Programming Language Ada 95 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Programming Language Ada 95 - Research Paper Example However, more than 450 programming languages were utilized to manage numerous working projects of Department of Defense but none of them was standardized. The main reason could be the absence of reusability. For these reasons, the Navy, Army and Air Force planned to build a high-level programming language especially for embedded systems (The Language Guide, 1997; Kempe, 1995). Thus, the Ada emerged as a programming language designed to facilitate the development of extremely reliable and long-standing embedded software systems. This language comprises capabilities to describe packages of associated objects, types and relevant operations. Additionally, the language packages can be classified and the types can be extended in order to facilitate the development of language libraries of adaptable and reusable software parts. In addition, these processes can be applied in forms of sub-programs with usual sequential programming control structures, or as accesses that comprise synchronizati on of simultaneous operational threads of control as a fraction of their invocation. Moreover, the programming language is capable of dealing with modularity in the physical way as well with a potential to up-hold split compilation (Kempe, 1995). This report will discuss different aspects of Ada95 programming language. ... In this programming language, different kinds of issue and error are indicated through exceptions and managed explicitly. Additionally, the programming language as well includes the features for system programming; which allows accurate control over the illustration of data and access to system reliant-properties. Most importantly, this programming language offers a comprehensive and predefined programming setting of standard packages comprising amenities for, among others, string handling, input-output, random number generation and numeric elementary functions (Kempe, 1995). HISTORY In 1970s, the United States DoD (Department of Defense) was worried due to a number of different programming languages being utilized for developing and managing its embedded systems and other computer system projects as well as most of them were outdated or hardware reliant and none of them allowed for safe modular programming. Thus, in year 1975, The Department of Defense formed a technology working gr oup known as High Order Language Working Group (HOLWG), with the intention of minimizing this figure by discoing or finding or developing a single technology based programming language which could be used to manage all the embedded systems. As a result Ada emerged (Kempe Software Capital Enterprises, 2011; Feldman, 1999; eNotes.com, Inc., 2011). In addition, Ada programming language greatly took attention of the programming community all through its early days. Its backers as well as others forecasted that it would become a leading language for wide-ranging principle programming as well as not immediately defense-related tasks. In this scenario, Ichbiah widely stated that within 10 years, just two programming languages would stay Ada and Lisp. In

Hunting alleged Nazi war criminals Essay Example for Free

Hunting alleged Nazi war criminals Essay I cant say if hunting Nazi war criminals is worth it, but I can give my opinion and it is up to you to make up your own mind. By the end of reading this, you should have come to some conclusion. I believe it is not worth hunting alleged Nazi war criminals, anymore. I think that spending tens of millions of pounds, and all the time and effort that goes into it now is worthless now. If they had have done it ten or fifteen years after the war had ended then they would have had much more success. The reason I think it is worthless now is because almost all evidence will have been destroyed after the war ended, and any war criminals from World War II would have done their best to completely hide their background and any evidence they have that they committed war crimes. Also victims that survived concentration camps will not be able to identify a man with absolute certainty that he was the same man that put people to death around fifty years ago, mainly for the simple reason that it was so long ago. Also witnesses may want to blame someone, so they blame the suspect in question, or they want it to be that suspect so much that they believe it was him. Also lots of witnesses are now dead, and the ones who are still alive may have something wrong with them that they cant remember the face or voice of the man who put their friends and family to death. I also think that if they do catch a suspected Nazi war criminal, then he may have something mentally wrong with him. Due to old age the accused might not be able to remember anything, so it would be an unfair trial, because he doesnt have an alibi with which to prove he was not a Nazi war criminal. A suspect may be too old or ill to go to court also, a suspect when found could be dying in their bed with only a few weeks to live and so they would never be able to stand a court trial anyway. These are the main reasons I believe that spending all the time, money and effort is not worth it. I believe it is too late and the suspects will be dying by the time they are found, an example of this is seen in a case where a man called Szymon Serafinowicz, who was accused of being a nazi war criminal. In this case the jury saw Serafinowicz to be unfit to plead to charges of war crimes, because he had dementure, so he couldnt remember anything about where he was at certain times of the war, or what he was doing meaning he wouldnt have an alibi with which to protect himself so the case would have been totally unfair. After being freed he died about 18 months later, so even if he had have been convicted he would have only spent a few months in jail, and would have probably been let out after a couple of weeks to be admitted into hospital. There was no case for this man who was suspected of being in command of police officers who ordered Jews to lay face down in the snow and where then shot, hit childrens heads against tomb stones to kill them, order Jewish families to line up and then shoot them, and he himself was accused of shooting a woman with a child who was running away. In total he was accused ordering 3000 Jews to be killed. If a man like this cant even get a trial then, let alone being convicted is it really likely that another man will get convicted. In another case, the Demjanjuk trial he was convicted of being Ivan the terrible a guard at Treblinka and was accused of putting thousands to death, and torturing some people for the fun of it. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but got released after appealing. The judges decided there was not enough evidence to convict him after all. Five witnesses said under oath that they were certain that Demjajuk was Ivan the terrible, also he couldnt remember where he was or what he was doing at certain times in the war, and it sounded like he was trying to pretend he was at certain places at certain times. It appeared only five outgo twenty survives thought Demjanjuk was Ivan the terrible, and these were the witnesses used in court. If fifteen say it wasnt him and only five say it was him, the chances are that it was not him, even though five witnesses were sure of it, this proves that eye witnesses can not be totally relied upon to identify a man they saw about fifty years ago. This proves to me that it is not worth the bother and money of hunting them down anymore, but if you are not convinced yet I will talk about another trial, the Papon case. The jury heard that Papon should be freed during the trial, because of his advanced age and his medical condition (he suffered from angina). It was heard that even if he were found guilty he would not have to spend another night in jail. He died a few months later, so if he had have been convicted he was still be able to be free and walk about the streets. The war crimes unit did not get a single person convicted, even after all the effort they put in, they found evidence but did not manage to get a single conviction. After looking at all the evidence I really dont think it is worth spending lots of time and effort and millions of pounds to find an old man who will probably be too ill and old to go through a court case, and even if they are fit to go through trial then they probably wont be convicted due to not enough evidence, or unreliable evidence.

Toe Caps :: essays research papers

TOE CAP USE IN INDUSTRY IS UNSAFE Toe caps hinder more than help when worn as industrial personal protective equipment. These cup-like covers designed to wear over dress shoes are made of hard reinforced plastic and/or steel. They were carelessly adopted as a â€Å"quick fix† to foot protection in response to the July 5, 1994 â€Å"OSHA 1910.136 Foot Protection† ruling. This standard states that all hazards in the workplace must be identified. Employees and visitors must wear appropriate personal protective equipment to protect against these hazards. A misunderstood concept continues to thrive throughout industry promoting the fallacy that because toe caps cover toes the same as safety shoes, they provide the same level of protection. This is not true. They are unstable, painful and create as many hazards as they are supposed to protect. If the cap fit is loose, shifting from side to side, safety and protection is severely compromised. A female vendor visiting the maintenance department was asked to wear toe caps. Even after choosing the smallest toe caps available, the vendor had difficulty keeping the caps in place on the front of her size-six shoes. She managed a few unsteady steps before the cap on her right shoe swung left causing her to trip over her own foot. The scene was reminiscent of a small child wearing his or her mother’s over-sized high heels. Yes, it is possible to walk, but the whole experience is unsteady and unsafe. Protective footwear must permit unencumbered movement in the work environment. On-site contractors work in various environments requiring multiple physical challenges including climbing up and down steep steps and ladders. Most often, the largest of toe caps are too small on an average contractor’s shoes. Not only is the fit very uncomfortable, but the caps pinch the tip of their shoes, and extend dangerously out in a Bozo-the-Clown â€Å"flip-flop† fashion. This very poor footing makes it dangerous to complete even the simplest of everyday functions. The National Safety Council wrote in their â€Å"Foot Protection† pamphlet that in order for foot protection to function properly, it must be the right size for your foot and not hurt. Recently, executives visited the Owings Mills site and requested a tour of the manufacturing facility. They were given universal fitting toe caps to wear. After a few minutes, the executives abruptly ended the tour stating the caps were not only ruining their shoes, but also cutting into the tops of their feet.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Well, this is it. Our last night. The last page of the scrapbook we call high school. Our scrapbooks are filled with memories from the first day we walked into these halls ... to this very night. Pictures crammed in, ticket stubs nestled between them, adorned by dried corsages and newspaper clippings, yellowed with every fond recollection. The smiling pictures are the friends we?ve made in high school. Friends are what make life special. Every person we encounter has a definite effect on our lives. If one face in our scrapbook were missing, a part of our lives would disappear also. Remember the football game where you finally got the fight song right? That?s your ticket stub. Maybe it was the musical that you rehearsed months for. Or cheering at the state basketball tournament. Or ... Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address Well, this is it. Our last night. The last page of the scrapbook we call high school. Our scrapbooks are filled with memories from the first day we walked into these halls ... to this very night. Pictures crammed in, ticket stubs nestled between them, adorned by dried corsages and newspaper clippings, yellowed with every fond recollection. The smiling pictures are the friends we?ve made in high school. Friends are what make life special. Every person we encounter has a definite effect on our lives. If one face in our scrapbook were missing, a part of our lives would disappear also. Remember the football game where you finally got the fight song right? That?s your ticket stub. Maybe it was the musical that you rehearsed months for. Or cheering at the state basketball tournament. Or ...

Structured Cabling

1. What industry standards body and standards series numbers do you need to reference for Ethernet applications and cabling? The IEEE maintains the industry standards for Ethernet Protocols (or applications). This is part of the 802.3 series of standards and includes applications such as 1000Base-T, 1000Base-SX, 10GBase-T, and 10GBase-SR.2. What are the different types of category 6 cables and what should be recommended this network? Category 6 and category 6A are the types of cables; I would recommend Cat 6A cable over Cat 6 because cat 6A also supports 10Gbps which is for future speed.3. What cable would you recommend to offer the best shielding performance? You need STP or FIBER OPTIC cable to provide best shielding performance, optic fiber is expensive not easy to terminate ends and has no RFI EMI, whereas shielded twisted pair is easy and cheap.4. What type of cable would you use for the horizontal spaces and vertical links? Cat6 is the current standard for new installations of Ethernet cable. Depending on the space and certain building codes you need to decide between Plenum (CMP) or Riser (CMR). The difference being Riser cable is more durable, but puts out toxic fumes when caught on fire, so it is not suitable for spaces with open air flow. Dropped ceilings are generally considered Plenum spaces so therefore require plenum cable.5. What would you look for in trying to find fault if you had the following next and fext problems in 1Gbps links and difficulty meeting 10Gbps performance requirements? When finding fault in NEXT; the crosstalk is usually detected or found at the same end of the cable generating the signal and it is most common between 60 and 90 feet of the transmitter.In the other hand, when finding faults in FEXT the crosstalk occurs in the other end (opposite) of the cable. the problem is usually too many twists in the  cable; Alien Crosstalk (AXT) as the signal rate increase in a cable, this is a major source of interference, and a limiti ng factor, for running 10GBase-T (10Gbps) over UTP cabling. This kind of crosstalk usually â€Å"occurs when the signal being carried in one cable interferes with the signal being carried in â€Å"another cables†.TermsOsi- (Open Systems Interconnection) this is a standard description or â€Å"reference Model† for how messages should be transmitted between any two points in a telecommunication network. Its purpose is to guide product implementers so that their products will consistently work with other products. The reference model defines seven layers of functions that take place at each end of a communication. Although OSI is not always strictly adhered to in terms of keeping related functions together in a well-defined layer, many if not most products involved in telecommunication make an attempt to describe them in relation to the OSI model. It is also valuable as a single reference view of communication that furnishes everyone a common ground for education and dis cussion.Developed by representatives of major computer and telecommunication companies beginning in 1983, OSI was originally intended to be a detailed specification of interfaces. Instead, the committee decided to establish a common reference model for which others could develop detailed interfaces that in turn could become standards. OSI was officially adopted as an international standard by the International Organization of Standards (ISO). Currently, it is Recommendation X.200 of the ITU-TS. The main idea in OSI is that the process of communication between two end points in a telecommunication network can be divided into layers, with each layer adding its own set of special, related functions.Each communicating user or program is at a computer equipped with these seven layers of function. So, in a given message between users, there will be a flow of data through each layer at one end down through the layers in that computer and, at the other end, when the message arrives, another flow of data up through the layers in the receiving computer and ultimately to the end user or program. The actual programming and hardware that furnishes these seven layers of function is usually a combination of the computer  operating system, applications (such as your Web browser), TCP/IP or alternative transport and network protocols, and the software and hardware that enable you to put a signal on one of the lines attached to your computer.The 7 Standard Tcp/IPLayer 7: The application layer†¦This is the layer at which communication partners are identified, quality of service is identified, user authentication and privacy are considered, and any constraints on data syntax are identified. (This layer is not the application itself, although some applications may perform application layer functions.) Layer 6: The presentation layer†¦This is a layer, usually part of an operating system, that converts incoming and outgoing data from one presentation format to another (f or example, from a text stream into a popup window with the newly arrived text). Sometimes called the syntax layer.Layer 5: The session layer†¦This layer sets up, coordinates, and terminates conversations, exchanges, and dialogs between the applications at each end. It deals with session and connection coordination. Layer 4: The transport layer†¦This layer manages the end-to-end control (for example, determining whether all packets have arrived) and error-checking. It ensures complete data transfer. Layer 3: The network layer†¦This layer handles the routing of the data (sending it in the right direction to the right destination on outgoing transmissions and receiving incoming transmissions at the packet level). The network layer does routing and forwarding.Layer 2: The data-link layer†¦This layer provides synchronization for the physical level and does bit-stuffing for strings of 1's in excess of 5. It furnishes transmission protocol knowledge and management. Lay er 1: The physical layer†¦This layer conveys the bit stream through the network at the electrical and mechanical level. It provides the hardware means of sending and receiving data on a carrier.

Lord of the Flies Characters essays

Lord of the Flies Characters essays Often in literature, the actions of a character indicate what kind of person he is. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, both Ralph and Jacks actions indicate what kind of people they are. Ralphs actions indicate that hes a responsible, intelligent leader. Jacks actions indicate that hes a crazy, devil-like leader. Ralph indicates that he is a smart, responsible leader by doing various things throughout the journey on the island. He takes control and acts as the leader in the beginning of the story. This is his first good move. All the other people on the island were either younger or not as smart in his eyes. This act of taking over shows that Ralph is an intelligent and responsible individual. He also makes keeping the fire going the number one priority of the forsaken boys. This is the only way they will be rescued. All the other boys think about having fun, playing games, and going hunting. Ralph thinks logically and understands that this is the only way out and the boys will be thankful later on. This shows once again how good of a leader Ralph is. Ralph makes a set of rules and tries to enforce them. He wants to maintain order and retain the kids in a civilized state of matter. Of course this doesnt work, but at least he tries. This action of him making rules indicates that Ralph is a responsible and intelligent leader. Lastly, Ralph sticks up for Piggy at some times in the story, although he embarrasses him at times too. He knows that Piggy is the brains of the group. They need him. This action of protecting Piggy shows how smart and caring Ralph is. Ralphs actions indicate what kind of person he is. Jack indicates that he is a crazy, devil-like leader by doing various things throughout the island adventure. At first, he fights over Ralph being the lone leader and argues with everybody. This shows how shallow he is. Ralph is the chosen lead ...

Understanding Point of View in Literature

Understanding Point of View in Literature When you read a story, have you ever thought about who is telling it? That component of story-telling is called the point of view (often abbreviated as POV) of a book is the method and perspective an author uses for conveying the story. Writers use point of view as a way to connect with the reader, and there are various ways in which a point of view can impact the experience of the reader. Read on to learn more about this aspect of storytelling and how it can enhance the emotional impact of the narrative.   First-Person POV A first-person point of view comes from the narrator of the story, which may be the  writer or the main character. The storyline will use  personal pronouns, like I and me,   and can sometimes sound a little bit like reading a personal journal or listening to someone talk. The narrator witnesses events first hand and expresses how it looks and feels from his or her experience. The first-person point of view can also be more than one person and will use we when referencing the group.   Check out this example from Huckleberry Finn - Toms most well now, and got his bullet around his neck on a watch-guard for a watch, and is always seeing what time it is, and so there aint nothing more to write about, and I am rotten glad of it, because if Id a knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldnt a tackled it, and aint a-going to no more. Second Person POV A second person point of view is seldom used when it comes to novels, which makes sense if you think about it. In second person, the writer speaks directly to the reader. This would be awkward and confusing in that format! But, its popular in business writing, self-help articles and books, speeches, advertising and even song lyrics. If you are talking to someone about changing careers and giving advice for writing a resume, you might address the reader directly. In fact, this article is written in second person point of view.  Check out the introductory sentence of this article, which addresses the reader: When you read a story, have you ever thought about who is telling it?   Third Person POV The third person is the most common type of narration when it comes to novels. In this point of view, there is an external narrator who is telling the story. The narrator  will use pronouns like he or she or even they if they are talking about a group. The omniscient narrator provides an insight to the thoughts, feelings, and impressions of all the characters and events, not just one. We receive information from an all-knowing vantage point- and we even know what’s going on when nobody is around to experience it. But the narrator can also provide a more objective or dramatic point of view, in which we are told events and allowed to react and have feelings as an observer. In this format, we are not provided the emotions, we experience emotions, based on the events we read about. While this may sound impersonal, it is just the opposite. This is much like observing a film or a play- and we know how powerful that can be! Which point of view is best? When determining which of the three points of view to use, its important to consider what type of story youre writing. If youre telling a story from a personal perspective, such as that of your main character or of your own perspective, youll want to use the first person. This is the most intimate type of writing, as it is quite personal. If what youre writing about is more informational and is providing the reader with information or instructions, then second-person is best. This is great for cookbooks, self-help books, and educational articles, like this one! If you want to tell a story from a broader point of view, knowing everything about everyone, then the third person is the way to go.  Ã‚   The importance of point of view A well-executed point of view is a crucial foundation for any piece of writing. Naturally, the point of view provides the context and backstory you need for the audience to understand the scene, and helps your audience best see your characters and interpret the material in the way you intend. But what some writers dont always realize, is that a solid point of view can actually help drive the crafting of the story. When you take narration and point of view into account, you can decide what details need to be included (an omniscient narrator knows everything, but a first-person narrator is limited to just those experiences) and can bring inspiration for creating drama and emotion. All of which are crucial to creating a quality creative work.   Article edited  by  Stacy Jagodowski

The Three Musketeers Book Report Profile

The Three Musketeers Book Report Profile The first step in writing an excellent book report is reading the book and marking interesting phrases or notable features in the margins. You should use active reading skills to retain the most from the text. Your book report should contain all of the following, in addition to the plot summary. Title and Publication The Three Musketeers was written in 1844. It was published in serial form in the French magazine, Le Siecle over the course of 5 months. The novel’s current publisher is Bantam Books, New York. Author Alexandre Dumas Setting The Three Musketeers is set in 17th century France during the reign of Louis XIII. The story takes place predominantly in Paris, but the protagonist’s adventures take him across the French countryside and as far as England. Though the novel is based on historical information, and many of the events, such as the siege of New Rochelle, really occurred, Dumas has taken artistic liberties with many of the characters. It should not be looked at as a factual account of this period. Instead, the novel should be recognized as a fine example of the genre of Romance. Characters D’Artagnan, the protagonist, a poor but intelligent Gascon who has come to Paris to join The Musketeers and make his fortune. Athos, Porthos, Aramis, the Musketeers for whom the novel is named. These men become D’Artagnan’s closest friend and share in his adventures, his successes, and his failures.Cardinal Richelieu, the second most powerful man in France, the Cardinal is the enemy of D’Artagnan and the Musketeers and the chief antagonist of the novel. He is great statesman and strategist but is driven by a need for control to commit devious acts designed to advance his own cause.Anne de Breuil (Lady de Winter, Milady), an agent of the Cardinal and a woman devoured by greed and bent on vengeance. She becomes a particular enemy of D’Artagnan.Count de Rochefort, the first enemy D’Artagnan makes and an agent of the Cardinal. His destiny is closely tied to that of D’Artagnan. Plot The novel follows D’Artagnan and his friends through several court intrigues and amorous encounters. These accounts are entertaining adventures that not only advance the plot but, perhaps more importantly, describe the fundamentals of court society as well as revealing character. As the story develops, its focus narrows to center on the struggle between Milady and D’Artagnan; the heart of the story is the war waged between good and evil. D’Artagnan and his friends, even considering their immoral actions, are cast as protectors of King and Queen while Milady and the Cardinal represent consummate evil. Questions to Ponder The questions to follow will help you detect important themes and ideas in the novel: Structure of the novel: This book was first published as a serial. How may that have dictated the exposition of the plot?Dumas engages his readers by addressing them directly throughout the novel. What reasons might the author have had for doing this, and how does it affect the overall success of the story? Consider the conflict between individuals: How do D’Artagnan and his friends differ from what we expect of our heroes?Can you find any sympathy for Milady? Why or why not? Examine the traditional roles of this society: What is chivalry?Dumas tells his readers that â€Å"Our modern ideas of pride had not yet come into fashion.† How is the morality of this time different from our own?How does life at court drive the characters toward their destinies? Possible First Sentences Consider these examples as possible first sentences for your book report: â€Å"The genre of Romance always contains the thematic elements of love and chivalry and The Three Musketeers is no exception.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Milady is a woman centuries ahead of her time.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Friendship is the most valuable asset one can possess.†

Lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, death to life Essay

Lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, death to life - Essay Example There are some people who live in eternal darkness and die in it. And there are some more privileged ones (by nature, or by some unknown destiny) who live in spaces and times brightly lit with noble emotions and lovely acts. But the greatest of all are those who overcome the darkness in their lives through self-realization and the will to act accordingly, because only they are capable of choosing their destiny. This is why this essay envisages to illustrate and prove that every human being, however immersed in darkness he/she is, has the potential to traverse the difficult path from darkness to light. Mathew has been my school mate and friend for two years but then suddenly he stopped coming to the school. When I tried to contact him, I felt he did not like that. I felt being looked upon by him as a nuisance whenever I went to meet him in his village town. Gradually, I gave up and went my way. He never returned to the school and then I heard that he was spending his nights away in ga mbling casinos in the nearby town with his step father, who had picked up a passion for this game and turned lucky. I also heard news that they were winning big money in the game. It was after three years that I saw him again. He had put on some weight. This time he was happy to see me and we spent an evening reminiscing our school days. I reminded him what a good athlete he was but he shrugged and said he did not regret leaving the studies and the school. It was visible that he had earned a lot of money. He was wearing a very expensive suit and fitting accessories including a Rolex watch and a Mont Blanc pen. But I pressed him to tell me whether he was continuing with his other two passions, painting and mountaineering. He told me he was not getting enough time for that. He told me also that every year he was earning more than the double of the previous year's income. On further talks, he revealed that his father had left his mother who disapproved of their gambling and that his gi rlfriend also left him as well. I asked him why he was chasing money as if there is nothing else in the world. He said, you people think that money is evil. But in this world, money can buy you anything. At that moment, I had to tell him that he was living in a world of illusion but he said it was my illusion (Plato, 1987, p.177). Though we had a nice evening that day, I felt he was moving towards the darker areas of human existence. And I could realize that he was already looking down on me as an unlucky guy who had yet to struggle his way up the ladder through the boring text books, projects and so on. Four years after that meeting, once again destiny brought us face to face with each other. I chanced upon him on a commuter train where I found him sitting engrossed in a book. I felt curious. After we exchanged greetings he suddenly became silent. Then he asked me, â€Å"Do you remember telling me that I was living in a world of illusion?† I nodded. He suddenly held my hands and said, â€Å"I have woke up from that world of illusion.† And he told me his story from where we left it four years back. On an evening that he realized his new girl friend was cheating on him in the game, he aimlessly strolled down the street. The girl had been collaborating with another man to help him win the game as she had developed an intimate relationship with that man without the knowledge of my friend. He was slightly depressed. The ugly face of truth that he had no real friends at all, was annoying him a little. Of late, he was loosing money in the game and those whom he thought as close to him were showing him a cold face. â€Å"How blind I have been to trust them,†

Television and Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Television and Children - Essay Example This was agreed on by a number of agencies including the US Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, the American Psychology Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and many other scientific and public health agencies and organizations. Kunkel reports on three major conclusions of a National Television Violence Study which was carried out. The first was that the incidence of violence is indeed very high. According to the study 60% of approximately 10,000 programs sampled in the study contained violent material. The researchers identified an average of 6,000 violent interactions in a single week on 23 channels. The study also pointed out that the way in which violence is presented on television increases the harmful risk to children. The reasons suggested for this were that the harm caused by the violence on television is not portrayed realistically. The way violence is presented understates how much harm these acts in reality cause the victim. It also shows violence performed by role model who show no remorse and suffer no repercussions for their aggressive behavior. The third conclusion of the study was also worrisome. The portrayal of violence has remained consistent over the past years. This stability indicates that efforts are not effective to change the portrayal of violence on television. The potential for violence on television to lead to aggressive behavior in children is not the only negative effect of television viewing in young children. Children can develop a fear of the world around them when they are exposed to violent and scary happenings on television. These images can be seen by children on regular television shows or even on the news. When children cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy they can become affected

Discretion Granted to National Courts in Relation to the EU Legal Essay

Discretion Granted to National Courts in Relation to the EU Legal Order - Essay Example The body that was named as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that enables the national courts to refer to it. The preliminary reference procedure has been essential in designing the fundamental principles of the national legal system, the unity of the member countries, and the development and maintenance of the national laws. In Article 234, the Court has the powers to give preliminary rulings in a request from the national courts. The preliminary rulings might be about the interpretation of the Treaty, the legality and the interpretation of the actions of the member countries and the European Central Bank. The national courts have therefore a vital role to play in the administration and how the community law is implemented. However, the European Union Treaty does not precisely define â€Å"the national court or tribunal†. Nevertheless, it is vital to know that the national laws of the member states do not depend upon the definition of the tribunal or national courts by the European Court of Justice. The Court has the role to define the national laws of a given community. ... Moreover, different cases shall be looked upon in the preliminary ruling procedure (Arnull, 1989). The Right and Obligation to Refer Cases The case of Vaasen- Gobbel came up with the decision to define the national court in order to find a way to refer to the ECJ. The case was held by stating that any body making a reference to the European Court of Justice must satisfy a number of criteria: It first need to be established by law, must have a permanent existence, it must be in a position to practice a lasting jurisdiction, must work under the rules of the Community law and its procedures and should apply the rule of law. The Court therefore had to extend the stated criteria to apply to the national courts so that they would be independent (Komarek, 2005). Several other cases including the De Coster Case, enabled the college which previously had the powers concerning the local tax proceedings and never operated on its own nor made its own decisions regarding the process later satisfie d the criteria to operate as an independent body. The De Coster and CLIFIT cases demonstrate the national courts that have the powers to give judgment in relation to article 234 of the European Court of Justice (Komarek, 2007). Even though the case regarding the definition of the court or tribunal that satisfies the previously defined criteria for an independent body is at times inconsistent and therefore provides a room for some critics to disagree on which bodies are to refer cases to the ECJ. However, in order to solve this problem of disagreements, the European Court is coming up with the preliminary reference procedure that would be used by all judicial bodies while they might be dealing with cases involving the Community law (Maher, 1994). On the facts of the case, the De Coster and

Articles Review - Educational Instructional Practices, Programs, and Essay

Articles Review - Educational Instructional Practices, Programs, and Strategies - Essay Example Duignan describes capable leaders as authentic in values and intent. The author describes a detailed framework by which the inherent paradoxes, and tensions of educational leadership can be navigated. Wisdom, effectiveness, and ethics are deemed crucial for those that lead institutions of learning; and educational districts. To implement the work of Duignan, an investigation should be conducted on the most successful administrators, principals, tenured educators, and managers towards the goal of a management, rubric; higher-level grading for administrators themselves; with the option of financial incentives for the districts of high-achieving leaders as permitted by state and federal law. While a point-value system would prove difficult to reliably implement in the judgment of managerial decisions not limited strictly to the financial sphere, leaders in education can be offered guidance during Teacher's meetings and conferences to cover the above points, and a few other recommendatio ns described below: Sharing wisdom via dialogue with vital personnel and a willingness to listen to alternate viewpoints, through a re-thinking of the organizational culture. Conferences and meetings with more of a 'round table' format, in essence. A guiding should also be a focus on seeking a higher purpose into the nuts and bolts of educational practices; in terms of core values, possibly as relating to the school mission-statement. This requires soul-searching for the determination of core values for the district, in addition to the ethical focus and morality initiative in terms of interactions, and actions. To lead with authenticity, both the educators and educated must be encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions and progress. Students must be taught to ‘own up’ to short-comings with an emphasis on continuous improvement. Districts following Duignan’s guidelines should encourage honest authenticity in administrators and seek to achieve a more a uthoritative presence. While most districts follow similar policies; for implementation an obvious recommendation would be to use proper, respectful titles for students when addressing adult district employees. These recommendations should be added to the professional development regimens that most districts already employ as a matter of course. Sylwester, Robert. 2006. The School Administrator. December 2006. American Association of School Administrators. Publications. Features, Cognitive Neuroscience Discoveries and Educational Practices. An article on cognitive neuroscience discoveries by Robery Sylwester begins with analogies from the biological world as a means to rouse educators into action. In the way that an organism must use its sensory system to understand, and navigate its environment, so must the school employ reason to determine whether and how it must improve, and to propel itself from point A to point B should the latter prove more desirable. This is because, as anima ls our brains give us the ability and obligation to move around should our needs require it, and that only a sessile, vegetative plant should be content to stay rooted and

What are the main changes that the music industry has gone through Personal Statement

What are the main changes that the music industry has gone through since the 1980's - Personal Statement Example The technological development in recent years, has bankrupted record companies with the rise of legal downloading and the demand for live performances. What is more artists who try to sell their CDs during their concerts realized that fans prefer to buy a T-shirt for $20 instead a CD for $10. Therefore, artists now focus their attention on how to market T-shirts and other extra-musical extensions. Word of mount and internet sites like MySpace play a huge role in boosting popularity and music consumerism. Many groups decide to undertake the marketing of their music by themselves and succeed. An example is Take to the Skies which was the second unsigned band to sell out 2000 seats in London. In the past groups often tour to present their music losing the investment. Nowadays, is the other way round.Free downloading is perceived as excellent promotional tactics which will increase the audience and will stimulate the fans to attend concerts. Prince, is giving his fans a free copy of his newest CD if they come to his concerts at O2 in London. Music business analysts comments that record sales are in decline because of the wider music market today - live performances, video-clips, social networking, merchandising - they all influence the transformation of the consumer attitudes. Because of this the four big labels - Sony/BMG, Warner Music, Universal and EMI are struggling to keep up and apply cost-cutting operations for many years now. The publishers are trying to gain profits through different licensing, advertising, additional charges for films and outlets that try to open music stores. An example of the decline of record sales in given with Spice Girls debut album in 1996. Virgin a subsidiary of EMI sold the album for 13 GBP and the company's profit was more than 5 GBP. Today a CD costs no more than 9 GBP, and the actual expected profit (if the label is lucky) might be 2GBP. In comparison, the market for top-selling CDs in Great Britain decreased with 20% in the first quarter of 2007, as to the same period in 2006. The label's hope is that the demand for physical formats will be replaced by the growth of the download market. The last figures in the U.S show that the digital download was worth $ 981 million. The author notes that the music moved from being a high-margin product, into low-margin commodity. Buying an album with 10 songs when you like only three of them is an old-fashioned and uneconomical way of constructing a MP3 player music library. At the end of 1990s a single is sold for $5, today you can get a track for 99 cents at the iTune music store. The authors explains that the creation of the CD, brought it to its own destruction. Record companies manufactured CDs in remote places and sold them as more expensive format than the cassette or vinyl LP. CD burning software made it the easiest task to produce thousands of copies in just few minutes. Yet, another reason which ruined the music industry was the emergence of "file-sharing" illegal websites like Napster in the late 1990s. The industry underestimated the damages that this can cause and said that these activities were no harm to the music sales. The ultimate drop-off of the CD sales coincided with the emergence of the iTunes and the portable MP3 players. There is another fact which blames the music industry for the decline of the CD and that is the free distribution of albums through newspapers and magazines, which devalued the recorded music in general. Live music and tickets for live performances soared in comparison, however, it is difficult to prove that this directly affected the record companies. Finally music appreciation should be something more than just consuming, buying and listening to the song, music is sharing and that is why people shifted from individual at home consumption to attending live concerts. B) To what extent do you agree with the author's explanation for the current state of the music business Justify

Articles Review - Educational Instructional Practices, Programs, and Essay

Articles Review - Educational Instructional Practices, Programs, and Strategies - Essay Example Duignan describes capable leaders as authentic in values and intent. The author describes a detailed framework by which the inherent paradoxes, and tensions of educational leadership can be navigated. Wisdom, effectiveness, and ethics are deemed crucial for those that lead institutions of learning; and educational districts. To implement the work of Duignan, an investigation should be conducted on the most successful administrators, principals, tenured educators, and managers towards the goal of a management, rubric; higher-level grading for administrators themselves; with the option of financial incentives for the districts of high-achieving leaders as permitted by state and federal law. While a point-value system would prove difficult to reliably implement in the judgment of managerial decisions not limited strictly to the financial sphere, leaders in education can be offered guidance during Teacher's meetings and conferences to cover the above points, and a few other recommendatio ns described below: Sharing wisdom via dialogue with vital personnel and a willingness to listen to alternate viewpoints, through a re-thinking of the organizational culture. Conferences and meetings with more of a 'round table' format, in essence. A guiding should also be a focus on seeking a higher purpose into the nuts and bolts of educational practices; in terms of core values, possibly as relating to the school mission-statement. This requires soul-searching for the determination of core values for the district, in addition to the ethical focus and morality initiative in terms of interactions, and actions. To lead with authenticity, both the educators and educated must be encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions and progress. Students must be taught to ‘own up’ to short-comings with an emphasis on continuous improvement. Districts following Duignan’s guidelines should encourage honest authenticity in administrators and seek to achieve a more a uthoritative presence. While most districts follow similar policies; for implementation an obvious recommendation would be to use proper, respectful titles for students when addressing adult district employees. These recommendations should be added to the professional development regimens that most districts already employ as a matter of course. Sylwester, Robert. 2006. The School Administrator. December 2006. American Association of School Administrators. Publications. Features, Cognitive Neuroscience Discoveries and Educational Practices. An article on cognitive neuroscience discoveries by Robery Sylwester begins with analogies from the biological world as a means to rouse educators into action. In the way that an organism must use its sensory system to understand, and navigate its environment, so must the school employ reason to determine whether and how it must improve, and to propel itself from point A to point B should the latter prove more desirable. This is because, as anima ls our brains give us the ability and obligation to move around should our needs require it, and that only a sessile, vegetative plant should be content to stay rooted and

Positive and Negative Consequences of the Legislation that Enables Essay

Positive and Negative Consequences of the Legislation that Enables Patients to Correct the Health Information in their Records - Essay Example As the study outlines the legalization that allows individuals to correct their EHR information has both positive and negative arguments. On the positive side, when individuals are able to correct their health records in the database, their physicians find it easy and quick to know and acquire their health progress. This is more advantageous in case the individuals get sick and reach levels where they cannot communicate verbally. Additionally, when individuals are able to change their health records, government will have easy time in data collection and gathering since about the nations’ health status since updated patient information will be readily available i.e. reduced delays in information retrieval. On the negative side, McGonigle and Mastrian notes that legalization of individual access to electronic health information might lead to fraud for personal benefits. For instance, if an individual will not get a job due to their health status, they may change it electronicall y to get the job opportunity nevertheless. Nonetheless, the legalization inhibits the demand for health records’ security since patients can change their records to suit their needs.

Argentine Market Essay Example for Free

Argentine Market Essay The current status of the Argentine Market has remained open to foreign investments. The Argentine market offers a wide array of opportunities which serve as a great factor for attracting American and other foreign investors to invest (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). To invest in the Argentine market, foreign business entities must always be keen the position held by Argentine economists and business people in entering into partnerships with foreign corporations. The government of Argentina, along with the local business entities within the country, has always been protective of the economic status of the Argentine market. As such, in order to enter the Argentine market and to be able to convince local business entities in forging business partnerships, foreign corporations must realize the need to stress the advantage which can be gained by local Argentine corporations. One of the most important concerns that are to be taken into account is the Argentine government’s policies for protecting its economy. Over the past years, the government of Argentina has worked hard enough to ensure the stability of the Argentine peso as against the United States currency. This move was made to protect local corporations against hyperinflation. In addition to this, the government has also adopted an intensive market-based policies which opened its economy towards a more comprehensive and competitive market (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). On the other hand, aside from economic concerns, foreign business entities must also become aware of the cultural and social aspects that are inherent to the Argentine market. In order to successfully penetrate the Argentine market, local producers and consumers as the primary actors in the economy must be regarded with great importance in making deals in the Argentine market. A brief example of taking into consideration the social and cultural aspects of the Argentine market is the strategy employed by Walt Disney in venturing in the Latin American market. In entering the Latin American market, the Walt Disney Company penetrated the Latin American audience by understanding the people through their culture. As such, Disney produced stories and movies that are relevant to the Latin American culture and those which reflected the lives of the Latin American people (â€Å"Disney Latin America,† n. d). In general, to be able to capture the consumers in the Argentine market, it is important for foreign business enterprises to forge contacts with local entrepreneurs which can briefly guide foreigners in handling local issues and to be able to know the relevant details necessary to understand the culture and needs of the local consumers in Argentina. 2. Identify two of Argentina’s most successful companies and provide an explanation for their successes. Compare and contrast the strategies of those two organizations (and with a US company if you wish). Two of the most prominent and successful companies in Argentina are Razzani – Vera S. A and the Comidas Gaucho. Both companies are locally owned and operated and at the same time, both were able to sustain the growth of the company with very minimal help from foreign entities until such a given time. Razzani – Vera S. A was an Argentine company founded in 1952 by an Italian immigrant, initially as a supplier of candies and cigarette product into â€Å"kiosks. † After several years of operation, the company consistently grew and the need for reinvestment and expansion became more attainable. Since the inception of the company in 1952, the owners and partners of Razzani – Vera S. A operated independently. Instead of accepting assistance from banks and other companies which viewed Razzani as potential clients and partners, Razzani stood independently, refusing offers for financial assistance. In 1994, under new management, Razzani remained to adhere to the company’s old policies thus avoiding incurring scarce debts. In this way, Razzani was able to successfully grow and maintain the business with a good credit reputation which allowed satisfactory collection for the company (â€Å"Razzani – Vera S. A,† n. d). However, in 1996 at the new changes in the company’s management, the new management resorted to more aggressive plan. In order to administer the new plans set forth by the new management and to fund technology investments, the company availed of mortgage loans from the United States (â€Å"Razzani – Vera S. A,† n. d). Alongside the growth of investments in the company, a deficit was also experienced by the new management. However, Razzani – Vera S. A was still able to cope with such difficulties and were able to procure an alternative solution to strengthen the company’s business. On the other hand, Comidas Gaucho is a local beef processor in Argentina. Comidas Gaucho operated the same way as the start of the Razzani – Vera S. A. Comidas Gaucho opted to run its business with the least intervention and aid possible from foreign entities. The company also showed its reluctance to let foreign enterprise penetrate their business by making ties and alliances. Gaucho’s decline in the offer by American company Great Plains Food as a business partner is an indication that Gaucho rather chose to operate independent from foreign firms (Rarick, n. d). Despite Comidas Gaucho’s refusal to make partnership with the American company Great Plains Food, nonetheless Gaucho was able to maintain the stability of its business by adhering to the old customs and policies that were inherent to the corporation. 3. What are the challenges facing private firms in Argentina? Are there any advantages for private firms in Argentina? What are the advantages/disadvantages for state-owned firms in Argentina? The Argentine market offers a vast set of opportunities both for foreign and local business enterprises. However, in order for foreign corporations to make successful business launch in Argentina, there are certain factors that should be given ample consideration by entrepreneurs. One of the most important things that foreign businessmen should do before investing in Argentina is to study the historical background of the Argentine government and market which is essential in determining matters that are crucial to the people in Argentina. One of the challenges that will be encountered by foreign investors wishing to enter the Argentine market is to penetrate the laws and policies set forth by the government. Dating back from the earlier years, the Argentine government has always been protective of its local economy (Di Tella and Vogel, 2004). Thus in order to penetrate the Argentine market, foreign investors must provide the government, local entrepreneurs and consumers opportunity for growth and a glance to the possible benefits that can be attained from foreign partnerships. In addition to Argentina’s political background, foreign investors must also be keen in understanding the culture innate with the people in Argentina. For investors to be able to gain the trust of the consumers, they must cope with the customs, beliefs and experiences that are of great importance to the people. Though these factors provide tough challenges for foreign investors, once the Argentine market is penetrated, there are numerous opportunities open to be tapped and developed that are beneficial not only to investors, but as well as the consumers. In Argentina, investors can penetrate various business aspects including franchising, security services, specialized services, legal services, transportation, aviation, education and training, engineering and architectural fields, finance, insurance, healthcare and the tourism services. Within these fields, there is a vast room for development which can greatly benefit consumers and local and foreign business entities. However, although foreign involvement in the Argentine business sector may be greatly advantageous to the country’s economy, state-owned business enterprises also hava advantages. State control over business corporations can standardize business process thus eliminating excessive competition among various privately owned business entities. This in turn may provide the people and the market with vast opportunity for improvement. However, on the disadvantage, in state-owned and controlled corporations, the state will shoulder the entire expenses needed to finance development and growth projects in order to maintain the stability of the company (Hill, 2007, p. 493). Failure to provide the financial needs of the company, the state may resort in acquiring debts from international organizations. And in such cases, the government may reach the point of dependency towards in international financial institutions, which in the long run may become detrimental to the growth of the company and the country as well. 4. What are the mechanisms for foreign investment in Argentina? Is there an ideal strategy for foreign investment there? During the past years, foreign investment has always remained open in Argentina. As such, the growth in Argentina’s Gross Domestic Product in the past years can be attributed to foreign investments made with the Argentine market. In the old Argentine decree governing the market and economic policies of Argentina, foreign investors have been made to enter the Argentine market freely with fewer restrictions imposed. In addition to this, foreign and local investors were provided with equal rights in establishing independent businesses and equal rights in the acquisition of new business enterprises (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). However, changes in the policies implemented in Argentina provided more restrictions which resulted to a decrease in foreign investment. One of the changes enacted was in June 2003 when the government of Argentina passed a legislation which limited foreign business enterprises from owning â€Å"cultural goods. † These â€Å"cultural goods† included the media sector and Internet providers (â€Å"Argentina,† 2007). Nonetheless, despite these controls that were set by the government, deregulation in the economy and privatization boosted the foreign investment in Argentina (â€Å"Australia – Argentina Relations,† 2008). The vast richness of raw opportunities waiting to be tapped was the attraction of foreign entrepreneurs in investing in Argentina. The prospect of diversification lured most of investors to penetrate Latin American countries, Argentina in particular. In addition, market inefficiencies during past Argentine governments became an asset rather than a liability to the Argentine market. These market inefficiencies practiced by previous governments was seen as raw resources waiting to be tapped and developed (Deal and Rosso, 2001). Nearly during the last two decades, alongside the changes made by the government in Argentina’s trade and import policies, the Argentine market made a significant improvement in reducing economic barriers. New trade policies were able to decrease confusion for foreign investors, which resulted to an increase in foreign investments. In particular, during 2003 import exchange controls were abolished and restrictions on certain aspects of foreign trade were removed. Such actions helped in stabilizing the Argentine currency and kept it in pace with other foreign currencies (â€Å"Argentina: Foreign Trade Barriers,† 2004). However, there are no such things as â€Å"ideal† in foreign investment. To become successful in venturing in foreign investments, it is only essential to know the necessary details and the factors inherent within the local economic arena. It is important that both foreign and local business entities are adept in understanding market behavior and learn how to adopt in the society and culture of the consumers involved. 5. What challenges would Argentine firms likely face when attempting to build brands at home (or abroad)? What challenges will overseas firms face when trying to build brands for the Argentine market? In every business enterprise, there are different challenges that are inevitable to foreign and domestic business investors. In the international arena, the competition among different emerging markets is innate and necessary. In order to expand businesses and firms, tough competition must be faced and surpassed (Grosse, 2003, pp. 2-4). In a globalized competition, market expansion is always a step taken by emerging countries. However, success in expanding the market is dependent on certain factors. First, the type of industry that is pushed for expansion should be relevant and in demand for most countries. Second, the country itself is important in determining the success of market expansions. For example, more developed and powerful countries are more likely to succeed in expanding their market towards less developed countries compared to the possibility that smaller and less able countries will be successful in competitively expand their market towards other foreign territories. Third, the target market for expansion is also relevant in assessing the necessity for expansion (Grosse, 2003, p. 3). Argentina, being a rather less powerful country in the international arena is more likely to have difficulties in penetrating foreign markets. There are more technologically advanced service providers and producers that are more competitive than Argentina, coupled with the reality that politics is an integral factor in gaining an upper hand in the economic playing field. However, in terms of building branches locally, Argentina will relatively gain an advantage as compared to foreign investors entering the Argentine market. Given the distinct economic, political and social background of Argentina, local consumers will become rather more comfortable and enthusiastic to patronize the brands that they have been accustomed with. In addition, Argentine enterprises are more focused on retail sales and small to middle enterprises which people in Argentina can afford better. Thus, Argentine business enterprises can be more successful in building local branches rather than penetrating foreign markets. On the other hand, for foreign investors wishing to enter the Argentine market, same challenges will apply. The social and cultural background of the Argentinean consumers will serve as distinct barriers in entering the Argentine market. Although in the past years, foreign investments in Argentina have been successful, it will still be relatively harder for foreign entities to penetrate the Argentine market as long as there are still local small enterprises that can cater better to the needs of the local consumer more affordably. In addition, local enterprises can better cope to the cultural needs and preferences of local consumers. References Argentina. (2007). U. S Department of State. Retrieved August 27, 2008, from http://www. state. gov/e/eeb/ifd/2007/80675. htm Argentina: Foreign Trade Barriers. (2004). Office of the United States Trade Representative. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from ustr. gov/assets/ /2004_NTE_Report/asset_upload_file568_4735. pdf Australia – Argentina Relations. (2008). Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from http://www. dfat. gov. au/geo/argentina/argentina_country_brief. html Deal, M. and Rosso, C. (2001). Foreign Investment in Latin America Real Estate. (Diss. ) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Di Tella, R. and Vogel I. (2004). The Argentine Paradox, Economic Growth and the Populist Tradition. Harvard Business School. Disney Latin America. (n. d). Escuela de Direccion Negocios. Grosse, R. (2003). The Challenges of Globalization for Emerging Market Firms. Latin American Business Review. Vol 4 (4) 2003. Hill, C. W. L. (2007). International business (6th ed. ). New York

Tiny Encryption Algorithm Tea Computer Science Essay

Tiny Encryption Algorithm Tea Computer Science Essay Today, security is an issue concern by everyone. Many ways of implementing encryption algorithms have been investigated in order to achieve better performance in terms of security level, speed, power consumption and cost. This project will discuss about implementing Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). FPGA are reconfigurable chips that the integrated circuit is designed meant for reconfigurable architecture. A FPGA chips is programmed using Hardware Description Language (HDL). TEA is an encryption algorithm or block cipher that consider fast, easy and used for many application. In this project, TEA will be implemented on Altera Cyclone II FPGA using Altera DE1 Board. Keyboard using PS2 or the SWITCH on the DE1 will be used as input. The output of the encryption and decryption data will be show on VGA monitor. The encrypted data will be store in memory. Specific Objectives In order to complete this project, there are few objectives have to be archieve. Program the Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) using verilog HDL (Hardware Description Language) Verifying the functionality of the implementation of the encryption in FPGA Perform simulation for timing analysis and the encryption process on the implementation of Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) in FPGA Experiment and test the project in practical Literature Research Cryptography Before the modern era, security communication is the primary concern in Government and Military[2]. Security communication become more important today as a result of the increasing use of the electronic communication for many daily activities such as internet banking, online shopping. Cryptography is a practical way of conveying information securely [1]. The main aim of cryptography is to allow authorized person to receive the message correctly while preventing eavesdroppers understanding the content of the message [1]. The original message is called plaintext t[1]. Plaintext will be encrypted using certain algorithms in the secure system in order to hide the meaning[1]. The output of this reversible mathematical process is called ciphertext and the algorithm used in this process is called cipher [1]. Ciphertext can be transmitted securely because ideally eavesdroppers that access to the ciphertext wont understand what the meaning is behind [1]. The reverse of this mathematical proce ss is to decrypt the ciphertext back to plaintext and this only can be done by the original recipients [1]. The processes of encryption and decryption are shown in Figure 1. Eavesdropper Plaintext Encryption Ciphertext Plaintext Decryption Figure 1 Encryption There are two types of encryption or cipher depends on the key used: Asymmetric key and Symmetric key. Symmetric key The encryption and decryption process use the same key [1]. The major problems and drawback of this key both sender and receiver must know the key prior to the transmissions [1]. If the key is transmitted then it will compromise the systems security [1]. The advantages of symmetric key is the process of encryption and decryption will be faster compare to asymmetric key, in another words it can encrypt or decrypt more data in shorter period of time [1]. Asymmetric key The encryption and decryption process use different key but both of the key are related mathematically [1]. It is very hard to obtain one from the other although they are mathematically related [1]. The public key is used for the encryption process and the private key is used for the decryption process [1]. The security of the system wont be compromised even though the public key is made available but the corresponding private key cannot be revealed to anyone [1]. Symmetric key Symmetric key is further divided into two types: Symmetric Cipher and Block Cipher. Stream Cipher Stream cipher that generates a keystream (a sequence of bits used as a key) [4]. The encryption process is usually done by combining the keystream with plaintext using bitwise XOR operation [4]. Keystream that generated is independent of the plaintext and ciphertext is called synchronous stream cipher while keystream that is generated is depent of plaintext is called self-synchronizing stream cipher [4]. Block Cipher Stream cipher that generates a keystream encrypt fixed length block of plaintext into block ciphertext that is same length [3]. The fix length is called block size. Block Cipher using same secret key for the encryption and decryption process [3]. Usually, the size of block cipher is 64 bits [3]. By increasing the size of block cipher to 128 bits will make the processors become more sophisticated [3]. Stream Cipher vs Block Cipher Stream cipher is a type of symmetric encryption algorithm that can be designed to be exceptionally fast and even much faster compare to block cipher [4]. Stream ciphers normally process on less bits while block ciphers can process large blocks of data [4]. Plaintext that encrypted using block cipher will result in the same ciphertext when the same key is used [4]. With a stream cipher, the transformation of thse smaller plaintext units will vary depending on when they are encountered during the encryption process [4]. Stream Cipher Block Cipher Block Size Depends Fixed Encryption/Decryption Speed Fast Slower Size of block data can be process Small Larger Figure 2: Comparison of Stream Cipher and Block Cipher Figure 3 below shows different type of algorithm table.jpgFigure 3 :Different type of encryption algorithm Tiny Encryption Algorithm is implemented in this project because it is one type of cipher encryption algorithm that encrypt 64 bits of plaintext using a 128 bits of key into a 64 bits ciphertext. TEA Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) is a Feistel type routine designed by David J. Wheeler and Roger M. Needham. It used addition and subtraction as the reversible operators [5]. XOR and ADD alternately used in the routine provide nonlinearity [5]. The Dual bit shifting in the routine cause all the bits and data mixed repeatedly [5]. The three XOR, ADD and SHIFT operation will provide Shannons properties of diffusion and confusion necessary for a secure block cipher without the need for P-boxes and S-boxes [6]. TEA is a feistel cipher that split the plaintext into halves [7]. A sub key will be applied to the one half of plaintext in the round function, F [8]. Then the output of the F will be XOR with other half before the two halves are swapped [8]. All same patterns applied to the entire round except the last round where there is often no swap [8]. Figure 2 below show a Feistel cipher diagram where 64 bits of plaintext is divided into halves which are equally 32 bits each part. 128 bits of key is used for the encryption and decryption process and it is spitted into 32 bits subkey [7]. TEA.png Figure 4: Two Fiestal round(one cycle) of TEA The encryption and decryption routine of Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) written in C language [5]. void encrypt (uint32_t* v, uint32_t* k, uint32_t* v1) { uint32_t v0=v[0], sum=0, i; /* set up */ uint32_t delta=0x9e3779b9; /* a key schedule constant */ uint32_t k0=k[0], k1=k[1], k2=k[2], k3=k[3]; /* cache key */ for (i=0; i sum += delta; v0 += ((v1>5) + k1); v1 += ((v0>5) + k3); } /* end cycle */ v[0]=v0; v[1]=v1; } void decrypt (uint32_t* v, uint32_t* k, uint32_t* v1) { uint32_t v0=v[0], sum=0xC6EF3720, i; /* set up */ uint32_t delta=0x9e3779b9; /* a key schedule constant */ uint32_t k0=k[0], k1=k[1], k2=k[2], k3=k[3]; /* cache key */ for (i=0; i v1 -= ((v0>5) + k3); v0 -= ((v1>5) + k1); sum -= delta; } /* end cycle */ v[0]=v0; v[1]=v1; } [5] delta is derived from the golden number where delta = Architectures Untitled.jpg Figure 5: TEA architectures TEA is implemented using three different architectures. The first architecture (Figure 3a) is a multiple 32 bit adders that simultaneously perform operations needed for one encryption cycle [6]. This parallel form structure should be quite large in terms of hardware area but will perform faster [6]. On the other hands, in order to reduce the area, the second architecture (Figure 3b) performs operations sequentially using a single 32 bit adder [6]. The last design (Figure 3c) is a 8 bit digit-serial adders that use advance architecture offered by application-specific hardware solution [6]. The latter two design are meant for low area solutions but in terms of control and data selection, the effectiveness remain confirmed [6]. Software vs Hardware Implementation of Encryption Implementation of encryption using software is easier to design and upgrade, it also portable and flexible [7]. One of the major problems of software implementation is in most typical personal computer have external memory out from the processor, the external memory is used to store raw data or instruction in unencrypted form so if an attacker gain access to the system, the key can be easier obtained [7]. One of the most common way used by the attacker is bruteforce, a special program can be easily design to bruteforce the algorithm. Besides this, reverse engineering method easier to apply on software implementation. So it can be concluded that software implementation is lack of physical security[7]. Implementation of encryption using hardware by naturally is physically more secure as they are hard to read and view by attacker [7]. Another advantage of hardware implementation is all the data in the encryption process is correlated according to an algorithm which usually perform operation on same data [7]. This will prevent computer technique such as out of order execution and cause hang to the system [7]. Hardware implementation also tend to be more parallel so more orders of magnitudes can be done at certain period of time [7]. Hardware implementation is will be better choice for encryption in terms of performance but the cost of implementation is higher compare to software implementation. Higher security level and better performance is the main concern in this project, so the encryption will be implemented on FPGA, one of the hardware implementation method. Microcontroller, Microprocessor, DSP Processor and FPGA Microprocessor The first microprocessors invented in the 1970s [10]. This is the first time where such an amazing devices put a computer CPU onto a single IC [10]. The significant processing was available at rather low cost, in comparatively small space [10]. At beginning stage, all other functions, like input/output interfacing and memory were outside the microprocessor [10]. Gradually all the other functions in embedded into a single chip [10]. At the same time, microprocessor becoming more powerful in terms on the speed, power consumption and so on [10]. Microprocessor is moving rapidly from 8 bits to 32 bits [10]. Microcontroller A microcontroller is an inexpensive single-chip computer [9]. The entire computer system lies within the confines of the integrated circuit chip, so it is called a single chip computer [9]. The microcontroller on the encapsulated sliver of silicon has features similar to those personal computers [9]. Mainly, the microcontroller is able to store and run a program [9]. The microcontroller contains a CPU (central processing unit), ROM (random-access memory), RAM (random-access memory), Input/Output lines, and oscillator, serial and parallel ports [9]. Some more advanced microcontroller also have other built in peripherals such as A/D (analog-to-digital) converter [9]. DSP (Digital Signal Processing) Processor DSP processor is a specialized microprocessor optimized to process digital signal [12][13]. Most of the DSP processors are commonly designed to have basic features such as high performance, repetitive and numerically intensive tasks so DSP processor often have advantage in terms of speed, cost and energy efficiency [11]. DSP processor have the avility to perform one or more multiply accumulate operations (often called MACs) in a single instruction cycle [14]. FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) Xilinx Co-Founders, Ross Freeman and Bernard Vonderschmitt, invented the first commercially viable field programmable gate array in 1985 the XC2064. FPGA is integrated circuit for reconfigurable purposes by user after manufacturer. FPGA is generally specified using Hardware Description language (HDL). FPGA can be programmed to perform logic function and due to this ability, FPGA become more popular. Using FPGA for design can lower non recurring Engineering cost and apply on many application. Hardware Architectures comparison The figure 6 below show the comparison of different architectures used for hardware implementation on encryption. Architecture Efficiency Performance Non recurring Engineering Cost Unit Cost Microprocessor Low Low Low Low Microcontroller Low Low Low Low DSP processor Moderate Moderate Low Moderate FPGA High High Low High Figure 6: Architectures Comparison Comparing the four architectures above, FPGA have the advantage in terms of the efficiency Performance but the unit cost is high. Since costing is not a major concern in this project, so FPGA is better choice for implementing Tiny Encryption Algorithm. Altera DE1 Development and Education Board Altera DE1 is a FPGA Development and Education Board that will be used for this project [17]. Below is the features of this board: DE1_intro_500x.png Figure 7: Altera DE1 Board Altera Cyclone II 2C20 FPGA with 20000 LEs Altera Serial Configuration deivices (EPCS4) for Cyclone II 2C20 USB Blaster built in on board for programming and user API controlling JTAG Mode and AS Mode are supported 8Mbyte (1M x 4 x 16) SDRAM 4Mbyte Flash Memory 512Kbyte(256Kx16) SRAM SD Card Socket 4 Push-button switches 10 DPDT switches 8 Green User LEDs 10 Red User LEDs 4 Seven-segment LED displays 50MHz oscillator ,24MHz oscillator ,27MHz oscillator and external clock sources 24-bit CD-Quality Audio CODEC with line-in, line-out, and microphone-in jacks VGA DAC (4-bit R-2R per channel) with VGA out connector RS-232 Transceiver and 9-pin connector PS/2 mouse/keyboard connector Two 40-pin Expansion Headers DE1 Lab CD-ROM which contains many examples with source code Size ¼Ã… ¡153*153 mm There are few features of DE1 Board will be used for this project. PS/2 mouse/keyboard connector PS/2 keyboard is used as input for the plaintext 4 Push button switches used as a reset button VGA DAC (4-bit R-2R per channel) with VGA out connector VGA monitor is connected to the DE1 board to show the input of plaintext and the output of the encryption, cipher text 4Mbyte Flash Memory Used to store the ciphertext VGA controller IBM introduce video display standard called VGA (video graphics array) in the late 1980s that widely supported by PC graphics hardware and monitors [18]. Figure 8: Simplified Block Diagram of VGA Controller The vga_sync circuit generates timing and synchronization signals [18]. The hsync and vsync signals are connected to the VGA port to control the horizontal and vertical scans of the monitor [18]. Two signals which are pixel_x and pixel_y are decoded from the internal counters [18]. The pixel_x and pixel_y signals indicate the relative positions of the scans and essentially specify the location of the current pixel [18]. Videl_on signal is generated from vga_sync to check whether the display is enable or disable [18]. The pixel generation circuit generate three video signal which is RGB signal [18]. The current coordinates of the pixel (pixel_x and pixel_y), external control and data signals determine the color value [18]. PS/2 Controller IBM introduced PS2 port in personal computers [18]. It is a widely used interface for keyboard and mouse to communicate with the host [18]. PS2 port consists of two wires for communication purposes [18]. One wire for transmitting data in serial stream while another wire is for the clock information which determine when the data is valid and can be retrieved [18]. The data is transmitted in 11 bit packet that contains 8 bits of data, an odd parity bit and stop bit [18]. Figure 9: Timing Diagram of a PS/2 port Quartus II Web Edition Quartus II Web Edition design software is a comprehensive environment available for system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) design developed by Altera [19]. This software is used in this project to program and implement the Tiny Encryption Algorithm (TEA) on Altera DE1 Cyclone II FPGA [19]. This program also can be used for the simulation and timing analysis [19]. Hardware Description Language (HDL) Hard description language (HDL) is a type of programming languages used to program and describe digital logic or electronic circuits [20]. It can describe circuit operation, its design and organization [20]. Figure 10 below shows different type of Hardware Description Language commonly used. HDL Syntax Similarity AHDL Ada programming Language VHDL Ada Programming Language JHDL Java Verilog C Programming Language Figure 10 : Different type of HDL Verilog Hardware Description Language (HDL) is used to program the FPGA in this project because it is a widely used HDL and it syntax is similar the C programming language. Methodology Block Diagram VGA Monitor PS/2 Keyboard VGA Controller Plaintext TEA Encryption Core Flash Memory 64 Bits Ciphertext PS/2 Controller Key 128 Bits 64 Bits Encryption/Decryption Acknowledge Key Update Request Busy Asynchronous Reset Clock Figure 11: Core Module The Blog Diagram above explains the design of this project. PS/2 keyboard used as input for the plaintext. All the data from the PS/2 keyboard will be sent into PS/2 controller to process. The processed data, 128 Bits or key or 64 Bits of plaintext will sent into the TEA encryption core for encryption. The output of the encryption, ciphertext will store inside the flash memory. All the plaintext and cipher text will send into VGA controller to process and show on the CRT monitor. The encryption/decryption will be connected to the DPDT switch to switch between encryption or decryption mode. Key Update Request also connected to the DPDT switch for the purpose of updating the key when the switch is on. Asynchronous reset is connected to the push button for the reset purpose. There are internal clock inside the DE1 board so no external clock is needed for this project. Algorithm and Implementation Verification The original Tiny Encryption Algorithm C source code by the author will be compiled or get a compiled executable program from other source to analyze the encryption of plaintext to ciphertext and decryption of ciphertext back to plaintext. A set of plaintext, ciphertext and key can generated from the program as a reference and compare with the encryption and decryption output implemented on FPGA. Figure 12 is an example of compiled executable program of Tiny Encryption Algorithm by Andreas Jonsson TEA.jpg Figure 12 Costing Estimation Components Quantity Price Altera De1 Board [17] 1 RM 512.84 Used 15 Samsung SyncMaster CRT monitor 1 RM50.00 Used PS/2 Keyboard 1 RM10.00 Total RM572.84 Gantt Chart ganchart.jpg Research analysis will be start from week 6 till week 8. Verilog coding on the implementation of TEA and module and test bench verification this 2 task must perform parallel because after finish a certain module, it should be test and simulate. If simulation or test is done after finish the whole coding, there will be a big problem in debugging the error. The synthesis of PS/2 keyboard, VGA monitor and FPGA start week 20 just before finish the coding. The functionality verification task also runs parallel with the synthesis optimization task. References and Figures Figures Figure 4: Tiny Encryption Algorithm .Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Encryption_Algorithm (Accessed: 30 October 2009) Figure 5: Israsena. P, Design and Implementation of Low Power Hardware Encryption for Low Cost Secure RFID Using TEA . Information, Communications and Signal Processing, 2005 Fifth International Conference on 0-0 0 Page(s):1402 1406, DOI 10.1109/ICICS.2005.1689288. Available at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=arnumber=1689288isnumber=35625 (Accessed : 26 October 2009) Figure 7: Available at: http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=EnglishNo=83 ( Accessed : 28 October 2009) Figure 8: Pong P. Chu (2008) FPGA Prototyping by Verilog Examples :John Wiley Sons Figure 9: Pong P. Chu (2008) FPGA Prototyping by Verilog Examples :John Wiley Sons

Inner-city Elementary After School Programs Essay examples -- Essay Pa

Inner-city Elementary After School Programs Inner-city elementary age kids face many challenges in and out of the classroom. These challenges range from education day in and day out, as well as, sometimes growing up in an impoverished family and community. Factors also include peers which these kids come into contact with at school, in the streets and at home. Kids today need more than ever an extra push of positive motivation from mentors. I believe that this constructive mentoring begins with after school programs. After school programs give kids the opportunity to work one on one with an adult to reinforce encouragement and teach more than just text education. Because I have participated as a volunteer at an after school program, I have seen first hand the positive impact such programs can generate among elementary aged kids involved. These after school programs are very important for the future of thousands of elementary aged kids. For those less fortunate kids that do not have supportive parents or appropriate supervision at home, after school programs give those children a chance to receive constructive attention from a mentor. Because I feel these programs are so beneficial, I am very interested in the further spread of after school programs among public schools nationwide. However, the progress of the elementary mentoring must begin one school district at a time. After school programs can potentially decide the direction of many elementary age students? futures, as well as the communities in which they live. After school programs serve a great advantage to inner city elementary age kids by allowing them the opportunity to interact in a supervised location with mentors, because these mentors do no not only te... ...EBSCO. DU Penrose Library, Denver. 21 Jan. 2005 . Reyes, Damaso. ?Urban Dove raises kids hopes.? The New York Amsterdam News 17 July 2003: 6. Roffman, Jennifer G, Maria E. Pagano, and Barton J. Hirsch. ?Youth Functioning and Experiences in Inner-City After-School Programs Among Age, Gender, and Race Groups.? Journal Of Child and Family Studies 10 (2001): 85-100. United States. Dept. of Education. Working for Children and Families: Safe and Smart After-School Programs. Washington GPO: 2000. (_ _.) Dept. of Education. What Works: Components of Exemplary After-School Programs. Washington: GPO, 2000. 13 Feb 2005 . (_ _.) Dept. of Education. 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Jessup, MD: GPO, 2000. 21 Feb 2005 .

The Subjugation of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper -- The Yellow Wallpape

The Subjugation of Women in The Yellow Wall Paper  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In the nineteenth century, women in literature were often portrayed as submissive to men. Literature of the period often characterized women as oppressed by society, as well as by the male influences in their lives. The Yellow Wallpaper presents the tragic story of a woman's descent into depression and madness. Gilman once wrote "Women's subordination will only end when women lead the struggle for their own autonomy, thereby freeing man as well as themselves, because man suffers from the distortions that come from dominance, just as women are scarred by the subjugation imposed upon them" (Lane 5). The Yellow Wallpaper brilliantly illustrates this philosophy. The narrator's declining mental health is reflected through the characteristics of the house she is trapped in and her husband, while trying to protect her, is actually destroying her. The narrator of the story goes with her doctor/husband to stay in a colonial mansion for the summer. The house is supposed to be a place where she can recover from severe postpartum depression. She loves her baby, but knows she is not able to take care of him. "It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous" (Gilman 642). The symbolism utilized by Gilman is somewhat askew from the conventional. A house usually symbolizes security. In this story the opposite is true. The protagonist, whose name we never learn, feels trapped by the walls of the house, just as she is trapped by her mental illness. The windows of her room, which normally would symbolize a sense of freedom, are barred, holding her in. (Biedermann 179, 382). From the outset the reader is ... ...f the wallpaper . . . "(Gilman 647).      Bibliography Anderson, Daniel. *http://cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/wallpaper/whywrote/htm* Why I Wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper"? As it appeared in the October issue of The Forerunner, 1913." 1996. (19 Sept. 1998) Biedermann, Hans, ed. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Symbolism. Cumberland House: Hertfordshire, 1996 Cunningham, Iain and Holmes, Douglass. "Sensory Descriptions in The Yellow Wallpaper." 1977. http://englishwww.ucla.edu/individuals/mcgraw/wallpaper/senses.htm* (19 Sept. 1998). Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Women's Work - An Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Barbara Perkins, Robyn Warhol, and George Perkins. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994. 640-650. Lane, Ann J. To Herland and Beyond: The Life and Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990.

Lou Holtz Convocation

Chase Wells Dr. Donald A. Hoy BA 198 B 2 September 2012 Lou Holtz a Convocation to Remember Lou Holtz: motivational speaker, hall of fame football coach, magician, devout Catholic, and Benedictine supporter. This last week I was blessed with the chance to hear him speak. His speech was based on the idea that by following three rules, you can live a just life with no regrets. Throughout the speech Holtz cracked joke after joke, keeping it constantly interesting.At one point, he even shocked the crowd with a very impressive magic trick. By combining an excellent message with humor, and magic he had the entire crowd’s attention for the full duration of his speech. Holtz’s three rules were: do the right thing, do your best, and show people you care. The three rules seem easy enough to follow, and the motivation to go along with them has inspired me to follow them. Lou was truly passionate about what he preached. He clearly contributed much of his success to these rules.Thro ugh stories of life experience Holtz persuaded, and motivated the crowd. I think every person in the gymnasium left with the knowledge to improve themselves as a person, and the motivation to perhaps do it. Lou Holtz is truly an extraordinary person. He’s a 5’9’’ man that talks with a lisp, and role model for thousands. That in itself is impressive. Not to mention his excellent track record as a football coach, New York Times best selling books, Motivational speaking accomplishments, and more.His life long mission of making not only decisions he can live with, but the right ones has cast him into success. Having never been one to watch college sports I walked into the convocation with little knowledge of who Lou Holtz was, and low expectations for his speech. I walked out stunned, surprised, and impressed. Lou Holtz is an amazing person. His speech gave me knowledge, and motivation to improve my life, and for that I am grateful.

The Psychological Effect Of Academic Achievement Education Essay

African American pupils have the chance to gain academic accomplishment awards where pupils of their ain race are their lone competition. Each clip they receive those awards, they are reminded of the demands that had to hold been met in order to make such acknowledgment. The GPA demands for these awards normally equal the mean GPA of their Asiatic and Caucasic schoolmates. Therefore, the criterions of these awards statistically pale in comparing to the accomplishments of the Asian and Caucasic pupils. Because there are no tantamount race-specific awards given to Asian or Caucasic pupils, it is clear that there is a disagreement in what society expects from pupils of certain races academically. These awards were created by organisations to actuate these pupils to go on their academic enterprises and possibly accomplish more. This survey attempts to measure the cogency of such awards by the specifying academic excellence for all pupils, irrespective of race. With research, the paper besides attempts to find grounds for possibly take downing the criterions for Afro-american specific awards. Taking in to account all the factors that contribute to a pupil ‘s motive, it is concluded that the awards could merely turn out to be uneffective. Michael-Ann Henry Ms. Emily Sigman Senior Independent Undertaking Spring 2010 The Psychological Consequence of Academic Achievement Awards on African American Students Over the past twosome decennaries, public schools and separate organisations in Montgomery County, Maryland have awarded African American and Latino pupils who display accomplishments in faculty members, leading, and sports. One of these awards was granted to an jock who maintained a 2.5 class point norm ( lone.5 above the ineligibility GPA of 2.0 ) ; another was rewarded to an African American pupil for geting a GPA of 3.0. These awards clearly exclude other populations such as Asiatic Americans and Caucasians. How is it that the pupils of those ethnicities, who typically sit on the more successful terminal of the academic accomplishment spread, are non awarded for similar achievements? Harmonizing to research, it is statistically more of a rareness for Afro-american and Latino pupils to achieve equal degrees of accomplishments when compared to Asians and Caucasians ( NAEP Studies ) . Because such achievement remains uncommon with the pupils of these races, the achievements warrant wages, in the sentiment of the organisations giving the awards. Organizations like Montgomery County ‘s African American Festival of Academic Excellence claim that they seek to â€Å" promote and help African American pupils to endeavor for academic excellence † by showing pupils with congratulatory certifications ( AAFAE Online ) . However, it needs to be proven whether these awards do actuate African-American and Latino pupils to prosecute more academic asperity or whether they set the saloon depression in a manner that indicates that it would be excessively hard for them to accomplish more like their Asiatic and Caucasic opposite numbers. Furthermore, a survey of the possible relationship between the awards and the achievement spread demands to be considered to measure the necessity and effectivity of these awards in our school systems. Challenged by statistical and psychological theories, the cogency of the awards and their ability to motivate more motive in African American pupils has proven, so far, to be uneffective.Context for Evaluation of the AwardsIn order to find the legitimacy of these academic awards as motivational tools, true academic excellence must be defined. A pupil ‘s grade point norm is normally the first listed demand for the awards in inquiry and therefore, apparently, the most of import and simplest manner to mensurate school performance.. In order to specify academic excellence in footings of a pupil ‘s grade point norm, the national mean GPA of all high school pupils should be considered. Harmonizing to an article by Justin Pope of the Associated Press, in the twelvemonth 2000, the national norm for GPAs was a 2.94. At that clip, the above norm public presentation could hold been defined by a GPA that surpasses 3.0. However, it was reported that in 2005 over a fifth of the high school population claimed to hold a GPA equivalent to an A norm ( Pope ) . Therefore, throughout this survey, a GPA of 3.5 is believe d to outdo represent academic excellence in today ‘s society, across the racial spectrum. In short, awards with this demand are less likely to be given due to racially subjective grounds or differing outlooks of pupils based on race. Students awarded based on this demand would undeniably be considered deserving of the acknowledgment that comes with academic excellence. Granted that academic excellence should besides be evaluated along with several other factors-such as each county ‘s assorted methods of making a class point norm, each instructor ‘s or academic section ‘s assorted rating policies, and the pupil ‘s single attempt and socioeconomic position to call a few-this survey specifically analyzes academic awards given chiefly based on grade point norms. Therefore, sorting a GPA that about indicates academic excellence for all races, a 3.5, is necessary to measure the cogency and the effectivity of the awards given to merely Afro-american pupils.Examples of Awards GivenWhile based on the national norm GPA, an above norm GPA would be closer to 3.5, most of the race-specific awards do non necessitate a GPA stopping point to that estimated pot of academic excellence. Within Montgomery County Maryland, the African American Festival of Academic Excellence awards high school pupils in this county who earn a â€Å" cumulative unweighted Grade Point Average ( GPA ) of 3.0 or above or a cumulative leaden GPA of 3.2 or above for all combined high school old ages through the first semester of the current school twelvemonth † . Besides in the Montgomery County country, the Iota Upsilon Lambda Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, a historically Black fraternity grants the undermentioned awards based on the corresponding demands: Jesse Owens Award for jocks with outstanding devotedness to sports and a minimal GPA of 2.5 ; Paul Robeson Award for minimal 3.0 GPA ; and the W.E.B Dubois Award for lower limit of 3.5 GPA. Illustrated in Montgomery County, the disagreement conspicuously separates the races that typically perform good at the high terminal of the accomplishment spread and the races that normally fall short of the criterions of academic excellence. The bulk of the acknowledgment given to African American pupils in Montgomery County does non run into the criterion of excellence that was based upon the mean GPA in the state. Hence, there seems to be a disagreement between the likely definition of â€Å" above norm † for the pupils across the state ( a class point norm of 3.5 or higher ) and the likely definition of â€Å" above norm † for African American pupils. Although the conditions of the listed academic awards still represent all right accomplishments, tantamount certifications and acknowledgment are non given to Asian and Caucasic pupils of in a similar race-specific manner. Based on informations from the National Assessment of Educational Progress ( NAEP ) , if organisation s were to give out the same awards to Caucasian and Asiatic American pupils that met the same demands, the sum of pupils that would have wagess would be overpowering. In contrast, there exists merely a little part of the African American pupil organic structure that reach the criterions of those academic awards. This disparity in the awarding system for pupils of different races nowadayss itself non merely in Montgomery County, but besides throughout the state. In the San Francisco Unified School District, the territory itself hosts a community event known as the Annual African American Student Honor Roll Parade and Celebration honouring â€Å" all center and high school pupils with a 3.0 class point norm or above for the past two semesters, along with the 10 top accomplishing pupils from each simple school in the territory † ( Robbins ) . However, the degree of acknowledgment seems indefensible when a pupil with a 3.0 does run into the same criterion to which other pupils are held for the non-race specific academic awards they would be eligible to have. Superintendent of Schools in that San Francisco territory, Waldemar Rojas, besides yearly presents a particular gold embossed plaque, â€Å" the Academic Excellence Award † to all Afro-american center and high school pupils with a 4.0 GPA ( Robbins ) . Even though the conditional GPA of this award seems to transcend the antecedently decided definition of academic excellence, in footings of GPA, there was no grounds that equal acknowledgment was given to pupils of other races who achieved the same. In Seattle Public Schools ( 2003 ) , â€Å" more than 140 African American pupils from Garfield High School [ were ] recognized for their academic accomplishment at the Ku'Onesha Awards. These pupils have achieved a class point norm of 3.0 or higher † sponsored by the â€Å" Parents for African American Student Excellence ( PAASE ) , a multicultural group dedicated to shuting the academic accomplishment spread at Garfield High School † ( â€Å" Seattle ‘s Public Schools † ) . Therefore, the incompatibility among the awards given to pupil of assorted races becomes clear when there is no clear tantamount acknowledgment for academic accomplishment given to specifically Asians and Caucasic pupils. It is apparent that there is inequality in the presenting systems across the state ; the Afro-american pupils get awards with less demanding conditions than what the national norm GPA implies the demands should be, while the pupils of the races on the statistically be tter side of the academic accomplishment spread, receive no acknowledgment for equal accomplishment. The latter pupils must vie with all races to have more requirement intensive awards ( Divoky 220 ) .Reasons for Race-Specific Academic AwardsIn order to decide the evident disparity, the grounds for presenting second-rate accomplishment ( or achievement deemed mediocre for pupils of other races ) must be analyzed. Why do organisations and school systems feel that it is necessary to allow race-specific academic awards to African American pupils? The allowance of these lowered outlooks and demands for African American pupils must be argued and evaluated by statistical and historical informations Sandra Graham, who studied motive in African American pupils, define motive as a perceptual experience of the â€Å" likeliness of achieving a end and the value ( affect ) associated with that end attainment † ( 57 ) . Thus we must dig into the factors that influence this perceptual expe rience of what can be attained. The deficit of internal motive for the bulk of African American pupils has been the beginning of argument of pedagogues across the state. One theory claims that within the African American pupil community, there is animus towards the high-achieving that stems from cultural associations, making an environment that discourages larning. Therefore, the awards may function as a physical manner to battle the verbal â€Å" put-downs † that can impede a pupil from accomplishing self-actualization in academe. Harmonizing to a survey performed by the University of Illinois, Afro-american high school pupils who considered themselves really good pupils were shown to be more likely to be the victims of verbal maltreatment from their equals ( Cherry ) . â€Å" The survey farther suggests that covering with classmate squelchs can do it hard for good pupils to larn while doing it near impossible for behind to catch up ( Cherry ) . Harmonizing Fordham and Ogbu who studied internal cultural pr ejudice, high accomplishing African American pupils tend to be labeled by their academic strive as â€Å" moving white † ( 178 ) . As clarified by Tyson, Darity, and Castellino, the formation of the term, â€Å" moving white † was portion of a larger oppositional civilization constructed by African Americans in response to their history of captivity and favoritism. The oppositional individuality was said to be â€Å" portion of a cultural orientation toward schooling which exists within the minority community † ( Tyson, Darity, and Castellino 583 ) . Thus, some African Americans claim that academic accomplishment should non be extremely valued in the community because such actions have been associated with the standard norms of success among Caucasic Americans. Therefore, academic awards, specifically given to African American pupils, may hold lowered criterions for retrieval to equal this force against instruction in the African American community. The end of t he awards in this instance would be to allow the pupil with assurance that what their difficult work in school is worth the possible ridicule because of the hereafter success. School systems and private organisations would make these race-specific awards besides to possibly excite motive when pupils face hard socio-economic and place environment related issues that result in less drive to win. As indicated by the U.S. Census Bureau ‘s survey of kids younger than 18 life in households, 27 per centum of Latino kids and 30 per centum of black kids live in poorness, compared with approximately 13 per centum of white kids. Harmonizing Graham research of the motive of African American pupils old â€Å" societal scientistsaˆÂ ¦found it easy to associate differences between Blacks and White persons in household construction to differences in their accomplishment demands † ( 60 ) . Graham cited George Mussen as holding conducted first comparative racial survey on the demand to accomplish, or a pupil ‘s motive. Thereafter, 18 more surveies arose that fundamentally tested for the same information, the degree of each race of pupils ‘ dema nd to accomplish. Seven out of 19 surveies, or 36 % , reported Whites to be higher in the demand to accomplish than Blacks, ( Graham 61 ) . Graham goes on to reason that â€Å" even though African Americans appeared to be lower in the accomplishment motivation in these surveies, they reported educational and vocational aspirations equal to or higher than their White opposite numbers. † This means that they were merely every bit likely as Caucasians to draw a bead on to travel to college and to come in high position professions ( Graham 66 ) Therefore the awards could be given to bring forth this demand to accomplish that compels pupils to hold higher aspirations and academic successes and hence associate the awards with the wagess that difficult work brings in the hereafter such post-secondary instruction and a steady occupation. Graham continues to indicate out the concrete correlativity between hapless socio-economic position and low motive. Therefore, the awards could supp ly the encouragement that their economic state of affairs knees. The Research Center for the organisation known as Editorial Projects in Education asserts that, â€Å" the disparities in accomplishment are frequently attributed to socioeconomic factors † . As referenced earlier, Graham noticed that motive was lower among pupils of certain socioeconomic position, non pupils in a peculiar race. Therefore, the academic awards do non necessitate to be race specific because race entirely has no correlativity to the deficiency of motive. While the proportions of African American and Latino pupils who achieve good academically continue to increase, there is still a clear disparity between those who are rewarded for their accomplishments with relation to ethnicity. Illustrated in Montgomery County, the disagreement conspicuously separates the races that typically perform good at the high terminal of the accomplishment spread and the races that normally fall short of the criterions of academic excellence. Harmonizing to the U.S. Census Bureau Ã¢â‚¬Ë œs survey of kids younger than 18 life in households, 27 per centum of Latino kids and 30 per centum of black kids live in poorness, compared with approximately 13 per centum of white kids. Graham goes on to reason that â€Å" even though African Americans appeared to be lower in the accomplishment motivation in these surveies, they reported educational and vocational aspirations equal to or higher than their White opposite numbers. † This means that they were merely every bit likely as Caucasians to draw a bead on to travel to college and to come in high position professions ( Graham 66 ) The Research Center for the organisation known as Editorial Projects in Education asserts that, â€Å" the disparities in accomplishment are frequently attributed to socioeconomic factors † . As referenced earlier, Graham noticed that motive was lower among pupils of certain socioeconomic position, non pupils in a peculiar race. Therefore, the academic awards do non necessitate to be race specific because race entirely has no correlativity to the deficiency of motive. Therefore, the deficiency of motive among African American pupils is non a subscriber to the accomplishment but the deficit of thrust in pupils who live in hapless economic conditions remains the job. Unfortunately, African Americans and Hispanics go on to organize the bulk of the economically down-trotted. Conversely, we must besides retrieve that non all African Americans are in economic adversity while there are several Caucasian and Asiatic American pupils in hapless socioeconomic state of affairss who can non have awards that encourage to them endeavor academically despite their state of affairs further set uping inequality within our school systems.The Academic Achievement GapAlthough it has been concluded that African American pupils are capable of bring forthing adequate motive for great accomplishment, despite some possible obstructions, the statistics still problem pedagogues as there st ill clear differences between the racial groups of pupils ( see Figure1 ) . Fig. 1. Swerve in Grade Point Average by Race/Ethnicity, â€Å" NAEP 2005 HSTS: Grade Point Average, Entire GPA. † NAEP. U.S. Department of Education. Web. 3 Jan. 2010. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //nationsreportcard.gov/hsts_2005/hs_gpa_3a_1.asp? tab_id=tab3 & A ; subtab_id=Tab_1 # chart & gt ; . The mean GPA for Asian and Pacific Islander pupils throughout the U.S. surpasses all other groups with a 3.16, a class point norm higher than most of the demands for the African American particular academic awards. Black pupils remain at the bottom terminal of the GPA spectrum with a GPA of 2.69. Taking this figure in to account, school systems and private organisations that create the academic awards in inquiry clearly must hold made the demands low plenty to do certain that there would be some feasible campaigners for such awards. But if these organisations continue to further the thought that 3.0 is an academic range, some African American pupils will ne'er make above that saloon. By puting the saloon at such a degree, I hypothesize that it sends a message to African American pupils that they are hardly capable of making their opposite numbers ‘ mean tonss.Why Awards with Mediocre Requirements Do Not Work As Incentives for EducationNo affair what the grounds are for presenti ng African American pupils for mean work, the permanent effects of such acknowledgment and attending on mediocre accomplishments have yet to be to the full examined. Based on psychological inclinations, trying to put extrinsic value on instruction, particularly through the representation of a simple piece of paper, in attempt to supply an inducement to larn proves uneffective with striplings ( Plotnik 333 ) . In order to bring forth more of an intrinsic desire to accomplish, Henry Murray ‘s original theory on human motive must be understood. He â€Å" observed that persons vary in their inclination or desire to make things good and vie against a criterion of excellence † ( Graham 60 ) . Alternatively of seeking to make an inducement to larn, pedagogues who desire to shut the accomplishment spread should arouse with the intrinsic motives within pupils by puting the academic accomplishment saloon even higher.