Abused and neglected children almost always come from poor, minority free essay sample

Child abuse has been on the forefront of the public domain and the media. This is because although every body in the society seems to be aware of what child abuse is as well as its consequences, several cases of death are reported every day as a result of child abuse. A number of myths have been conceived in an attempt to explain the group of people who are most venerable to child abuse. In this paper, I give some critical facts, which dismiss the statement that abused and neglected children always come from poor, minority and the inner city families. Child abuse as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States is any action, order or a combination of actions, which are undertaken by a parent or any other person who is responsible for the well being of the child that can harm or amount to harm of the child (MedlinePlus, 2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Abused and neglected children almost always come from poor, minority or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Child abuse takes several forms such as sexual, emotional and physical mistreatment of the child. The definition given above is undoubtedly not restricted to any group of people but comprises of things which although are inhuman when not only done to children but also to the adults, can be done by any body regardless of education level and social economic status in the society (Baskerville, 2006). This definition therefore creates a dove tail for the following points to fit. One of the reasons why the abused and neglected children are perceived always to come from poor, minority and inner city families is because in many a time, the poor and the minority resides in the inner cities where homes are close to each other and are densely populated. Based on this fact and judging by principles of reasoning, one can not fail to see t how easily it is to notice an abused child (Wolfe, 1999). This point is overstressed by the fact that the minority and the poor often lives in open places where children are free to interact and play in open grounds and therefore any abused child or neglected can be easily noticed and the case reported to the concerned authorities.   On the other hand, the majority and the rich live in private apartments where interaction with neighbors is limited or even impossible (Wolfe, 1999).   They have playing grounds within their home stead and therefore socialization and interaction of children is limited to the family members or a few of the neighbors who can be easily manipulated by the offenders especially if they are family members. As a consequence, many child abuse cases go unnoticed but they apparently occur. In my opinion, I am convinced that this is one of the reasons behind this myth and therefore it should be dismissed as wrong. It is believed that many actions which amount to child abuse particularly sexual abuse are carried out by strangers. It is then argued that children of the poor and the minority are much more exposed to the strangers because of their living standards and environment than their counterpart (Buzawa, Buzawa, 2003). But available and reliable information have it that child abuse is more prominent among the nuclear and extended family. The subject in this matter proves beyond any reasonable doubt that if the rich and the majority have families as well as extended families, then they are venerable to child abuse just like the poor and the minority.   In conclusion therefore, the author dismisses the proposed statement that abused and neglected children always come from poor and minority families. References Baskerville, S. (2006). Family Violence in America: The Truth about Domestic Violence and Children Abuse. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/familyviolence.pdf?docID=641 Buzawa, C., Buzawa, E. (2003). Domestic Violence: The Criminal Justice Response. California: sage Publications. MedlinePlus. (2010). Child Abuse. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childabuse.html Wolfe, D. (1999). Child Abuse: Implications for Child Development and Psychopathology. California: Sage Publications.

Luhrmann and Zeffirelli introduce the characters of Romeo and Juliet in their film versions of Shakespeares play Essay Example

Luhrmann and Zeffirelli introduce the characters of Romeo and Juliet in their film versions of Shakespeares play Essay Example Luhrmann and Zeffirelli introduce the characters of Romeo and Juliet in their film versions of Shakespeares play Paper Luhrmann and Zeffirelli introduce the characters of Romeo and Juliet in their film versions of Shakespeares play Paper Essay Topic: Romeo and Juliet Films are made to make money and attract mass audiences. Most filmmakers want to aim their film at a wide range of people so that their film is a box office success. Films are more advanced than performances of plays in theatres as they can use lighting, sound effects, music and cameras to create atmosphere and influence peoples reactions by using close-up shots of things they want the audience to take notice of. In a film the camera is the viewers eye so they can only see what the camera allows them to but in a play the audience can see everything at once and the camera isnt there to zoom in on something which they need to recognise as significant as it can in a film. Filmmakers can also use costumes and settings to suggest a characters personality or the atmosphere of the place they are in. Also, in films, computerised sound effects and real settings can be used. In films they can have sets outdoors, in houses and anywhere else they need to but in a play they cannot have real settings as they are all artificial and have to be changed for nearly every scene. In plays they cannot have large crowds of people for a battle or suchlike as they would not all fit on the stage so they have to have limited numbers and this, therefore, is not as realistic as it can be in films as they can have thousands of actors if they need them. Lastly, as the dialogue in plays is sometimes far too long, filmmakers often cut the text in places and move it around in the plot until they are happy with their scripts. This technique is not often used in plays as they tend to be more traditional and stick to the original text. The Zeffirelli version of the play was made in the late 1960s and was aimed at a wide range of people from very young to very old. Zeffirelli wanted to give people a traditional film of the play so he kept most of the original text and used music and costumes which would have been appropriate to when the play is set. It was a box office smash hit even though Zeffirelli shocked many people by being experimental he chose two, very young, unknown actors to play Romeo and Juliet and used (at the time) very innovative camera movements. Luhrmann chose a very different approach to making Romeo and Juliet into a film from Zeffirelli, as he did not do a traditional version at all. He aimed it mainly to bring the younger generation of people an understanding of Shakespeare and so modernised it so that it would appeal to the audiences of 1997. Even though there was a 30 year gap between the making of these films, they were both very successful and attracted mass audiences. I will now look at the similarities and differences between the two versions. Both directors decided to frame Romeo the first time he is seen Zeffirelli in an archway and Luhrmann in a cliff. Both the films suggest Romeo has been alone in the first shots of him as he is seen walking back into the city by himself. In both the versions Romeo is implied not to be as rough as the other lads and doesnt seem to fit in with them in Zeffirelli he comes back to the city holding flowers while in Luhrmann he uses very soft focus on Romeos face and Romeo is alone, looking out to sea which implies he is very romantic when none of the other lads are. Also, in both the films, as soon as the camera switches to Romeo for the first time the music becomes slow, dreamy and romantic which is emphasising his youth and romantic feelings. Both directors used, at the time of making their film, very innovative camera movements, for example in Zeffirellis version the camera went through peoples legs in the fight scenes. However, there are also many differences between the two films. Zeffirelli aimed to do a traditional film of the play so that people would know what Shakespeare is really like but Luhrmann aimed to bring the modern generation of people an updated version and to show that the story is still relevant today. Therefore Zeffirelli chose to keep most of the original dialogue from the text, to use Shakespearian costumes and music which would have been appropriate to when it is set but Luhrmann cut lots of the text, did not use Shakespearian costumes and had modern pop music playing in the background. Also, Luhrmann did not set the film in Italy as Zeffirelli did, he set it in a big American city which showed the modern audiences that the play is still significant today. In Shakespeares day, Italy was the main country and also had the most power but when Luhrmann remade the film 30 years later, America was now the Italy of the 20th century and so he set it there so that the viewers would think it applied to them, and was not just a Shakespearian play which was not relevant any more. Luhrmann also used references to modern films in his adaptation which a modern audience would understand and enjoy but Zeffirelli did not have any references at all in his film which suggests that he was maybe trying to appeal to a slightly older generation of viewers than Luhrmann was. Zeffirelli shocked people when he made his film of the play as he chose two very young, unknown actors to play Romeo and Juliet but when Luhrmann made his version in the late 1990s he chose two older, better established, American actors. In Zeffirellis version all the characters except the nurse spoke RP which is often associated with Shakespearian characters but in Luhrmanns he changed the text so that it could be spoken in American English and still sound Shakespearian. Zeffirelli also chose to use two actors who fitted the Italian stereotype of dark hair, dark eyes and olive skin but Luhrmann chose two actors who did not fit it at all. However, I think the main difference between these two film versions of the play is that Zeffirelli opted to do a traditional version and Luhrmann updated it so that it would still appeal to a younger modern audience. The introduction of Romeo is quite similar in both films. I will look at how Zeffirelli introduces him first and then how Luhrmann does it. In Zeffirellis dramatisation of the play as soon as the audience get their first view of Romeo, the music becomes slow, innocent, romantic and dreamy. Romeo is framed by a big archway which emphasises to the audience how small, young and vulnerable he is and he is walking back into the town holding flowers which shows that he must have been alone. As he is holding flowers and smiling this suggests that he is not like the other lads he is not aggressive but is gentle and doesnt seem to fit in with the other lads which is why he has separated himself from them and gone somewhere by himself. He is wearing a traditional Shakespearian costume which emphasises Zeffirellis aim to keep the film as authentic as he could. As the music is dreamy it implies that Romeo is a bit of a daydreamer and he seems to have a dreamy expression on his face until he sees his parents and Benvolio when his expression changes to an uncomfortable, uncertain look. He moves into the shadows of the walls which suggests he is secretive and doesnt want his parents to see him. Zeffirelli then uses a close-up of Romeos face which shows the audience how young he is as he has a heart-shaped face and looks small and gentle. He also fits the stereotype of Italians with his dark hair, dark eyes and olive complexion but in the Luhrmann adaptation Leonardo DiCaprio does not fit this stereotype at all as he is blond with fair skin. This shows how Zeffirelli was keen to keep his version a traditional one whereas Luhrmann wasnt. Zeffirelli also suggests that Romeo is defensive as when he is with Benvolio he crosses his arms and says is the day so young which implies that he is in a world of his own and enjoying the fact that he is miserable. Then Romeo is shut out from the injured man because the door is slammed in his face. This is a reminder of the feud between the two families and after his event, Romeo flounces off which suggests he no longer wants to be a part of it. The way in which Luhrmann introduces the character of Romeo is quite similar to the way in which Zeffirelli did it. As in Zeffirelli, when the camera switches to the first shot of Romeo the background music becomes slow and dreamy and Romeo is alone, framed in the cliff on a beach. Romeo is sitting with his back to the city which is symbolic as it shows he does not want anything to do with the feud and he is looking out to sea which immediately suggests that he has depth and is not shallow like the other lads. Then Luhrmann zooms in on Romeos face but uses very soft focus so this gives the impression that Romeo is gentle and romantic but not aggressive and violent like the other lads he is friends with. The camera then zooms back out and shows that Romeo is dresses like a business man but casually as he has his top button open. He is writing and speaking the words as he writes them these are actually his lines but as he is writing it looks like he is writing the play which makes him seem romantic. As in Zeffirelli, when Romeo sees his parents he suddenly looks annoyed or uncomfortable but different to Zeffirellis version, he does not fit the Italian stereotype as he is blond and pale-skinned. However, the Romeo presented in this film of the play is also bored with the feud and fighting which is the same in Zeffirelli so Luhrmann did try to keep some authenticity but not as much as Zeffirelli did. I will now look at the introduction of Juliet in both the Zeffirelli and the Luhrmann dramatisations of the play. In the Zeffirelli version there is a scene before we see Juliet in which Paris has come to ask her father for Juliets hand in marriage and her father accepts but asks Paris if he could wait a year or so, so that she would be a little older as she is only 13. This prepares the audience for the fact that Juliet is going to be so young and vulnerable even before they get to see her. This scene does not take place in the Luhrmann adaptation. When the camera first switches to Juliet the music becomes very light-hearted and seems to be skipping along so this stresses Juliets youth. Juliet is laughing and playing with the nurse which shows how childlike she is compared to Romeo. She then appears at a window which she is framed in so that she looks like a Renaissance painting as she is very elaborately dressed and heavily made-up. There is then a close-up of her face which shows her to be very young, have a heart-shaped face and be very demure, innocent and wide-eyed which again stresses her youth. She also fits the Italian stereotype perfectly and looks even younger than Romeo did as her hair frames her face as well as the window framing her. She is wearing a red dress which is very bright and rich but also symbolises romance, blood, passion and danger and so stands out when she attends the ball later in the film. Juliet is then called for by the nurse who says her mother wants to see her and immediately, Juliet straightens her hair and dress and runs off in her mothers direction. This shows she is still very obedient and only cares about doing what her mother wants her to do. She is a contrast to Romeo in this scene as she is in a family home, skipping and laughing but Romeo is moping around by himself so this implies that Juliet is still a child without any thoughts of romance or marriage but that Romeo is older and more mature. When Juliet arrives at her mothers chamber the mother sends the nurse out of the room and Juliet looks puzzled and uncomfortable without her presence. This shows that she is actually closer to the nurse than her own mother which the audience will find sad. The audience know that her mother wants to talk to her about her marriage to Paris but Juliet doesnt and seems to be worried when she is wondering why she as been sent for as she bites her lip. When her mother asks her if she will marry Paris, Juliet says she will but she only seems to be saying so because she knows her mother would be angry if she refused. This shows that Juliets mother is very controlling of her daughter, even if she hardly ever talks to or does anything with her. In the Luhrmann adaptation the first shot of Juliet is a close-up of her face. She doesnt match the Italian stereotype and seems to be much older than the character from the play really was. As in Zeffirelli, Juliet is very wide-eyed and her face is framed with her hair but she is not heavily made-up as Juliet in Zeffirelli was. She then plunges her head into the water which symbolises freshness and nature which in turn symbolise her youth. She is dressed in white which is different to Zeffirelli and this symbolises purity and nature. When the nurse calls for Juliet, Juliet is still obedient as in Zeffirellis version but she doesnt seem as respectful to her mother she has a teenage look on her face as if to say oh, not my mother again which is one of the things Luhrmann has updated. When she reaches her mothers room Juliet looks impatient when waiting for her to talk as if she thinks she has better things to do than listen to her mother but she did not do this in Zeffirelli. This has, again, been updated to appeal to the audiences of 1997. Then, her mother shows her a photograph of Paris and Juliet looks puzzled at fist but then she says the same lines as she did in Zeffirelli which shows she is still obedient, if not as respectful. After her mother leaves the room, Juliet looks thoughtful as if it is beginning to dawn on her that a marriage has been arranged for her and this is much faster than in Zeffirelli the whole play takes place over a few days in the Luhrmann film but in Zeffirelli it is much slower. In conclusion, I think that both films were successful in introducing the characters of Romeo and Juliet but that Zeffirelli kept to his traditional aims in doing it and Luhrmann used a more modern approach.

Mass spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mass spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy - Essay Example (Ahuja and Alsante, 2003; p.16) Organic chemists define this science as the study of the "quantised interaction of electromagnetic radiations with matter" (Yadav, 2005; p.1). According to Yadav (2005), these electromagnetic emissions are created by the fluctuations of electric charges and the magnetic field existing in the atom. He further said that the various forms of electromagnetic radiation include ultraviolet, infrared, x-rays, microwaves, radio waves, and so on (Yadav, 2005; p.1). There are four methods or measurement techniques used in spectroscopy. These are: mass spectroscopy, or MS; ultraviolet spectroscopy, or UV; infrared spectroscopy, or IR; and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, or NMR. The common types of spectroscopy include: astronomical spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, electron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform spectroscopy, gamma-ray spectroscopy, and laser spectroscopy. (Flowers and Silver, 2004; p.953) A new technique, Raman spectroscopy, is now considered the fifth spectroscopic measurement technique (Smith and Dent, 2005; p.1) The three main types of spectroscopy/spectrometry include: absorption spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy, and scattering ... termines the sample's physical properties through the amount of light that the substance scatters at specific wavelengths, incident and polarization angles. The difference between scattering spectroscopy and emission spectroscopy lies in the fact that the scattering process is faster than the absorption or emission process (Flowers and Silver, 2004; p.953; Ahuja and Alsante, 2003; p.16). Mass spectroscopy as a technique offers outstanding structural information of different substances. It can also be a useful tool in separating molecules with little differences in their molecular weight. However, if mass spectroscopy is used as a quantitative measurement technique, its uses can be limited (Ahuja and Alsante, 2003; p.16). In ultraviolet spectroscopy, a sample substance is continuously irradiated with ultraviolet radiation of differing wavelengths. The power or energy which is related with the section of the electromagnetic spectrum matches the difference in power levels among various molecular orbitals. Ultraviolet radiation is created when a sample substance is exposed to a wavelength that equals the variation in energy between an occupied molecular orbital and an unoccupied molecular orbital. (Flowers and Silver, 2004; p.953) Ultraviolet spectroscopy, at a single wavelength, provides little selectivity of analysis (Ahuja and Alsante, 2003; p.16). Infrared spectroscopy, according to Stuart (2004), is definitely one of the most significant analytical measurement techniques that are available to scientists nowadays. (Stuart, 2004; p.1) This method offers precise information for some functional substance groups that present selectivity and allow quantification. (Ahuja and Alsante, 2003; p.16) This technique is based on the atoms' vibrations within a molecule; where an

Mergers and acquisitions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Mergers and acquisitions - Coursework Example This paper seeks to examine examples of companies in the USA that were involved in a merger. Mergers often look forward to ensuring profits rather than losses in the business combination. The selected company that involved itself in a merger is the Continental Airlines Company. The company was involved in the merger with another airline company. The two companies were the entities in the merger. An entity in business or in mergers and acquisitions (M & A) describes the organization, company or corporation that is acquired by another organization, company or corporation or that merges with the other in order to ensure a successful business in terms of profits, quality of products and competition and its continuous and long term survival in the world's competitive markets (Harwood, 2005). In the year 2010, an airline company in the U.S, Continental Airlines, merged or was rather acquired by another company, United Airlines (UAL) Corporation, also an airline holding company in the U.S w hich had its headquarters in Chicago in the state of Illinois. The two airline companies merged to form the United Continental Holdings in October 2010. The merger took place to ensure that the new company founded posed stiff competition to other airline companies around the world. The merge was also to ensure better services than the services provided before by the individual airline companies. After merging, the founded airline, United Continental Holdings became the largest airline company in the world as was confirmed by revenue passenger miles (New York Times, 2010). Mergers and acquisitions are often accompanied by transaction prices and payment terms. At the time of the merger between Continental Airlines and UAL Corporation, there were several factors that were involved in determining the transaction price and the payment terms for each of the individual companies after the merger. The first factor that determined the payment terms was the presence of other potential bidders who would provide better payment terms. United Airlines initially held merger talks with the US Airways. It is said that a deal was close between the two companies (New York Times, 2010). Unfortunately the merger talks broke off paving way for talks between the United Airlines Corporation and other airlines. On the other hand, the Continental Airlines also held merger talks with the Star Alliance and even merged. However the two airlines later on separated. This paved way for merger talks between the Continental Airlines and the United Airlines Corporation. Better payment terms were put in place bearing in mind that there were other potential bidders in case of a break off of the merger talks. The second factor that determined the transaction price and the payment terms between the two companies was the share deal that was signed by both entities. When the United Airlines and the Continental Airlines announced their merger in 2010, they struck so many deals. One was of a new name o f the company to be formed which was named the United Continental Holdings. Secondly, the two companies struck deals to share the losses and profits. This share deal was the key factor which was strongly involved in determining the transaction price and payment terms during their merger. The third factor that determined the transaction price and the payment terms was the taxes to be imposed on the newly formed company by the US government. Taxes imposed on a certain company greatly influences the payment terms. In case of friendlier taxation, the two entities could enjoy sharing in large amounts of the profits incurred. However, in case of harsh taxation by the US governm

Project Management Skills Task Coursework Essay

Project Management Skills Task Coursework - Essay Example In the light of the fact that, it should be emphasized that some tools are not suitable for the tasks of such a nature, additional tools will be required for controlling the project management execution. Moreover, these additional tools will be needed for proper tracking of the planned activities, while standard tools and charts can be applied as the project implementation planning tools mainly. This can be explained by the fact that IT projects that involve several aspects (preparation, installation, adjustment and customization, teaching, servicing), and the team is small enough, the tasks should be divided into several sub-tasks for proper project management. The key defined tools involve Gantt Chart, Logic Network, PERT chart, PBS and WBS. As a rule, these are universal control and execution planning tools, nevertheless, there is a need to divide the project into several sub-tasks, delegate the responsibility for executing several sub-tasks simultaneously, as well as consider eff ective risk management options. Risk management may be regarded as an essential part of the overall project implementation. This is explained by the fact that the credibility of risk emerging is higher than zero. Additionally, the initial circumstances of the project implementation presuppose sufficient risks for the timely execution of all the project phases. Tools Analysis Gantt Chart This type of project management tools is regarded as one of the classic instruments. As a rule, most project management practices are associated with dividing the project into several phases, and Gantt Chart is the best tool for controlling the implementation of every particular phase. It is suitable for controlling the implementation of the subtasks, while the overall project management should be executed by the means of additional tools. Considering the pros and cons of the tool, it should be emphasized that the Gantt Chart has become a universal and simple tool for defining the â€Å"skeletonâ₠¬  of the project, additionally, its functionality may be extended which offers a wide range of additional opportunities. Bolles and Hubbard (2007) emphasize that Gantt Chart is regarded as a reliable tool for small projects, since a restricted amount of activities can fit the tool format perfectly. On the other hand, projects with several subtasks can become messed. This is explained by the fact that the breakdown structure is often defined simultaneously with the project scheduling, while these activities can be performed sequentially only: scheduling after breakdown structure creation. Moreover, the tool does not allow including sufficient project data. (Pinto, 2002) In fact, it may be included, though the project may become too heavy and entangled, which complicates the communication process seriously. Since the key phases of the project are mainly associated with upgrading and adjusting computers, the Gantt Chart will not be an effective tools, as sufficient preparation work s hould be done. The preparation phase involves: 1. Collecting accurate database of the machines 2. Defining the optimal upgrade algorithm 3. Creating the training program 4. Matching the working schedule of the departments with the project activities Chart Phase Week1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Database collection ? ? Training development ? ? ? Scheduling ? ? Upgrade ?

Face Recognition Attendance System

Face Recognition Attendance System In the 21st century, everything around us has become depends upon technology to make our life much easier. Daily tasks are continuously becoming computerized. Nowadays more people prefer to do their work electronically. To the best of our knowledge, the process of recording students attendance at the university is still manual. Lecturers go through manual attendance sheets and signed papers to record attendance. This is slow, inefficient and time consuming. The main objective of this project is to offer system that simplify and automate the process of recording and tracking students attendance through face recognition technology. It is biometric technology to identify or verify a person from a digital image or surveillance video. Face recognition is widely used nowadays in different areas such as universities, banks, airports, and offices. We will use preprocessing techniques to detect, recognize and verify the captured faces like Eigenfaces method. We aim to provide a system that wi ll make the attendance process faster and more precisely. The core problem is identified along with solutions and project path. Furthermore, detailed system analysis and design, user interface, methods and the estimated results are presented through our documentation. Keywords: Attendance; Automate; Recording; biometric; face recognition; FRAS Face Recognition Attendance System NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology UML Unified Modeling Language IDE Integrated Development Environment MS Microsoft VS Visual Studio SQL Structured Query Language SSMS SQL Server Management Studio OO Object Oriented 1.1 Introduction Office automation refers to the collective hardware, software and processes that enable automation of the information processing and communication tasks in an organization. It involves using computers and software to digitize, store, process and communicate most routine tasks and processes in a standard office. [1] In addition, attendance considered as the biggest issues that may face lecturers in class. It takes time, effort and difficult to manage. Therefore, our project will focus on online student attendance. In another word, the aim of this project is to build a system that help lecturers take students attendance in a professional way. 1.2 Problem Definition Taking and tracking students attendance manually, losing attendance sheets, dishonesty, wasted time and high error scales are problems facing the lecturers use the existing attendance system. It is a hard process, take time and cause a lot of paper-based work. As a result, in order to solve these problems and avoid errors we suggest to computerize this process by providing a system that record and manage students attendance automatically without needing to lecturers interference. 1.3 Project Objectives Our primary goal is to help the lecturers, improve and organize the process of track and manage student attendance and absenteeism. Additionally, we seek to: Provides a valuable attendance service for both teachers and students. Reduce manual process errors by provide automated and a reliable attendance system uses face recognition technology. Increase privacy and security which student cannot presenting himself or his friend while they are not. Produce monthly reports for lecturers. Flexibility, Lectures capability of editing attendance records. Calculate absenteeism percentage and send reminder messages to students. 1.4 Project Scope Our project targets the students of different academic levels and faculty members. The main constraint we faced is distinguishing between identical twins. This situation is still a challenge to biometric systems especially facial recognition technology. According to Phillips and his co-researcher paper [2] to get the best results of the algorithms your system employed, they should run under certain conditions for taken pictures (i.e age, gender, expressions, studio environmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc.) otherwise, the problem is still ongoing. They provide application (method) to solve this problem, but in order to use this solution you have to sign a contract with the (NIST) organization and to be a researcher or developer. For us, to solve this issue we suggest to record twins attendance manually. 1.5 Contributions of This Study We have searched for a system that can take, monitor and manage students attendance and absenteeism, send reminder messages, calculate absenteeism percentage, and produce weekly, monthly, and annual reports. Based on our searches, there is no integrated system can support our idea. In this project, we are trying to develop such a system that can do all those tasks. Our project will serve students, lecturers, and the university as whole. 1.6 Project Timeline We utilized Gantt chart in figure 1.1, to show a project schedule with the start and finish dates of several tasks of a project and the deadline to submit the project. 1.7 Document Organization This project consists of six chapters. These chapters organized to reflect the scientific steps toward our main objective. A brief description about the contents of each chapter given in the following paragraphs: Chapter 1 introduces the problem definition, project objectives, the contribution of this project, the scope of the work, and the project layout. Chapter 2 provides the reader with an overview of the literature review. Chapter 3 displays the analysis of the existing system, requirements elicitation which includes (functional requirements, nonfunctional requirements, User Requirements.), requirements specification, research methodology. Chapter 4 displays the architectural design, object oriented design figure. Chapter 6 displays the conclusion that includes limitation and future work.    2.1 Introduction Over the past decade, taking down students attendance process had been developed and changed.The driven force of this development is the desire to automate, facilitate, speed up and save time and efforts. Although that the attendance systems are around us everywhere, Taibah university lecturers still use a traditional way to record students attendance either through calling out students names or through a passing attendance sheet among students to sign beside their names. Both ways are time consuming and associated with high error scales. In this project, we attempt to reduce wasted time, eliminate buddy clocking, and automate the process. Our system uses facial recognition technology to record the attendance through a high resolution digital camera that detects and recognizes faces and compare the recognize faces with students faces images stored in faces database. Once the recognized face matches a stored image, attendance is marked in attendance database for that person. The process will repeat if there are missed faces. For example, if there are 4 faces missed for a bad position while the detecting phase, then this phase will start again to detect the missed faces and recognize them and continue the attending process. By the end of the month, a monthly report is send to the lecturer contains attendance and absence rates as a chart and the names of absentees. Also, a warning message sends to the student if he passes the allowed number of absence. In this chapter, we present a brief overview of face recognition in the background section, relevant works to our project with their advantages and disadvantages, how we relate to these studies and how this project can provide some beneficial features for lecturer. 2.2 Background Most lecturers have a significant number of students and it is hard to keep taking or tracking all their absence. Facial recognition is commonly used in many institutions to take attendance of a significant number of students. There are many errors that could occur during this process, including misidentification and self-recognition [3]. Lecturer can control the errors and correct it. In the next subsection, brief overview of the usage,techniques, and methods in facial recognition. 2.2.1 Face Recognition Usage Face recognition rises from the moment that machine started to become more and more intelligent and had the advance of fill in, correct or help the lack of human abilities and senses. [4]. Common uses ofFacial recognition clarify in following points; Security; can be crime-fighting it will recognize people based on their eyes, nose and face. Searching for lost people. Games Taking student or employee attendance 2.2.2 Face Recognition Techniques and Methods Many factors influence the process of face recognition such as shape, size, pose, occlusion, and illumination. Facial recognition, have two different applications: basic and advanced . Major face recognition recognizes faces or no faces such as balls and animals. If it is a face, then the system searches for eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Advanced facial recognition manages the question on a specific face. This contains unique landmarks: the width of nose, wideness of the eyes, the depth and angle of the jaw, the height of cheekbones, and the separation between the eyes, and makes a unique numerical code. Utilizing these numerical codes, the system then matches that image with another image and distinguishes how comparable the pictures are to each other. The image provenance for face recognition include pre-existing pictures from various databases and video camera signals. [5] A facial recognition system involves the following phases: Face detection, feature extraction, and face recognition as illustrated in Figure 2.1. [5] Figure 2.1:General structure of the face recognition system. The following table compares some of the biometric technology used lately. Table ‎2.1: Comparison among some of the biometric technologies Biometric Technology Accuracy Price Tools required Facial recognition Moderate Moderate Camera Voice recognition Moderate Moderate Microphone Fingerprint High Moderate Scanner 2.3 Related Work In this section, we highlight some related works that were developed to recognize faces and takedown attendance together with the advantages and disadvantages of each system. 2.3.1 Review of Relevant Work 2.3.1.1 Auto Attendance Using Face Recognition (by Mahvish Tania) Figure 2.2: Screenshot of Main Interface (Admin Tasks Interface) Figure 2.3: Screenshot of Auto Attendance systems interface In this project, we have two users responsible for the system [6]. The instructor who takes the attendance and admin who is responsible for managing students faces in the faces database. Admin selects a camera to capture, collect and save images to database or a folder. After the collection and saving the process done the trainingSet manager start to extract faces from the image by face detection. Finally, the trainingSet manager (Admin) will add the extracted image -person- to class or trainingSet. And as you can see in the illustrated figure, 2.3 above, attendance is taken down by recognizing the faces through a web camera and automatically marked in attendance sheet with daytime. The instructor chooses the course ID and the class ID to begin the attending process. Advantages: The system stores the faces that are detected and automatically marks attendance. Provide authorized access. Ease of use. Multiple face detection. Provide methods to maximize the number of extracted faces from an image. Disadvantages: The accuracy of the system is not 100%. Face detection and loading training data processes just a little bit slow. The instructor and trainingSet manager still have to do some work manually. 2.3.1.2 Attendance System on Face Detection (By NevonProjects) The system is created for employing a simple and a secure way of recording attendance. First of all, the software takes a picture of all the authorized individuals and stores the information into the systems database. Then, the system stores pictures by mapping it into a face match structure. The system will recognize the registered person and mark his/her attendance along with the arrival time whenever he/she enters the locations again [7]. Advantages: The system stores the faces that are detected and automatically marks attendance. Ease of use. Manipulate and recognize the faces in real time using live video data. Multiple face detection. Multipurpose software. Can be used in different places. Disadvantages: The accuracy of the system is not 100%. It can only detect face from a limited distance. It cannot repeat live video to recognize missed faces. 2.3.1.3 Face Login Face Login allows you to log in to your PC by looking at your webcam. FaceLogin associates user accounts with a picture, and then, when looking at your webcam, you can login because it detects you on the webcam. [8] Advantages: Only an administrator can run FaceLogin and change its settings. More than one way to configure users. Can store more than one image for a user to maximize face detection. Disadvantages: Applications accuracy is not 100%. Adding users manually. Associated risks with stored data and images. Uses traditional way to access the application. Limited use. 2.3.1.4 Biometric Face Detection Attendance Systems Face recognition systems with time attendance provide multi-biometric and multi-authentication modes. Attached with high resolution infra-red camera works in low light, best face recognition algorithms and identification methods. Advantages Convenient. Provide many recognition ways. High accuracy. Used for secure purposes. Provide many communication models. Disadvantages Limited capacity. Detect faces from a limited distance. People stand in a queue to take their attendance. Screen size. Still uses traditional authentication PIN way. 2.3.1.5 C-400 Facial Recognition Clocking System Facial recognition timing systems will give you precise attendance information and stop employees buddy clocking when employee sing on behalf of his colleague-. [9] Advantages C-400 Face recognition timing technology reduces any likelihood of your employees signing for each other in/out. Complete suite of reports. Printable attendance register in the event of an emergency. Disadvantages There is no External Bell Attachment. Device is expensive. The face has to be in front of the device to record attendance. 2.3.1.6 Churchix Face Recognition Software Churchix presents face recognition software, which takes someones face through a picture or video and then identifies it by comparing it with those in a database of pictures. The software is becoming more common in every day interactions. [10] Advantages: Attending members in videos and photos. High quality photos. High accuracy. Disadvantages: Some people they see as a threat to privacy. Inability to capture all the faces in the video. Restart the video several times to capture all faces. Figure 2.5: Screenshot of Churchix Face Recognition Software 2.3.2 Relationship Between the Relevant Work and Our Own Work Table ‎2.2: Comparison among applications viewed in the previous section Application Auto Attendance Using Face Recognition by: MahvishTania Attendance System on Face Detection By: NevonProjects Face Login Biometric Face Detection Attendance Systems C-400 Facial Recognition Clocking System Churchix Face Recognition Software Face Recognition Attendance System Database à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Hardware PC Webcam PC , camera Pc , webcam Camera camera PC , camera PC , camera Language C# C# unknown Unknown unknown unknown C# Scope student student anyone employees employees anyone Student light-on when-the camera starts à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ Fast Face detection à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ unlimited distance à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ High accuracy à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ From table 2.2, the main point in our project is to create a system that facilitates students attending process. The following points summarize features will be adopted in the system: The light on when the camera starts facial recognition because reduce the error There are screen next to the camera to display the result of attendees and absentees The system at the end of the class update attendance sheet 2.4 Summary An automatic attendance management system is needed tool for huge organizations. Many organizations have been used face recognition system such as train stations, airports, and companies. Overall, this chapter provided an overview of some related works that were developed with their advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, we compare between the relevant work and our own work and show the differentiation between them. The matter that has to be taken into consideration in the future is a method to guarantee users privacy. Whenever an image is stored on servers, it must be impossible for unauthorized person to get or see that image. 3.1 Introduction This chapter examines the analysis that determined the adequacy of the existing attendance system and identifies the requirements of the new system. Additionally, a specification of functional, nonfunctional and user requirements will be presented to understand how the system will work. In the term of analyzing these requirements, UML diagrams of the new system will be presented. 3.2 Analysis of Existing Systems In the school, colleges and universities attendance system are used to keep the record of a student presence and absence. It is true that the Taibah University has an electronic system but still needs a manual intervention. There are two case to attend students: First, add students attendance directly to the attendance web page. Second, write attendees names on a paper then move it to the web page. These two cases have drawbacks such as in the first case, there is a possibility to disconnect the connection and chose the wrong date. In the second case, there is a chance to loss the paper and it is a waste of resources We did a questionnaire that was targeted a lecturer in Taibah University and the number of participants nineteen. The aim of this questionnaire is to determine the satisfaction of the current system. Here are some questions and their statistics. As shown in figure 3.1, 84.2% of lecturers do not like the existing systems, we should take into consideration this percentage and develop a new attendance system. As can be seen from the Figure 3.2, 84.2% of the lecturer sees the existing system not suitable for all people like deaf. This is one of the drawbacks of the existing system, and there are more such as: There is always a chance of forgery (one person signing the presence of the other one) More manpower is required (some person to take attendance) To overcome the problems in the existing system, we will develop a face recognition attendance system. The majority of lecturer sees as in the figure 3.3, if we replace the current system with a biometric system it will be successful. Overall these statistics, the lecturer is not satisfied about the existing attendance system. 3.3 Requirements Elicitation The requirements are the descriptions of the system services and constraints. 3.3.1 Functional Requirements System functional requirement describes activities and services that must provide. Taking and tracking student attendance by facial recognition in specific time. Sending the names of the absent student directly to the lecturer Permitting the lecturer to modify the student absent or late. Showing the names of who is absent or late in the screen to avoid errors. 3.3.2 Non-Functional Requirements Nonfunctional Requirements are characteristics or attributes of the system that can judge its operation. The following points clarify them: Accuracy and Precision: the system should perform its process in accuracy and Precision to avoid problems. Modifiability: the system should be easy to modify, any wrong should be correct. Security: the system should be secure and saving students privacy. Usability: the system should be easy to deal with and simple to understand. Maintainability: the maintenance group should be able to fix any problem occur suddenly. Speed and Responsiveness: Execution of operations should be fast. 3.3.3 User Requirements or Domain requirements Tools that the user must have in order to use the system and obtain good results: Software Requirements: windows7 or higher, SQL and visual studio. Hardware Requirements: high resolution camera and screen. 3.4 Requirements Specification Use case diagram is one of Unified Modeling Language (UML) that describes the system functionality, what actors that interact with the system and any associations between use cases. As shown in figure 3.4, the FRAS has actors named Admin, Lecturer and Student which are the main users of the system. Other actor, timer which turns camera on to record attendance by detecting and recognizing faces. 3.4.1 Use Case Description (Detailed Use Cases) (1) Log in Table ‎3.1: Log-in usecase description Use Case Name: Log in Use Case Number:1 Actors: Admin, Lecturer, student Description: This use case describes how Admin, Lecturer and student log into the system. Triggering events: Lecturer, admin and student enter his username and password. Steps Performed (Main Path): 1-System requires users to enter username/password. 2-Users enter username/password. 3-System validate entered username/password. 4-The use case ends successfully. Preconditions: System installed on pc. Admin, Lecturer and student must be authorized. Post-conditions: Log in is successfully. Alternate: If the Admin, Lecturer and student is not fill correctly, the log in fails. (2) Manage student attendance. Table ‎3.2: Manage student attendance usecase description Use Case Name: Manage student attendance Use Case Number: 2 Actors: Admin, Lecturer. Description:

Essay --

Logan Liao Mr. Mervine A British Literature 21 November 2013 Neighborhood, Country, and Global Communities An impoverished man living on the outskirts of a neighborhood park walks through the forest and notices a block party. He thinks to himself, a â€Å"free† lunch. As the man strolls toward the party, he notices many people of all ages eating and talking. When he looks at the food on the table, his eyes’ yearn in hunger. He then comes across a sign reading â€Å"BLOCK PARTY, COMMUNITY ONLY.† Slowly his momentary happiness vanishes because he does not belong to this neighborhood community but part of the city. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word community means a group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood). However, according to experts, â€Å"The word community itself changes coming to mean a group of like-minded people sharing common interests, when in the past it referred to a group of people of various skills and interests cooperating with one another in order to survive. Now we find and create communities based on geography, ethnicity, race, religion, class, and even language† (Shea, Scanlan, and Aufses). A community provides support and achieves a goal no matter what the cost. A community is a group of individuals striving to accomplish a common goal together. For example, communities of Buddhists look for enlightenment and inner peace within themselves and their bodies. The word â€Å"community† reminds one of a positive place to grow and develop. A community supports all people who want to learn more and to work together. For instance, community service lets people volunteer and become innovative in their community, in many ways, whether it is running a food drive or cleaning up the par... ... Communities are interacting populations with shared geography or common valued people as they connect mentally, physically or even spiritually. The world needs community because society lacks a family, lacks support. If communities cease to existence, the world would fall from total anarchy with everyone living for him or herself. The state of the earth would not exist if people could not understand they are all in a community. However if everyone knew of communities we would all live in a place with no strife, angry, or violence. There are many different types of communities from school, sports team, neighborhood, or even a family, but most of them seek one common goal or a passion that unites them. They work and endeavor to achieve it. Communities watch everyone’s back like a shepherd tending and watching his sheep. The world we live in is a community.

A Change Of Heart About Animals: Rifkin’s Analysis Essay

How many times people give all their trust, love and affection to someone who  inevitably cheats, betrays or disappoints them? Who has the chance to cure and take  care of an animal knows that this wont’ ever happen, they remain faithful and loving by  your side in whatever situation. There are striking similarities between human and animal beings, from their astonishing  intellectual and cognitive abilities, to their widely developed emotional side. People should  reconsider and change the way they treat and relate our fellow creatures, legally and in  everyday life, because they are much more than an experiment, or a children amusement or  an accessorize, they are living beings. Jeremy Rifkin is an American writer, public speaker and activist who wrote an article for  the Los Angeles Times in 2003 , meaningfully dense from the title: † A Change Of Heart  About Animals†. In this article he sheds light on the human like qualities of animals,  emphasizing how similar they are to us, providing examples like persuasive studies and  accurate data. Our everyday companions do have empathy, intelligence and feelings and  should be treated as such. The author starts building up his credibility with precise and sophisticated diction  through the entire text, and making use of universally highly recognized sources. Referring  to studies on pigs’ social behavior at Purdue University or to findings published in the  Journal of Science, he obtains the attention and the trust of the reader. In fact references to  the highest level universities and science magazines, give the reader a sense of secure  reliability on the author, associating these names to quoted scientists and prestigious  researches. Moreover Purdue’s studies on pigs that showed how the lack of physical and  mental stimuli can depress and deteriorate pigs’ health, were heartily taken by the European  Union. Especially in Germany, the government took action encouraging the farmers to  stimulate pigs with human contact and toys every day. Researches taken so seriously not  only by a national government, but also by an institution like the European Union, lead to a  growth of the author’s ethos even for the most skeptical readers, installing a global sense  of trust. Then Rifkin goes on exploring the most emotional and sympathetic human like  aspects of our closest nature relatives. Since animals share the same emotions and anxiety  as humans do, the reader can relate on an expressive level with them. An actual example  that Rifkin uses, was how elephants will mourn over a death of their kin, standing next to  them, touching their dead bodies with their trunks. Elephants understand the sense of  mortality experiencing grief, and the sensation of loss after the death of a beloved one as  we do. Any person who unluckily had to face how struggling the last goodbye to someone  close is can connect with them, feeling empathy and at the same time sadness thinking  about their own tough experiences. And at the end, as last heart warming pathos appeal,  Rifkin gives colorful examples of the horrible treatments that some animals must go trough  like painful laboratory experiments, inhumane conditions and slaughter. These portrays of  unevenly horrific treatments put negative images in our minds, making the reader really  wonder how possibly people can treat with any regards creatures having so many things in  common with us. Rifkin strongly appeals to the reader’s logic as well, in fact one reason why animals are  treated with so much inferiority is because they are viewed as having much less  intelligence. On the contrary, the author displays how clever animals can be, including as  proof the mind blowing results of two experiments. For instance, Oxford University scientists  noticed how smartly two New Caledonian crows managed to use the right hooked wire to  extract one piece of meat from a tube, in the majority of time in which the experiment was  repeated. Beyond impressive was Koko, a 300 – pound gorilla in Northern California, who  was able to learn more than one thousand signs of the sign language and several thousand  English words, moreover she scored between 70 and 95 on human IQ tests. The example of  the unbelievably humane cognitive abilities of this clever female gorilla, is even more  impressive and has a greater impact on who is reading because the primate family is  widely known as being the closest to ours.  The human race descends from the animal one, and feelings, language skills  and anything purely related and considered human has not just appeared one random day. Animals are much more similar to us than we ever thought, sensing and experiencing  emotions like sorrow, depression and excitement. Moreover they have a mesmerizing level of  intelligence, they can master sophisticatedly tool making tasks and possess qualities that the  majority of people have never even imagined. How can people merely consider our four  legged companions as just animals? It is so hard to believe and realize that still so many  human beings are treating our fellow friends with no regards. When a man unfairly treats a  creature so similar to him, who should we really consider as beast? â€Å"The more I know  people, the more I love my dog. † said Mark Twain, and the way people treat animals  depicts what kind of people they are. If we consider ourselves as people who deserve the  title of human being, we should definitely behave in the best way possible toward them,  protecting and guaranteeing them similar rights to ours, considering how similar we are.

Free Essays on Taoism

Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditions that originated in China. The other religion native to China is Confucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the same time, around the sixth century B.C.E. China's third great religion, Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of the common era. Together, these three faiths have shaped Chinese life and thought for nearly twenty-five hundred years (Hartz 3). One dominate concept in Taoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. The idea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of these religions and the culture of the Chinese people. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not standardized. Each religion has a different way of applying this concept to its beliefs. This paper will describe the reincarnation concepts as they apply to Taoism and Buddhism, and then provide a comparison of the two. Taoism The goal in Taoism is to achieve tao, to find the way. Tao is the ultimate reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formed and which continues to guide the world and everything in it. Tao is sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things. That source is not a god or a supreme being, as Taoism is not monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead on coming into harmony with tao (Hartz, 8). Tao is the essence of everything that is right, and complications exist only because people choose to complicate their own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen as 1 hindrances to a harmonious life. It is only when a person rids himself of all desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction, the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the person's life, the more saintly the person is presumed to have be... Free Essays on Taoism Free Essays on Taoism taoism By: Gemma Taoism Taoism originated in China during the 300 ¡Ã‚ ¯s BC. It has been part of the Chinese culture for 2,000 years. It was during the same time period as Confucianism, but had opposite ideas and morals, yet it was equally as important as Confucianism in Chinese history. Taoism began as a reaction to  ¡Ã‚ °historical situations ¡Ã‚ ±(c1), and became a philosophy of the natural way. The word Tao actually means  ¡Ã‚ °road ¡Ã‚ ± or  ¡Ã‚ °way. ¡Ã‚ ± Taoism has had a large impact on art and literature, and had been greatly influenced by Chinese folk religion. Folk religion says that most gods were actually just people who displayed heroic qualities. The priests conducted public rituals. Many Taoists seek careers in astronomy, herbal remedies, and alchemy, among other fields. Tao represents what makes everything what it is, reality as a whole (all the ways). It provides spiritual inspiration, and moral standards. It supplies strength and refuge. Taoism is  ¡Ã‚ °not a thing, but a creative process ¡Ã‚ ±(b1). The ways tell you to live your life, but not to interfere with nature. A fish needs to swim; a tree needs to grow. The Tao focuses on independence and tranquility. Taoism is equally as important as Confucianism in Chinese history. Confucianism and Taoism began during the same time period, but had different views, even from the beginning. Confucianism says that you can only live a good life in a well disciplined and structured society, and Taoism says you should live your life however you want, as long as you stay close to nature. Taoism is a philosophy of the natural way. It is a practical way of life. Taoists look down upon war, taxes, punishment, and your typical set of morals. They look up to happiness, contentment, control, and giving in when you believe is necessary. They also stress simplicity. Profit, cleverness, desire, and selfishness shall be left behind. The  ¡Ã‚ °three treasures ¡Ã‚ ±(c4) are said to be  ¡Ã‚ °deep love, frugalit ... Free Essays on Taoism Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditions that originated in China. The other religion native to China is Confucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the same time, around the sixth century B.C.E. China's third great religion, Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of the common era. Together, these three faiths have shaped Chinese life and thought for nearly twenty-five hundred years (Hartz 3). One dominate concept in Taoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. The idea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of these religions and the culture of the Chinese people. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not standardized. Each religion has a different way of applying this concept to its beliefs. This paper will describe the reincarnation concepts as they apply to Taoism and Buddhism, and then provide a comparison of the two. Taoism The goal in Taoism is to achieve tao, to find the way. Tao is the ultimate reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formed and which continues to guide the world and everything in it. Tao is sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things. That source is not a god or a supreme being, as Taoism is not monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead on coming into harmony with tao (Hartz, 8). Tao is the essence of everything that is right, and complications exist only because people choose to complicate their own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen as 1 hindrances to a harmonious life. It is only when a person rids himself of all desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction, the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the person's life, the more saintly the person is presumed to have be...

Paragraph Construction - ESL Writing Lesson

Paragraph Construction - ESL Writing Lesson There are two structures to learn in English that are important in writing: the sentence and the paragraph. Paragraphs can be described as a collection of sentences. These sentences combine to express a specific idea, main point, topic and so on. A number of paragraphs are then combined to write a report, an essay, or even a book. This guide to writing paragraphs describe the basic structure of each paragraph you will write. In general, the purpose of a paragraph is to express one  main  point, idea or opinion. Of course, writers may provide multiple examples to support their point. However, any supporting details should support the main idea of a paragraph. This main idea is expressed through three sections of a paragraph: Beginning - Introduce your idea with a topic sentenceMiddle - Explain your idea through supporting sentencesEnd - Make your point again with a concluding sentence, and, if necessary transition to the next paragraph. Example Paragraph Here is a paragraph taken from an essay on various strategies required for an overall improvement of student performance. The components of this paragraph are analyzed below: Have you ever wondered why some students cant seem to concentrate in class? Students require more recreational time in order to better focus on lessons in class. In fact, studies have shown that students who enjoy a recess of more than 45 minutes consistently score better on tests immediately following the recess period. Clinical analysis further suggests that physical exercise greatly improves the ability to focus on academic materials. Longer periods of recess are clearly required to allow students the best possible chances of success in their studies. Clearly, physical exercise is just one of the necessary ingredients for improving student scores on standardized tests. There are four sentence types used to construct a paragraph: Hook and Topic sentence A paragraph begins with an optional hook and a topic sentence. The hook is used to draw readers into the paragraph. A hook might be an interesting fact or statistic, or a question to get the reader thinking. While not absolutely necessary, a hook can help your readers begin thinking about your main idea. The topic sentence which states your idea, point, or opinion. This sentence should use a strong verb and make a bold statement. (hook) Have you ever wondered why some students cant seem to concentrate in class? (topic sentence) Students require more recreational time in order to better focus on lessons in class. Notice the strong verb require which is a call to action. A weaker form of this sentence might be: I think students probably need more recreational time ... This weaker form is inappropriate for a topic sentence. Supporting sentences Supporting sentences (notice the plural) provide explanations and support for the topic sentence (main idea) of your paragraph. In fact, studies have shown that students who enjoy a recess of more than 45 minutes consistently score better on tests immediately following the recess period. Clinical analysis further suggests that physical exercise greatly improves the ability to focus on academic materials. Supporting sentences provide the evidence for your topic sentence. Supporting sentences that include facts, statistics and logical reasoning are much more convincing that simple statements of opinion. Concluding sentence The concluding sentence restates the main idea (found in your topic sentence) and reinforces the point or opinion. Longer periods of recess are clearly required to allow students the best possible chances of success in their studies. Concluding sentences repeat the main idea of your paragraph in different words. OptionalTransitional sentencefor Essays and Longer Writing The transitional sentence prepares the reader for the following paragraph. Clearly, physical exercise is just one of the necessary ingredients for improving student scores on standardized tests. Transitional sentences should help readers logically understand the connection between your current main idea, point or opinion and the main idea of your next paragraph. In this instance, the phrase just one of the necessary ingredients ... prepares the reader for the next paragraph which will discuss another necessary ingredient for success. Quiz Identify each sentence according to the role it plays in a paragraph. Is it a hook, topic sentence, supporting sentence, or concluding sentence? To sum up, educators must try to ensure that students practice writing rather than just taking multiple choice tests.However, due to the pressures of large classrooms, many teachers try to cut corners by giving multiple choice quizzes.Nowadays, teachers realize that students need to actively practice their writing skills though review of basic concepts is also required.  Have you ever done well on a multiple choice quiz, only to realize that you dont really understand the topic?Real learning requires practice not just style exercises that focus on checking their understanding.   Answers Concluding sentence - Phrases such as To sum up, In conclusion, and Finally introduce a concluding sentence.Supporting sentence - This sentence provides a reason for multiple choices and supports the main idea of the paragraph.Supporting sentence - This sentence provides information about current teaching practices as a means of supporting the main idea.Hook - This sentence helps the reader imagine the issue in terms of their own life. This helps the reader become personally engaged in the topic.Thesis - The bold statement gives the overall point of the paragraph.   Exercise   Write a cause and effect paragraph to explain one of the following: The difficulties in finding a jobThe effects of technology on learningCauses of political unrestThe importance of English

Incentive Program for Retention of Employees Research Proposal

Incentive Program for Retention of Employees - Research Proposal Example Replacing a staff worker is apparently costly; on top of that, a company’s reputation is also threatened. As it is, nobody feels self-assured when dealing with a business firm that is incapable of keeping their employees intact. It implies volatility, mediocre management and lack of effectual planning. Notwithstanding the reasons why a worker leaves his/her job, more often than not the employee departs with a sour taste in their mouth. Such reaction and sensitivity are taken with them – together with the skills they learned and accumulated and these sentiments are frequently repeated to future employers and within their personal network. Evidently, losing knowledgeable and competent individuals can smash up a company’s reputation for years to come. Finally, continuous high turnover generates strife and psychological instability within a workforce, for one, positions made vacant create bigger workloads for other staff workers, workloads which are usually outside o f their position profiles or job descriptions. This sense of shakiness and aggravation can trigger work log jams which correspondingly slow down productivity. More importantly, workers’ lack of faith in an organization increases when they see their co-workers depart and such will definitely influence productivity work levels in implausibly depressing ways (Lake, 2000, pp. 65-72; Smith, 2000, p. 22). There is a considerable economic effect when an organization loses any of its vital workers, especially with the knowledge that is lost with the employee’s departure. It will become notably more important in the years ahead to be aware of the commitment of individuals to an organization, as well as the organization’s need to produce an environment where one would be willing to stay. In essence, it is imperative for organizations to either create an intellectual capital environment where the diffusion of knowledge come about right through the system or keep on losing significant individual knowledge that has been built up during the length of service.

An Anthropological Perspective ofa Buddhist Ceremony Essay

An Anthropological Perspective ofa Buddhist Ceremony - Essay Example Buddhism has been in existence for many years now and approximately 2500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama, referred to as Buddha, was on his own awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35 (Bechert, & Richard Gombrich 1984). Buddhism goes further than religion or ritual and is significantly related to a philosophy or a way of life. The reason why Buddhism is seen as a philosophy is due to the fact that philosophy stands for love of wisdom and the Buddhist course can be summarized as a religion that fosters moral lifestyle, is mindful and aware of thoughts and actions and helps in developing wisdom and understanding (Bechert, et al.,1984). Buddhism illustrates a value of life, goals and objectives as it explains evident unfairness and inequality in all parts of the world and it offers a code of customs, way of life or actions that bring about proper happiness (Ajahn 2010). In the present day, Buddhism is becoming accepted for a wide range of reasons. This is due to the fact that Buddhism is said to provide solutions to a number of problems in the contemporary material world. Buddhism also encompass the people who are concerned with profound understanding of the cognitive world the human beings and the natural therapies that that expert psychologists in all spheres of the world are finding out to be equally very sophisticated and helpful (Davidson 2003). Siddhartha Gautama was born in a noble family in Lumbini, found in Nepal in 563 BC. At the age of 29 Gautama discovered that riches and lavishness did not ascertain happiness, therefore he discovered the diverse teachings of religions and philosophy with the intention of finding the explanation to human happiness (Donath 1971). 6 years after study and meditation, he in the end established â€Å"the middle path’ and was enlightened. Subsequent to becoming enlightened, Buddha used most of his time imparting knowledge, values and principles of Buddhism referred to Dhamma, or truth, until his passing away at the age of 80 (Dzongsar 2011). Gautama was never a God and he never claimed to be one. He was a man who focused in teaching a course to enlightenment from his own experiences. Buddhists at times pay tribute to images of the Buddha, however not in worship not to solicit favors (Gethin 1998). A statue Buddha with hands rested lightly in his lap and a gentle smile is reminiscent of the need to working hard to create peace and love in ourselves. Bending over ritual to the statue in the Buddhism ceremony is a gesture of appreciation for the teachings. Above all, one major lesson in the ceremony of Buddha is the riches do not guarantee happiness and as well riches are not permanent. Today, it is evident that many people from different parts of the world suffer however those who fully understand the teaching of Buddha can find true happiness (Goldstein 2002). There are varying kinds of Buddhism for the reason that the focus alternates from nation to nation on account of traditions and way of life . In actual fact, the real meaning of the teaching does not vary at all despite in the Dhamma or the truth (Goldstein, et al., 2002). Buddhism is as well a belief system that tolerates other beliefs, myths, taboos or religions. Buddhism is in agreement with the moral values of other religions. However, Buddhism goes ahead to provide a long lasting objective in our existence based on wisdom and true understanding (Bechert, et al., 1984). Actual Buddhism is significantly forbearing and not worried with labels like Christian, Muslim or Hindu. This is in fact the main reason why there have never been any conflicts based on the name of Buddhism. This is because Buddhists do not preach and attempt to convert, only illustrate in case a