Teacher and Grandmother

Interestingly, the person who had the most impact on my life was my grandmother. My grandmother was a retired College Principal, but for me she was always my Grandmother. She taught me the kinds of things that school teachers never could teach in the classroom. Because my parents were at work and my grandmother was retired, I spent a lot of time with her. She was a mother, a grandparent and a teacher at the same time. She always prepared an interesting activity for the day. We visited museums, theatres, went to the zoo, visited the library, watched movies or just stayed at home and did something fun together. She always created the proper schedule with the weather and my age in mind. I loved the way she could find the tone and the language with me, keeping in mind my capacity. She had a good sense of humor and always tried to cheer me up when she saw lack of interest or tiredness. The biggest lesson I learned from her was how to be a happy and independent child. She let my free spirit wander, making me curious and adventurous. She never lectured me or gave me boring speeches; she always found ways to engage my interest through stories and examples from her life. It were very important for her. She wanted my imagination to grow and explore different ideas and topics in my head. When I could not read by myself, she was the one who introduced me to picture books, and when I went to first grade she sat down with me and held my hand during my discovery of reading independently. My Grandmother was the first person who put a pencil in my hand. First we drew and colored together, and then slowly I learned how to form my letters and to write my name down before I started my school education. As I mentioned before, my parents had to work, so my Grandmother picked me up from school everyday. When we arrived home we always had snack and then a little free time before we sat down to do my homework. If I had a difficult assignment, for example from chemistry or physics, we tried to associate with baking as a science, or made an experiment to see how it could work in real life. She never disciplined me. How it worked between us was very natural; she was older and wiser, I was little and hungry for knowledge. I admired her knowledge, life experience and her enthusiasm; I asked question after question, begged for stories of her life and never let her sit down for a moment. She tried to keep up with me and never complained of being tired and I was never bored. I was the engine of her life and she was the educator in mine. When I was older and went to stay at overnight camps during the summer, she wrote me letters every single day. I learned how important it was to keep contact, communicate and express my feelings and ideas in writing. My grandmother made a huge impact on my life: I learned how much I should appreciate life everyday. I learned how I can make changes if I have an open and curious heart.

The Boxer Rebellion and the Christian Response

The Boxer Rebellion was a vicious uprising against non-Chinese in China during the final years of the 19th century, from November 1899 to September 7, 1901. The areas of conflict included the commercial market, political domain, religious concerns and technological advancements. This extremely unique and glaring because in a very short span of time, thousands of Christians, both Chinese and foreign were killed as a result of the revolt and its suppression. Then ironically, the revolt itself was crushed by the very thing it stood against – foreign influence. About 20,000 troops came from outside to thwart this movement forever.â€Å"Thus as 1900 dawned, China was swept by a movement known as ‘Yao rebels’ who believed that they had been made invulnerable by sorcery and incantation. Screaming mobs, determined to kill every Westerner, were egged on by the Yao society whose title, â€Å"The Fist of Righteous Amity† was translated by Americans and English into B oxers† (Guy, 2006). It is not possible to highlight where this anti-western sentiment in China was actually born, but one may refer back to the opium war between Britain and China (1839-1842) for some indication. In 1839, the First Opium War broke out, and China cut a sorry figure in front of Britain.Eyeing the weakness of the Chinese, not only the British, but the Russians and the French as well started to exert their respective pressures upon the country. Due to their lack of power and ability to impose their will, China was forced into a number of treaties that subjugated its interest against others. These include: the Treaty of Nanking (1842), the Treaty of Aigun (1858), the Treaty of Tientsin (1858), the Convention of Peking (1860), the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), and the Second Convention of Peking (1898). Obviously, the public voice was against these treaties at large.Their ego was hurt badly, and their pride seemed to falter in front of the might of the foreigners. A s is common in such times, rumors also began to spread away. The foreigners were considered to be responsible for much crime and lawlessness that was prevalent. It was believed that the Church had started exercising more power than the state. It was also felt the Church had started to impose certain Christian practices, and had excluded certain tradition Chinese practices from the society. Thus in the late 19th century, feelings of unrest against the Chinese and the foreigners started to develop at a very rapid pace.Another major event was a row over a temple. The Catholics claimed that it was originally a church that had later been abandoned. The local court ultimately gave the verdict in favor of the Church. The locals could not tolerate this, as it was their place of worship and also a place to practice martial arts. To add to that, the colonization during the following decades did no good to boost up the morale of China. What was more, Asian powerhouses Russia and Japan also joi ned the rat-race for territorial supremacy. China came out as a good target for all those hungry to cut a slide of the earth’s map for their good.After the 1895 war of China with Japan, many European powers stepped forward to occupy Chinese territory. All of this mustered up into an intolerable feeling of hatred within the Chinese against their oppressors. â€Å"The conservatives then gave clandestine backing to the antiforeign and anti-Christian movement of secret societies known as Yihetuan (Society of Righteousness and Harmony). The movement has been better known in the West as the Boxers (from an earlier name–Yihequan, Righteousness and Harmony Boxers). In 1900 Boxer bands spread over the north China countryside, burning missionary facilities and killing Chinese Christians.Finally, in June 1900, the Boxers besieged the foreign concessions in Beijing and Tianjin, an action that provoked an allied relief expedition by the offended nations. The Qing declared war agai nst the invaders, who easily crushed their opposition and occupied north China. Under the Protocol of 1901, the court was made to consent to the execution of ten high officials and the punishment of hundreds of others, expansion of the Legation Quarter, payment of war reparations, stationing of foreign troops in China, and razing of some Chinese fortifications† (Onwar, 2000).While external forces were still contemplating a productive way out of the situation, the Chinese rulers came out with a message to the provinces. Given the circumstances and the options the rulers had, the message was by no means peaceful. It stated that the world was after Chinese resources and land, and that the time had come when the last resort should be adopted. Peace, therefore, was not an option to be considered. Meanwhile, in the northern Shandong province, a distressing drought was pushing people to the edge of starvation.There were not many who were thinking about peace anyways. All this energy had to be vented out somewhere, and hence came the time of catharsis, but in a violent way. Anti-foreign feelings caused the quick outburst of a Chinese secret society that was previously more docile. It was known as the I Ho Ch’uan, meaning the Righteous Harmonious Fists; hence the name ‘Boxers’. Understandably, with their name and mission, the Boxers asked for the expulsion of the external parties, more casually referred to as the ‘foreign devils’, along with their Chinese Christian converts.This was the time when conventional Chinese arts and skills thrived, especially martial arts and the use of traditional Chinese weapons. â€Å"At first, the Boxers wanted to destroy the Ch'ing dynasty (which had ruled China for over 250 years) and wanted to rid China of all foreign influence (which they considered a threat to Chinese culture). When the Empress Dowager backed the Boxers, the Boxers turned solely to ridding China of foreigners. By late 1899, ban ds of Boxers were massacring Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians† (Rosenburg, 2006).The resentment towards foreigners, Christians and Chinese converts started to rise immensely, with a greater tinge of violence. The circumstances forced the external lobbies to join hands, and they lodged strong protests with the government of China. However, the then Empress, Tzu Hsi’s response surprised many, when she declared that the Boxers were actually a part of the Chinese society, and hence should not be condemned as such. The reaction was also unexpected because it actually went against the local Chinese army, which was striving against the rebellion, and directed in favor of the Boxers.This made it inevitable for the external forces to make a show of military might close to China’s borders. â€Å"The empress dowager publicly opposed the Boxers, but her ministers quietly convinced them to join forces in order to drive foreigners from China. In the early months of 1900, thousands of Boxers roamed the countryside, attacking Christians. When an international force of 2,100 soldiers attempted to land in China, the empress dowager ordered her imperial army to stop the foreign troops.Throughout the summer of 1900 the Boxers burned churches and foreign residences and killed Chinese Christians on sight† (Dowling, 2001). Gradually, the Boxers started to gain autonomy over their beliefs and actions. The government was not ready to curb them, and their views were supported by many in the masses. The only effort that were going were in the direction of strengthening forces against the external attack. Finally, when the pressure was too much, the foreign elements inside started vocally seeking help from outside. It was then that the eight-country attack came into operation upon China.There were multiple operations, many of them fierce; gradually the Chinese rebellion started to weaken. Over the next several months, the forces from outside starte d to grow within China. They overtook Beijing (then Peking) and expanded into the country. Ultimately, the Boxers just a local might were no match for the military power of the industrial nations. Ultimately, in early 1901, the Chinese government gave in, and agreed to abolish the Boxer movement completely. Needless to mention, it was not merely an attack on the territory of China, but also on its ego.Succumbing to the demand of the external powers was worse than actually loosing a battle. Subsequently, due to its recent weakening in the region, China could do nothing in the war of Russia and Japan a couple of years later, and stood watching while Japan proclaimed supremacy in the East. In the entire episode, the United States played a very significant role. This is because it had a tactical advantage, having a major portion of its navy already established around the Philippines during the Spanish American War (1898) and the subsequent Philippine insurgent activity.This was actually a reinforcer for those policy makers in the US who were of the opinion that the US should maintain control in the Far East. It was a very unique time in the history of China, repeatedly, it had to face occasions when foreign invaders came in and took control of her land and might. The emperors were just too weak to make any resistance to this offer. An additional reason was that the foreign armies were far better equipped with warfare technologies and tactics than China was at that point in time. It was a time when the Empress began to reconsider her option regarding removal of these elements from her soil.

Political Systems in U.K and U.S Essay

What are the similarities and differences between the political systems in U. K and U. S? When the U. S. Constitution was being drafted, its writers had the British Parliamentary system to base on. The British system was the system they were used to and had learnt since childhood. However, because the monarchy was one of the main things that the former colonists had rebelled against, any form of monarchy and most forms of concentrated power were avoided. The most fundamental difference between the political system in the U. K and the U. S is the constitution. The United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament, any of which can be changed by a simple majority in the Parliament. Similarities Both the U. S. and British political systems have a head of state, a court system and an upper and lower house. The U. S political system has a constitution which lays out the rules for government and the rights of the people, however, the U. K has documents with constitutional provisions which lay out the same rules. Both systems are democratic in nature, as governments are put in place and removed from power by the will of the people and both have systems of checks and balances to limit the power of any one branch. Head of State In the U. S. political system, the president is the official head of state. The president is elected under the electoral college system. In the U. K. , although the prime minister usually has the spotlight on political matters and is the official head of government, the queen or king is the official head of state. The queen officially signs off on acts of parliament and, just as the U. S. president delivers the State of the Union Address every year, the queen reads the â€Å"Speech from the Throne,† which is written by the prime minister. In U. K, the monarch is more of a ceremonial figurehead and it is unusual for any member of the royal family to directly interfere with the political process. The Upper House The United States has a Senate as the upper house of the legislative branch and the U. K. has the House of Lords. Under the U. S. ystem, each state, regardless of size, has two senators. Originally, senators were appointed by the governor of the state they represented but they are now elected to serve six-year terms. The House of Lords is very different. Members of the House of Lords are not elected. The 792 members of the House of Lords are members by inheritance, appointment or their rank in the Church of England; they are not elected and cannot be removed byvote. This part of t he political system in the U. K is not democratic. Otherwise the House of Lords serve the same purpose as the U. S. Senate. They discuss, debate and vote on legislation passed by the lower house of the legislative branch. The Lower House The U. S. House of Representatives and the British House of Commons have a great deal in common. Each house is made up of representatives elected by the people. In both systems control of the lower house goes to the party that has the most seats. Under the U. K. system, the leader of the party with the most seats becomes the Prime Minister and the official head of the government. Under the U. S. system this person would be the Speaker of the House. One other key difference is elections. Under the parliamentary system, the prime minister can go to the crown at any point and ask to dissolve Parliament. If this is done an election is called. An election can also be called if the prime minister loses â€Å"the confidence of the house. † This means that the prime minister lost a vote in Parliament on a matter of confidence. Matters of confidence are usually over budgetary matters. If the prime minister loses a vote of confidence, the end result is an election Other political differences. The American general electionlasts almost two years, starting with the declaration of candidates for the primaries. The British general election lasts around four weeks. In the United States, no Cabinet member is allowed to be a member of the Congress because of the strict theory of the separation of the powers. In Britain, every Government Minister must be a member of one of the two Houses of Parliament and, if he or she is not already in the Parliament, he or she is made a peer. The constitutional system in the UK involves a lot of custom and practice, and much more flexibility than the US system. For example, the timing of US presidential elections is fixed. In the UK, it is essentially the Prime Minister’s choice as to when elections are to be held, up to the 5 year limit. The resignation of a president in the US would have to lead either to an election or to his vice president taking up the office. In the UK, the resignation of a prime minister will lead to the party choosing a new leader, but there is no technically requiring this, the Queen is technically free to choose whoever she wishes.

Application Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Application - Assignment Example The objective of the training program was to orient these managers on the basis managerial and administrative responsibilities in different nursing units to enable nursing unit managers to focus direct patient care. evaluation findings is to determine if the identified goals where effectively achieved. As identified, the training objectives include orienting the newly hired unit managers on managerial and administrative responsibilities to be undertaken at different nursing units; and thereby, to enable nursing unit managers to focus on patient care. The audiences within whom the findings were communicated to were the Department Managers of the Nursing Department and the Vice President for Nursing for review and assessment and forwarding of results to the President and CEO of the organization. Likewise, the results were subsequently communicated to the Nurse Unit Managers for information purposes. Parallel to the discussions presented in Russ-Eft & Preskill (2009), the target audience that were identified herewith were considered according to being: (1) directly involved in the development of the training program; and (2) they are directly interested and affected by the results of the training program (p. 406). The timing of the communication and evaluation reports was considered. As disclosed by Rodgers, although the formal evaluation was scheduled after the six week training period, regular weekly updates were reported to the Department Managers of Nursing Department and to the Vice President of Nursing. Therefore, in addition to the weekly reports, the final evaluation and communication of findings were set at the 7th week from the initial basic orientation to review and evaluated the outcome; any challenges or difficulties encountered; any proposed changes to the current managerial and administrative tasks, as proposed by the unit managers; and to incorporate suggestions or comments recommended by the Nurse Unit Managers. The

Contract law, Doctrine of consideration Case Study

Contract law, Doctrine of consideration - Case Study Example Professor Patrick Atiyah1. Consideration can be defined as "An act of forbearance of one party, or the promise thereof, is the price for which the promise of the other is bought, and the promise thus given for value is enforceable." F. Pollock2. A redundant or free promise is hence, legally unenforceable. Such promises do not involve consideration and consequently, they are not regarded as contractual promises unless made as a formal contract by deed. In English Law a promise made under contract is unenforceable in the absence of consideration. Further, the legitimacy of a simple contract can be ensured only if there is consideration from the party accepting the offer. Increasingly, judges are being encouraged to find consideration in cases; this is so that contractual claims can be assessed on the basis of the real intention of the contracting parties to one and another, rather than a strict and narrow interpretation of case law. Consideration is only at issue in simple contracts, Courts often have to find consideration to be able to infer that a contract exists. In a Contract By Deed, consideration is unnecessary; as it is clear what is due form whom. In addition, where the traditional narrow view of consideration may lead to inconsiderate results, Courts may accept a request for applying the principle of equitable estoppel. Therefore, a contract which contains promises unsupported by consideration is void ab initio. Valid consideration has the following features: 1. Consideration must move from' the offeree to the offeror, that is, the person making the offer must be expecting something in return. 2. Consideration must be something of value, however trifling to the offeror, or something of detriment to the offeree. 3. Consideration must be sufficient in law, but need not be sensible in fact. An offer of sale of a Rolls Royce Car for 1 is valid consideration though not sensible. However, if this car is offered gratis, there is no consideration and the agreement is unenforceable. 4. Consideration must impose an obligation in the future; it is unusual and inadequate to base an offer on past consideration3.In the case Currie v Misa it was held that, "A valuable consideration, in the sense of law, may consist either in some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility given, suffered, or undertaken by the other"4. Hence, reciprocity is essential to the doctrine of consideration, in other words, a promisee cannot enforce a promise unless he has

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research Paper - Essay Example The monism argues that the body and the mind make one physical being. This is the basis of this research project. Dualists assert that human beings are a combination of two different units, the mind and the body. Dualists claim that the body and the mind are not connected and therefore, do not influence the working of each other. Dualists argue that after the death, the mind continues to existing on its own but in incorporeal form while the body putrefies or decays (Wingerter, 2011). One such dualist is Rene Descartes, who is one of the most modern philosophers. He believes that the body an the mind are two distinct elements. He formulated the Cartesian dualism theory that was named after him. The theory was put on the method and the meditation. Descartes, in the Cartesian dualism, claims that a human being is made up of two different elements: the body and the mind. This has been used as a proof why the mind has no immortality. Descartes argue that a human being is totally discrete and different to their material body. Descartes believed that the powers of human reason, a faculty of the mind, is the sole basis of knowledge. According to him, faculties of reason through intuition and deduction are natural characteristics of the human mind. Descartes also argues that the body is similar to a machine that is maneuvered by mechanical schemes, and that the mind has nothing to do with the processes underwent by the physical body. Mind and body and not connected to each other, just like the oyster has no connection with the pearl. To further this, Descartes believes that animals are just â€Å"automata† and act without the use of mind or consciousness, and are merely driven by mechanical schemes. This mechanical scheme, as discussed by Descartes, furthers the reasoning that the mind is totally independent of the body. Descartes claims that the brain controls the body mechanically by sending fluids through the neurotransmitters of the brain. This analogy reduce s the brain and the body to pure mechanical objects and puts into context that the it is possible for the mind to exist without the body, and the body to exist without the mind. He states that while the body is a non-thinking, extended thing, the mind is the complete opposite as it is a thinking, non-extended thing. Descartes has also given more evidence to prove that the body and mind are two different and disconnected elements but working in partnership. He argues that the body is by itself dividable while the mind does not have such divisible capability. â€Å"There is a great difference between the mind and the body in as much as the body is by its very nature always divisible, while the mind is utterly indivisible† (First meditation). This was the case in the transplantation of organs. If a person was to receive a heart from another person, where the heart is considered as the key organ for a human being’s body existence, the person does not become a new different person because of this. Transplantation shows how the body can be divided into different parts due to donation of body organs. Descartes argues that a person is made of different molecular structures, a variety of fluids, numerous nerves and body networks. Conversely, if a person dies, we are unable to form a construction of their mind. We cannot detach their thoughts into one part and their personality into another part. This shows therefore, that the mind is not dividable. Critics of this view

The Coming Anarchy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Coming Anarchy - Essay Example Kaplan argues that all these developments which are a result of natural resource scarcity and overpopulation will lead to a global anarchy where war and crime are indistinguishable. Kaplan cites loss of power of central governments, political borders becoming obsolete and transfer of power to security firms and private armies as the reason for the rise of global anarchy (Kaplan, 1994). Kaplan’s thesis of the coming anarchy has great support not only from other scholars and experts in the field but also from general public and political community. The support for the thesis mainly rises by the fact that it has been very accurate in predicting the current events in Africa. Also it has been praised for its broad range of reasoning and thought provoking style. The thesis is not free of criticism. It has attracted a lot of criticism for its unscholarly presentation and unprofessional approach. It is argued that there are many flaws in the argument along with poor interpretation of the findings and methodological errors. This paper is an argumentative essay that refutes the claim that resource scarcity will lead to anarchy. The supporters of the thesis believe in it for the logical explanation that is used to prove it. The environmental scarcity of resources which is due to increased demand as a result of overpopulation, degradation of resources, unequal distribution, etc will result in civil violence. Ecological marginalisation and resource capture will be the causes behind civil violence and this in turn will lead to social effects such as migration, legitimate institutes become disrupted and agricultural production is constrained (Barbier & Homer-Dixon, 1996). The supporters agree with the end result of these will be the one predicted in â€Å"The Coming Anarchy†. Further explanation is that convinces many of its supporters is that as scarcity of natural resources

Discuss how The Heart of Darkness reflects the paradoxes of Essay

Discuss how The Heart of Darkness reflects the paradoxes of imperialism in the late 19th century - Essay Example The first paradox of Heart of Darkness refers to how the civilising mission of imperialism resulted to the dehumanisation of the colonisers. When waging imperialism, Europeans asserted their moral, social, and intellectual ascendancy, as they aimed to civilise all that is brute and different from their culture. Conrad shows, however, that the Western imperialist man has lost his heart to the darkness of imperialism. Maritime Hennard Dutcheil De La Rochere argues that Conrad uses the body of Africa as a trope for the ironic effects of European civilisation on colonised countries. De La Rochere asserts: â€Å"†¦[the] central idea†¦ the civilising mission [is] a spiritual and moral cure, is radically undermined through an ironic literalisation of the trope†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (186). Imperialism sees itself as a cure, which must be directly applied to the heart of Africa to cure it of its backwardness. The paradox is that the cure harmed the â€Å"doctors† too. In the case of Kurtz, he became consumed of his desire for wealth, so that he would be worthy of his Intended. Imperialism, nevertheless, does not cure the uncivilised, but destroys the civilised and their notion of morality. Kurtz engages in immoral acts of waging wars with other tribes to acquire their ivories. Ivories are expensive; they are the symbols of wealth and power. The concept of a new life whets Marlow’s appetite for adventure and fortune too. Despite the skirmish with the natives, he desires to see Kurtz to find out the truth. When he learns the truth, he regrets it. Imperialism stains people’s very core, their very soul. William Atkinson argues the horror of imperialism (374) that Conrad criticises. Wealth and power consumes Kurtz’s humanity. He is sick, not only because of living in a strange land, but more so because of the sickness of being an imperialist tool for human exploitation. The horror that captivates his last moments on earth is his horror and the horror of every European who sets foot on foreign lands to abuse the natives and their resources. The second paradox is that imperialism do not truly civilise the natives, but produces the counter-effect of large-scale dehumanisation that mars both native and Western civilisations. Dehumanisation occurs because of racial prejudice. Hunt Hawkins believes that Conrad criticises imperialism’s goals and means. When Marlow gets the first glimpse of the company's chief accountant’s clean appearance, he appreciates it as a â€Å"miracle† (Conrad 15). The miracle is an unsound image because miracles are holy. Later, as the accountant makes â€Å"correct entries of perfectly correct transactions† (Conrad 16), with the sick agent on his bed and a few feet away, Africans suffer in â€Å"grove of death† (Conrad 16), Conrad is disgusted. A clean outer experience does not have meaning when inside it is a cold soul. Another form of dehumanisation can be seen in t he effects of imperialism. Instead of curing people, Europeans impregnated them with capitalist ideas that destroyed their collectivist way of life. De La Rochere underscores that the â€Å"†¦embodiment of the jungle emphasises the human suffering this ‘civilising mission’ inflicts† (186). Instead of developing the minds and virtues of the natives, the whites only corrupted them with their materialistic and individualistic concerns

Executive summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Executive summary - Assignment Example Gripper company roadmap starts with our specific mission, which is lasting. It declares our purpose as an organization and serves as the standard against which we assess our decisions and actions. Our mission is to improve safety in the world; to inspire optimism and happy moments and to create a value and make the difference. Our core objectives are to increase sales over the next two years, to improve our gross margin over the current line of product and maintain the level, to meet the market demand at a high gross margin. Our near and long term goals is the Growth of our company with the development of new and quality products, moving our operations to many countries, selling products at a cheap price and producing quality products over our rivals. Gripper Company is a regional company that sells its products on wholesale to its retail customers. The percentage of our gross margin is above average with many customers coming from within the country. The company hopes to become an international company within two years. It is an anti-slip treatment that is proven to make wet floors slip resistant. It brings about non-slip tile floors, bathtubs, or non-slippery shower floors in minutes. It prevents slip-fall accidents in bathrooms, kitchens, workplaces hotels or anywhere with a slippery tile floor (Pinson and Linda

Personal philosophy of science education in a primary class Assignment

Personal philosophy of science education in a primary class - Assignment Example Students are said to develop their thinking, hand and body skills better under the inquiry-based method of teaching (Akinoglu, 2008). According to Akinoglu, science projects develop the creative thinking skills of students (2008). In teaching science to a primary class, it is important that teaching be done through small group works (Woods-McConney, Wosnitza, & Donetta, 2011). This makes the students more motivated to learn and participate actively in the activity. Another important aspect of teaching science education to primary class students is to help students understand science by linking them to the needs of society (Eady, 2008). They should be made aware of the relevance of science in their daily lives. Lastly, one concurs with McTigue and Slough that design of science texts used should enhance the interests of students to direct their attention to the essential information (2010). Furthermore, science texts should have graphical representations that can assist the students in understanding the science concept presented (McTigue & Slough, 2010). One hopes to apply the philosophies stated above in teaching science to a primary class. These philosophies were based on several theories by science educators and which one deems effective in communicating scientific principles to children. Gilbert, A. (2009). Utilizing science philosophy statements to facilitate K-3 teacher candidates’ development of inquiry-based science practice. Early Childhood Educational Journal , 36 (5), 431-438. Woods-McConney, A., Wosnitza, M., & Donetta, K. (2011, September 1). Keep it positive: Using student goals and appraisals to inform small group work in science. Teaching Science: The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association ,

My personal experiences Essay Example for Free

My personal experiences Essay I believe that all my personal experiences and academic accomplishments are the stepping stone to realize my potentials and my career objectives. To be admitted in the Asian Institute of Technology School of Management Thailand is a huge step towards achieving these objective and attaining career and self development. I will surely grow academically and professionally once I obtain a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. I took up Electronics and Communication Engineering from the National College of Engineering. I was an above average student back then and I always took risks by assuming completing responsibility and performing the assigned duties well. Although it is a highly technical course, my optimism has also allowed me to take struggles and problems as challenges. After graduation, I was enticed to establish a career using my knowledge in electronics engineering. I was able to render services to Indias technological companies for four years specializing in Telecom Testing domain. I also worked for Wipro Technologies on Nortel CS1K product. I also worked for India’s major Telecom service providers like BHARTI (AIRTEL) and VSNL. Because my academic background and work experiences are highly technical, I want to combine it with a business management course for career and individual growth. By completing the MBA program offered by AIT-SOM, I will feel more competent and confident to serve my country and any company in the future. I wish to study more about business management because I believe that it will aid me to become more successful not only as a technology expert but as a business savvy professional as well. Furthering my knowledge in business combined with technology is one of my goals. I also wanted to apply for the university’s Financial Aid Scholarship Program. I am in dire need of financial assistance and I know that I can repay this scholarship by being an outstanding student of this university. I believe that through the school’s financial assistance program, my burden will be lessened since I am supporting my family. My homeland is a developing country and I firmly believe that through this course and by applying the skills that I will acquire through this institution, I can help my country in its progress. I am looking forward to serving the nation by applying the management knowledge and skills that I will gain after completing my MBA at AIT-SOM. I know that an MBA from AIT-SOM will help me acquire knowledge that is beyond my imagination. The things I will learn will surely contribute to my advancement in the field of business and provide me more career opportunities in the future. I am confident that AIT-SOM has the capability of making students stretch beyond the conventional business degree. I also believe that this university will make my ambitions more attainable since I will get my degree with the help of the Financial Aid program. I am positive that I am fit to become a part of a university that only accepts the finest, the best and the most responsible students. I know that this university will really make my dream a reality.

Policing has affected a Nation not Just a Race Essay Example for Free

Policing has affected a Nation not Just a Race Essay Throughout the interview process I was able to understand and gain an adequate perception of how others felt about law enforcement here in the United States. I found that many answers were universal and were not only the views of one particular race. Law enforcement is set in place to up hold the laws and to protect and serve the people of the United States. However, I found that a few of my interviewees felt that law enforcement was biased and were not for all people. The interviewing process was very interesting and being able to listen to the participants’ responses was very enlightening. No two people had the same perception however, there were many concerns that were similar. My first interview was conducted on an African American woman. She is 75 years old and is originally from Saint Joseph, Louisiana. However, she is a widower and all of her children have passed on. She moved here to Houston Texas in 1960 with the husband and two children. Where they have resided in the area of Houston known as Fifth Ward for over 54 years. She has spoken about how growing up in Louisiana as a black child was horrible, and how they were taught to avoid the police by all means. The town of Saint Joseph was a very small town, and it was divided by color. Yes my interviewee grew up during segregation, and she recalls that the police were not for the blacks. She recalls classmates being beaten by the police and nothing never being done about the fact that they were beaten for nothing. She spoke of the time when her sister worked for a white family and was raped by the man of the house. Her sister and family could not report such a crime because they feared that it would bring trouble to their entire family. She states that she has no respect for law enforcement, however she states that she never breaks the laws of the land. Obeying the law is her way of staying out of jail and feels as long as she abides the law she is quite alright. During her interview I found her having many stories to tell in regards to how black life has no value, and how she has never seen the law truly work for the African American. Her responses to the  questions left her stumbled sometime, and I found myself finding ways to inform her that law enforcement ha s made great changes since she was a child. I could understand but I was unable to relate because my experience with law enforcement has never been to the extent of hers. I did find it quite interesting when she was asked the question about domestic violence. Her response was, â€Å"I never heard of husband’s hitting their wives and if they did that was not something for the world to know†. She stated that, â€Å"You knew that what went on in your home stayed in your home†. I was shocked and somewhat appalled at her response. Her body language and her tone let me know that she was indeed serious about keeping affairs in the home. She believed that women who were hit must have done something pretty bad to make her husband hit her. I still found myself puzzled by her response. Although during the second interview when asked this very same question. She elaborated about an incident with her cousin who was caught cheating and her husband did abuse her. She inclined to say that, â€Å"You just do not do things in such a manner and not expect such behaviors†. I could understand where she was coming from, but I was not able to agree with a man or a woman hitting their mate. This 76 year old black women was still stuck in the era of when she was a child and very young adult. She felt that law enforcement would never been positioned to serve or protect African Americans, and that the only reason they have allowed blacks to become police officers was because it would not matter if another black man was killed. In her opinion there is no hope for the African American people here in the United States and that it is just a bunch of boloney in the world in which we live. However she did feel that the use of DNA was the greatest thing that could have come along. With a strong understanding that the use of DNA can help to solve crimes and maybe even help from crimes being committed. She believes that if they find a killer this way people may think twice before actually think twice before committing murder. Her wish is that law enforcement stop perceiving and believing that all black people are  criminals. My next interviewee is a Caucasian women and she is 41 years old. She is married and is the mother of three children. She is a fulltime student at the University of Houston-Downtown and she will be graduating in December. She is a Houston native and she grew up near Bellaire. Her and her family now reside in the historical area of the Heights. This too was a very interesting interview, simply because she was truly involved with the questions and she gave a statement as to why she felt the way she did with the answers she gave. Her answer in regards to domestic violence she felt that there are three sides to a story and that both parties should give their side. Then allow the police to determine if the call and the situation requires law enforcement to detain anyone. Her thoughts on how the police perceived citizens was very mind blowing, and she felt that it was not just minorities that were targeted by law enforcement. However she does feel that police are power hungry, bias, hardworking and underpaid, and this only adds stress. Stress can factor in how law enforcement responds and reacts to certain situations when performing their job without allowing race and location to blind their actually duty to the citizens. As stated early she feels that every citizens is scrutinized by law enforcement, and she feels that law enforcement tends to the jump the gun before completely assessing the situation. Being a mother of three she found what it felt like when her son was stopped and harassed by the police for no particular reason. She believes these acts are the very reason that the younger generation shows no respect for law enforcement. However she does feel that reaching out to high schools would be a proactive in the process of recruiting new offi cers. She also feels that there she be additional training included for those citizens with mental illness. Those trainings will help to keep the citizens and the officers out of harm’s way. I will now move on to my third participant who is a 46 year old African American woman who has recently divorced and has no children. She is originally from East Oakland, California and has been in Houston for 5 years. Returning back home is the plan in the five years. She has dealt with the police on a regular occasions due to her ex-husband being  incarcerated for ten years. Her answers were just as interesting as my second participant, and her answers were very colorful. I want to just note that her lifestyle was one that was accustomed to glitz and glam due to the fact that her ex-husband was a drug dealer. She recalls the time that law enforcement ran into her home and threw her on the floor and she stated talked to her like she was an actual dog. Not allowing her to speak, handcuffed her, and she was thrown in the back of a police car. She says that she was held for questioning for 2 days, and even with her ex-husband stating that she had nothing to do with his dealings. They keep her and continued to question her asking the same questions over and over. However she does not hate law enforcement and she believes that this very incident opened her eyes to a different type of guy she would ha ve. She feels that most part traditional policing strategies have been effective in combating crime, however police use excessive force when utilizing discretion in dealing with citizens sometimes. Recalling an incident that was made into a movie named â€Å"Fruitvale† was based on a true story and was right down the street from which she grew up. She believes that the police in East Oakland are very aggressive and are trigger happy. She feels that law enforcement here in Houston are not as aggressive with law enforcement back home in California. She does feel that in certain areas of town here in Houston. This participant would like to see a substantial increase of specialized training in the mental illness area, sign language for the hearing impaired and subtle prejudice courses for those law enforcement officers who are hiding behind their badge. Police officers are receiving adequate training as for as the physical requirements. To be well rounded you have to have some since of street smarts and able to deal with people from all walks of life. She agrees with every current method of police recruitment, selection, and training of officers, except the minimum age requirement for some law enforcement agencies. She had some personal views on domestic violence seeing that she was a domestic violence survivor. She does believe that women should be arrested for domestic violence, however she feels there is an exception if the woman is trying to defend herself. My fourth participant is 43 year old African American male and he is married with no kids. Had no run in with the law until he mad e 40 years old. His brushes with law came from driving while intoxicated and carrying a handgun. He was  able to have the handgun case dismissed, because he actually had his handgun concealed. However he is on probation for driving while intoxicated. He has lived in Houston his entire life and has very biased views about law enforcement. In his younger days he was a part of a gang and was what he refers to as a thug and drug dealer. He took pride in his past and stated that had he not have met his wife he would probably still be running the streets. I also found that he is a male chauvinist and has some harsh views on domestic violence. When asked about domestic violence he stated that a women should know her place and that the man is head of his home. He feels that as long as a woman is submissive and keeps her husband happy they should not have any problems. He does not feel that a wife should not call the police on her husband and that they should keep what goes on in their home. Being a woman that has experienced domestic violence I got off of subject and asked him why such harsh feelings about domestic violence. He stated that his step father was abusive and his mother stayed. She never called the police on him and over time the abuse stopped. They were pretty happy before his step father passed, and being the grandson of a pastor he feels that bible is key to keeping a happy home. When asked about how the police perceived citizens, he automatically stated that African Americans have no chance with the Houston police department. Growing up in the northeast intercity area of Houston he says he has seen police brutality on a regular. The police were not there to help black people is what he stated. He said the only way the police were on your side was if you had enough money to pay them. They do not fight crime and they are a part of the crimes that are committed. Biased and unethical are his choice words about law enforcement. Still today in 2013 ones race and ethnicity affects how police treat you. Blacks are treated as the criminal and Whites are treated as the innocent bystanders. He feels that police are a threat to minorities and there should be training to new officers so that they do not allow their personal views to interfere with their ability to protect and serve all citizens. He express the fact that the police have no understanding or training when it comes to dealing with the mentally ill, and feels they have no problem with shooting them. Extensive training should be given yearly, and maybe even some classes should be required to be able to realize that there may be some mental illness when dealing with certain individuals. I  want to be honest and inform you that I was not able to complete a second interview with this participant and I was able to find a fifth participant. Now my last participant is 35 year old African American women who is married with three children and is a fulltime student at the University of Houston. She is a Psychology major and will be graduating in May of 2014. She is native Houstonian and grew up in the fifth ward area. Having a daughter in the military has opened her eyes for all those that protect and serve. She is also the daughter of a preacher. She believes that females have more help now to escape an abusive home in a peaceful and confidential manner. However she feels in some cases determining the difference between minor and serious acts of domestic violence are ignored by officers that arrive on the scene. Understanding the frustration when officers deal with mentally ill people because many officers have died trying to help but in many cases officers are there to get them the help they need so yes they do respond appropriately. DNA is vital in most convictions because it can be used to clear suspects and exonerate persons mistakenly accused or convicted of crimes. She believes that laws are put in place to protect not only the citizens but those that are uniformed to do so. When asked about the current methods of recruiting she respond. The current method for recruiting officers is pretty good but as in any field how can you really predict or screen if you have a ‘bad’ or â€Å"good† officer as a candidate despite all the requirements including background and psychological information revealed. She felt that the only inadequate problem of training is the mental state of many of the officers. In the area of training she believes that all officers need to be trained on how to deal with other races and they need to be taught social skills within various cultures. Maybe this will help them erase preconceived notions and ideas of others that are not a part of their ethnic group. There are way too many cases involving officers and issues with minorities, stereotyping, racial profiling, brutality, injustice and racism, many officer perceptions is very negative when it comes to certain ethnicities. There has to be a stamp on the bias that affects the way minorities are treated when dealing with law enforcement. All of the participants were very strong about their views based on personal or others experiences with law enforcement. Listening to their answers and their stories opened my eyes, and allowed me to feel how they truly felt. However  I wondered did any of my participants understand that many officers may have the same opinion about the citizens that they protect and serve. Many men and women that are in law enforcement fear for their lives every day. I understand that some law enforcement officers are biased, however I feel that some of that may extend from personal experiences as well. Maybe there could be some common ground for both parties, and there should be a communal outreach to bring back community involvement.

Enron Scandal: Impact on Accounting

Enron Scandal: Impact on Accounting Accounting for Enron 1. Why is accounting being blamed for the losses sustained by investors as a result of the collapse of Enron? Is this criticism fair and do financial accounting and reporting practices need to be reformed? Accounting has been blamed for the losses sustained by Enron, as it allowed the company to hide details of its dealings from its investors, until the company’s financial situation was so bad that the firm was forced to go bankrupt almost overnight. Enron’s downfall has been characterised as â€Å"excessive interest by management in maintaining stock price or earnings trend through the use of unusually aggressive accounting practices.† (Healy, 2003) As part of this, Enron used â€Å"‘mark-to-market accounting’ for the energy trading business in the mid-1990s and used it on an unprecedented scale for its trading transactions.† (Thomas, 2002) Under mark-to-market accounting practices, companies with outstanding derivative contracts or purchases on their balance sheets when accounts are being prepared must adjust them to â€Å"fair market value† (Thomas, 2002) As a result, predicted long term gains or losses on these contract are applied to the company’s profits immediately, similar to depreciation, or asset write downs. The main difficulty encountered when doing this for long-term futures contracts in energy markets is that â€Å"there are often no quoted prices upon which to base valuations. Companies having these types of derivative instruments are free to develop and use discretionary valuation models based on their own assumptions and methods, as Enron did.† (Healy, 2003) Another accounting technique Enron used to hide significant debts was the use of special purpose entities (SPEs), which Enron took to â€Å"new heights of complexity and sophistication, capitalizing them with not only a variety of hard assets and liabilities, but also extremely complex derivative financial instruments, its own restricted stock, rights to acquire its stock and related liabilities.† (Thomas, 2002) Enron also used these SPEs to hide details of assets which were excessively declining in value, thus avoiding having losses from asset write down and depreciation charges on the company books. This practice was applied to â€Å"certain overseas energy facilities, the broadband operation or stock in companies that had been spun off to the public.† (Thomas, 2002) The accounting treatments around SPEs meant that the losses sustained on these asset write downs would not appear on Enron’s accounts. Enron promised share issues to the investors in the SPEs to co mpensate them for taking these assets on but, as the value of the assets fell even further, Enron found itself unable to meet these commitments from share issues. These creative accounting techniques began to be suspected by investors in October 2001, when Enron several new businesses failed to perform as well as expected. Enron was hoping these new businesses would cover its losses on the SPEs but, in October 2001 the company was forced to announce a major series of write-downs of its own assets, including â€Å"after tax charges of $2.87 million for Azurix, the water business acquired in 1998, $180 million for broadband investments and $544 million for other investments.† (Healy, 2003) These write downs amounted to twenty two percent of the capital spent by Enron on developing its business between 1998 and 2000. In addition, Enron sold Portland General Corp., the electric power plant it had acquired in 1997, for $1.9 billion, at a loss of $1.1 billion over the acquisition price. (Healy, 2003) The losses incurred as a result of this caused investors to question whether Enron’s strategy was feasible in the long tem, and in market s other than derivatives. In summary, whilst the accounting concepts and strategy underlying the gas derivatives trading was a reasonable attempt to produce value for investors, â€Å"extensions of this idea into other markets and international expansion were unsuccessful.† (Healy, 2003) However, whilst the mark to market and SPE accounting techniques used by the company helped hide this fact from investors, the stock markets as a whole were guilty of â€Å"largely ignored red flags associated with Enrons spectacular reported performance† (Thomas, 2002). This aided and, in the eyes of the management at Enron, vindicated the company’s expansion strategy by allowing Enron access to plenty of capital cheaply and easily. As such, accounting cannot be entirely blamed for the losses sustained by investors, as the investors themselves simply assumed that the value Enron appeared to be generating â€Å"would be sustained far into the future, despite little economic basis for such a projection.â €  (Thomas, 2002) As a result, whilst accounting made it easier for Enron to mislead its investors, the facts show that investors themselves were more concerned with Enron’s reported profits and growth, than analysing the roots causes and business model. 2. Does it matter what accounting policies are adopted by a company as long as they are adequately disclosed? A â€Å"very confusing footnote in Enrons 2000 financial statements† (Thomas, 2002) described the transactions in question one, however according to analysts, â€Å"most people would be hard pressed to understand the effects of these disclosures on the financial statements, casting doubt on both the quality of the companys earnings as well as the business purpose of the transaction.† (Thomas, 2002) By early 2001, several market analysts had begun to question the clarity and transparency of Enron’s disclosures. One analyst was quoted as saying, â€Å"The notes just dont make sense, and we read notes for a living.† (Thomas, 2002) Enron publicly denounced and abused these analysts however, because of these actions, investors began to view Enron’s accounting policies, and disclosures, with greater and greater scepticism. Indeed, despite the fact that Enron’s disclosures were adequate in the regulatory framework, they were still not in the spirit of managerial responsibility to shareholders. In another example of inadequate disclosure policies, Satava et al (2003) examined the celebrated Royal Mail Case and the implications of the case for the accounting practice today. Satava’s arguments claimed that the case was â€Å"not about the utilization of secret reserves, but about the non-disclosure of repayments by the Inland Revenue of over provisions for tax, and that defence counsel for the auditor succeeded because of the weak factual case presented by the prosecution.† (Satave et al, 2003) In summary, the duty of accountants to adequately disclose their accounting policies can often conflict with attempts by the same accountants to use these policies to benefit the company. As a result, these conflicts of interest often result in only materially adequate disclosures of substandard accounting policies. 3. To what extent did Enron use off balance-sheet financing in its operations? Were these transactions appropriately treated and adequately disclosed in the financial statements of the company? What consequences did the accounting treatment of these transactions have for Enron and its investors? The main way Enron used off balance sheet financing was in its extensive use of SPEs to give it ready access to finance without having to report any debts it incurred in its accounts. The company contributed assets, and debt secured against those assets, to an SPE in exchange for control of the SPE, and the SPEs then borrowed large amounts of capital which was used to finance Enron, without any debt or assets showing up in Enron’s accounts. Enron also sold assets to the SPEs at above market value, and thus reported profits on these sales. Enron used huge numbers of SPEs in this way, the most well known of which were LJM Cayman LP and LJM2 Co-Investment LP. â€Å"From 1999 through July 2001, these entities paid Enron managers more than $30 million in management fees, far more than their Enron salaries, supposedly with the approval of top management and Enrons board of directors.† (Healy, 2003) The SPEs in turn created yep more SPEs, known as the Raptor vehicles, which enabled Enron to invest heavily in a bankrupt broadband company, Rhythm NetConnections, during the dotcom boom. To finance this investment Enron made a share issue worth $1.2 billion. However, in order to complete this deal, Enron increased shareholders’ equity to reflect this transaction, which has been claimed to violate accounting standards and principles. Additionally, accounting rules actually meant that Enron should have included information from the LJM and Raptor SPEs in their accounts, rather than continue to use them as off balance sheet financing. (Healy, 2003) In addition to these minor violations, Enron revealed in October 2001 that several other SPEs had violated the accounting standard that required at least 3 percent of the entities to be owned by other investors, with no interest in the parent company. Again, by ignoring this requirement, Enron kept the financing it obtained from these entities off its balance sheet, enabling it to understate its liabilities and losses on this source of financing. However, on October 16, 2001, Enron announced that â€Å"restatements to its financial statements for years 1997 to 2000 to correct these violations would reduce earnings for the four-year period by $613 million (or 23 percent of reported profits dating the period), increase liabilities at the end of 2000 by $628 million (6 percent of reported liabilities and 5.5 percent of reported equity) and reduce equity at the end of 2000 by $1.2 billion (10 percent of reported equity).† (Thomas, 2002) In addition to the accounting failures, Enron only disclosed the minimum amount of details on its investments in the SPEs, and the amount of financing it had gained from them. The company claimed that it had hedged some of its investments using special purpose entities, but failed to inform investors that Enron shares were being used as part of this hedge. Moreover, Enron allowed several of its senior managers, including its chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, to become partners of the special purpose entities. Thus, these employees were able to make large amounts of profit, in both cash and shares, from the off balance sheet financing provided by companies they partly owned. (Thomas, 2002) This was a clear failure to fulfil their fiduciary responsibility to Enrons stockholders, and contributed to the extent of the company’s downfall. 4. Would similar treatment of off balance-sheet transactions be permissible in the UK? Tollington (2001) is one of the foremost academics claiming that financial accounts no longer provide a true and accurate representation of the value of a business, due to the widening between the values accounting policies place on assets, and the market values of said assets. His paper argues that â€Å"the definitional requirement for ‘transactions or events’ appears to restrict their recognition,† and therefore disclosure on balance sheets, which enables similar off balance sheet transactions in the UK. Equally, ‘white-collar crime’ has massively increased in recent years, with some estimates stating that over half a trillion pounds of criminal proceedings are laundered through the world’s financial markets each year. (Mitchell et al, 1998) The majority of this is moved in large quantities, and this cannot be done successfully without willing accountants, who can use creative accounting to hide any money laundering outside the scope of company accounts. However, new money laundering regulations mean that accountants, and related professionals, are now supposed to report any fraud or money laundering wherever they find it, and this applies as much to illegal activity the UK as to anywhere else. Whilst securitization, which incorporates the use of SPEs for off-balance-sheet financing, has been extensively reviewed in recent years, there are still concerns over the extent to which off balance sheet financing can be abused, both in the UK and abroad. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently introduced new standards, and modified their existing standards, in order to more rigorously define the acceptable accounting treatments for securities. (Satava et al, 2003) Whilst some accountant and analysts are still hoping to move towards a single, global, set of accounting standards, this is likely to take several times. Other jurisdictions are also keen to create a globally accepted set of standards, and in the UK the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) is converging with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), commonly referred to as IAS, to minimise the extent to which off balance sheet financing can be practiced. Two other factors have combined with the restructuring of financial and other industries in a way that has placed additional stress on the corporate governance function, and off balance sheet transactions: greater complexity of business structures and greater emphasis on stock prices. In the last decade or so, business has experienced a surge of fluid organizational arrangements as well as a routinisation of complex transactions, with alliances, joint ventures, multifaceted sale arrangements and hybrid, structured finance arrangements becoming commonplace. (Monks and Minow, 2003) The net effect is the economic boundaries of the firm have become ambiguous and extremely fluid, a phenomenon reflected in the wonderfully euphemistic phrase â€Å"off balance-sheet financing,† where the firm structures transactions and relationships to avoid their explicit recognition in traditional accounting displays. A typical example is a firm that holds a portfolio of mortgages. It places the po rtfolio in a free-standing legal entity with distinctly limited scope, a Special Purpose Entity, but continues the transaction processing and possibly provides credit enhancements. In different variations, inventory, research and development or even rights to future revenue cash flows are parked in Special Purpose Entities (Griffiths, 1995). Reporting regulations allow the Special Purpose Entity to be kept off of the firms formal financial statements; as long as it is disclosed, provided substantive risk has been shifted to an independent third party. (Nelson, 2003) General Electric, an aggressive purveyor of these arrangements, for example, reports sponsored Special Purpose Entities with assets in excess of $50 billion in its 2001 financial report. The â€Å"independent third party† must have (among other things) a minimum of 3 percent ownership of the Special Purpose Entity’s equity and debt, although the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the US has recently tightened these requirements to resemble that of the UK. (Demski, 2003) However, Special Purpose Entities are only one aspect of this wave of organizational and financial innovation. This greater degree of complexity has interacted with a corporate governance environment that has been placing heightened emphasis on shareholder value (Nelson, 2003), including an explosion in the use of option-based compensation. A substantial portion of the greater complexity appears to be motivated by a concern for financial presentation, for example, â€Å"beautifying† ones balance sheet In some cases, the effect may be as simple as a matter of timing: for instance, the timing of selected expenditures and shipments can affect current period financial results, just as can the time at which a sale is formally booked or a loan is consummated. With the assistance of hybrid financial and organizational transactions, a lease can be structured so it does, or does not, show up on the lessees balance sheet, thereby affecting the total debt that a firm reports, through other methods than off-balance sheet financing. However, fundamentally, Enron, used Special Purpose Entities to di sguise significant amounts of debt as commodity prepay transactions. Through a series of circular or round-trip prepaid transactions, this Special Purpose Entity was the centerpiece in â€Å"allowing† Enron to borrow money but to record the amount borrowed as cash generated by operations, because prepaid commodity contracts are generally booked as trades, not loans, a distinction which would have been clearer in the UK (Deminski, 2003). 5. Are principle based types of accounting standard like FRS 5 more effective in dealing with accounting abuses than the more rule based standards of the US? Although the foundation of financial accounting and auditing has traditionally been based upon a rule based framework, the concept of a principle based approach has been periodically advocated since being incorporated into the AICPA Code of Conduct in 1989. Enron and similar events indicated that the accountants and auditors involved have followed rule based ethical perspectives, however these rule based standards have failed to protect investors from accounting abuses. Satava et al (2003) thus described how â€Å"rule based traditions of auditing became a convenient vehicle that perpetuated the unethical conduct of firms such as Enron and Arthur Andersen.† They presented a model of ten ethical perspectives and briefly described how these ten ethical perspectives impact rule based and principle based ethical conduct for accountants and auditors, concluding by identifying six specific suggestions that the accounting and auditing profession should consider to restore public trus t and to improve the ethical conduct of accountants and auditors. Their conclusions showed that principle based standards were less open to abuses that rule based standards, provided the principles were well defined. Indeed, the publication of a recent amendment to Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) 5 by Great Britains Accounting Standards Board, sought to clarify how to account for SPEs and similar entities, with emphasis on how the principles of the FRS 5 will apply to transactions conducted with these entities. Accountancy (2004) claimed that by publishing an amendment to FRS 5, the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board was attempting to stop the flow of off balance sheet accounting, despite concerns expressed surrounding the amended FRS 5. The article provided information on an amendment to FRS 5, â€Å"Reporting the Substance of Transactions†, namely the addition of â€Å"Application Note G, Revenue Recognition†. The note has been prepared in response to the need for clarity in respect to questions that arise concerning the treatment of revenue and, in particular, the treatment of turnover. The amendment was published as an Exposure Draft in February 2003 for public comment and, in finalizing the document; the Accounting Standards Board took into consideration the comments received in response to the draft and has consulted interested parties. In FRS 5, in the list of contents immediately preceding the summary, the list of Application Notes is extended by adding at the end, G Revenue Recognition and sets out basic principles of transaction and revenue recognition which should be applied in all cases This thus has increased the extent to which the principle based accountancy legislation in the UK can control the extent of off balance sheet transactions, and correspondingly increased the necessary amount of disclosure. (Accountancy, 2004) However, it has been argued by some theorists that the reform efforts may have been unwise (Culp and Nickanen, 2003), due to a need to recognise that accounting is retrospective, and Enron’s problems were evident to investors if they used more forward looking information. The share price was declining long before the disclosures, quick surveys of four issues: the state of wholesale electric markets before and after Enron, the state of regulation of wholesale electric markets before and after Enron, online trading before and after Enron, and whether swaps need regulation, shows that accounting abuses must still have an underlying business reason. It has also been argued that Enrons use of special entities for off-balance-sheet financing is a perversion of a useful, and often appropriate, accounting technique and such perversions can equally be applied to other techniques under principle-based standards. Equally, it has been recognised that the latitude inherent in principles, or concepts, based standards can be a double-edged sword. â€Å"Such latitude allows managers to choose accounting treatments that reflect their informed understanding of the underlying economics of transactions.† (Nelson, 2003) This latitude, however, also permits managers to â€Å"advocate reporting treatments that do not reflect the underlying economics of a transaction.† (Maines et al, 2003) Both managers and accountants must have strong ethical principles in order for their accounting under principle based standards to reflect the true value of their business, especially in difficult times Both the SEC and the Auditing Standards Board in America support this view with their focus on the quality, as opposed to simply the acceptability, of financial reporting, as well as placing strong emphasis on â€Å"the need for expert judgment and unbiased reporting† (Maines et al, 2003) Concepts-based standards have the potential to promote the financial reporting goals of the regulatory bodies in ways that rules-based standards cannot. However, in order for this to happen, individuals must possess a conceptual framework for financial information in order to use this information appropriately in decision making. Principle-based standards reflect a more consistent application of conceptual framework, and thus enhance individuals’ understanding of the frameworks. Thus, a concepts based approach is consistent with the FASBs stated goal to â€Å"improve the common understanding of the nature and purposes of information contained in financial reports.† (Maines et al, 2003) Also, principle-based standards are consistent with the stated goal of the FASB to promote convergence of accounting standards worldwide. The European Commission has recently proposed that the U.S. abandon GAAP in favour of the more flexible IAS, which emphasizes ‘substance over form’ in auditors inspection of the accounts. (Ampofo and Sellani, 2005) As a result, a concepts-based approach likely will lead to greater agreement in standard setting between the FASB and IASB and thus will also promote international harmonization. (Maines et al, 2003) 6. What has been the overall impact on corporate reporting of Enron and other recent financial scandals? The events surrounding the demise of Enron have led to corporate reporting procedures being called into question all over the world. It resulted in critics questioning how adequate the disclosure legislation was at the time, and also to query how a major accounting firm could conduct independent audits of a firm they were engaged in major consulting work for, when the audit fees were tiny in comparison to the consulting fees. The â€Å"scandal threatened to undermine confidence in financial markets in the United States and abroad; and the accounting profession and regulatory bodies were forced to act.† (Swartz, 2005) In a characteristic move, the SEC and the public accounting profession were among the first to respond to the Enron crisis. In a piece for the Wall Street Journal, the SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt called the outdated reporting and financial disclosure system the financial â€Å"perfect storm.† (Thomas, 2002) He stated that â€Å"under the quarterly and annual reporting system in place at the time, information was often stale on arrival and mandated financial disclosures were often, ‘arcane and impenetrable’† (Thomas, 2002) In order to reassure investors and restore confidence in financial reporting, Pitt called for â€Å"a joint response from the public and private sectors to strengthen regulations and prevent a recurrence of these events.† (Thomas, 2002) As a result, since the Enron debacle, the global corporate reporting regulators were quick to move to stem the rising tide of public interest against their profession, displaying the banner â€Å"Enron: The AICPA, the Profession, and the Public Interest† on its Web site. (Shwarz, 2005) It announced the imminent issuance of an exposure draft on a new audit standard on fraud, the third in five years up to 2002, providing more specific guidance on corporate reporting standards than was found at the time in SAS no. 82, ‘Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit.’ The Institute also promised a â€Å"revised standard on reviews of quarterly financial statements,† (Thomas, 2002) as well as the issuance, in the second quarter of 2002, of an exposure draft of a standard to improve the audit, transaction reporting and disclosure process. The major piece of legislation to come out of the Enron scandal was the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) report, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2002 in response to the demise of Enron and the WorldCom scandal. SOX requires firms to vouch for accounting controls and disclose weaknesses to shareholders, and almost all concerned parties have agreed that the SOX was a necessary and useful piece of legislation, that helped restore faith in U.S. companies and their financial statements. (Swartz, 2005) However, whilst no one disputes the benefits, business leaders have often complained that â€Å"the costs associated with Section 404 compliance are much higher than expected, and are an undue burden on most companies.† (Swartz, 2005) Many major companies, and some analysts, have criticised the large increases in auditing expenses, as these expenses create no direct value for businesses, and act to remove money from the economy which would otherwise be invested. Business lobbyists have a lso begun lobbying government bodies in the major financial centres, claiming that SOX slows business expansion and the growth in the number of available jobs (Swartz, 2005) The level of complaints from companies about the increased costs associated with the new corporate reporting standards prompted U. S. auditing regulators, in May 2005, to move to ease the auditing expenses companies were forced to engage in, however regulators also said that the law has greatly benefited investors and there is no need for the U.S. Congress to change it at this time. (Swartz, 2005) Despite the obvious benefits that the increased level of reporting and disclosure provides to investors, many companies have complained that the compliance costs are too high, and that auditors force them to go through expensive corporate reporting procedures that accomplished little than to line the auditor’s pockets. References: Accountancy (2004) November 2003 Amendment to FRS 5 ‘Reporting the substance of transactions’: Revenue recognition. Vol. 133, Issue 1325, p. 128. Ampofo, A. and Sellani, R. (2005) Examining the differences between United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Accounting Standards (IAS): implications for the harmonization of accounting standards. Accounting Forum (Elsevier); Vol. 29, Issue 2, p. 219. Culp, C.L and Nickanen, W.A. (2003) Corporate aftershock: the public policy lessons from the collapse of Enron. Demski, J. S (2003) Corporate Conflicts of Interest. Journal of Economic Perspectives; Vol. 17, Issue 2, p. 51. Griffiths, I. (1995) New Creative Accounting. London: MacMillian. Healy, P. M. and Palepu, K. G. (2003) The Fall of Enron. Journal of Economic Perspectives; Vol. 17, Issue 2, p. 3. Maines, C. L. A. Bartov, E. Fairfield, P. Hirst, D. E. Iannaconi, T. E. Mallett, R. Schrand, C. M. Skinner, D. J. and Vincent, L. (2003) Evaluating Concepts-Based vs. Rules-Based Approaches to Standard Setting. Accounting Horizons; Vol.17, Issue. 1, p73. Mitchell, A. Sikka, P. and Willimott, H. (1998) Sweeping it under the carpet: the role of Accountancy Firms in Money Laundering. Accounting, Organizations Society; Vol. 23, Issue 5/6, p. 589. Monks, R. A. G. and Minow, N (2003) Corporate Governance: 4th edition Oxford: Blackwell. Nelson, M. W. (2003) Behavioural Evidence on the Effects of Principles- and Rules-Based Standards. Accounting Horizons; Vol.17, Issue 1, p91. Satava, D. Caldwell, C. and Richards, L. (2003) Ethics and the Auditing Culture: Rethinking the Foundation of Accounting and Auditing. Journal of Business Ethics; Vol. 64, Issue 3, p. 271. Swartz, N. (2005) Executives Praise SOX but Seek Changes. Information Management Journal; Vol. 39, Issue 4, p. 22. Thomas, C. W. (2002) The Rise and Fall of Enron. Journal of Accountancy; Vol. 193, Issue 4, p. 41. Tollington, T. (2001) UK Brand Asset Recognition Beyond â€Å"Transactions or Events†. Long Range Planning; Vol. 34, Issue 4, p. 463.

The Traditional Interpretation Refuted :: Philosophy Literature Papers

The Traditional Interpretation Refuted The psychology of Aristotle has never been understood in a historically correct way. A new interpretation of the De anima will be proposed in which this work can be seen as compatible with the psychology that can be reconstructed from the fragments of Aristotle's lost dialogues and the De motu animalium and other biological works (in which the notions of pneuma and 'vital heat' play a crucial role) and the doxographical data gathered from ancient writers besides the commentators. In De anima, II, 412b5, where psychà ¨ is defined as 'the first entelecheia of a natural body that is organikon,' the words 'natural body' should not be taken to mean 'the body of a living plant, animal or human being' but to stand for 'elementary body.' And the qualification 'organikon' should not be understood as 'equipped with organs' (as it always has) but in the sense of 'serving as an instrument to the soul.' This 'instrumental body' that is inseparably connected with the soul is the seat of desire (o rexis), which physically influences the parts of the visible body. Besides those two corrections there are the words ta merà ¨ in 412b18 that should be taken as meaning not 'parts of the body' but 'parts of the soul.' Aristotle is arguing there that even those parts of the soul that are not yet actualized in the embryo of a new living being can be said to be 'not without body.' Do we really know Aristotle's psychology? This question may sound strange at first, since we have a famous book by Aristotle which is called On the soul and we possess quite a bit of information about a lost dialogue, the Eudemus, which was also subtitled On the soul. Yet I propose to argue that Aristotle's psychology has remained unknown up till now. And this is because since the third century AD the text of his extant work De anima has been interpreted in a way that runs completely counter to Aristotle's intentions. What has been held to be Aristotle's psychology is the result of the interpretation of his work put forward by Alexander of Aphrodisias in the third century AD.(1) The situation is comparable with the imaginary situation that Plato's oeuvre had been lost except for his Parmenides and that we only possessed the information of Plotinus for a reconstruction of Plato's thought. To make a convincing case for this revolutionary theory, I will argue three propositions.

The Country of Iraq Essay -- Research Iraq Essays Papers

The Country of Iraq   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Iraq has weathered many hardships over the past few decades. An eight-year war over territory with Iran began in 1980. Soon after, in 1990, Iraq invaded the country of Kuwait, which led to the Gulf War. Then, after twelve years of not complying with the UN Security Council over weapons of mass destruction, Iraq was invaded by the United States in March of 2003.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A consequence of Iraq's rocky past is an unstable government. Several countries, including the U.S. are currently providing aid to help the rebuilding effort. Some efforts include strengthening school, healthcare, and law enforcement systems with education and reconstruction. Recent government changes for Iraq include a new flag and new currency. The new flag has a blue crescent moon in the center and is white with one yellow and two blue strips at the bottom. The new currency is called the New Iraqi Dinar, and it features many new safety features to prevent counterfeiting. There is also currently an interim (temporary) government in Iraq. Elections by the Iraqi people will hopefully occur on the 30th of January this year. If the elections proceed as planned, Iraq will be one step closer to having an independent government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Though Iraq is in a time of crisis, it is truly an interesting and beautiful country. At twice the size of Idaho, it is the home to about 25,374,691 Iraqis. The primary religion in Iraq is Muslim. Almost 97% of Iraqis are practicing Musli...

Brutality and Deceit in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay -- Tennessee Wi

  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Streetcar Named Desire is a socially challenging play in light of the way in which Tennessee Williams depicts the capacity of human nature for brutality and deceit.   He takes the viewpoint that, no matter how structured or 'civilized' society is, all people will rely on their natural animal instincts, such as dominance and deception, to get themselves out of trouble at some stage in life.   William's has created three main characters, Blanche Dubois, Stella Kowalski and Stanley Kowalski. Each of these characters is equally as civilized as the next, yet all are guilty of acts of savagery on different levels.   Throughout the play Williams symbolically relates these three characters to animals, 'savages,' through the disclosure of their attitudes, beliefs, appearances and desires. The most obvious example of a savage in the play is Stanley Kowalski.   He is a large well-toned, territorial male with simple beliefs and a short temper.   He does not have many manners and does not care what people think of him.   He seems very simple but there is more to him than meets the eye.   Stanley feels threatened by Blanche not only because she has invaded his territory, but also because she is a reminder to his wife of what she sacrificed to marry him and of the severe limitations on what he has been able to provide her in return (Adler 51).   At first, Stanley acts physically dominant over both Blanche and Stella, by rifling through Blanche’s possessions (Williams 124), by quoting to Stella and Blanche that "every man is a king" (Williams 197-198), by throwing the radio out the window in a drunken frenzy and by actually striking his pregnant wife (Stella) (Williams 152-155).   However, towards the end of the play, Stanley realizes his ... ...s that lifestyle that they shared in their youth.   However, Stanley has shown her his world and she is caught between the two, like a ping-pong ball.   Ultimately Stanley wins the game, because of Stella’s primal nature, her sex drive and her need to be dominated. It appears that Tennessee Williams has called for all the world to be cognizant of the fact that mankind is still a member of the animal kingdom in spite of society’s efforts to cloak his primal urges and somehow give the appearance that he is above the other animals.    Works Cited Adler, Thomas P.   A Streetcar Named Desire: The Moth and the Lantern.   New York: Twayne, 1990. Kazan, Elia.   Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire.   Ed. Jordan Miller.   New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1971. Williams, Tennessee.   A Streetcar Named Desire.   Stuttgart: Phillipp Reclam, 1988.

Academic performance of disabled students and their general education peers Essay

Calls for the evolution of the educational system to maintain an inclusive program for mentally, financially and physically disabled students have been supported by the arguments that inclusion will greatly benefit the academic and social performance of children with disabilities. This is true since academic learning is enhanced when a program expecting higher output and reinforcing higher standards exists for students. These opportunities allow them to work and study harder as it exposes them to what many believe are normal real-life standards. Friendly and Lero (1993) stress that a motivation to keep up and progress without outside assistance is a driving force of enhancing performance. They also note that the labels in homogeneous or ability groupings negatively affect student potential. Contrastingly, although the effects of the inclusive system of education are favorable for non-general students, Brackett (1994) stresses that the opposite might take effect for general education students. These children might experience boredom due to the considerations given to disabled students in terms of pace and activities. Special or disabled children may also experience frustration as they try to keep up with the normal learning pace in a heterogeneous mix of students. Despite these contentions, several studies also note the positive effects of inclusion to the academic performance of both general education children and special needs education students. Hines and Johnston (1997) reported that disabled students in an inclusive set up showed academic progress and performance and improved their behavior as well. Schattman and Benay (1992) attribute this to the wide exposure of the disabled children, in an inclusive set up, to creative teachers and the nature of the inclusion strategies to expose the children to social interactions with other students. The marks and learning abilities of disabled students on specific subjects were also positively affected by being in inclusive classroom situations (Barbetta et al, 1991). The effect of inclusion to regular classroom students has been extensively studied and Staub and Peck (1995) list the general outcomes of the exposure of this group to this new learning environment. It has been noted that regular class students, after being exposed to an inclusive situation, become more aware of existence of human diversity and have reduced fear of human differences. They have more social interactions which results in a keener awareness of self knowledge. In addition, they also learned to develop their personal principles at an early age and the increased frequency of social relationships allowed them to create more friends. Hollowood et al. (1994) also answers a thriving concern about the imbalance of time allotment for students by teachers when exposed to an inclusive environment. It has been observed that the presence of special needs students in a class does not interfere with the allocated time of teachers to regular class students. And although, interruptions have been observed in some cases, the downtime did not significantly alter the average instruction hours when compared to general education classes. Similarly, in a study of primary and secondary schools that adopted inclusion, Idol (2006) reports that in a four-year study of four elementary and secondary schools, most students are generally not affected by the presence of students with disabilities in their classes. Statistics on these schools show that the elementary students surveyed registered a 68% approval rating on student performance and the respective elementary and secondary students show a 36% and 24% rating that student performance in inclusive situations was higher. 32% and 34% of elementary and secondary students also agree that academic abilities remained constant. In the four elementary schools considered, only 6% of the educators responded that there were negative reactions brought out by the presence of disabled students in class, while the statistics in the secondary schools surveyed did not vary much at 8%. The teachers also reported that a larger chunk (> 50% ) of the students increased or retained their statewide test scores. Requirements for an effective strategy Dugan et al. (1995) reviewed several studies which have been published regarding the methods and strategies used in inclusive education. According to this paper, improved academic performance is assured (Kamps et al. , 1992; Madden and Slavin, 1983; Noonan & Hemphill, 1984; Shores et al. , 1993; Stainback et al. , 1981) if the program consists of a 1. method to encourage and guide interaction among students with disabilities and their peers; 2. scheme where teachers employ adaptive measures of instruction for students with disabilities; 3. program of study that enjoins both disabled and normal children to equally participate in activities; and 4. training to improve the social interactions and abilities of a child that prepares him for the real world environment. One aspect of inclusive education that employed cooperative learning groups is also effective in enhancing the performance of students. Johnson et al (1990) notes that cooperative learning results in improved academic performance of children from different cognitive levels to be in a heterogeneous educational environment that promotes the mediation of groups for maximal learning. Inclusive education programs and strategies like the cross-age tutoring also resulted in improved performance of both students with and without disabilities (Barbetta et al. , 1991) and increased the reading and comprehension abilities of both normal children and children with autism (Kamps et al., 1994). Kamps et al (1994) also note that because of the drastic improvement in the confidence of the children in a cooperative learning set up, the time for interactions and social activities between children with autism and their peers also increased and adds to their improved learning abilities. According to Dugan et al (1995) cooperative learning groups improved student interaction through increased frequency of social activities. The effectivity of student learning also increased due to tutoring events and research activities. Hawkins et al (2001) explained that early social interactions between children create a deeper bond that acts as a defense for behavioral problems and, thus, strengthens the relationships of students. Strategies for improved academic performance Academic performance in an inclusive set up uses contemporary schemes in order to teach the lessons to students. Learning is boosted through techniques such as teams games tournaments or TGT, which allows the teacher to teach the lessons to students through games. The teams cooperate and learn from other group members by peer tutoring in order to increase their chances of winning in the tournaments. Another scheme called student teams and academic divisions or STAD allows individual members of a team to score points by adding their individual written scores, like in a quiz for example, to the total accumulated team points (Slavin, 1990). Another inclusion strategy that shows very promising results in increasing the academic fervor of children involves the use of class wide peer tutoring (CWPT). In a study of the performance of heterogeneously grouped children under the subject of reading and reading comprehension, CWPT was observed to increase the ability of students to read and pronounce words accurately and answer reading comprehension questions correctly. The technique was also found to improve the cognitive skills of elementary students with autism. It was also a tool for social interaction and learning with their classmates and showed better reading proficiencies for most students because of the relative ease in adapting this program to a normal classroom set up (Kamps et al.,1994). CWPT can also be incorporated in a team games tournament (TGT) scheme and are collectively referred to as class wide student tutoring teams (CSTT). This method employs tutoring and tests individual learning progress by competitions where individual scores comprise team scores. Reading can also be taught to elementary students through a cooperative integrated reading and composition technique or CIRC. In this strategy, students are paired and are allowed to read stories to each other while practicing and honing their reading abilities (Jenkins et al., 1991). Johnson et al (1984) reports that role playing is also a learning strategy to be employed, this technique, called circles of learning, employs group dynamics and allows students to complete assigned tasks and evaluate their performance through worksheets. In addition, the competitive atmosphere is reduced because of the nature of the activity. These techniques have been shown to improve the academic performance of a heterogeneous mix of students with different baseline aptitudes. The case of employing inclusion to disabled children and high-level students with autism can also be employed to children who are sickly, obese or those with high risks of cardiovascular diseases. Van Sluijs et al. (2007) have observed that the method of inclusion to obese adolescents shows strong evidence of improvement and increased physical activity. The effective strategies employed actively involve the school, the community and the student’s family in order to improve the physical disposition of the individuals in the study. Studies show that a key factor in the improvement of students in inclusive setups is the competency of educators handling the classes. However, every teacher has his own techniques, experiences and teaching strategies that he has developed over time. This difference in experience is especially large between teachers who handle exclusively special classes for disabled students and those who handle general education. Thus, in an inclusive setting, in order to expand the exposure of students to different teachers, collaborative teaching has been developed as a strategy for effective learning. This method is a big deviation from the previous pull-out system for partial inclusive settings. In co-teaching, both teachers complement and co-teach both disabled students and their peers (Gerber and Popp, 2000). Rea et al (2002), in a study on the teaching practices of Enterprise Middle School which handles grade school students at levels 6 to 8, show that co-teaching is an effective strategy for educating students. This mechanism involves daily class rotations with different teachers. Co-teaching also requires careful and synchronized planning on the part of the educators. Teachers actively and regularly discuss their activities and lessons and share methods of evaluating the progress of students. This way, different instructional objectives are met although by different individuals. This is necessary to coordinate and pace teachers in their work and lessons with their students as well as to share information on student development. Different schemes characterize the co-teaching method. Rea et al (2002) note that interactive teaching or taking turns observing and lecturing may be employed. The class may also be divided for parallel sessions or one teacher may be assigned for catch-up classes for some students. Nonetheless, any form taken by the co-teaching scheme aims to provide for the needs of the children, supplied variation in teaching techniques, and was seen as a healthy environment for student growth and learning. Many researchers have expressed support to the principle of including disabled students in general education practice. Among them, Villa et al. (1996) have observed that educators preferred teaching disabled students along with their non-disabled peers. This factor may have contributed to the increased academic progress of students within the inclusive education set up. On the other hand, Thousand and Villa (2000) stressed that teachers are not the only major contributing factor to student progress. In fact, they highlight the observation that inter-student relationships while in the confines of the classroom play a big role during learning, emotional and social development. As the needs of the children in an inclusive set up are congruent to the skill that must be possessed by the educators handling the classes, teacher training (Porter, 2001) is an essential part of the process that makes an inclusive set up work. Daniel and King (1997) refer to this skill as training for inclusionary practices and is a characteristic of teachers that must be developed in order to function effectively in an educational system following heterogeneous groupings. It should, therefore, be apparent that these special skills allow educators to adapt to the wide needs of different types of students and allow them to be creative in forming strategies for an efficient and effective learning experience for both disabled students and their peers. However, the great demands of the inclusive educational practice oftentimes result in work pressure among teaching personnel. For example, studies on all elementary physical education instructors from Israel show that the episodes of burnout in faculty members are related to the number of special or disabled students in their classes and the amount of assistance they get conducting these classes (Fejgin et al. , 2005). This relates the demanding work that is put in by the educators in order to make an inclusive program work. This study also stresses the chief role played by government support in the educational system, where episodes of teacher burnout are also dictated by poor quality of the workplace and inadequacy of the institution to provide sports facilities for the needs of the students, especially the disabled or special cases. Despite episodes of burnout, most teachers have expressed their support for inclusion as an appropriate program to teach disabled children (Idol, 2006) the statistics is expected to improve if more educational personnel were available to answer to the needs of all students. The necessity for improved and evolving programs that would answer the needs of students in inclusion also requires the involvement of many organizations, individuals and different types of educators, resulting in interdisciplinary interactions to improve current conditions (Robertson and Valentine, 1998). This brings about an atmosphere of community and exposes the teaching skills of effective teachers and allows room for growth and improvement. Equally important to the instructors are the provision of adequate health care safety facilities for different types of students which should be provided by the government and their policy makers. It is consequently very crucial that an educational program should be backed-up by community and policy driven education reform for a successful advocacy. Porter (2001) expresses that there is a need for legislators who understand that an inclusive community school is a method of reform that should be supported. For cases of students with severe autism and retardation, however, further studies both on the effective procedures that should be employed and on the qualitative measures of investigating the effects of peer-mediated activities and cooperative learning also require continuous evaluation (Kamps et al. , 1994). Nonetheless, Kamps and Carta (1989) note that strategies are successful if these improve or maintain the skills of non disabled students without compromising the learning of their disabled peers.