of math efficacy positively predicted math performance. Analysis of the indirect effects of classroom variables on math performance indicated a small significant mediating effect of self-efficacy. Implications for research on self-efficacy and the perceived classroom environment are discussed. Math Self-efficacy 3 Does Math Self-efficacy Mediate the Effect of the Perceived Classroom Environment on Standardized Math Test Performance?In the current high-stakes testing environment, any attribute of a student that positively influences achievement is of interest. The degree to which a studen t believes that he/she is capable of performing specific tasks, referred to as self-efficacy, is particularly relevant given that self-efficacy has been argued to have powerful effects on achievement behavior (Bandura, 1986). Those with higher self-efficacy are proposed to have higher aspirations, stronger commitments to their goals, and recover more quickly from setbacks than those lower in self-efficacy. Beliefs in one’s efficacy can vary across academic subjects (e. . reading vs. writing) and self-efficacy for mathematics has received close attention. Students with higher math self-efficacy persist longer on difficult math problems and are more accurate in math computations than those lower in math self-efficacy (Collins, 1982; Hoffman & Schraw, 2009). Math self-efficacy is also a stronger predictor of math performance than either math anxiety or previous math experience (Pajares & Miller, 1994; Pajares & Miller, 1995, respectively) and influences math performance as stron gly as overall mental ability (Pajares & Kranzler, 1995).The demonstrated importance of self-efficacy in academic achievement has provoked widespread interest in specific factors that affect a student’s self-efficacy beliefs. Bandura’s (1997) social-cognitive theory proposed that self-efficacy is most strongly affected by one’s previous performance and research largely supports this (Chen & Zimmerman, 2007). His theory also suggests that self-efficacy is affected by observing others (e. g. watching peers succeed at a task), verbal persuasion (e. g. encouragement from parents and teachers), and interpretation of physiological states (e. g.Math Self-efficacy 4 lack of anxiety may be a signal that one possesses skills). Although several studies indicate that manipulating features of learning environments along these theoretical premises has immediate and detectable effects on self-efficacy (Schunk, 1982, 1983, 1984; Schunk & Hanson, 1985), it seems possible that st udents’ perceptions of their learning environments also affect their efficacy beliefs. Ames (1992) argued that learning environments may not provide a common experience for all students and that students’ subjective interpretations of their environment determine how they respond to it.For example, a teacher might be described by an objective observer as helpful, but if a student perceives him/her as unhelpful, then the perception of unhelpfulness will guide the students’ behavior more than the teachers’ actual helpfulness. Focusing on perceptions of the classroom environment is consistent with Bandura’s (1997) theory, which suggests that self-efficacy is influenced by how an individual interprets relevant information. For example, a student might interpret a perceived unhelpful teacher as evidence that he/she lacks ability.In the current study, we focus on three aspects of the perceived classroom environment that affect self-efficacy: Mastery-orien tation, Challenge, and Caring. The degree to which students perceive their classroom environment as one that encourages mastery versus performance goals has been prominently studied (Ames, 1992; Dweck, 1986; Maehr & Nicholls, 1980, respectively). Classrooms structured around mastery goals emphasize effort and the intrinsic value of learning; students who adopt mastery goals are more likely to believe that effort leads to success (Weiner, 1979) and display positive attitudes towards learning (Ames & Archer, 1988).In contrast, classrooms structured around performance goals emphasize ability and competition Math Self-efficacy 5 between peers; students who adopt performance goals are more likely to use shallow learning strategies (Meece et al. , 1988) and avoid challenging tasks (Dweck, 1986). Although both of these classroom goal structures theoretically influence the achievement goals that students adopt, only mastery goal structures are consistently related to selfefficacy.Several st udies have found that students who perceive their classroom environment as more mastery oriented have higher academic self-efficacy (Dorman, 2001; Friedel et al. , 2007; Middleton & Midgley, 1997), whereas performance oriented classrooms have been found to be unrelated, positively related, and negatively related to self-efficacy (Friedel et al. , 2007; Wolters et al. , 1996; Schunk, 1996, respectively). Studies using path analysis have also found that self-efficacy mediates the influence of mastery-oriented classrooms on performance (Bong, 2008; Greene, Miller, Crowson, Duke, & Akey, 2004).In particular, Wolters (2004) found that mastery goal structure had a significant positive effect on students’ math grades, but when math self-efficacy was included in the model, the effect of mastery structure on course grades became nonsignificant. The degree to which a classroom environment is perceived as challenging also influences self-efficacy. A challenging environment is one in whi ch students are provided with progressively difficult tasks as their proficiency increases. Vygotsky (1978) argued that challenge is essential for intellectual development and Grolnick et al. 2002) proposed that individuals are born with a need to test their abilities and master their environment. Accordingly, evidence indicates that students enjoy learning when tasks are challenging (Zahorik, 1996). Although challenge has been most prominently discussed as an important facilitator of intrinsic motivation (e. g. Malone & Lepper, Math Self-efficacy 6 1987), some researchers suggest that it also leads to stronger beliefs in one’s academic abilities (Meyer, Turner, & Spencer, 1997; Stipek, 2001).Participating in challenging activities allows students to notice their incremental improvement in a subject, which increases feelings of self-competence. In support of this, Gentry and Owen (2004) reported that middle and high school students who perceived their classroom as challenging were more likely to have higher academic self-efficacy. Similarly, Meyer, Turner, & Spencer (1997) found that fifth and sixth-grade students who were characterized as â€Å"challenge-seekers† had higher math self-efficacy, while students who were characterized as â€Å"challenge-avoiders’ had lower math self-efficacy.Finally, the degree to which students perceive their classroom as a caring environment also has an important influence on self-efficacy. In a caring classroom (also referred to as Teacher Involvement: Newman, 2002; Personalization: Frasier & Fisher, 1982), the teacher expresses personal interest in students, provides emotional support, and generally creates a comfortable atmosphere. Murdock and Miller (2003) suggest that students who perceive their teachers as caring are more likely to view themselves as academically capable and set higher educational goals for themselves.Positive relationships between students and teachers provide a critical development al resource for children; students are more likely to seek help when they need it and develop a wide range of competencies when they feel emotionally supported by their teachers (Crosnoe, Johnson, & Elder, 2004; Pianta, Hamre, & Stuhlman, 2003). Accordingly, evidence suggests that students who perceive their teachers as more caring have significantly higher academic self-efficacy (Murdock & Miller, 200; Patrick et al. , 2007). Pianta et al. (2008) also found that fifth-grade students had higher performance on math tests whenMath Self-efficacy 7 their classrooms were rated higher in emotional support. In addition, the effect of emotional support on math achievement was larger than the effect of quantity of math instruction. The authors noted that, â€Å"this is especially interesting because math is perhaps not a subject where teacher-student relations are as much a focus,† (Pianta et al. , 2008, p. 389). In summary, math self-efficacy appears to play an important role in math achievement and mediates the influence of mastery-oriented classroom environments on math achievement.Global academic self-efficacy also seems to be positively affected by caring and challenging classroom environments. However, several issues remain unclear. Little is known either about the influence of caring and challenging classroom environments specifically on math self-efficacy or whether math self-efficacy mediates the influence of challenging and caring classroom environments on math achievement. Further, virtually nothing is known about the relationships between math self-efficacy, perceived classroom environment, and achievement in the context of standardized math test performance.These are important gaps in the literature in light of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002 that requires all students to take standardized math tests annually in grades 3 through 8 and once during high school. Scores on these tests are increasingly being used for â€Å"high-stakes† purposes that affect both students and teachers. According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (2007), standardized test scores of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders can be used for the following purposes in California: to place students into instructional groups (e. . remedial or special education programs), determine school eligibility for federal funding, make decisions about whether principals, Math Self-efficacy 8 teachers, and staff are offered continued employment, and determine whether or not teachers get bonuses. Several researchers have argued that the implementation of NCLB has led to a focus on testing and evaluation that permeates the school environment (Meece, Anderman, & Anderman, 2006; Ryan et al. , 2007). It is important to examine how student motivation (e. g. elf-efficacy) and classroom environments are related to one another in this legislated performance-oriented environment. In the current study, we predicted that math self-efficacy mediates the inf luence the perceived of classroom environment on standardized math test performance (Figure 1). Specifically, we predict that students’ perceptions of the degree to which their classroom environment is mastery-oriented, challenging, and caring has a direct and positive influence on math self-efficacy, and math self-efficacy has a direct and positive effect on student performance on standardized math tests.Each of these three aspects of the classroom environment will positively affect self-efficacy for the following reasons. Mastery-orientation will have a positive influence on math self-efficacy because environments that encourage students to take pride in their effort and value learning for its own sake, rather than simply emphasize the importance of good grades, will allow students to feel more confident in their ability.Challenge will also be associated with higher math self-efficacy because being afforded the opportunity to progressively master tasks that are slightly bey ond one’s current capacity allows a student to observe his/her own progress and gradually increase beliefs in his/her ability. Finally, caring will have a positive influence on math self-efficacy because Bandura (1993) argued that affective processes affect self-efficacy. In particular, environments that arouse anxiety and other negative emotions have a negative affect on efficacy beliefs (Usher, 2009).We Math Self-efficacy 9 hypothesize that environments in which teachers take a personal interest in and emotionally support students are less likely to arouse negative emotions than environments in which teachers are impersonal and emotionally disconnected, and therefore caring environments will positively affect self-efficacy. Methods Participants The 1,163 participants in our study were fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who attended elementary school in an inland southern California suburban school district during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years.The schools were located in low to middle income neighborhoods, with 59% (n = 682) of our participants receiving free and/or reduced lunch. Participants came from 88 separate classrooms. The mean cluster size was 13. 22 (SD = 5. 95) and ranged from 2 to 25 students per classroom. The majority of our sample consisted of Latino/a (62%) and Caucasian (31%) students and other ethnic groups included African American (4%), Asian (1%), Pacific Islander (

To What Extent Is the Labour Party Still Committed to Its Traditional Principles?

The Labour party was founded on the principles of social democracy, which is a traditionally centre left ideology. It has been Britain’s major democratic socialist party since the 20th century and since then has been committed on basing its ideologies on advancement for the working class. Until the 1980’s, Labour had kept its principles consistent, but with the development of Michael Foot’s ‘loony left’ movement which was based largely around the irrational minority issues and racial problems.It was Tony Blair in 1994 that came through with a revised ‘new-labour’ ideology that helped dominate the election polls yet again and stay victorious until 2010. But, did new-labour still resemble old-labour in terms of its principles? This is what i aim to evaluate. Old-Labour has always been seen as the party for working classes. This was demonstrated through the development of the welfare state where economic wealth is redistributed in the forms of tax benefits, job seekers allowance etc. to help people unable to work. But, when ‘new-labour’ was created under Tony Blair in 1994, Labour became more of a catch-all party.This meant that benefits were cut, in order to make middle and upper classes feel less discriminated against. Now, the focus is on ‘economic well-being’ and less on the formidable effects of poverty. Clause 4 was created to exhibit Labour’s affiliation with people from a working background. It stated things like â€Å"To secure for all the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry† and â€Å"equitable distribution† which shows its strong ties with the working man. In 1997 it was reformed, it changed from a predominantly ‘working class’ themed ideology to a more catch all. that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone† This is a revised passage from the post Tony Blair clause 4. You can te ll that it no longer is concentrated on one specific class, it is now generalising to everyone and saying that we are all in it togther. Which is obviously not solely concerned with one group of people. The Labour party belived in the provision of universal benefits to citizens who had no other means of income and/or supporting a familiy. Unfortunately over the past decade, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and Tony Blair identified this.That is why he came to the decision of reserving benefits more and focusing on ecnomic growth. Old-labour were far more concerned with the prevention of poverty but, new-labour seem to be more concerned with stability of the economy. Some may even say their slightly capitalist characteristics may align them more with their opponents, the Conservative party. It is now apparent that the Labour party are far less scrutinious towards who they want to aid in society and are showing a certain prgamatism towards their ideologies in order to fit in more effectively with todays society.The Third way which takes old-labour, thatcherism and liberal democrarcy is definately more pro-active than wiping out just under half of the voting population with your political views. Ed Milliband’s take on the third way is even said to be moving slightly right, which proves that Labour no longer prioritise with the working class and they are aligning themselves more fully with all classes and situatuions in the U. K. This is good for democrarcy, not good for the preservation of Labours traditional socialist values.

Interview reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Interview reflection - Essay Example Indeed, a calm disposition is an edge over this kind of activity. The question that asked candidates about qualities that commands respect in the classroom was full of insight. First, the personality of the person answering the question would be revealed. If â€Å"grades† were the answer , that reveals the person’s belief in positive or negative reinforcement. Another question that reveals the candidate’s belief is the one that inquires about the stating the goals of a school principal. This clearly shows what the person thinks or believes are the needs of the educational system according to his own perspective. Actually, almost all of the questions were very thought-provoking that required students to practice critical thinking skills and some ethics. The interview activity should always be a part of the class requirements. The activity helps students to understand themselves better and prepare them for real scenarios in the future. Applying concepts learned in the class and communicating them well to other people is a plus factor in one’s

Can men be victims of rape Consider this question in relation to Essay

Can men be victims of rape Consider this question in relation to legislative changes and the evolution of the policing response - Essay Example Although many people may view this assertion as vague, there are some different and varying deliberations on how men undergo difficult times as victims of rape. The worst of it has been on the revelations of how the society would view this issue given that in the wider society, culture has it that men are not allowed to discuss such matters in public. In fact, in some instances, men fear reporting instances of rape with the consequence of being turned against and being the offender instead of being the victims. Some of the common instances of men’s rape are between men and men. This is evidenced by the increased instances of homosexuality. Nevertheless, deliberations have been on how to define men rape in the context of events that may have transpired during the incidence. However, just like in women, men’s rape is characterized by assault and use of force and being forced to perform the sexual act without ones consent. When this happens, a man, just like a woman feels diminished and less a man (Lea, Lanvers, & Shaw, 2003). In fact, to some extent, when men undergo rape, they have a feeling of fear that they end up being gay. There are also concerns that this act may affect their sexual orientation in future. In addition, the worst thing comes in when a man feels that the connection between him and women has been eroded. They get scared even to approach women. In another dimension, for those men that become victims of rape, they have problems having sexual intimacy with their wives. This greatly affects their marriage and may end up breaking up. This becomes worse when men victims stomach these deeds instead of sharing with their spouses. In addition, there have been instances of men’s victim developing avoidance emotions. They tend to kind of develop some psychological problems that keep them away from other people. Some have developed some assault traits that make them aggressive even to their own relatives and friends. In this regard,

Consumer behavior theory to develop a sound marketing plan for a Essay

Consumer behavior theory to develop a sound marketing plan for a hypothetical product or service - Essay Example This maximum capacity of plant production especially if the demand is high cannot completely compete with other paint producing company. This remains one of the big challenges of the company that it takes into consideration at present time. Aside from continuing innovation of its products, Paint X Corporation continuous to aim for strong market penetration. Although situated in London, Paint X Corporation is providing quality paints in the international market. It is in this regard that the market segmentation variables are needed to be analysed based on the international level. Paint X Corporation is supplying paints across Europe, Asia and through out the entire world. Based on this consideration, it cannot be denied that the company’s consideration of its segmentation variables is a bit complicated. Everything needs to be designed based on a universal approach on geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioralistic consideration. On geographic consideration, various competing paint manufacturers in Europe are good reasons to create more innovative quality paints. This is clear when cost of raw materials was considered in order to compete with multinational companies (Renart and Pares, 1991). The world is such a huge market. Around 6 billion people today are living in the world (Sheffield, 1998). This is a potential mark et considering that these people need shelter and quality way of life. Paints are part of visual effects. Visual effects are said to influence people’s perceived usability, satisfaction and pleasure (Moshagen and Thielsch, 2010). Colors from paints bring decorative appeal (Smith et al., 2003). Paints are used everywhere and this only implies higher significant acceptance of these products. Maslow believed that humans have five hierarchies of needs and these are physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization (Robins and Timothy, 2010). In the event that the first need is substantially satisfied,

Advocacy letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Advocacy letter - Essay Example If there was only a small amount of trash, they picked it up and put it into a plastic bag. They then took this same plastic bag out of the restroom, and took an elevator to go to another floor. One student was eating a muffin in the elevator, and he then pushed a button that a janitor had touched with dirty gloves. Also janitors went to from one classroom to another to empty the trashcans in each room. They touched all of the classroom door knobs with dirty gloves. In the hospital, they did the same thing. They went from patient’s room to another to empty trash cans and hampers. If there was only a small quantity of trash or dirty linen, they transferred this into one bag to save trash bags. Janitors never changed their gloves both in school and in the hospital, and also they touched the dirty area first and then the clean area with the same gloves. Janitors usually have a low educational background. They need to be educated in the concept of germs and how germs are spread. They need to know what the clean areas and the dirty areas are, so that they can start working in the clean area first before touching the dirty ones. The best way to solve this problem is to provide a compulsory training program for all janitors which deals with issues like the way germs are passed on, and the dangerous implications of using the same gloves over and over again. I recommend that you consider implementing this suggestion immediately, for the sake of all our patients, visitors and

The 7 wanders of the world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The 7 wanders of the world - Essay Example â€Å"[The list] was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim† (â€Å"Seven Wonders†, 2006). The seven wonders of the ancient world are listed as the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse at Alexandria. Of these, only the Great Pyramid still exists today (Krystek, 2003). â€Å"For their builders, the Seven Wonders were a celebration of religion, mythology, art, power, and science. For us, they reflect the ability of humans to change the surrounding landscape by building massive yet beautiful structures† (Ashmawy, 2000). While almost none of these structures can be visited today, a closer look what is known about them can inspire some of the same wonder and fascination experienced by those who saw them first-hand. The Great Pyramid at Giza, the only one of the seven great wonders still standing, demonstrates an amazing attention to precision, even by today’s standards and with modern equipment. According to Andrew Bayuk (2005), the base of the pyramid is level to less than an inch and the sides measure almost equal lengths, with fluctuations at less than 1.75 inches. While it seems general knowledge that the average weight of the blocks is approximately 2.5 tons, Bayuk provides more precise detail. â€Å"Many blocks are indeed smaller than this, the blocks toward the top decrease in size. Some of the casing stones at the base are very large, weighing as much as 15 tons. The heaviest blocks are the granite blocks used to roof the king’s chambers and the weight relieving chambers above the king’s chamber. These are estimated to weigh from 50 to 80 tons† (Bayuk, 2005). While it has been widely believed that the

Utilization of Social Media in Arab Uprisings Essay

Utilization of Social Media in Arab Uprisings - Essay Example Both Tunisia and Egypt were revolutionized simultaneously because they were dividing sophisticated techniques of technologies in strengthening their results of rebellion. The civilians of these countries wanted to end and preempt numerous years of humiliation, bribery and exploitation. The crowded citizens in the streets did not gather to promote their political views or suggestions, but their main objective was to riot against social economic conditions; such as high cost of living and unemployment. The beliefs of citizens transformed due to their political involvements and this made both the juveniles and elderly to discover themselves both as patriots and rebels. Communication technologies were highly useful and this made a lot of people able to reach their groups in effective time. This essay encompasses all the supportive materials to explain the rebellion of Arabs, covers in details some of the techniques which were utilized in success of their uprising and also conclusions. Social networks were useful and played significant informational and organizational duties. The social platform such as Facebook facilitated the removal of Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Mubarak to digital platform. Assertions for example ‘‘This is Facebook Uprising† were regular in major lanes and cities, whereas root problems of corruption and exploitation of human rights in most of the Arab nations was a menace. Media of interactions such as Facebook, YouTube, and mobile phones were in plenty and were mainly used by a number of literate persons. Many of the Protestants in streets and cities lost their lives but the revolution groups prevailed persistence with their technological plans. Groups of networks generated friends, families and members of other networks.

Organizational challenges & problems Research Paper

Organizational challenges & problems - Research Paper Example This expose elucidates on the five greatest challenges organizations faced during the management of its projects and programs. The greatest challenge an organization may face during the management of a project or a program is a change of the priorities in the organization. It is crucial to point out that, priorities in an organization influence the structuring of objectives in programs and projects. In effect, a shift in organizational priorities challenges the management of ongoing projects. The shifts in the priorities of an organization may be a result of change in top management. On the other hand, an organization may change its objectives and goals and effectively influence a shift in priorities. The second challenge is a result of lack of precision in the scope statement of a project or a program. In this regard, failure to identify the scope of the project by clearly outlining the project goals and key project deliverables poses a challenge towards managing a project or a program in an organization. However, effective prior planning will help in identifying an explicit scope. On the other hand, managers may adopt changes in management in order to redefine the scope in ongoing projects or programs. In the process of implementing and managing a project or a program, changes in the deliverables and scope are inevitable. In effect, managing these changes becomes a challenge to organizations during the implementation and management of projects or programs. Nevertheless, effective management entails considering these changes and planning the update of these changes in the project or program. The fourth challenge organizations faced while managing and implementing a project or a program is a failure to assess and effectively manage risks, which affected the program or project. In this regard, the failure to assess the risks associated with a project meant that the organization risked failing to

The Controversy Of Genetic Testing Essay Example for Free

The Controversy Of Genetic Testing Essay The issue of genetic engineering and testing has become one of the most contentious issues in our contemporary society. The debate is battled over by credentialed scientists on both sides and the likelihood is very high that it will continue. Most of the pro genetic testing advocates claim that since it is a technological and scientific process, genetic testing governmental regulation and evaluation should be purely based on objective and scientific criteria. Â  Genetic testing opponents argue that there should be more science (or rather further advancement) especially on environmental and human studies in order to have such a purely perceived scientific evaluation of genetic testing. The contradiction brought about by such pure scientific assessment of genetic testing is the fact that it ignores the varied and differentiated religious, cultural, and ethical dimensions of different individuals that must be considered (Coates, Mahaffies, Hines, 1997, 13). Thus, genetic testing is not an isolated technology but rather one that employs a wide range of methods that will eventually gauge the absence, activity or presence of defective genes in cells. Its costs ranges from as less than $50 for simpler screenings like sickle cell anemia blood screens to the $10,000’s bracket for more complicated screens such as the pre-implantation genetic investigation for diseases like the Tay Sachs. Many individuals tend to prefer genetic testing when it happens that their families have shown some symptoms, which, given an early diagnosis, can substantially be improved. They may also consider it if they wish to pass on some desired genetic traits to their progeny. It goes without saying that the potential that genetic testing has for humankind in all societies is quite paramount. The most significant is the fact that genetic testing has a capability of lengthening and improving the quality of human life. When used and administered in the most appropriate ethical standards, genetic testing will/can eventually eliminate many unforeseen distresses and suffering. However, a number of issues including discrimination, social engineering, consent, equity, and privacy pose as potential hindrances that have been confronted by many people so far. There have been some personal family and legal conflicts which have arisen as a result of individual and/immediate relatives testing (Coates, Mahaffie, Hines, 1997, 17). Considering the issue of privacy for example, there has been many doubts whether insurance firms and potential employers for example, should access a person’s genetic records. There have been proposals that only genetic researchers should in their attempt to come up with more promising technologies that will ensure improvement and longevity of human life. This possibility of other unauthorized individuals or groups being informed of such genetic statuses is viewed by many as an incriminating genetic privacy deficiency. Moreover, genes are shared among parents and siblings, and as such, many wonder if there is a moral obligation for a person to disclose the information to people who could be potentially affected. Other issues that have brought additional controversy related to genetic testing include possible offensive discrimination of those found with defective genetic composition. This mainly happens in insurance related processes among others such as foster parenting or adoption. (Coates, Mahaffie, Hines, 1997, 22) Equality in availability of genetic testing to all is yet another worrying factor. Some people have thought that the rich might well be able to alienate themselves from all forms of genetically oriented complications because they can relatively afford the staggering costs as compared to the less fortunate. This has however, been addressed by appropriate regulatory measures that ensure there is no unnecessary skyrocketing of genetic testing costs. In conclusion, I’d say that no matter what the magnitude of opposition towards the issues revolving genetic testing, it is fundamental to appreciate one fact that the bottom line of all the debates will always depend heavily on the eminent advantages that this scientific advancement has brought to humanity. All we are required to do now is to streamline a few bends and we will soon be one army against a common enemy, ignorance of the benefits awaiting mankind after perfecting the methods and procedures involved. Most of these controversial issues can comfortably be prevented if we all make concerted efforts to understand the legal and social policies, national and state legislation as well as the health care reforms that will prevent disillusion about genetic testing. The gifts to be achieved by treating devastating inherited diseases out rightly outweigh the societal risks involved. Work cited: Coates Joseph, Mahaffie John Hines Andy. The Promise of Genetics. The Futurist, Vol.31, September, 1997, pp. 13, 17, 22