The Social Developmental Value of Theater Arts

Applied Theatre is an umbrella term used to describe theatre and drama based practices with the aim of social development. The topics can range from targets of community building, protest, cultural awareness and sensitivities, harm reduction, religion, health, socio-economic representation, and educational purposes. Within Applied Theatre, there are no set traditional theatrical methods but a preference towards innovative and interactive methods where actors often have the freedom to engage with the audience and where audiences shape the philosophy as well as the content of the piece. As once said by Augusto Boal, a famous Applied Theatre practitioner who spearheaded a creative arts movement called â€Å"Theatre of the Oppressed;’’ â€Å"Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our futures, rather than just waiting for it’’ This philosophy is a statement of artistic humanitarianism where creative and performance arts reach the height of their power to create and inspire, as performance is combined with everyday people and represents individuals and their society rather than fulfilling a goal of entertaining, thrilling, and profit making. This is using theatre as an investment in the social economy. To look more in-depth at the educational value and social significance of Applied Theatre, major concepts of the field could be examined through three diverse applications. These applications will include culture, harm reduction, and protest. Culture From primitive story telling, to Shakespearean cultural-political representations of Elizabethan society; the performing arts has historically always been a part of most cultures. Nowadays where cultures are highly mosaic in nature and where we find ourselves in the midst of fusing and evolving identities, and an influence of masses of media and technology; the need for cultural identity is more crucial than ever. This is greatly apparent in the North American indigenous population that throughout history has suffered copious amounts of underrepresentation, abuse, and annihilation. Rooted in the 16th century European explorations, the Native eople of North America have always undergone ill treatment. The historical European desire to colonize and assimilate foreigners was carried out up until the end of the 20th century where indigenous peoples’ children were sent to concentration camp-style schools run primarily by the catholic church under rigid government policies concerning Natives which was referred to as â€Å"Indians affairs. ’’ The children were stripped of their language, culture, religion, and traditions and forced to behave in a foreign way. This caused domino effects amounting to Canada and America’s current situation where Native people continue to suffer from social disorders, and be at a high risk for alcoholism, drug-use, prostitution, poverty, and subjection to adoption and fostercare as well as a lack of community resources. In recent years, great efforts have been put in place to restore Native culture that was once outlawed. Traditionally their history was an oral tradition recorded through story telling. This was seen as a unique opportunity to apply theatre arts to a suffering population in hopes of gaining cultural identity and applied to the greater North American population to raise awareness and understanding towards Native people. In the Eastern Canadian province of Ontario in the small town of Manitowaning there is a theatre group called the De-ba-jeh-mu-jig. This name comes from the indigenous languages of Cree and Ojibway meaning â€Å"Story Tellers. The company is non-profit and community based and currently produces a number of performances including children’s performances and interactive theatre using their own unique creation/writing process and methodology with the purpose of representing and showcasing the local indigenous culture and engaging in home-grown solutions to their own challenges for cultural and social development. They’ve done numerous productions and tours of shows with unique titles such as â€Å"The Indian Affairs’’ and â €Å"New World Brave,† whose titles themselves exemplify the content of their aim. The productions often encompass the stories of their traditions, religion/spirituality, history, language, and survival and are often intertwined with modern day cultural challenges. The company has also done improvisation projects with topics such as careers and fetal alcohol syndrome as well as other outreach programs to foster artistic engagement in the community. The works of this company sum up the power of theatre arts in a culturally applied sense and continue to educate, inspire, and engage a generation as well as harmonize and restore a once lost people and their culture into modern society. Harm Reduction Harm reduction is a term, which refers to policy put in place to cut down the practice of human-behavioural activity that may produce harmful effects. This includes a range of topics including illegal, and risky/dangerous practices. For example, harm reduction public policy could be attributed to things such as Drugs including illegal substances, needles, alcohol related issues, Tobacco, and drug crime, as well as Sex including topics such as safe sex, STI’s, HIV, AIDS, prostitution, as well as more psychological and less intensive topics like mental health, self-harm, and bullying. By analyzing the works of Sponsored Arts For Education, known as S. A. F. E. , a Kenyan non-governmental organization with the mandate of delivering social change by addressing controversial topics. They primarily focus on social aspects, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and safe sex and family planning, but also include topics such as peace, female circumsicion, and female rights/empowerment, water and health, prisoner outreach, environmental issues, Drug use, and LGBT topics. All of these outreach topics are delivered through creative mobile theatre performances targeting rural areas of Kenya where social stigma, the lack info technology and education are hindering people’s health and safety and contributing to the expanse of the aforementioned issues. S. A. F. E. , started by British actor Nick Reding, is a proactive charity whose philosophy states it’s belief that dance, music and theatre break down barriers and draw people in thus creating social change. In 2012 Coronation Street writer Damon Rochefort collaborated with S. A. F. E. with a vision that the dramatic effect of a soap opera in Britain could have the same effect anywhere with any culturally differing social circumstances. Soap operas play on issues and emotions that reflect real people’s lives in the cultural sense of the viewers, and they perform long running dramatized renditions that offer a real insight into each characters’ lives. Thus, they are drawing the viewers into long time subscription and allowing them to experience a sense of escape. During the collaboration, the cast of Coronation Street visited Kenya to create a unique soap style piece of drama that plays on life changing messages in the sense of local cultural and the issues and struggles that face their society. The team visited Bangala, a slum of 20 000 people, one of the nation of 1. 5 million HIV positive people’s hardest hit areas. Most people don’t know how to prevent the spreading of the disease and usually don’t know their own status. There is a huge social stigma about HIV and families known to be positive are demonized and alienated. Infected mothers pass the virus to their children because there is a lack of knowledge about drugs for pregnant women that block the passing, and the children face barriers to education and freedom because they too are infected. The virus continues to be spread because of stigma, ignorance, and unavailability of condoms. The cast of Coronation street had to use these issues to train Kenyan actors and collaborate to put on a rehearsed non scripted (improvised) production. The finished product was a story about two local families who have to come to terms with a series of events consisting of whatever life threw at them (in a local context) including relationships, rape, child prostitution, family planning, female courage, health, and violence. They portrayed positive ways of dealing with and preventing these things and used comedic effect to break stigma and engage the audience and set them at ease. The production was done with the use of a mobile theatre that consists of a large vehicle, which has been fitted to store a stage, which retracts out of the side of the vehicle forming a large raised platform, and fitted with speakers. This is a very pure and original form of theatre, which is intimate and innovative. A perfect fit for the unique and original concept of applied theatre. Analyzing the creation a such performance, it is apparent that copious attention to detail is necessary to create the right effect. Dealing with such serious opics it is important to know how to combine the right amount of comedy with the right amount of seriousness. In utilizing this form of theatre correctly it is possible to realize the full potential of the arts and reduce harm to the masses. After the Coronation Street/S. M. A. R. T. show, counseling services and resources were available such as a condom tent and family planning tutorials. After a one year tour of one S. M. A. R. T. applied theat re tour in Kenya, an audience of 80 000 people would have viewed the show and 18 000 would have learned their HIV status as a result. Protest The early formations of applied theatre are apparent through the theatrical practices of classical drama and the politically motivated arts movements of 18 and 19th century Europe. Most notably, the French Revolution had a largely politically fuelled theatre scene. During France’s period of the ‘’Ancien Regime’’ where France was under monarchial rule, theatre was highly regulated by the monarchy and only three approved theatres existed in France. These displayed works that were highly censored and apolitical. After the fall of the monarchy, there was more freedom, which allowed for more theatres to be put up and a more vivid dramatic arts scene emerged, but continued to be censored. In 1791 a law was passed called the Chapelier Law which gave theatres the right to operate free from governmental oversight. Immediately following this the number of theatres boomed and theatre began to be seen as an arena of new French ideology and a pillar in the community. This period, known as the Enlightenment, fifty three new theatres opened and were constructed with vast audience space whilst new plays were constantly being written. There was an area of the theatre known as the ‘Parterre’ where were the working class would react and interact with their emotions towards what was being portrayed on stage quickly became a melting pot of political ideology and national identity and emotion. During the Enlightenment, plays were so politically fueled that French newspapers would criticize plays which lacked political representation saying that they were anti-revolutionary and a distraction from the pressing issues of society. For example, a famous and elaborate dramatic opera by Paisielo performed in Paris and was condemned, publicly petitioned against and reported to the National Assembly because of the general opinion of it being sensuous blasphemy with no significance or respect towards political fuel, national identity or democratic flow of interest. In fact, the importance of political theatre was so grave that the law even stated that any theatre that ‘’performs works attempting to undermine public spirit and to revive the shameful superstition of royalty will be closed, and the directors will e arrested and punished to the full extent of the law. ’’ This type of theatre was labeled as ‘Pieces de circonstance’ or more literally translated, Pieces representing the circumstances. Plays such as ‘’The Fall of Toulon’’ by benoit Picard used a story line based on true events and speeches by notable French figures such as Robespierre, whils t incorporating fuel for national pride, the national anthem, and a portrayal of overcoming struggle, freedom of expression, and comedy to make a mockery of the plight once faced in regards to the old monarchial system. These innovative pieces gave the ever so changing nation pride, courage, and esteem to address issues facing the build of their new society, as well as a safe place to discuss political feelings and national identity. The role played by the more scripted and political classical French drama from the Enlightenment period of the French Revolution, was pivotal in producing direct effects upon society and can be used as inspiration for modern theatre applied to modern day struggles. Now with an added creativity and freedom, with aspects such as improvisation, and deliberate engagement with the audience, the ower to be mobile, and more insight to the diversity of issues that perturb the human race, theatre can be used as a perfect tool for engaging a society in forms of protest and movements in a peaceful and democratic manner. These early works gave way for modern practitioners to fulfill their own philosophies using theater as a catalyst in an ongoing protest for change. Augosto Boal, a Brazilian applied theatre pioneer spent a lifetime producing social change via dramatic arts. In his early life he felt the need for the underclass of his nation to up rise through peaceful means. He recognized the social iniquities and racial divide facing them. He felt that his own social class, race, and social status impeded the progression of a generation of people subjected to life in the slums of his city. His philosophy was that change came from within the target group rather than an imposition of change upon them. His slogan was a quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet stating that ‘’theatre is like a mirror that reflects our virtues and defects equally. ’’ Boal went on to start the Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed. This organization had as an objective the study, discussion, and expression of social issues. They used this to protest and up-rise against diverse issues such as citizenship, culture, and oppressive policy all by means of theatricality. The works of Boal through the Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed even gained a feat of having a law passed protecting crime victims and witnesses in Brazil, a valuable asset in the society of the oppressed people represented by the organization. Boal wrote many books including Theatre for the Oppressed, Games for Actors and Non Actors, The Rainbow of Desire: The Bo al Method of Theatre and Therapy, and Legislative Theatre. In Games for Actors and Non Actors, Boal outlined a nearly every dramatic exercised he applied during his career. From this stemmed new kinds of innovative theatre such as the following: Newspaper Theatre is a technical system allowing an audience to make use of local news articles and other non-dramatic pieces of literatre, and apply them into becoming a theatrical scene. Legislative theatre is a form that provides an opportunity for local voters to voice and protest their opinions in dialogue with government and institution using theatrical methods. The formulation of a piece is created based on proposed laws and policies. The audience may join in as actors and express their views thus impacting the creation of the local policy. Forum Theatre is a highly interactive form of theatre where audience members could call upon a piece to pause, where mistreatment or oppression was evident in the storyline or amongst character interactions. Audience members would formulate solutions for a rational and preferred means of addressing and dealing with the subject. The audience shaped the course of which the piece would take. Invisible Theatre is the pursuit of an ambiguous performance in a location unsuspecting of a performance such as in a public setting. This tricked spectators into thinking that a real event was taking place but the theme would always address social issues. It is a means of getting a message across to an audience who may not normally be open to view a such performance. It also allowed for public interaction into the piece. Boal’s work went on to creating a practice called Drama Therapy based on the aforementioned principles. It is apparent that by drawing upon classical methods and applying dramatic aims into aims of social development; that theatre can be used as a catalyst for change in modern society. Innovation in theatrical forms are endless, and as long as creativity is used with enough insight into social needs, a powerful fusion is developed. Whether the goal is to educate to reduce harm in a developing country and within vulnerable communities, or to build a sense of community and culture, to gain political interest, or to revolutionize a nation, the power of the dramatic arts is an unparalleled tool where possibilities are endless. Task List 1) The topic for my research is the social developmental aspect of theatre. The aim is to look at the diversity in which theatre can be used as an applied tool. The research will analyse Applied Theatre methods, history, and applications. My reasoning for choosing this topic was because of a personal career specific interest. The only limitation was my inability to find live performances to gain a first hand experience as there were none in my area. I was also limited to choosing only a few possible applications of applied theatre as the lists are endless as it is a creative process rather than a set method. 2) My sources of info are listed in detail in the bibliography. I used books and Internet. Primary sources are sources of information that offer first hand knowledge of the subject. They are created during the time and within the direct context/environment of the subject. Secondary sources are continuations of primary sources, they are analysis, continuation, and interpretation of subjects, and events out of direct context/period. 3) I chose to use books mainly and internet to look more in depth at concepts discovered in my readings. I will acquire my books from the Central Vancouver Public Library where there is the largest collection of books in Canada as well as a wealth of resources. (I used the system to earch keywords such as: social change, applied theatre, theatre for change, political theatre, social drama, sociological drama, democratic drama, drama for change, theatre in the third world, humanitarian theatre. ) When using Internet I will verify sources prior to relying on their information. I will check the credibility of the authors and publicists. 4) Choose topic on the day asked by the instructor, find practical examples to broaden my perspective, select sources, gather notes and source details in a clear and concise method including brain tools such as mind maps and connections logs, analyse notes including primary and econdary information, choose a format for the final piece including the desired form of presentation, compose piece based on chosen format and information, proof read, edit, submit/present. 5) Do the research and write up project 6) Present project 7) Evaluation of Aims and Methods – Drawing on personal interests, my aims of showing the breadth of applications of theatre, its educational value, and its ability to impact society by bringing about social change, became very easy. I feel that the sources of my information applied directly to my aims and that breaking down my aim into three subcategories of culture, protest, and harm reduction- made for a more concise way of getting my point across. These three subcategories embodied the initial aim and each showed the educational value of theatre for that specific application. This happened through using practical examples, historical events, and practitioner profiling. My time table was effective as everything came together easily and on time. My time table was more of a checklist instead of a dated series of events. My sources were very clear and understandable, as well as verified for credibility. Looking at websites, I always checked the name of the author and searched them on google, as well as the date of their publication to get the most up to date examples. Also when looking at the study of Applied Theatre I found that referring to university prospectuses aided myself in personally understanding its researchable value.

Late Adulthood Essay

Reaching late adulthood is a stage in life that individuals often hope to be able to reach. Life starts from the moment of conception and goes on until we all reach the unavoidable stage of death. Individuals all deal with life in many different ways. An adult that has gone through life completing most of the tasks that he/she wanted to complete can go into the stage of late adulthood generally happy. †¨People in late adulthood often face many health problems. I have researched three sites that identify the current issues that place significance on late adulthood. Current issues consist of depression and suicide, health care issues as well as a decline in a physical manner and cognitive development. †¨Late adulthood is generally considered to begin approximately around the age of 65. Erik Erikson suggests that at this time it is important to find meaning and satisfaction in life rather than to become bitter and disillusioned. That is, to resolve the conflict of integrity ve rsus despair. It has been estimated that by the year 2030, Americans over 65 will make up 20% of the population. Despite the problems associated with longevity, studies of people in their 70s have shown that growing old is not necessarily synonymous with substantial mental or physical deterioration. Many older people are happy and engaged in a variety of activities. However, it still remains that according to the American Psychological Association depression and suicide are a significant public health issues for older adults. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders experienced by elders, but fortunately it is treatable by a variety of means. Currently older adults in the United States succumb to more minor symptoms of depression at a higher then that of younger adults. Late adults in the Baby Boomer generation seem to be displaying depressive  disorders at a significantly higher rate than previous groups; this trend displays a greater incidence of depression.†¨ †¨Depression is not only a prevalent disorder but is also a pervasive problem. Depressed older adults, like younger persons, tend to use health services at high rates, engage in poorer health behaviors, and evidence what is known as â€Å"excess disability.† Depression is also associated with suicide. Older adults have the highest rates of suicide of any a ge group, and this is particularly pronounced among men. †¨Physical changes, people typically reach the peak of their physical strength and endurance during there twenties and then gradually decline. In later adulthood, a variety of physiological changes may occur, including some degree of atrophy of the brain and a decrease in the rate of neural processes. Bone mass diminishes, especially among women, leading to bone density disorders such as osteoporosis. Muscles become weaker unless exercise programs are followed. You become less flexible and hair loss occurs in both sexes. As people live longer issues of quality of life take on greater importance. Many older Americans suffer chronic health problems that limit their ability to enjoy their later years. These conditions often lead to serious physical limitations that have a major impact on an individual’s ability to live independently.The most common chronic health problem among older adults is arthritis. Nationally, among persons aged 70 or older, 50% of men and 64% of women reported having arthritis (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, 2000). In Texas, the percentage is virtually the same – 51.3% of persons 65 and older report that they have some form of chronic joint symptoms (Texas Department of Health, 1999). Arthritis can be a crippling and painful disease that makes it difficult for older adults to perform even the most basic Adult Living Skills. End result is lost of mobility and disability. Adjustment is a part of life. The study of cognitive changes in the older population is complex. Response speeds have been reported to decline; some researchers believe that age†related decrease in working memory is the crucial factor underlying poorer performance by the elderly on cognitive tasks. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Intellectual changes in late adulthood , it do not always result in reduction of ability. While fluid intelligence (the ability to see and to use patterns and relationships to solve problems) does decline in later years, crystallized intelligence (the ability to use accumulated information  to solve problems and make decisions) has been shown to rise slightly over the entire life span. K. Warner Schaie and Sherry Willis reported that a decline in cognitive performance could be reversed in 40% to 60% of elderly people who were given remedial training. Dementia is usually responsible for cognitive defects seen in older people. These disorders, however, occur only in about 15% of people over 65. The leading cause of dementia in the United States is Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, eventually fatal disease that begins with confusion and memory lapses and ends with the loss of ability to care for oneself. Being able to reach old age is a blessing and a gift. Howe ver, it can come with a lot adjustment as life takes it toll. As I have explained late adults can suffer from depression and suicide, health care issues, as well as a decline in physical and cognitive development. As young adults we most try to remain physically and mentally tough to slow these effects.

7 Top class apps that every Grad student must use

Social Media 7 Top class apps that every Grad student must use Today’s technological world has changed the definition of almost everything, whether it is related with education, corporate world and other fields. It is through technology, the world is becoming a small place, where each and everyone can communicate sitting at any corner of the globe. Many new applications are regularly stepping ahead and thereby, making every task simple and trouble free (Galbraith and et.al., 2007). Apps are considered as the wave of the future man. Talking about the use of apps in the classrooms, soon each and every classroom will be filled with apps of all sizes as well as shapes. They will sooner or later replace the books and maybe someday friends and family. However, till then students who want to grade high in their assessments require apps on their computing device in order to succeed their school. Irrespective the students are taking notes, reading, typing up, annotating photosynthesis PDFs on the juxtaposition of thing A and thing B, there are man y best applications to get their work and schoolwork done quite easily (Tomei, 2009). Of course, it still depends on the students that whether they actually want to do work or not, but these applications when tucked into their iPad, MacBook, One X or ZenBook will help in cutting down their work to some extent (Henning, 2007). The present article will throw light on the applications related with the class that should be used by the grade students to score higher marks. The subsequent snippet will discuss about the class apps which are useful for the students and will make their work easy. The first classroom application is Dropbox. It is nothing but a multifaceted tool, which is very powerful. This app can be used to store and sync the files and documents across the tablets, computers and smart phones. Students can simply write a lesson plan or the lecture in their computer at home and put it on their Dropbox folder and whoosh!!! It will be synced with their work computer (Hollander, 2013). During their free period they can just open that file, make alternations and that change will be synced automatically with their home computer. Thus, it can be said that it is very seamless, free and fast. All the grade students can make use of this application in many ways. They can just manage their own materials and make it readily accessible. In addition to this, Dropbox works across platforms and devices and thus, students can use a Mac at home, an iPad, a Blackberry phone, a PC at work, all will have access to their documents and materials. Dropbox makes the life a lot easier . The very first thing the professors are required to do is they need to create a sharing folder for each and every class they teach so that they can make available crucial information to all the students (Smith, 2003). There are many benefits which can be availed by the students by using the Dropbox app. Grade students uses this app to submit their presentations and all visual components and thus, saves their time, which can be utilized in some fruitful work. Another important classroom application for the students and teachers is Skitch app. Now, most of the students as well as teachers are moving towards a paperless teaching and learning world. Recent advancements of technology and invention of iPad, Elmo and projector in almost every schools and colleges has rapidly changed the working patterns and business in the classrooms (Galbraith and et.al., 2007). There are many applications for the purpose of planning, collecting, capturing the students learning, anecdotal notes and teaching; however the most useful is Skitch. This application allows the students and teachers to take a snap or screenshot and allow them to write directly on it in order to make the point swiftly. In addition, it can be used for numerous learning experiences. Skitch helps in enhancing the discussions with the students by providing a support to them in learning more visible. Hence, students can learn and understands the basic concepts easily, which in turn will hel p them score higher grades. Further, they can do many things in their learning to show their level of understanding if iPads and Macs are made available for use in the classrooms (MacDonald, 2012). The third important tool that can be used by the students is sticky notes. Teacher can give sticky notes in the classroom to make them write the things that they have learned in the class and can check the order to understanding and thinking. Not only teachers, but students can also be benefited by this. Students will be able to confront their exact understanding of what they have learned (MacDonald, 2012). There are many ways in which the sticky notes are useful in the classrooms as well as for the students. Grade students make use of sticky notes for the purpose of organizing the folders, notepapers and study cards. Sometimes, while reading the difficult passages from the technical textbooks, students are being encouraged by the teachers to summarize the things on the sticky note and place it on the margin so that it becomes easy for them to search it out in the near future. There some of the students who storyboard their writing with the sticky notes so that can be moved around. I n addition, it also allows them to take the advantage of ideas spawned out of order. Furthermore, the students can make use of sticky notes to determine the things in the classrooms, categorizing the items by type and by labelling items in a target language (Hollander, 2013). There are many students who draw antics of stick men at the bottom of the sticky note so that when they flip the pages, it emerges as if the men are moving. All these things require planning as well as higher level of thinking. Talking in regards with the Resoph Notes, it is another important app that students should use in order to score higher marks and manage their work easily. With this application, students can take super-fast notes in plain text that will never be unable to get along with the future word processing software being used by the students. In simple words, it can be said that one can open their notes from different apps on both the computer and mobile device such as Simplenote and Flick Note. Further, within Resoph Notes, the students can search for text as well input text (Hess, 2011). Wolfram Alpha is also a new app for the students, which allows them to answer most of their questions in regards with the mathematics, chemistry, physics, words, demographics, dates of essential events, conversions and many more (Tiwana, 2013). There is an erudition curve for figuring out how the questions should be entered, however the time students figured it out, Wolfram Alpha app is able to unravel each and everything being thrown at it. Hence, with this app students will be able to solve complex questions regardless of their subject and topic. This will be considered as a steer to them, which will help in showing them right path of success. Throwing light on the e-reading application, Amazon’s Kindle app is considered as one of the best app for the students, which works on all the platforms. Kindle app has a mammoth library and it is most likely that it will not going to be out of style any time soon. Because of this reason, it is suggested that students should make use of this app in order to grab their textbooks and novels (Galbraith and et.al., 2007). One thing of this app, which is being liked by most of the people, it is quite simple and easy to share highlights and quotes being like by them. In addition, if student finds any problem parsing what’s imperative in the book he or she is reading something you're reading, they can just turn on the notes and popular highlights from other users of the Amazon. Finally, this app also helps the students to take all the books and notes with them and even they can have access by the cloud reader. Thus, it is coolest web app, which can be accessed on any library c omputer. Last but not the least, Pixelmator is one of the best reasonably priced photo editing suites for Mac which helps in offering more bang for the students buck as compared to Adobe Photoshop. This app is very useful for editing the visual projects; however it may not include all the favorite Photoshop keyboard shortcuts or filters. Pixelmator allows the users to save and export the files quirkily and is of great value and elegant looking (Tomei, 2009). Finally, it also have a iCloud Sync for their users files amid computers, touch-up tools, numerous filters and the capability to export the files to the users social networks. To conclude it can be well-attributed that all these applications can solve major problems of those students who are facing difficulties while managing their materials, editing their visual projects, searching textbooks and many more. For instance, by making use of sticky notes student comment on the other student’s work and assignments and put forward many suggestions for the betterment and compliments on the sticky notes. Another app i.e. Dropbox can be used as a great learning and teaching tool for the grade students. REFERENCES Books and Journals Galbraith, P.L. and et.al., 2007. Modelling and Applications in Mathematics Education: The 14th ICMI Study. Springer Science & Business Media. Tomei, L.A., 2009. ICTs for Modern Educational and Instructional Advancement: New Approaches to Teaching: New Approaches to Teaching. IGI Global. Henning, J., 2007. The Art of Discussion-Based Teaching: Opening Up Conversation in the Classroom. Routledge. Hess, A., 2011. iPad 2 Fully Loaded. John Wiley & Sons. Tiwana., A., 2013. Platform Ecosystems: Aligning Architecture, Governance, and Strategy. Newnes. Hollander, B.G., 2013. Participating in Plays, Skits, and Debates with Cool New Digital Tools. The Rosen Publishing Group. Smith, G.G., 2003. The web versus the classroom: instructor experiences in discussion-based and mathematics-based disciplines. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 29. pp.29-59. MacDonald, M., 2012. Classroom Aesthetics in Early Childhood Education. Journal of Education and Learning. 1(1). p.49.

Educational Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Educational Issues - Essay Example The effects of bullying to the students and the entire community were also addressed in the study (Cordeiro, 2006) argues that bullying tends to lower the self esteem of the students who are always subjected under the stress of bullying. The issues facing new comers in schools especial the immigrants are suppose to be addressed through such programs that will aim to find the safest practices to address the issue. According to ISLLC standards 1 leaders are suppose to enhance the success of each and every leaner through the development ,articulation stewardship and implementation of learning vision that is accommodated and supported by all the stake holders. Hence through these standards, the principal should always aim to address the issue of bullying so as to facilitate the achievement of this vision. There many challenges and problems that any administrator may face in this state. However the problem of multiculturalism is the most outstanding problems in many schools in this state. There is need for the students and the various departments to be involved in the awareness campaigns activities so as to be able to deal with the issue cultural diversity within the school. The issue of a diverse culture has been caused by the ever increasing number of immigrants from other countries hence many staff members in this state are not happy with the issue of other communities from outside enrolling into schools around this state. Majority of those who enroll are always treated as the minority and a lot of learning resources are kept away from them. This situation creates a lot of disparity among the students in terms of performance hence the African Americans who are the minority, end up being disadvantaged. All this is attributed to by the lack of enough experience on how to work in a multi cultural environment. Another issue affecting education in this state is the fact that majority of staff members in this state are Caucasians hence this denies students from the min ority group a chance to develop their relationship with students or workers from their ethnic community. The issue of multi races in the state has caused racism in the schools hence it is important for the leaders in the education sector including the school administrators/principal to address this issue by applying the ISLLC standards no 6 diversity which advocates for the school principal to be able to understand ,be able to respond and influence relationship between students and the staff both in terms of political ,economical, legal and cultural relationship this kind of relationship should be reflected both in the class room and in the school compound and in the community. Also the principal should be able to plan and use his thinking and problem solving techniques that will enable him handle the issue of racism as stated in standards 5 of the ISLLC decision making strategies Discouraging test score is another area that has tried to evaluate the number of drop outs in schools i n relation to failing common exams like English language .in this state ,there is a big assumption that the use of F/R/L program has dropped drastically because learners fear being embarrassed because of failing exams. Hence in order to address the issue of discouraging test scores, parents and the educational community have a role to play in

Safety and Health Issues in the Hospital Laboratory Essay

Safety and Health Issues in the Hospital Laboratory - Essay Example This is what occupational health and safety is all about; protecting the workers from the possible health and security hazards in the work place. Basically, occupational health and safety is an interdisciplinary field which is concerned with the protection of the safety, welfare and the health of the people in work or employment environment. Primarily, the workers are the one who are protected but as a secondary effect, the co-workers, family members, customers, suppliers, surrounding community and the general public that may be affected by the work environment have also to be protected. This paper seeks to highlight health and safety at the work place by considering a case study of a hospital laboratory. It will consider the possible health and safety hazards in the hospital laboratory and how they can easily be managed. Occupational health and safety is not a new idea because since 1950, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) jointly sought to define the concept. The paraphrased joint definition requires that occupational health aims at maintenance of the physical, social and mental wellbeing of all the workers in their workplace (Ladou, 2006). It should also prevent all the safety and health hazards caused by the working conditions thereby protecting the health and physical safety of the workers in a particular working environment. Finally, the practice of occupational safety health and safety also ensures the assignment and maintenance of workers in environment which is in tandem with both their psychological and physiological capacities and thereby adapting the worker to his job and vice versa. Having seen the three major concerns of the practice of occupational health and safety, we shall basically focus on the role of prevention of the safety and health hazards that are caused by the working conditions (Roughton, 2002). In this case, the work environment being considered is the hospital laboratory. 3.0 The Case Study The hospital laboratory is a very important part in the hospital system that helps in the diagnostic function of the system. The laboratory either confirms diagnosis or provides information that helps in the diagnostic process. In the laboratory, the tests that are carried out are aimed at establishing the cause of the observed disease symptoms. The test is often carried out on body fluids and/or wastes such as urine, faeces, blood, sputum, saliva, etc. All these fluids are very potent media for pathogens and other micro organisms that cause diseases in the human body. The test in the

Role of international organizations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Role of international organizations - Case Study Example International cooperation is likely to occur where same interests exist across all the parties. There are important theories that share an assumption that interstate bargaining is costly as it involves money, energy, personnel, and resources (Martins and Simmons, 1998). This idea that there are high transaction costs involved in the formation of IOs has led to the conclusion that the institutions are naturally sticky. This means the change in IOs does not easily take place and it is a slow process. Public organizations are governed by a complex system of rules. The public institutions are led by international administrators thus it is not out of the ordinary to note that change hardly occurs. It was observed that only a few IOs that existed in the 1980s were still active in the 1990s. This period saw the collapse of many IOs but new ones were created. These were known as the second generation IOs that include UNDP, UN, UNCTAD, IDA, IFC, and World Bank. These were created through the actions of other IOs and are probably less important than the traditionally created ones but they are led by institutional rules, goals, and commitments. These emanations comprised 70% of the population in 1992; this was an increase from 64% a decade earlier as stated by Cheryl et al. (1998). The mortality of IOs is hard to understand given that they are known to be naturally sticky. First, the longer the institutions have been in existence, the more likely they are to survive. Secondly, the failure of the Eastern bloc and the political and economic instability in Africa led to the collapse of the IOs in the region. Finally, the mortality rate was higher for second and third generation IOs than the treaty ones where the stickiness issues were more likely to be seen. The current work on IOs has provided limited insight into the processes of institutional change. IOs in the policy areas characterized by unattractive options leave dissatisfied member states with minimum leverage, therefore, tend to be dependent and rigid (Mibler, 2008). Those with attractive options change relatively in response to underlying shifts in the member interest and capabilities.

Effect of trampling on length of Cranesbill leaves Coursework

Effect of trampling on length of Cranesbill leaves - Coursework Example We make the assumption, for instance, that for a given distance along the transect, the soil and other relevant conditions are similar. Moreover, we can take it that if the data is any good, then standard deviations along any point of data collection along the transect (one meter intervals) should be small. This is to be expected too, given that for every measurement point along the transect there is only one reading for the soil compaction level, and several readings for the leaf length. Therefore, if soil compaction is correlated with the leaf length, then one can assume that the variations in length sizes along any measurement point in the transect should be small, or at least not significant enough to cause worry and doubt as to the validity of the data and of the alternative hypothesis being accepted (Statistics Canada 2011). Indeed, looking at the range of the standard deviation along the different measurement points in the transect, one sees that there is somewhat of a variati on along the measurement points, by a factor of 3 in some measurement points compared to others. There are several ways to interpret this. On the one hand, looking at the standard deviation figures, within the measurement points it is not conclusive that the standard deviation magnitudes are enough to cause worry as to the data validity. On the other hand, one can also investigate that maybe the wide variances in the sample data of leaf lengths within the measurement points may have something to do with the standard deviation being large or small. For example, looking at measurement point 8, or the measurement of leaf lengths at the point of eight meters from the start of the transect, one sees that the standard deviation is unusually large, in fact larger than any other standard deviation figure for the rest of the measurement points. Examining the data for this measurement point, one sees that compared to the other measurement points, there is a wider variation of measurement data for leaf lengths (1.5; 2.8; 2.8; 2.7; 2.3; 2.5). Looking at the measurements of leaf lengths at point 0, where the transect begins, one sees that the variation in measurements is somewhat smaller, or to put it another way, the leaf lengths are closer to each other, or varies less in comparison to measurement point 8 (1, 0.8; 0.8; 0.7; 0.7). This is borne out by the computed standard deviation for this measurement point, which is about a factor of three smaller than the standard deviation for point 8. The point is that within the measurement points, the standard deviation for the measurements vary in magnitude, and in some measurement points quite larger in comparison to the other measurement points. Judging by the standard deviation alone therefore, one comes to suspect whether the correlation between soil compaction and leaf length exists, and if the established correlation is valid. Of this, more will be said with regard to the inherent limitation of the study (Statistics Canada 2011; Wolfram Research 2012) Looking at ambient data, or data that is related to soil quality or pH, soil temperature, and the amount or intensity of the light present, this paper makes the assumption that more study needs to be done to either factor in or discount each of these variables as being correlated or associated with leaf length.

Monique and the Mango Rains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Monique and the Mango Rains - Essay Example The case of the Minianka women of Mali is an example of where society ranks the man above women prior to using stratification to develop a hierarchy of the women. There are several factors that are anthropologically linked to the existence of social stratification in society, and they include the family, division of labor, sex, economy, religion, and gender responsibilities among others. Depending on the nature of the society, the degree of stratification varies; thus communities are classified into hunters and gatherers, horticultural, pastoral, agricultural, job-specific, and industrialized, among others. Gender roles, family, and reproduction are factors that affect social stratification in the social context. Society is responsible for defining the roles and responsibilities of its members. The inequality that stems from the gender roles and responsibilities follows the anthropological view of the man being stronger to the woman. The men are burdened with the responsibilities of provision, security, and management of the family unit in the Malian community, common to most African societies. The society, supported by anatomy, accredits women to the growth of the family, and consequently society. The capability of the female gender to give birth is evaluated in most scenarios, with the blame of infertility being highly alleged as the woman’s fault. Although men have been established, by science, as the sex determinants and equally responsible for infertility, women bear the wrath of society. Conventionally, the woman is inherently responsible for the nurturing role in the famil y unit and society collectively. Beliefs of society, with regards to men versus women, contribute to the establishment of levels where the accomplishment of responsibilities set by society improves one’s position (Holloway & Bidwell 58). Stratification occurs in a social context under gender responsibilities, family, and reproduction, under different social groupings such as girls, ladies, mature women, married women, and mothers, just to mention but a few.

Scientific paper about reconstructing 3D models of buildings Essay

Scientific paper about reconstructing 3D models of buildings - Essay Example First, most of it is unorganized, uncalibrated, have uncontrolled illumination, image quality and resolution and is widely variable. In essence, coming up with a computer vision technique that can work with most of these images has proved to be a challenge for most researchers. Now how can researchers work with this huge resource; this paper proposes solution such as Image Based Rendering algorithm and Structure from Motion. While a few other researchers such as Brown and Lowe (Lowe 395) have used Structure from Motion to tackle the above problems, the technique used in this paper has several modifications. Structure from Motion is effective in 3D visualization and scene modeling and can operate on hundreds of images obtained from keyword queries (photo tourism). Through photo tourism, it is possible to reconstruct many world sites. In effect, an algorithm that can work effectively on internet photos can enable vital applications such as 3D visualization, communication/media sharing, and localization. Two recent breakthroughs in the field of computer vision namely Structure from Motion and Feature Matching will be the backbone of this paper. Through these techniques, it is possible to reconstruct buildings in 3D to offer virtual and interactive tours for internet users. You can also evaluate the current state of a building and identify degradation and areas that may require renovation or reconstruction. Further, we can come up with creations or display of any building of interest as long as we have its image. Sparse geometry and camera reconstruction The browsing and visualization components of this system requires exact information in regards to the orientation, relative location and inherent parameters like focal lengths for each photo in a collection and sparse three dimension scene geometry. The system also requires a geo-referenced coordinate frame. For the most part, this information can be obtained through electronic components and Global Positioning Sys tem gadgets over the internet. Image files in EXIF tags often have this data though the vast majority of these sources are mostly inaccurate. As such, this system will compute this data via computer vision techniques. First, we will detect feature points in every image after which the system will equate feature points between pairs of images. Finally, the system will run an iterative Structure from Motion procedure to retrieve the camera parameters. Since Structure from Motion procedure will only produce estimates and our system requires absolute values, the system will run iterative procedure to acquire better estimates. How this whole procedure unfolds is detailed below. Detecting feature points will be done using SIFT keypoint detector (Lowe 411). This technique has better invariance to image alteration. The next step is matching keypoint descriptors using the approximate bordering neighbors. For instance, if we want to match two images I and J, first we will create a kd-tree obt ained from element descriptors in J. Next, for each element in I we will locate an adjacent neighbor in J using the kd-tree. For effectiveness, we can use ANN’s priority search algorithm. This technique limits each query to visit a maximum of two hundred bins in the kd-tree. Alternatively, we can use a technique described by Lowe (Lowe 95). In the technique, for each

Divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Divorce - Essay Example This increasing rate of divorces can be blamed on an imbalance between understanding the other person and maintaining one’s own self-esteem at the same time. The inability of the couples to appreciate their partner and the values of marriage has led to the soaring statistics of divorces (Kramer). With the advent of the same-sex marriages and state laws permitting them, a difference can be seen in couple behaviors and relationship attitudes between the same-sex and heterosexual couples. A very intriguing concept put forward by Peter D. Kramer, analyses the values of autonomy and mutuality amongst the couples and the importance of their equivalent preservation. Autonomy is one of those values that is imprinted in the American psychology and even in marriages the couples are emphasizing on maintaining their self-beliefs and their true identity against whatever the circumstances. Carl Roger states that, â€Å"a successful marriage is one that increases the self-actualization of each member†. In olden times, only men were privileged with this right of self-governance, however 1970’s introduced this ideology to the women as well. It is important to note here, when both members of the couple assert their self-importance and individuality, it is a step forward towards progress and social evolvement. But the irony of this concept is that it leads to a greater number of divorces. Therefore it is of most importance that this ideology should be in a state of equ ilibrium with mutuality and acceptance of the other person. Mutuality is a virtue that is not commonly practiced in our society and the attention of an individual is mainly directed towards self-enhancement, self-help and self-esteem. It is not something that can be taught or practiced spontaneously; rather it needs to be incorporated in our society just like the concept of autonomy is. Marriages will not be able to thrive in a healthy manner until and unless

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Facing IT Managers Essay Example for Free

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Facing IT Managers Essay Cyber-security demands are ever increasing in the field of Information Technology with the globalization of the internet. Disruptions due to cyber-attacks are affecting the economy, costing companies billions of dollars each year in lost revenue. To counter this problem corporations are spending more and more on infrastructure and investing to secure the cyber security vulnerabilities which range anywhere from software to hardware to networks and people that use them. Due to the complexity of information systems that interact with each other and their counter parts, the requirement to meet specific cyber security compliances have become a challenging issues for security professionals worldwide. To help with these issues, security professionals have created different standards and frameworks over the years for addressing this growing concern of vulnerabilities within enterprise systems and the critical information they hold (â€Å"Critical Security Controls,† n.d.). Before we get into the details let first examine what exactly is a security vulnerability. By definition a security vulnerability can be flaws in hardware, software, networks or the employees that use them which in turn can allow hackers to compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information system (â€Å"Common Cybersecurity,† 2011). To thoroughly discuss this topic in more detail I will first discuss Confidentiality as it is one of the three main goals of IT Security. Confidentiality is as simple as it sounds, limiting access to resources for only those that need it. Confidentiality vulnerabilities occur when hackers try to exploits some weakness or flaw  within information system and view information that they are not normally allowed to. In this case the confidentiality of the documents have been compromised. The second goal of IT security which can also be affected if security vulnerabilities are present is Integrity. Integrity by definition can mean many different things for different topics but for the IT world it solely relates to the trustworthiness of a document or resource. This means that the document or file has been unhindered or changed and is still in its original form. This is very important because if data has been hindered or changed it can cause substantial damage to corporations due to the possible wrong decisions being made like investments or unintended publications or even trouble with the law if tax audits are not adding up properly which would all result in a net loss. The last goal of IT security which can be compromised if security vulnerabilities exist is Availability of the information system. Availability refers to the idea that a resource is accessible by those that need it, whenever they need it. In my personal opinion I believe availability is probably the most important out of the three security goals. I say this simply because there are many mission critical applications out there that need to be online 24/7 and any downturn can result in catastrophic results. One prime example of this is the air traffic control towers at LAX; they were having problems with the system a few months back due to the U-2 spy plane flying over their airspace. This caused major panic which grounded taxied planes that were ready to take off and forced the manual tracking of planes already in air (Ahlers, 2014). Throughout this the paper I intend to report on the many different types of cyber-security vulnerabilities available and their effects. I will also describe in detail the vulnerability I feel is the most important facing IT managers today, its impact on organizations and the solution. As I stated before there are many different types of security vulnerabilities out there which can affect the integrity, availability and confidentiality of a resource. So the question still remains what exactly are t hese types of vulnerabilities? Especially since they range from software, hardware, networks and the people that use them. Firstly I will discuss the software vulnerabilities, more specifically in terms of web applications. This is because more than half of the current  computer security threats and vulnerabilities today affect web applications and that number is ever increasing. (Fonseca, Seixas, Vieira, Madeira, 2014). When considering the programming language used to develop web applications you have PHP which is considered a weak language, on the other hand you have Java, C# and Visual Basic which are considered strong languages. It is important to note that the language used to develop the web applications is very important because although the different programming languages are similar overall, each one has different rules of how data is stored, retrieved, the execution methods, tables and so on. For example when I say how data is stored and retrieve, I am basically regarding to data types and data structures and how the programming language that is being used maps their values into type fields like strings for names, Int for numbers, or even Boolean for true and false statements. Overall though even if you are using a strong typed language like Java, it does not always guarantee itself free from defects because the language itself may not be the root cause of the vulnerability but possibly the implementation methods used or even insufficient testing (Fonseca, Seixas, Vieira, Madeira, 2014). Vulnerabilities in web applications invite XSS exploits and SQL injection which are the most common types. Below you can see in the image the evolution of reports caused by SQL injection and XSS exploits over the years. This next section we will discuss some more types of security vulnerabilities, more specifically vulnerabilities with regards to hardware. Many people assume that hardware vulnerabilities have the lowest security concern compared to other types of vulnerabilities like software, networks and people that use them simply because they can be stored up in secure environments. The truth is even hardware vulnerabilities can be easily susceptible to attacks. Hardware in general have a longer lifespan than software because simply with software you can upgrade it and install new patches/builds even after deployment. With hardware you once you purchase it, you are most likely going to keep it for a while. When it does become obsolete and ready to be disposed a lot of organizations make the simple mistake of not securely disposing the old hardware properly which in turn opens up the door for intruders. Old hardware have software programs installed on them and other things like IC transistors whi ch can help  hackers learn a lot more about the organization and help lead to future attacks (Bloom, Leontie, Narahari, Simha, 2012). The most recent example of hardware vulnerability which caused one of the biggest Cybersecurity breaches in history was most recently with Target. 40 million credit and debit cards with customer information was stolen simply because a malware was introduced to the point of sale system through a hardware encryption vulnerability (Russon, 2014). Although hardware vulnerabilities are not normally the root cause for majority of the exploits and breaches out there, it is always still good to follow best practices. Network vulnerabilities will be the next topic of discussion and my personal favorite. Vulnerabilities through network systems are very common especially with the all the resources available to hackers today. There are many open source software programs on the market which can help intruders learn critical information about an organization. Just to name a few of the most popular and commonly used ones include Nmap security scanner and Wireshark. Nmap security scanner was originally developed to be used for security and system administration purposes only, like mapping the network for vulnerabilities. Today it most commonly used for black hat hacking (Weston, 2013). Hackers use it to scan open unused ports and other vulnerabilities which in turn helps them gain unauthorized access to the network. Wireshark on the other hand is also similar to Nmap as it was originally developed for network analysis and troubleshooting. It allows administrators to view and capture all packet resources that passes through a particular interface. Over the years hackers have started using Wireshark to exploit unsecured networks and gain unauthorized access (Shaffer, 2009). Although scanning unused open ports and capturing packets are a great way for intruders to gain access to a network, the most popular method by far to breach a network is USB thumb devices. Most enterprise networks are very secure in the sense that they use a DMZ (De-militarized zone) and outside penetration becomes very difficult. In a de-militarized zone outside network traffic must go pass through two different firewalls to get to the intranet of the organization. The first firewall includes all the commonly used servers like FTP, SMTP and all other resources that can be accessible by the public. The second firewall has the actual intranet of the organization which includes all private resources (Rouse, 2007). Below is the diagram of a DMZ. So the question still remains, since most enterprise organizations use DMZ which in turn helps prevent port scanning or packet analyzing, why is USB thumb devices the most popular network vulnerability? (Markel, 2013) The answer is very simple â€Å"Social engineering†. We as human beings, through social conditioning do not stop and ask questions when were not familiar with someone, which in turn has become one of the major causes for the cybersecurity breaches that occur today. Just to give one example from my own personal experiences at work, each floor has an authentication swipe policy to gain entry. Every time I enter the office area, there are a few people with me and only one person in the group usually swipes his/her badge to open the door. This is a huge security vulnerability because anyone can just follow the group and gain access to the entire intranet of the organization. In my case in particular I work for United Airlines headquarters in Chicago at the Willis tower which is more than 100 stories high and the fact that the entire building is not ours alone, this becomes a huge security concern. While I have briefly explained the vulnerabilities in software, hardware, networks and the people that use them, the question still remains, what is the most important security vulnerability facing IT managers today?. This answer to this questions differs person to person, and one must take into consideration the actual vulnerability, its threat source and the outcomes. A person with a small home business might only be concerned with denial of service attacks, since they may not have enough cash flow to properly secure their network. On the other hand an enterprise organization with large cash flow might have a different prospective and probably does not concern itself with denial of service attacks but instead is focuses on making sure all the systems are upda te using windows server update services. In my personal opinion though, you might have guessed it but it’s definitely us human beings because we have the tendency to fall victims and contribute to the successful security breaches that occur in today’s society. Mateti in his essay â€Å"TCP/IP Suite† stated that vulnerabilities occur because of human error. A study by Symantec and the Ponemon institute showed that 64 percent of data breaches in 2012 were resulted due to human mistakes (Olavsrud, 2013). Larry Ponemon the founder of security research at Ponemon Institute and chairman stated that â€Å"Eight  years of research on data breach costs has shown employees behavior to be one of the most pressing issues facing organizations today†, up by twenty two percent since the first survey† (Olvasrud, 2013). A prime example of this is when I stated earlier about how anyone can just enter my office area without swiping their card, just by simply following the group. This is a form of human erro r when employees are too intimidated to ask questions and request authorization from someone they believe does not work for the organization. The intruder can just walk in the front door pretending to be a salesperson, repairman or even a white collar businessman and may look like someone legitimate but in fact they are not. This intruder now has direct access to the intranet and can install malicious malware on to the computers to disrupt daily operations or even steal sensitive data like confidential project information, release dates, trade secrets and many more. A very good example of this is the Stuxnet worm which infect the Iranian nuclear facilities and caused a lot of damage internally which in turn delayed Iran’s nuclear development. All of the security measures that were put in place by Iran’s cyber defense team were circumvented simply by just one employee because the worm was introduced through an infected USB drive. This simply shows how the direct access from unauthorized users due to employee negligence can cause such tremendous damage and that all the perimeter defense become completely useles s. Another prime example of human errors was the RSA breach in 2011 where cybercriminals thought instead of just sending millions of phishing emails to different random mailboxes, let’s send personalized emails to specific employees. The employees at RSA thinking since it’s a personalized message its â€Å"safe† and clicked on the links unknowingly which in turn caused the malware to be downloaded on to the network. To counter this problem firstly IT managers need to properly train employees and give them specific guidelines to follow. Symantec has issued a press releases with the guidelines on how to properly secure sensitive data which includes information on how to train employees for these types of intrusions. Human error is not just limited to intimation or foolishness, it also expands too many different areas because after all it is us humans who manage the cyberspace, grant physical access to the terminals and systems that are connected to the internetwork. We setup the protocols used for communication, set the security policies and procedures,  code backend server software, create passwords used to access sensitive information, maintain updates on computers and so on (â€Å"Security 2011, † 2011 ). The human element matters very much possibly more than the software, hardware or the network systems especially when it comes to properly securing an internetwork from data breaches. The impact on the organization always depends on what type of business it is and what it is engaged in. For example if an organization is very popular and has bigger presence in the online commerce (Amazon and New Egg) compared to one that does not use the internet quiet often will be more concerned with web based attacks and vulnerabilities. The impact though regardless of the type of organization will always be tremendous. Once a breach occurs not only are you spending on recovering from its effects but you are also spending on beefing up your current security measures by installing new devices, hiring new employees so the same occurrence does not occur again (Hobson, 2008) Sometimes at the end of the day some of the cost are not even recoverable like sensitive data, trade secrets, personnel information or even customer information. Another major cost and headache that occurs once an organization becomes a victim of cybercrime is lawsuits. Many customers who feel that the organization could not protect their confidentiality will sue the corporation for millions of dollars which in turn can cause major loss. IT managers can do many things to help prevent breaches due to human errors. The first thing they can do is properly train the employees as stated above on a periodical basis and use current guidelines like Symantec to properly secure their intranet from any type of intrusion. IT managers can also establish a safe harbor in the sense that they can force employees to periodically change their passwords and establish rules so the password must be certain characters long and must include other types of characters besides just the typical alphanumerical ones. Employee negligence also due to bad habits like sending sensitive data over an unsecured email and IT managers must ensure that they continually educate their employees. There are many different types of security vulnerabilities out there in today’s world that are affecting organizations. In my personal opinion I believe human error is the one vulnerability that affects IT managers the most simply because we as humans make mistakes. It is in our nature and no matter how hard we try we will always be susceptible to deception either through social engineering tactics or clicking dangerous  links because it â€Å"looks safe† or even being negligent by not reporting something unusual. Employees need to realize that their actions can bring terrible consequences for both them and the organization as a whole. References Fonseca, J., Seixas, N., Viera, M., Madeira, H. (2014). Analysis of Field Data on Web Security Vulnerabilities. IEEE Transaction on Dependable Secure Computing, 11(2), 89-100 doi:10.1109/TDSC.2013.37 Russon, M. (2014, June 10). Forget Software Vulnerabilities, Hardware Security Must Improve Before Its Too Late. International Business Times RSS. Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/forget-software-vulnerabilities-hardware-security-must-improve-before-its-too-late-1451912 Bloom, G., Leontie, E., Narahari, B., Simha, R. (2012, January 1). Hardware and Security: Vulnerabilities and Solutions. . Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~simha/research/HWSecBookChapter12.pdf Common Cyber Security Vulnerabilities in Industrial Control Systems. (2011, January 1). . Retrieved July 12, 2014, from https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/documents/DHS_Common_Cybersecurity_Vulnerabilities_ICS_2010.pdf Critical Security Controls. (n.d.). SANS Institute -. Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://www.sans.org/critical-security-controls Ahlers, M. (2014, May 6). FAA computer vexed by U-2 spy plane over LA. CNN. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/us/california-ground-stop-spy-plane-computer/ Most Important Cybersecurity Vulnerability Facing It Managers. (n.d.). . Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/computer-science/most-important-cybersecurity-vulnerability-facing-it-managers-computer-science-essay.php Security 2011: Attack Of The Human Errors Network Computing. (2011, December 22).Network Computing. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://www.networkcomputing.com/networking/security-2011-attack-of-the-human-errors/d/d-id/1233294? Hobson, D. (2008, August 8). The real cost of a security breach. SC Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://www.scmagazine.com/the-real-cost-of-a-security-breach/article/113717/ Direct, M. (2013, December 20). Human error is the root cause of most data

Prison Treatments Laws in New York State Essay Example for Free

Prison Treatments Laws in New York State Essay Michael E. Deutsch, Dennis Cunningham and Elizabeth M. Fink †Twenty Years Later — Attica Civil Rights Case Finally Cleared for Trial† Social Justice, Vol. 18, No. 3 (45), Attica: 1971—1991 A Commemorative Issue (Fall 1991), pp. 13-25 This is a journal uses the commissioner, the director of the correctional, Russel Osward as a center role to recall the Attica Riot, condemning his failure of management of the prison regime and the inhumane assault he had set to end up the uprising. The government had covered the facts of violent assault of the riot for years, but it had been dug out by the protest of the riot survivors 20 years after the riot, and they finally won the negotiations and gained their civil rights. Quotations can be cited for discussing how the negotiation had gone through. It also provides me some background information of the riot. It also gives a sense of what kind of civil rights had been violated and what had been brought back. I can use these rights as reference to seek changes of the State laws. Vicky Munro-Bjorklund â€Å"Popular Cultural Images of Criminals and Prisoners since Attica† Social Justice, Vol. 18, No. 3 (45), Attica: 1971—1991 A Commemorative Issue (Fall 1991), pp. 48-70 This journal focuses on the popular culture images that been shaped after the Attica Riot. It argues that the misunderstanding of the prisoner had been changed since the uprising, and media is also a force that pushes the prisons into reform. Because of stereotype, or the popular cultural images of the prisoners, no one had paid that much attention to the prisoners before the increasing exposure of the real â€Å"prisoners’ life† after the Attica Riot. The description of the popular cultural images of the prisoners in Attica is really a good resource to use. This resource is mainly a statement of the prisoners’ image. I do not need to describe the change of the images because I am focusing on the law changes, so nothing will be quoted, but it makes me think in a new way: The affection of exposure from the public or social media. George Edwards, â€Å"Foreword: Penitentiaries Produce No Penitents† forward-penitentiaries produce no penitents, 63 J. Crim. L. Criminology Police Scl. 159(1972): 154-161   This journal focused on how the social media have done to help the colored people inside the US penal system by using the example of the media affection of the Attica Riot. It focuses on and the cultural images that shape the stereotype of the black people so that they are isolated from â€Å"us†. The prisoners’ lives in the prisons have become more transparent through the social media after the Attica Riot when the social media have paid attention to them and cover more about them. Social media is condemning the brutal treatment to the prisoners and the injustice of the sentence through different ways. This paper is searched after the previous one, it is a good resource for seeing how the social media had pushed the State to change their correctional method and give back prisoners’ civil rights. Willi The Naturalization Act of 1790 am L. Wilbanks The report of the commission on Attica, 37 Fed. Probation 3 (1973): 3-5 This is a prime summery of the national commission report of the Attica Riot published on September 13,1972. It briefly summarized and explained what is the Attica Riot, recorded the cause of it, reported the negotiation of it, and analyzed the assault and the aftermath of it. The main highlight of the riot from the report is that it happened at a time when the prison was about to reform for better, and the violent assault was because the prison inmate was asking for general pardon, but the government refused so, yet the result was still inhumane. This report is brief and comprehensive; it is providing background information for the public to get the general idea of the riot. Part of it can be quoted for a prof of inhumane treatment after the uprising. Gerald Benjamin and Stephen P. Rappaport, Attica and Prison Reform, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol. 31, No. 3, Governing New York State: The Rockefeller Years (May, 1974), pp. 200-213 This journal focuses on reporting the details of the negotiation and the assault of the Attica Riot. Informing us assault is because of the failure of the negotiation. This journal also mentioned that the riot happened when the reform was just about to be taken into practice. After the riot, the reform began, including the facilities change and the treatment changes. Changes are based on the fund from federal and the State, though something still needs to be change, it was already a big step. It is also showing some significant changes such as the change in the employment of the facilities from all whites to Latinos, the shortened time of locking. Though this journal is really detail, I need to quote the changes of laws rather than just physical changes in this piece. Angela Y. Davis: Are Prisons Obsolete? Seven Stories Press New York, 2003: 10-19, 84-104 Chapter 1 introduces us with an idea of prison reform, which gains the majority supports of the public and it is also the reason for the Attica Riot. It also reveals the idea that not many people outside the prison are willing to think about the life inside the prison, which is going to be a support of why I said that there is not that much attention had been paid for prison treatment. Chapter 5 tells us how a mass of private companies and industries are gaining a lot of profit from the prisoners so that prisoners are not gaining what they are supposed to be gained. Both chapters are supporting the idea of why prisons should be paid attention and be reformed. Thought the industrial complex of the prison is written recently rather than the immediate fact, I would use them as reference of things that haven’t been improved after the riot. Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler, Keywords for American Cultural Studies, New York University Press, 2007: 37-42 This piece gives readers a brief history from the ancient Greek to now of how Citizenship has come to its status in the United State. The civil rights have been violated by the sovereignty, but finally came to equality through the push of institutions, religions, as well as civil movements. This piece also introduces us that how the technology and transportations are important to a new understanding of citizenship. This piece is important for analyzing the prison rights because I am writing through the prospect that prison inmates are also citizens, that they should have the same rights as those normal citizens, but prisoners’ rights are somehow always been valid or even ignored by the U.S. penal system. This article helps to define the citizen in my paper. Jael Silliman and Anannya Bhattacharjee, Policing the National Body Sex, Race, and Criminalization, South End Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2002: 1-48 Chapter one gives us a general idea on how the US penal apparatus has been enforced by the participation of multiple â€Å"relevant† institutions. It is showing audiences how those institutional officers themselves are offending the laws but still act as a law executive, and how they use the name of immigration law to violate the rights, especially the rights of the women with colors, they offence their bodies, and use them to incarcerate colored men. This helps to analysis the female prison treatments in recent time. Though it is a good example to show the violation of the civil rights but it might be a little different from the topic that I am writing about because it is mainly focused on the recent time and the immigration laws. Dylan Rodriguez, Forced Passages, Imprisoned Radical Intellectuals and the U.S. Prison Regime, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, London, 2006 This chapter focuses on the formation of the key word: The War. Though the war is supposedly be the conflict between states, the writer tells readers that the U.S. government is using the war zone as a way to control the citizens. It talks about how the power is contributed through the use of the prison regime. I would like to quote the history of the prison regime to inform that the prison today has a slavery background and that is what makes the rights of prisoners been blurred so reasonably. U.S. Naturalization Act of 1790, The Transcript of 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) The naturalization act is the fundamental act to the U.S. citizens. It indicated that free white of good moral character that had lived in the U.S. for two years and swore allegiance. It can be used as a historical accordant to the descriptions of the history of the prison regime. The 13th amendment establishes birthright of citizenship due process and equal protection, formally extends citizenship to newly freed, black men. Both of these laws can be use as track of the citizenship as proves of the inequality of the civil laws roots. Abstract Citizenship refers to the link between state and person who lives in. Citizens by broad should be within the link and should be someone who lives in the sate. Prisoners as a special type of citizen are supposed to have the same civil rights and be protected by the same laws, yet their circumstances put them into a situation where their rights are violated constantly with or without justice. Prison treatments in the US, can been seen as a significant example of the violation of the prisoners’ civil rights. It has never been paid attentions until the four-day uprising in the Attica Correctional Facility burst out in 1971. Attica Riot was the most violent riot in the entire U.S. history. Through out the uprising, many inhumane treatments of the prisoners have been revealed through the exposure of the social media. As a curiosity on the affects of prison uprisings on the New York State government, this paper is going to discover some significant changes that had been made by the New York State immediately after the riot through the aftermath negotiation of the Attica riot to indicate that the prisoner rights are still not have been treated rightly.

Regulation of Financial Services Post Credit Crunch

Regulation of Financial Services Post Credit Crunch INTRODUCTION The financial system is the system that allows the transfer of money between savers and borrowers, and comprises a set of complex and closely interconnected financial institutions, markets, banks, instruments, services, practices, and transactions (Steven M Sheffrin, 2003). All Financial institutions in any country follow certain regulations which are placed by the central monetary authority (e.g. financial service authority) in order to provide improved service to the public and work in the best interest of the nations. Regulationis controlling human or societal behaviour by rules or restrictions (Bert Jaap Koops 2006). The purpose for regulating the institutions is to reduce the risk of failure and to attain social goals. For example banks are regulated, as they by their very nature are prone failure, and the costs paid by the public for failure is extremely high compared to the financial costs to regulate the banking system. Regulations should be fair and limited so that they as sist banks to develop new services in accordance with the customers demand, make sure competitions in financial services is strong, maintain the quantity and quality of the service provided to public and better utilisation of resources. Over the last five years, the financial system in the world has gone through its greatest crisis. The financial problems have appeared at the same time in many different countries which makes it unique from the crisis in past. The overall economic impact is felt all through the world, which is resulted from the interconnectedness of the global economy. This does not mean that the economic recession which many countries in the world now face will be anything like as bad as that of 1929-33(turner 2009). The crisis in 1930s was made worse by the policy in response. But it is clear that effective the policy response cannot prevent the large economic cost of the financial crisis. If we are to prevent or minimise the scale of future crisis there is an increased need of policy framework that can bring different factors and the corresponding powers to act positively when risks are recognized. Currently Britains existing framework is confused and the powers and capabilities split awkwardly between competing institutions, which results in nobody identifying the fundamental problems when these institutions are building up and none of the institutions can act in response to crisis as they do not have the authority to do so. In order to avoid future crisis changes in regulation and supervisory approach is needed in order to create a more robust financial system for the future. Our focus in the research is on banking institutions, and not on other areas of the financial services industry. In 2007, Britain experienced its first bank run of any significance since the reign of Queen Victoria (Reid. m, 2003). The run was on a bank called Northern Rock. Britain was free of such event not by misfortune, but because in early third quarter of nineteenth century the Bank of England developed techniques to avoid them. These techniques were used, in Britain and had worked, and appeared to be trusted. The run of northern rock was triggered by the decision to provide support for troubled institution. That run was brought to a standstill, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling2) declared that he would use taxpayers funds to guarantee deposits at Northern Rock. Unlike runs in banking history, it was a run only on that one institution as funds withdrawn from it went only to a small amount into cash, and were mostly redeposit in other banks or in building societies. The research has three major objectives: Describes the role of financial regulations and reviews the literature on role played by the regulations in financial system. To describe and evaluate the banking crisis in United Kingdom in last 5 years and the reasons of the crisis which affected the banking system. To analysis and evaluate the role and benefits of living wills in context of changes in regulation. This leads to the research question: â€Å"Can living wills address the perceived failures in the regulation of financial services highlighted by the current credit crisis?† LITERATURE REVIEW A literature review is a summary of a subject field that supports the identification of specific research questions (Rowley J Slack F, 2004). Literature review explains the role of financial regulations, discuses the banking crisis in UK in last 5 years (2005-2010), and proposed new regulations which are to counter such failures in the future and at what cost these failures can be averted. The main focus of literatures review is the Banking Industry, proposed new regulations in order to minimise the effect of such crisis. The functions of financial services industry The existence of money is taken as for granted in all advanced societies today so much so that most people are unaware of the huge contribution that the concept of money, and the industry to manage it, have made to the development of our present way of life. Moneyis anything that is generally accepted aspaymentforgoods and servicesand repayment ofdebts (Mishkin Frederic S, 2007). In earlier civilisations the process of bartering was sufficient for the exchanging goods and services. Barteringis a medium in whichgoodsorservicesare directly exchanged for other goods or services without a common unit of exchange (without the use ofmoney) (OSullivan, Arthur Steven M. Sheffrin, 2003). In modern society, people still produce goods or provide services that they could, in theory, trade with others for exchanging for things they need. Due to complexity of life and the size of some transactions make it impossible for people today to match what they have to offer against what others can supply to them. What is needed is a commodity that individuals will accept in exchange for any product, which forms a common denominator against which the value of all products can be measured. Money carries out these two important functions. In order to be acceptable as a medium of exchange, money must have certain properties. In particular it must be * Sufficient in quantity * Generally acceptable to all the parties in all transactions * Divisible into small units * Portable Money also perform as a store of value, which means it can be saved because it can be used to divide transactions in time received today as payment for work done or for goods sold can be stored in the knowledge that it can be exchanged for goods or services later when required. In order to fulfil these functions, money has to retain its exchange value or purchasing power and the effect of inflations can, of course, affect this function. The financial services industry exists largely to facilitate and to deal with the management of money. It helps commerce and government by channelling money from those who have surplus, and wish to lend it to make profit, to those who wish to borrow it, and are willing to pay for the benefit they acquire of having it. The financial organisations want to make profit from providing such services and, by doing so, they provide the public with products and services that offer, convenience ( e.g. current accounts), means of achieving otherwise difficult objectives (e.g. mortgages) and protection from risk (e.g. insurance). Prior to the 1980s, there were clear and distinct boundaries between different kinds of financial institutions; some were retails banks, some wholesale banks, others were life assurance companies or general insurance companies, and some offered both types of insurance and were called composite insurers. Today many of the distinctions have become unclear, if they have not vanished altogether, increasing numbers of mergers and takeovers have taken place across the boundaries and now even the term banc assurance, which was coined to describe banks that owned insurance companies, is inadequate to describe the complex nature of modern financial management groups. For example one major UK bank offers following range of services * Retail banking services * Mortgage services through a subsidiary that is a building society * Credit cards services * Wealth management services * Financial asset management for institutional customers * Investment banking * Insurance services Regulations Bank failures around the world have been common, large and expensive in recent years. It is common to think of banking failure as something that happens in emerging economies and countries with advanced banking system, but there have been some shocking failures of banks and banking system within the developed economies in recent decades. The scale and frequency of the bank failures and banking crises have raised doubts about the efficiency of bank regulation and raised questions as to whether the regulation itself has created an iatrogenic reaction. Regulations for banks and other financial institutions hinge on the coase (1988) argument that unregulated private actions create outcomes whereby social marginal costs greater then private marginal cost. The social marginal costs occur because bank failures has a far greater effect then throughout the economy than, say, failure of a manufacturing concern because of the wide spread use of banks. Nevertheless it should be borne in mind that regulation involves real resource costs. These costs arise from two sources (a) direct regulatory cost, (b) compliance costs bear by the firms regulated. In IMF global financial stability report (2009), it estimates that the eventual cost to British taxpayers of support for the banking sector will be 9.1% of GDP, or more than  £130 billion, that is more than five times the equivalent of 1.8% of GDP in France and three times the estimated 3.1% of GDP in Germany. The main reason for regulating the banks is firstly consumers lack market power and are prone to exploitation from the monopolistic behavior of banks. Secondly depositors are uniformed and unable to monitor banks and, therefore, require protection. Finally, governments need regulations to estimate the safety and stability of the banking system. Basel accord Basel committee for banking supervision a committee for BIS (Bank for International Settlement) was first established in 1974. This committee operates at international level and the main focus of the committee is to strengthen the capital of banks. The principle reasons for the establishment of the committee were to safeguard the financial stability of the banking system worldwide and to create a level playing field. The first major achievement of the committee was in the form of Basel I. Basel I aimed at: 1. Promote the co-ordination in the regulatory and capital adequacy standards of the member countries. 2. Guard against risk in credit worthiness 3. Finally, it suggests for the minimum capital requirements for the international banking. Since 1988 when the Basel committee introduced the first capital accord Basel I the risk management practices, the banking business and the whole financial market has changed. The New York Fed President argued that â€Å"it also has not kept pace with innovations in the way that banks measure, manage and mitigate risk.†(EBSCO, 2002) Although the accord covered fairly relevant issues but it wasnt helpful enough to make a major impact in the industry. Therefore in 1999 the initial steps were taken which led to the amended of Basel I. There were several different reasons for the amendments. One of the misunderstandings about Basel I was that it was the only way to the financial stability of a country. The positive results of implementation of Basel I were seen in the G-10 countries, as these countries were previously operating their financial industry on mostly the same rules, but still there were many new product introduced and reforms took place which remained unexplained by the accord and resulted in the financial industry either fully collapsed or got taken over by other giants. For example Grupo Financiero Bancomer, a Mexican banking giant was reported as â€Å"US- based Citibank has agreed to acquire Mexican banking giant Grupo Financiero Bancomer-Accival (Banacci) for US$12.5 billion† (All Business.co m, 2001). The initial results blinded the G-10 in the aspects of emerging markets as they got pressurized by the larger financial institutions to follow the same accord. Another failed aspect of Basel I which led to the new accord was that the old accord only focused around the credit risk. Basel I did not focused on operational risk which also supported the downfall of many financial institutions. As explained by Mohan Bhatia â€Å"Weather it is a fee-based business, emerging practices or income-based business. A bank is exposed to operational risk.†(Bhatia, 2002). Even though Basel I was not written to be applicable for the emerging markets, its functions created distortions in the banking sectors of the industrialized economies. â€Å"In countries subject to high currency inflation and sovereign default risks, the Basel I accord actually made loan books riskier by encouraging the movement of both bank and sovereign debt holdings from OECD sources to higher-yielding domestic sources† (Balin, 2008). Another problem with the 1988 accord was that it focused more on the type of loan rather than the credit status of the borrower. As the bank and large financial institutes saved just 8% for the unseen risks they had more capital left. That was used in form of loan and subprime lending which was later proved to be a real disaster for the financial institutions. Basel I created a gap between the regulatory capital and the economic capital as bank would choose to hold. The commonly know regulatory capital is different to the economic capital. The economic capital aims to enhance the value of the investor and is based on the internal risk assessment of the organization. Whereas on the other hand the regulatory capital secures the banking stability and the regulator decides it for the protection of the depositor. Considering the drastic effects of the Basel I accord the committee published the reforms in 2003 namely Basel II. â€Å"Basel II is a response to the need for the regulatory system governing the global banking industry.†(Garside, Bech, 2003) Basel II brought many reforms to the old accord and was based on three pillars. The first pillar was minimum capital requirement which explained explicit treatment for operational risk in the financial industry. However the market risk remained with the same explanation as from Basel I. The Basel II brought some new methods of measuring the credit risk by introducing the public and internal ratings which provided good risk mitigation techniques. Furthermore the second pillar explained the supervisory review of capital adequacy. The basic purpose of this pillar was to keep a check on the financial institution that they hold excess of minimum level of capital required. The regulator can intervene at the initial stage if this requirement was not fulfilled. Finally the third pillar was brought into place to bring a much better market discipline. The market is considered to be the role played by the shareholders, government or employees whether proper capital is maintained or not. With this improvement Basel II was considered to help both the lender and the borrower. Basel II spots the weakness in Basel I and proposed effective risk measurement, mitigation techniques and elaborates valuables for market discipline for good banking system and good financial stability as explained â€Å"we at the Federal Reserve had even more reasons for the most finely tuned Basel II framework: Not only are we the umbrella supervisor over all financial stability companies but, as the nations central bank, we are responsible for maintaining nations financial stability.† (Poole, 2005) The fines of Basel II are basically explained by the three pillars of it as the very dexterously explain how and where the accord will be effective. The first pillar of minimum capital requirement was extremely advantageous in providing enhanced risk measurement by helping the large financial institutions and big banks to measure the risk involved in their functions and operations more sophisticatedly. Risk management proposals were useful for the capital they require to hold in case of unexpected losses. The new accord proposed different approaches for the measurement of credit risk. The standardised approached being the more or less the same as the old accord was more risk sensitive for the creditworthiness of the customers and improved the requirement which was previously based on type of loan instead of the credit status of the customer. This approach explained the birth of credit rating of individuals but the problem with this approach was that the culture of rating is not popular in every European country and other countries with strong and effective economies. Whereas the internal ratings-based approach was based on the internal key risk drivers and therefore the potential for more risk sensitive capital was substantial in a way to mitigate the risk. But the internal ratings-based approach is not enough to calculate the capital required for the risks. â€Å"The approaches for calculating the risk-weighted assets are intended to provide improved bank assessments of risk and thu s to make the resulting capital ratios more meaningful† (Pitschke Bone-Winkel, 2006). Operational risk which the Basel I failed to examine is a crucial element and was elucidated by Basel II in three operational risk alleviation approaches. The first method called the Basic indicator approach advice the banks to hold capital equal to 15% of average gross income earned by banks in the past three years. The second method named the standardized approach separates every business to hold capital to shield itself against the operational risk. Finally the third method of advance method approach allows the banks to calculate their own capital requirement to protect themselves against the operational risk. A disadvantage of the first pillar was that it allowed the banks to set their own risk assessment techniques. This gave over sanguine reports to reduce the capital required. Furthermore it even maximized the return on equity. For a much better market discipline regulators must approve the requirement. As explained by (Lind, 2006) â€Å"banks must have methods and systems fo r risk management which are subject to adequate corporate governance processes throughout the banks.† The pillar II of The Basel Accord is based on Supervisory Review. It certifies that the banks should have enough capital to sustain all the unexpected risk in an organization and also provides with much more better techniques to monitor and mitigate those risks. It advises the banks to calculate their risks internally. It requires the regulators to assess the banks risk management processes and capital position to maintain a target level of solvency. â€Å"Pillar II recognises that national supervisors may have different ways of entering into such discussions and provides flexibility to accommodate those differences† (Caruana, 2003). It was helpful in a way to evaluate funding strategies and also gave an insight to the risk mitigation policies to the banks. In total the second pillar had two positive proposals. Firstly, it gave more power to the regulators to keep a check of the minimum capital requirement by banks as calculated in pillar 1. And secondly it alarms the repetiti on of the financial crises such as in countries like Korea and China by taking early actions and offering rapid remedial actions. â€Å"Some of the data submitted by individual institutions was not complete; in some cases banks did not have estimates of loss in stress periodsor used estimates that we thought were not sophisticatewhich caused minimum regulatory capital to be underestimated† (Bies, 2006). At the same time while the corporate governance is in place the accord gave absolutely no information regarding the liquidity. Banks remained unaware of the true financial conditions of each other which forced them to stop lending and the State Bank of England was highlighted as the last resort to rescue. Pillar III based on the market discipline helped maintain discipline in the market place by greater disclosure of the banks risk profiles. The pillar III is connected to pillar I and pillar II as it complements the minimum capital requirement and the supervisory review process. â€Å"Market discipline can contribute to a safe and sound banking environment and supervisors require firms to operate in a safe and sound manner† (BIS, 2005). The disclosure is important for the benefit of the stakeholders. Therefore a disclosure of market risk, operational risk, interest rate risk and the disclosure of capital structure is required. The information should be disclosed timely. â€Å"It will fundamentally transform financial reporting for banks by demanding increased depth and breadth of disclosure† (Garside, Bech, 2003). One of the other disadvantages of Basel II is the complexity and potential cost of the framework. It is a defected draft of 450 pages and the cost of implementing it is too high for the banks. Banks were also afraid to lend because of the fear of Basel II as they would operate against the rules of Basel II on certain occasions. According to the Basel book the banks have to meet a certain level of capital reserves and in todays scenario of credit crunch it is difficult. As Peter Spencer explains â€Å"the Basel system of banking regulations, which determine how much capital banks must raise to keep their books in order, are the root cause of the crunch and were serving to worsen the Citys plight† (Conway, 2007). The Basel committee produced the old and new accords which to an extent were successful for the strengthening of the capital of banks and also took into account the risk throughout the procedures. But the new accord did not changed with new reforms in the system which made it just a box to be ticked in a form and had no connection with the reality or implementation. Most of the organizations ticked the boxes and yet carried on with the risky decision which seemed profitable but yet proved out to be wrong such as Northern Rock. These decisions were not even against any of the accords as the Basel committee never updated to the new market. Financial Services Authority (FSA) Regulations of the financial services industry in the UK is a 5 tier process: * First level: European legislation that impacts on the UK financial industry * Second level: the acts of the parliament that set out what can and cannot be done. * Third level: the regulatory bodies that monitor the regulations and issue rules about how the requirements of the legislation are to be met in practice. The main regulatory body is now the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which has taken over the regulatory responsibilities of the number of other bodies, including the bank of England. * Fourth level: the policies and practices of the financial institutions themselves and the internal departments that ensure they operate legally and competently. * Fifth level: the arbitration schemes to which consumers complaints can be referred. For most cases, this will now be the financial ombudsman service, which takeover the responsibilities of a number of earlier ombudsman bureaux and arbitration schemes Before the arrival of the financial services act 1986, the UK financial services industry was self regulating. Standards were maintained by a promise that those in the financial industry had a common set of values and were able, and willing, to exclude those who violated them. The 1986 act moved the UK to a system which became known as self regulation within a statutory framework. Once authorised, firms and individuals would be regulated by self regulating organisations (SROs), such as IMRO, SFA or PIA. The financial services act 1986 covered investment activities only. Retail banking, general insurance, Lloyds of London and mortgages were all covered by different acts and codes. When labour party came in power in 1997 it wanted to amend the regulation of financial services. The late 1990s saw more fundamental development of the financial services system with the fusion of most aspects of financial services regulation over a single statutory regulator, the financial services authorit y (FSA) process took place in two phases. First the bank of Englands responsibilities for banking supervision was shifted to the financial services authority (FSA) as part of the bank of England act 1998. The second phase of development consisted of a new act covering financial services which would revoke key provisions of the financial services act 1986 and little other legislation. All the earlier work on regulation would be swept away and the FSA would regulate investment business, insurance business, banking, building societies, friendly societies, mortgages and Lloyds. On 30 November 2001 the act, the financial services and market act 2000 (FSMA 2000) came to form a system of statutory regulation. The creation of the FSA as the UKs single statutory regulator for the industry brought together regulation of investment, insurance and banking. The FSA took over the responsibilities for prudential supervision of all firms, which involves monitoring the adequacy of their management, financial resources and internal systems and controls, and Conducting of business regulations of those firms doing investment business. This involves overseeing firms dealing with investors to ensure for example information provided is clear and not misleading. Adair Turner (2009) argued that FSAs regulatory and supervisory approach, before the 2007-2008 crises, was based on a sometimes implicit but at times quite obvious philosophy which believed that * Markets in general are self-correcting and disciplined which acts as effective tools than regulation or supervisory oversight to ensure firms strategies are sound and risks contained * Main responsibility for managing risks was of senior management and boards of the firms, who were thought to be at better place to evaluate business risk than bank regulators, and who are better off in making appropriate decisions about the balance between risk and return, provided proper systems, procedures and skilled people are in place. * Customers protection cannot ensured by product regulation or direct markets intervention, but by making sure that wholesale markets are tolerant and transparent as possible, and thats the way in which firms conducts business is appropriate. Turner argued that this philosophy in supervisory approach resulted in: A focus makes sure that systems and processes were defined well instead of challenging the business models and strategies. Risk Mitigation Programs set out after ARROW reviews therefore tended to focus more on organization structures, systems and reporting procedures, than on overall risks in business models. A focus within the FSAs failure to notice of approved persons on checking that there were no issues of honesty raised by past conduct, instead of evaluating technical skills, with the assumption that management and boards were in a superior position to assess the appropriateness of particular individuals for particular roles. A balance between business regulation and prudential regulation which, with the benefit of observation, appears biased towards the former. This was not the case in all sectors of the financial industry: the FSA for instance introduced in 2002-04 major and very important changes in the prudential supervision of insurance companies which have significantly improved the ability of those companies to face the challenges created by the current crisis. But it was to a degree the case in banking, where a long period of reduced economic volatility, which was attributed by many informed observers to the positive benefits of the securitized credit model, helped foster inadequate focus on system-wide prudential risks. Failure of Current Regulation Based on the â€Å"Geneva Report†, the â€Å"G30 Report†, and the â€Å"NYU-Stern Report† failure of current regulation Systemic risk:Reports established a point of view that the financial regulatory frameworks around the world pay little consideration to systemic risk. Carmichael and Pomerleano (2002) define systemic risk as systemic instability that â€Å"arises where failure of one institution to honour its promises leads to a general panic, as individuals fear that similar promises made by other institutions also may be dishonoured. Acharya, Pedersen, Philippon and Richardson (2009) argue that Current financial regulations seek to limit each institutions risk seen in isolation; they are not focused on systemic risk. As a result supervisions focus on individual institutions, instead of having it on the whole system, while individual risks are properly dealt with in normal times, the system itself remains, or is encouraged to be, weak and exposed to large macroeconomic shocks This focus was a common feature and a common failing, of bank regulation and supervisory systems in the world. As per the Ge neva Report regulations wholly assumes that it can make the system as a whole safe by simply making sure that individual banks are safe which is misleading. Pro-cyclical risk taking: Reports also agreed that financial regulations encourage pro-cyclical risking taking which increases the possibility of financial crises and their severity when they occur. Any economic quantity that is positivelycorrelatedwith the overall state of theeconomyis said to be pro-cyclical (Gordy MB and Howells B. 2004). Financial intermediation as a whole is inherently pro-cyclical. Financial activity such as new bond issues and total bank lending tend to increase more during economic booms than during downturns. Higher levels of economic growth lead to higher values of potential collateral, thereby loosening credit constraints and making access to debt financing easier. Another contributing factor to the financial systems pro-cyclicality is that financial market participants behave as if risk is counter-cyclical. For instance, bank loan standards tend to be most lax during economic booms (Lown et al 2000)) and banking supervisors have historically been most vig ilant during downturns (Syron (1991)). Regulations lead towards stability and reduce statistical measures of risk and encourage excessive risk taking. In bad times, the pendulum swings back producing excessive risk aversion. Large Complex Financial Institutions (LCFIs): All reports agree that current regulations do not deal effectively with LCFIs, defining LCFIs as â€Å"financial intermediaries engaged in some combination of commercial banking, investment banking, asset management and insurance, whose failure poses a systemic risk or `externality to the financial system as a whole.† (Saunders, Smith and Walter, 2009). The growing role of LCFIs poses various challenges.The complexity of these institutions has made it hard for financial analysis and effective supervisors oversight. The linkages among business areas within LCFIs are close which leads to increase of risk contamination from one business area to another as well as across jurisdiction. All reports also insist on the danger induce by implicit Too-Big-To-Fail guarantees. Too big to fail is an expression that refers to the idea that ineconomic regulation, the largest and most interconnected businesses are so big that a government cannot le t them to declare bankruptcy for the reason that said failure would have disastrous consequences on the overall economy. Mervyn King on June 17th, 2009, the governor of theBank of England, called for banks that are too big to fail to be cut down to size, as a solution to the problem of banks having taxpaye