Final research HND Business Essay

By The Name Allah the Most Merciful and Almighty Executive Summary Of Research on Basant or Spring Festival Event for the research was decided as â€Å"Basant or Spring Festival Lahore†. Basant was started 1300-1400 hundred century. But in near past the event was become controversial. Some religious activist called it Hinduism while some people in taking lead in kite-flying start taking lives of people and this activity was banned. Its was business event too and contributing national income. Was a beneficial for hotel and food industry etc. Our research was too found out the reasons for banning it. The beneficiaries of the festival and out put from the event and Myths regarding the events as well as give some recommendation. For the purpose a detailed proposal were made and presented to supervisor after approval of the proposal. Work was started on research. Literature was reviewed for facts finding. A questionnaire were made and distributed in 500 people and collected, interviews were conducted from different stake holders and other techniques of data collection were applied. Data were organized and presented in percentage and graphically. Analysis was made. The research findings were that basant or spring festival is better business activity accepted people of the country and encouraged by the business community. Basant has nothing with religion. It is celebrated with seasonal change. Some religious groups are against it because of the immoral & un-ethical musical and dance shows during the festival. Some people use alcohol in public places and commit crime these should be stopped. Kite-flying with harmful wires should be banned as it takes lives as well as damages electricity lines etc. The events mainly benefits hotel, food, garments, transport, music, traitor industry and overall positively affect the market of Lahore. Government can provide better law & order situation too public and Lahore is feasible in security prospective for spring festival. Literature Review Of Basant or Spring Festival Basant is centuries old cultural festival of Punjab. It was started in 1300-1400 century. But in near past got controversial as the some religious groups called it sign of Hinduism and show zero tolerance over it. According to Dr. B. S. Nijjar’s book, â€Å"Punjab under the Later Mughals†. According to him, when Zakariya Khan (1707-1759) was the governor of Punjab, a Hindu of Sialkot, by the name of Hakeekat Rai Bakhmal Puri spoke words of disrespect for the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his daughter Fatima (ra). He was arrested and sent to Lahore to await trial. The non-Muslim population was stirred to request Zakariya Khan to lift the death sentence given to Hakeekat Rai but he did not accede to their request. Eventually the death penalty was carried out and the entire non-Muslim population went into mourning. As a tribute to his memory, a prosperous Hindu, Kalu Ram initiated the Basant ‘mela’ in (Marrhi) Kot Khwaja Saeed (Khoje Shahi) in Lahore. (This place is now known as Baway di marrhi. ) It is the last stop on the route of Wagon no. 60 from Bhati Gate. Dr. B. S. Nijjar states on Page no. 279 of his book that the Basant ‘mela’ is celebrated in memory of Hakeekat Rai. Another myth about Basant is â€Å"It is said that Nizamuddin Auliya had no children. He had adopted his nephew who died at the age of 20. Amir Khusro tried to cheer the bereaved Nizamuddin, but in vain. One day while Amir Khusro was walking in the fields, he saw some young women dressed in yellow clothes and celebrating Basant. Khusro donned a yellow ghagra ad covered himself with a chunni and sang the qawwali — Sakal basant aayo ri. Seeing he dressed in yellow clothes, Nizamuddin became cheerful. † But majority of the society consider all the as myth and has opinion that It is a seasonal festival of indo-Pak and has no religious aspects. It is celebrated at spring on starting of winter on fourth or fifth day of lunar month (Magh). Yellow is mainly used for basant as its is narrated for wheat row and mustard blossoms in the seasons. Yellow color is considered as the color of Spring. Yellow outfits are worn in these days mostly. In pre-partition India Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs all celebrated Basant. Basant festivals held in all major cities of Punjab. Yellow clothes were worn; men wore yellow turbans and women yellow dupattas and saris. It was common to sway swings among Hindu, Muslim and Sikh women together and Basant’s traditional songs were sung that reflected the liveliness and romance of life in Punjab. Kite flying was common but on a small scale with decency. Kite flying is also part of the festival. Most of kite flyers are illiterate and labor class. They mostly use unethical ways for winning kites competition which leads to deaths of valuable lives. This factor decrease the color of this great festival from last 50 Years and the slogan is shouting Celebrate Basant- but don’t snatch away lives. Gallup Pakistan Survey: Basant as Business activity Basant is high appreciated business activity as people from the whole country rush towards Lahore and hotel industry , food industry , music and other tourism industry boost up with the festival. It is highly encouraged by business community of Lahore. According to a survey 11% of the whole year business is three days of basant in Hotel and Food industry. Same effects brought on other industries. Research Back Ground In our country every business activity is banned due to some accident or religious pressure groups same controversy is with spring or Basant festival. I want to find out the financial benefits from this type of festival and the aim of pressure groups. As part of the academic requirement, in the Higher National Diploma program in IPS, Peshawar; for completing diploma of Business Studies the students are required to write a eport for each one of their core units, this one being Research Project. This subject gives us an opportunity to learn how we can write a detailed research report in a given word limit on a business organization. Our choice of Topic will be Basant Festival or Spring Festival Lahore. In the research we will address the questions 1. Effects of Spring Festival on Business Community of Lahore. 2. Finding financial beneficiary of Spring Festival Lahore. 3. Finding good and bad of Basant or Spring Festival. 4. Are Basant Festival suits our Law and Order situation? 5. Why our Religious activists are against the Festival? 6. How much basant Festival contributing to which industry and National Income. Data Collection Primary Data: For the purpose of collection of primary Data, Spring Festival was observed. Interviews were arranged with different community members and life class as well as with Business community of Lahore. Hotel Managers, Restaurant owners, Visitors were also interviewed. For the same purpose a Questionnaire were also made and distributed in different groups of community as well as to religious groups. Collect back and analyzed. Secondary Data: Secondary data collection were made trough news paper , magazine and mainly from internet sources , where we found that government banned kite flying not the Festival while Religious groups pretending it as Hinduism but Business community appreciate it. Research Methodology We have used different methodologies for our report taught in the course book. During This report, we used both the primary as well as the secondary data. Major sources are primary data and some of it is secondary date sources. Most of information will be through personal observations and interviews. Other information was gathered through mystery shopping during the visit to the different Areas of Lahore During Spring Festival. Additional will be through questionnaires and surveys, brochures studies, telephonic interviews, newspaper, magazines and Internet sites search.. The major aim of this report was to study the about Festival as Business activity. Research techniques and Results Observation: A visit were made to Lahore during Basant Festival and observed the event 3 days. It was noticed that people of the country and business community Lahore really encourage the festival. But some citizen has the view that kite-flying should be minus from the festival as it take many lives every year and damage government property as people use harmful wires for kite-flying. Some religious groups are against it and want to ban dance parties and music shows in the festival. But large number of people supports it. Interviews: Interviews from different from different groups of community were made including government officials. Hotel Industry stakeholders, Food Industry Stake Holders, visitors and Religious groups. Interview questions were mainly same as questionnaire and including some general discussion. 50 people were taken interview including students, business man, government officials, religious activists and other community members. The questions ; result of the interview was as below. Results and Graphical Representation of Interviews: Q. 1: Are You in the favor of Basant or Spring Festival in Pakistan? Result: YES was the answer of 80% people and NO was the answer of 20% people. Graphical Representation: Q. 2: Basant Festival has any relation with religion? Result: Yes was the answer of 20% people and No was the answer of 70% while 10% people said that they don’t know about the Issue. Graphical Representation: Q. 3: Basant Festival Effects on Business Community of Lahore. Result: NAGATIVE was the answer of 8% while POSITIVE was the answer of 92%. Graphical Representation: Q. 4: Is Basant Festival suits our Law and Order situation in Lahore? Result: YES was the answer of 60% people and NO was the answer of 30% while 10% people said that they don’t know. Graphical Representation: Q. 5: Basant Festival Favor National Income? Result: 87% People answered as YES and 11% as NO while 2% has no comments. Graphical Representation:. Positives of Basant are more heavy than negative? Result: YES was the Answer of 78% People while NO was the answer 22% People during interviews. Graphical Representation: Q. 7: Kite Flying Should is banned? Result: YES was the answer of 67% People while NO was the answer of 20% and 13% People has no comments on the question. Graphical Representation: Q. 8: Basant Festival Should is kept Banned? Result: YES was the answer of 20% while 80% was NO. Graphical Representation: Questionnaire: Questionnaire was used to for distance stake holders. They people who were not easily reachable. Result of Question Number 7: YES: 66% NO: 34% Graphical Representation: Result of Question Number 8: YES : 20% NO : 80% Graphical Representation: Internet Search: Internet Search was used as Secondary data findings. We found some writings on Basant and Spring Festival and analyzed accordingly. These writings has two stories about basant one supporting the festival as cultural festival and No relation with Hinduism while the other showing it has extreme hindu festival and against the religious values of Muslims. While most of writings shows it a healthy financial activity with some bad strings attached with it as it make many damages to human lives , electricity lines etc in regard of kite-flying and moral ; ethical values in Music and Dance parties. Findings Basant or Spring Festival is acceptable to majority with some changes. Law and Order situation is better in Lahore for Festival. Kite-Flying Should is kept banned. Religious groups are extreme against it and called it Hinduism. Government is ready to allow it in business aspect. Moral ; Ethical Values should follow. Hotel and Food industry mainly is the beneficiary of the festival. Youngsters are the main supporters of the festival. Most of supporters are Muslim. It is given out put financial growth of the country. It’s an organized festival after Eid. Analysis After that data was organized and analyzed with different techniques of Data Analysis. Mainly the pie chart and Bar Chart method were used for Data Analysis. And result was produced for implementation. All the data formats and findings Shows that all stakeholders are in the favor of Basant or spring festival in Lahore as healthy business activity with some changes is the format of Festival. Mainly Hotel and food industry is beneficiary of the festival while Music, film and traitor industry also earning good from this festival. Garments and Fashion is industry is the indirect beneficiary of the event. Transporters, SME’s and general labor and working also get good benefits from the festival. Conclusion ; Recommendations Basant or Spring Festival is healthy Business activity. Government should allow the Basant or Spring Festival as per demand of Business community and higher percentage of public. Kite-Flying should ban or allowed outside of walled city. Better security should be provided. Religious groups should convince and their guanine demands should be fulfilled. Harmful wire should completely ban from manufacturing. Un-ethical and Immoral acts should be discouraged. People from other parts of the country should be properly entertained to encourage the business. Proper promotion and Public Awareness campaign should be initiated to guide the people from stopping bad of Basant. Spring Festival and other Festival should be celebrated as it warm up different businesses.

Future Research into Auditory Spatial Attention Essay

An interesting observation made in this research was that there was an overall faster response time rates when an informative cue was presented spatially. Several cues were used in the experiment, both uninformative and informative, both pure sound and speech. The cues were given in conjunction with spatial and non-spatial orientations. But given the various cues, it was found that the response rates were faster as compared to the rates recoded by Spence and Driver (1994). The scope of the current research was not intended to explore this possibility; hence no statistical analysis was able to be performed on the data obtained. But further investigation of the said effect should be considered. Generally each experiment was analyzed individually with not all subjects completing the three experiments relating to this observed effect (experiments 3, 4 & 5). Furthermore, the subjects that had completed these three experiments did so in the same order, therefore opening up the possibility that the faster response times observed in experiment 5 may be due to practice effects. Despite these concerns, further investigation into the possible existence of this effect could be vital in a practical sense with relation to the design of auditory attention grabbing stimuli. The use of auditory stimuli as attention grabbing devices for use in reducing operator response times to critical stimuli can be designed in such a way that the combination of both auditory and visual information can be helpful in reducing operator workload. A number of studies have demonstrated that the addition of auditory information to an already attentionally overloaded visual workspace does not add to the overall workload. Recently Duncan, Martens & Ward (1997) found evidence of restricted attentional capacity within but not between sensory modalities. They presented streams of visual and/or auditory inputs, containing occasional targets to be identified and recalled. For two visual or two auditory streams they found that the identification of one target produce a sustained reduction in the ability to identify a second target. In contrast, when the streams were from both modalities, there was no such reduction in the identification of the second target. The results suggest a modality-specific restriction to concurrent attention and awareness. Flanagan, McAnally, Martin, Meehan & Oldfield (1998) found that with the use of spatially informative auditory information, visual search times were reduced. They used a spatial localisation task in which the search for a visual target was aided by either a visual arrow or an auditory cue. They found that both the visual and auditory cues aided in significantly reducing the search time when compared to an unaided search. With evidence suggesting that attentional capacity is modality-specific (Duncan, Martens & Ward, 1997) and that auditory cues can help with a visual spatial localisation task (Flanagan, McAnally, Martin, Meehan & Oldfield, 1998), the nature of the links between auditory and visual streams in spatial attention is of great importance. Moreover, a study by Spence and Driver (1996, 1997) had a subject stare at a fixed point at the center of a screen where lights were placed on the four corners of the screen. At the back of each light was a speaker, the task of the subject was to discriminate whether light or sound came from the upper and lower corners of the screen. They found that when a non-predictive visual cue was presented on one side an auditory target on the same location was processed faster and more accurately. In summary, our results indicate support for the claims of Spence and Driver and at the same time established the usefulness of using virtual 3-dimensional sound to measure auditory attention. Spatial advantage was found for non-informative cued areas in experiment 1 and 2 but for the shortest SOA of 200ms only which was also found by Spence and Driver in their experiments. Furthermore, spatial advantage was also found for informative cued areas for experiment 3, 4 and 5 wherein significant response time advantage was found in all SOA conditions (200ms, 500ms & 1100ms) for experiment 3 and 5 while the results obtained for experiment 4 found a significant response time advantage for valid cues only at the middle SOA condition (500ms). In experiment 3 response time advantage was found at all SOA levels for valid cues, while in experiment four wherein spatial informative cues were removed, response tine advantage for valid cues were only for the middle SOA conditions (500ms) and the introduction of spatially informative speech cues in experiment 5 found higher response time for all valid cues for all SOA levels.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

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How Americas youth is being negativley influenced and brainwashed by Research Paper

How Americas youth is being negativley influenced and brainwashed by modern media (television,radio - Research Paper Example The globalization of media around the world has presented a lot of opportunities for young people and to assimilate a lot of information about things that is happening both within their community as well as the world over. The modern media is playing a huge role in shaping the personality of young people. However, the quality of programs has declined sharply over the years as today’s media depicts increased violent and sexual content which is being considered to have harmful effects on the minds of growing children (Gigli). The increasing access to satellite television and the internet to young children have raised serious concerns among parents, physicians and educators as media has taken up their role in shaping the mind and body of the growing youth. Media is now increasingly playing the role of educators and have become primary sources of information to youth. A recent survey in the US revealed that on an average youth spend about 8 hours using various forms of media inclu ding the television, internet, movies, radio, video games and cell phones. Among these interactive media video games and the internet could have both positive and negative impacts on youth. Viewing programs with violent and sexual content can have damaging consequences on their minds and profoundly impact their personality. Children engaging in virtual video games with violent content could have more serious consequences compared to that of passive media watching (Impact of Media and Technology on Youth). Physicians have also raised concerns about the profound negative impact of modern media on today’s youth. There is concrete evidence which supports a relationship between watching violence in media and increasing violent behavior among children and youth. Apart from which physicians are also concerned about another disturbing issue of childhood obesity and have attributed

Jean Paul Guode - The Queen of Seoul Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jean Paul Guode - The Queen of Seoul - Essay Example â€Å"So Far, So Goude† details his work from the late 1960s till the present times. The writings and descriptions are autobiographical in nature. Apart from other merits, latent humor is an aspect that is worth highlighting about his art. In the art world, he is like an octopus that grows in all directions. He arrived in the art-world like an avalanche, and specialized in its various branches. He was not an old-fashioned individual and adopted the latest trends with mesmerizing effect. The book contains 350 illustrations in full color that appeal to lovers of art in all genres and also to the commercial world. The commercial design and the advertising world will love this book as Goude has made a mark in this area by working for Lee Cooper, Cacharel and Chanel etc. The book is candidly autobiographical. To sum up the merits of the book in one sentence, the book can be compared to an artwork and the author terms it as yet another opportunity to describe his life, so far. He is the creator and the critic of the artistic achievements in his life. He terms it as the personal archaeological dig, meaning thereby he goes deep into his self-assessment and the depth of artistry in him. Though he never missed the commercial viewpoint, to him work of art was a mission, not commission. It was not just an aggrandizement to amass more and more wealth. He acknowledges the great influence his mother had on him and she was the inspiration behind his artistic pursuits and achievements. He terms her as ‘the real star of the family.’ When putting into canvas the artistic talents, a genius artist always remains in communion with his soul. True art according to Jean Paul Goude, must reflect the total personality of an artist, his strengths and weaknesses, values and obsessions. The microscopes with which one examines oneself needs to be thoroughly impartial and should not spare the societal failings, and he should never exclude himself for own shortcomings. Besi des, this book includes hundreds of little-known photographs and previously unseen drawings. I refer to the photograph of 1994 done in Paris and named ' The Queen of Seoul. When he was on working on his feature film, he was introduced to a girl named Karen, by his friend. It was love and admiration at first sight. Admiring her beauty in that first meeting he wrote, (2006) â€Å"What a lovely little character!† It was a genuine outburst of inspiration that had materialized all of a sudden-a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a very long time.† Karen proved to be his inspiration. She was a Korean, and her association kindled curiosity in him to know more about Korea. He made a thorough reading of the biography of Meungsunghwaunghoo, the last queen of Korea and a martyr of the Korean resistance against the Japanese invasion. As he continued with his study on Korea, Karen inspired him with another idea. That was about meeting the challenge of violence of Japanese invasi on, through non-violent methods, like Mahatma Gandhi, who believed and practiced non-violence. Within the limited scope of this essay, I would like to take up just one of his work. She is wearing a western crown. Her costumes are of Korean tradition. She has a sword in her right hand and baton in her left hand. She has an angry look and stares to generate fear in the mind of the viewer. Baton symbolizes the power to control. The inscription on the stand (box) below the photograph reads in Korean, â€Å"

Manager shadowing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Manager shadowing - Essay Example Managerial functions are a complex set of activities and involve a variety of people including internal as well as external associates. Tremendous information on management and managerial roles is available from literature; however, without practical application one cannot realize the intricacies involved in manager’s role. Shadowing provides a fair idea of the practical application of managerial concepts although one may not be directly involved in applying the principles. For a budding management professional, this shadowing activity for 3 days each with a bank manager and a manager at a phone shop provided good amount of information on day-to-day managerial activities along with an insight of managers’ behaviours determined by various factors. The following report elaborates on my observations and learning from the shadowing activity. Learning obtained from observations is based on my theoretical understanding of management concepts. As management concepts are numero us, this report is drafted based on few management models, like that of Stewart’s, Mintzberg’s and Drucker’s concepts. Further, it includes a comparison of managerial activities and behaviours of both the managers and the kind of roles each of them exhibited in similar and different situations. My understanding of management until now is based on what Peter Drucker once said, ‘Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. This is what organisation is all about, and it is the reason that management is the critical, determining factor. We depend on management for our livelihoods and our ability o contribute and achieve (cited by Mullins, 2007; 413). Nevertheless, to manage, the process comprises of a complex set of activities, policies, procedures, culture, systems and

Lesson 5 - Course work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lesson 5 - Course work - Assignment Example mber was considered the beginning of winter), the souls and ghosts of the dead visit the Earth, and therefore, on Halloween people preferred not to stay alone, made fire and were on their guard in order to make sure the evil spirits could not have them over the barrel. So that is where modern carnival comes from: in order to protect oneself from the evil spirits, one has to dress up and pose as these spirits. The Church, normally respected by the Americans, considers that when imitating evil spirits, people take over demonic disposition and destroy their appearance that was given to them by God. Such behavior contradicts Christian foundations; however the Americans never cease being true believers. Also there are usually acts of â€Å"petty vandalism† which the Church also does not approve of – children break glasses, burn trees, etc. Though in the 1920s the scouts called to introduce the practice of â€Å"trick or treat† instead, sometimes people still like to commit something they would not usually do in their normal life. Respectable businessmen are likely to turn over garbage bins, stewardesses (mainly on domestic flights) dress up like a witches or fairies, teachers have no less fun than their students. It is really an unusual tradition – to wear a mask and play a role quite opposite to what one is in the society. Both children and grown-ups enjoy themselves and have fun meeting November in the costumes of witches and vampires, throwing eggs, taking part in the â€Å"best costume† competitions, and eating pumpkin dishes. It reveals the Americans being in need of throwing away from time to time their â€Å"normal† social roles and taking up something quite uncommon. Americans particularly care about their children and are usually good parents. The paradox is, though some scientists think it can traumatize the child’s mind, demoralize the children and even demonize them, American people treat Halloween as a means to please their kids. Also, more and more

Compare two modules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Compare two modules - Essay Example After this there is a theoretical introduction to the concept of work in sociology, and then of emotion. There follows a broad examination of emotion at work, and then a more focused examination of gendered emotion at work. Finally there is a concluding summary of the ways that emotion and work link together, in theory and in practice, and how this relates to the all-pervasive concept of power in society. Section 1. Power and its conceptualisation. The study of human society invariably involves some consideration of theories of power, whether large scale, longstanding and overarching power such as that of patriarchy or smaller scale power as it operates between two individuals. Sociologists study how power operates in a range of situations from domestic, work and political spheres to any context where people interact with each other, since in a very general sense, it can be said that â€Å"all social relationships are power relationships† (Crossley, 2005, p. 215) We all influe nce each other at a personal level, and are tied up in a network of connections where power flows back and forth in fluctuating ways. Power permeates through society in many different ways, and not only through individual actions. ... Some power is inherited at birth through variables such as gender, race, class or culture and this is very often a hidden type of power, especially to those who wield it themselves. One of the most convincing conceptualisations of power is that of Foucault who writes about â€Å"technologies of power† which discipline and shape people in overt ways, but also in subtle ways, as for example when people internalise certain rules and practices, and adhere unthinkingly to a workplace norm. This hegemonic approach is highly relevant to the administrative systems that pervade the world of work, keeping people in order and ensuring that the goals of the organisation (or state, in the case of public servants) are constantly being advanced. Section 2. Work Human beings operate in society using physical, cognitive and emotional skills and the interplay of these skills within the power structures of their environment and with other human beings is a fruitful area of contemporary research. In the area of work there is in modern times an over-emphasis on rational, cognitive types of behaviour and an under-emphasis on emotion. Above all the workplace seeks to engender conformity on its workers, so that specific tasks can be completed efficiently and fast. The more smoothly workers submit to the dominant norms of the workplace, the more profits can be gathered in by the organisation. Goffman (1967) explains the harmony that generally exists between people in terms of concepts like deference and avoidance of shame or stigma. No workplace can ever monitor its workers 100% of the time, and yet by and large people interact productively and in tune with the needs of the organisation: â€Å"mutual conformity and respect lead to pride and fellow

CAD summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CAD summary - Essay Example When a person indulges more in physical activities, there is a recorded reduction in the danger of suffering from the coronary heart disease. Lack of exercise is currently considered to be the leading risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease (WebMD, 2014). It is a powerful risk factor as compared to the other risk factors of this disease for example high blood pressure and smoking. Taking part in regular physical activities ensures that the arteries are frequently kept flexible (Krucik, 2012). This will be reflected in a normal blood pressure and a good flow of the blood to the heart. This therefore means that high blood pressure, which is one of the risk factors of the disease, is kept at bay and the development of the disease becomes difficult. At Lankenau Heart Institute, they carry out Angioscreen. Angioscreen is a heart and stroke screening program. Under this program a patient receives personal evaluation of their vascular and circulation health. In addition, the patients receive immediate and clear outcomes of Carotid Artery Ultrasound, Ankle Brachial Index, Blood Pressure, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, Peak Systolic Velocity, Body Mass Index, and also Heart Rhythm Electrocardiogram. From the above test results, the local screening program that is entirely tied to the heart and stroke disease is Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm screening. The program tests for the expansion of abdominal aorta. The abdominal aorta is a blood vessel that transports blood to the entire body. When the aneurysm widens and expands, it can easily burst and result to stroke or heart failure. On advance stages it can lead to death. The limitation of such illnesses is that they do not have symptoms, therefore, screening is very important. Research shows that an increase in the physical inactivity is closely connected to coronary artery disease as well as resulting death (Stahle & Cider, 2011).

Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Criminal Justices Ethics Essay Example for Free

Criminal Justices Ethics Essay A few months ago, a woman was brutally raped, beaten and left for dead. Since the attack she remains in a coma. This case has risen to national prominence as an example of how today’s youth no longer respects fundamental social values, television and video game violence has desensitized young men to the consequences of crimes such as assault and rape, and as a demonstration of the inability of the police to keep the streets safe for law-abiding citizens. My partner and I work in the criminal justice system as police officers and handle most of the homicide cases in our area. The publicity from this crime has placed our police department under pressure to send someone to trial for this crime immediately. A gang of young men were spotted in the areas where the victim was found assaulting and threatening people that were passing by. Two members of the gang were arrested. The two members are both male and 14 years of age that both have previous records of robbery and assault. Our obligation as police officers is to follow the policy and ethical standards of our police department and the law, which states, minors must be informed of their legal right to have their parents present during the interrogation and to use videotape during important interviews. However, my partner has pushed his ethical obligation aside and interviews both of the minors while deciding not to contact their parents or tape the interrogation. When I confront him about the policy’s that did not take place he tells me not to worry about it that both minors are guilty as sin and we can close the case. His actions are unethical and don’t not follow the policy of prosecuting the guilty, respecting the rights of the accused, and creating a safe community. Ethics is crucial in decisions involving discretion, force, and due process, because criminal justice professionals can be tempted to abuse their powers (Felkins, 1987). I report this to my supervisor only for him to tell me to trust my partner and go to trial. Both suspects are arrested and bound for trial. Bail is denied. I do not feel good about proceeding with this. The organizational culture represented by my supervisor gives the answer to my partners’ behavior. The supervisor plays a large role in defining organizational culture by his actions and leadership. Both my supervisor and my partner have decided to use â€Å"moral relativism† which is the ethical premise â€Å"that decisions about right and wrong are purely personal and subjective and according to it, whatever anyone claims to be morally acceptable is morally acceptable, at least for that person. They have not thought about the consequences of their actions and how they may be beneficial or harmful from the result. In order to do so one must analyze the issues and make judgments by studying the details of the case, identifying the relevant criteria, determining possible course of action, and deciding which action is most ethical. I will choose to detach myself from the case. I cannot afford to lose my job by not following the legal or ethical standards. Laws have penalties when cases are violated and these penalties can be very severe if you violate legal norms. I believe that both my partner and supervisor have violated legal norms as well as ethical standards. References Felkenes, G. (1987). â€Å"Ethics in the Graduate Criminal Justice Curriculum.† Teaching Philosophy 10(1): 23–26. Ruggiero, V. R. (2008). Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues (Seventh ed.). New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill.

Integrated Marketing Communications in Rural Markets in India

Integrated Marketing Communications in Rural Markets in India With around 6, 38, 667 villages, India boasts of the highest number of villages in the world, hugely populated by 720 million people (72% of India lives in villages). It is a market which cant be ignored by the marketers. Customers in villages have their own sets of aspirations and are willing to pay for the right services. Companies understand that that the rules of game are different when it comes to rural markets, especially in a diverse one like India. The rural environment is different from the urban and therefore communication to potential customers in a proper and effective manner is a major challenge for corporate marketers. An urban communications approach might not hold well in these rural markets and thus there is a need to have a different Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) approach for the rural markets in India. This Research Paper tries to explore and find out how Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) can be used in the rural markets in India and a strategic framework has been proposed for the same. Keywords: Rural Markets, Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Introduction The global economic meltdown has taken its toll on the manufacturing and service sector of the economy, which, in turn, has slowed down the urban market. The companies cutting across sectors have discovered the importance of rural markets. With urban India in the grip of a slowdown, the rural market is helping industries like automobiles, cement, consumer electronics, textiles, telecommunications and FMCGs grow. While urban organised retail is in pain, its rural counterpart is thriving. All of a sudden, the consumer in the laid back Indian village is being spoilt for choice. The rural incomes are progressing, thanks to the Government initiatives like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) launched in 2006 which promised employment of at least 100 days to every member of a poor rural household. This served three purposes: It built rural infrastructure Plugged pilferage of funds Boosted the disposable incomes of rural families The scheme was rolled out to all the 596 districts of the country. All told, Rs 66,800 crores has been earmarked for the programme. Another boost for liquidity among farmers came with the farm loan waiver of Rs 65,318 crores carried out by the Government last year. The bottom-line is clear. Customers in villages have their own set of aspirations and are willing to pay for the right services. Companies are understanding that to play the game in rural markets is to understand and innovate products exclusively for the rural consumers and after tasting success can also be replicated in the urban markets. For example, Tata Sky launched DTH (Direct to Home) primarily for the urban markets. However, in the rural entry, the package has been at Rs 99 per month which was a mini-thali of sorts with a bit of everything. The promotional campaigns included taking Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador who could easily appeal across the rural-urban divide and they also do a lot of promotions and demonstrations so as to motivate the local distributors who highlight the benefits of the service. Tata Sky has launched the Rs 99 pack in the urban markets as well. Advertising goes hand in hand with economic growth. With economic liberalization and increasing rural prosperity, marketers are keen to inform villagers about the benefits of buying and consuming their products and services. Prior to the introduction of economic liberalization in 1990s, there was little incentive for marketers to advertise their products and services, as rural markets were predominantly a sellers market. The influence of the electronic media, in particular television, video and the Hindi film industry, is contributing to the growth of rural aspirations, which are being manifested in rural India in the form of increasing consumerism. The rural environment is different from the urban and therefore communication to potential customers in a proper and effective manner is a major challenge for corporate marketers. The majority of advertisements designed by corporate marketers, are largely urban oriented and extend themselves to rural areas without any consideration to the values and sensitivities of the rural audience, which are often in striking contrast to those of their urban counterparts. This has led to a negative perception in the minds of villagers, about urban media planners and advertisers. Rural communication is not a peripheral activity. It does not, for instance, involve taking an audio-visual van to a village and assuming that this step is enough to reach out to customers. It requires an entirely different mindset, which demands getting rid of many mental barriers. Companies have to realize that rural is a long-haul market, as gains in the short term are neither immediate nor large. Challenges in Rural Communications There are many challenges to communication in rural. Low literacy level; poor media reach and exposure and vast, heterogeneous and diversely spread rural audiences characterized by variations in language, culture and lifestyle-all these factors pose multiple challenges to marketers looking to take their messages to the largely media-dark or media-grey areas, of rural markets. Heterogeneity and spread The communication pattern in any society is a part of its culture. No communication medium can exist in a cultural vacuum. Communicating the message to rural consumers ha posed enormous challenges to the rural marketer, because of the large numbers of consumers scatters across the country. The problem is further compounded by the heterogeneous nature of consumers there are 16 scheduled languages and 114 local vernaculars. For example, the dialects used in the Vidharbha region, in Konkan region, in costal Maharashtra etc. Limited Media Reach The limited reach of the mass media imposes limitations on universal communication to rural consumers. These factors lead to poor message comprehension and negligible impact, which fail to translate into consumer awareness and hence fail in generating consumer pull. Understanding the Rural Audience It is not sufficient to understand rural communication challenges as stated above: rather, what is equally crucial is the need to understand the behavioural and psychographic characteristics of the rural audience, in order to develop an effective rural communication strategy. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Tools IMC is a management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation. Advertising Advertising has four characteristics: it is persuasive in nature; it is non-personal; it is paid for by an identified sponsor; and it is disseminated through mass channels of communication. Advertising messages may promote the adoption of goods, services, persons, or ideas. Because the sales message is disseminated through the mass media-as opposed to personal selling-it is viewed as a much cheaper way of reaching consumers. However, its non-personal nature means it lacks the ability to tailor the sales message to the message recipient and, more importantly, actually get the sale. Therefore, advertising effects are best measured in terms of increasing awareness and changing attitudes and opinions, not creating sales. Advertisings contribution to sales is difficult to isolate because many factors influence sales. The contribution advertising makes to sales are best viewed over the long run. The exception to this thinking is within the internet arena. While banner ads, pop-ups and inte rstitials should still be viewed as brand promoting and not necessarily sales drivers, technology provides the ability to track how many of a websites visitors click the banner, investigate a product, request more information, and ultimately make a purchase. Through the use of symbols and images advertising can help differentiate products and services that are otherwise similar. Advertising also helps create and maintain brand equity. Brand equity is an intangible asset that results from a favorable image, impressions of differentiation, or consumer attachment to the company, brand, or trademark. This equity translates into greater sales volume, and/or higher margins, thus greater competitive advantage. Brand equity is established and maintained through advertising that focuses on image, product attributes, service, or other features of the company and its products or services. Cost is the greatest disadvantage of advertising. The average cost for a 30-second spot on network television increased fivefold between 1980 and 2005. Plus, the average cost of producing a 30-second ad for network television is quite expensive. It is not uncommon for a national advertiser to spend in the millions of dollars for one 30-second commercial to be produced. Add more millions on top of that if celebrity talent is utilized. Credibility and clutter are other disadvantages. Consumers have become increasingly skeptical about advertising messages and tend to resent advertisers attempt to persuade. Advertising is everywhere, from network television, to daily newspapers, to roadside billboards, to golf course signs, to stickers on fruit in grocery stores. Clutter encourages consumers to ignore many advertising messages. New media are emerging, such as DVRs (digital video recorders) which allow consumers to record programs and then skip commercials, and satellite radio which provides a majority of its channels advertising free. Public Relations (PR) Public relations is defined as a management function which identifies, establishes, and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public upon which its success or failure depends. Whereas advertising is a one-way communication from sender (the marketer) to the receiver (the consumer or the retail trade), public relations considers multiple audiences (consumers, employees, suppliers, vendors, etc.) and uses two-way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its message and the organizations actions for maximum benefit. A primary tool used by public relations practitioners is publicity. Publicity capitalizes on the news value of a product, service, idea, person or event so that the information can be disseminated through the news media. This third party endorsement by the news media provides a vital boost to the marketing communication message: credibility. Articles in the media are perceived as being more objective than advertisements, and thei r messages are more likely to be absorbed and believed. For example, after the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes reported in the early 1990s that drinking moderate amounts of red wine could prevent heart attacks by lowering cholesterol, red wine sales in the United States increased 50 percent. Another benefit publicity offers is that it is free, not considering the great amount of effort it can require to get out-bound publicity noticed and picked up by media sources. Public relations role in the promotional mix is becoming more important because of what Philip Kotler describes as an over communicated society. Consumers develop communication-avoidance routines where they are likely to tune out commercial messages. As advertising loses some of its cost-effectiveness, marketers are turning to news coverage, events, and community programs to help disseminate their product and company messages. Some consumers may also base their purchase decisions on the image of the company, for example, how environmentally responsible the company is. In this regard, public relations plays an important role in presenting, through news reports, sponsorships, advertorials (a form of advertising that instead of selling a product or service promotes the companys views regarding current issues), and other forms of communication, what the company stands for. Sales Promotions (SP) Sales promotions are direct inducements that offer extra incentives to enhance or accelerate the products movement from producer to consumer. Sales promotions may be directed at the consumer or the trade. Consumer promotions such as coupons, sampling, premiums, sweepstakes, price packs (packs that offer greater quantity or lower cost than normal), low-cost financing deals, and rebates are purchase incentives in that they induce product trial and encourage repurchase. Consumer promotions may also include incentives to visit a retail establishment or request additional information. Trade promotions include slotting allowances (buying shelf space in retail stores), allowances for featuring the brand in retail advertising, display and merchandising allowances, buying allowances (volume discounts and other volume-oriented incentives), bill back allowances (pay-for-performance incentives), incentives to salespeople, and other tactics to encourage retailers to carry the item and to push the brand. Two perspectives may be found among marketers regarding sales promotion. First, sales promotion is supplemental to advertising in that it binds the role of advertising with personal selling. This view regards sales promotion as a minor player in the marketing communication program. A second view regards sales promotion and advertising as distinct functions with objectives and strategies very different from each other. Sales promotion in this sense is equal to or even more important than advertising. Some companies allocate as much as 75 percent of their advertising/promotion dollars to sales promotion and just 25 percent to advertising. Finding the right balance is often a difficult task. The main purpose of sales promotion is to spur action. Advertising sets up the deal by developing a brand reputation and building market value. Sales promotion helps close the deal by providing incentives that build market volume. Sales promotions can motivate customers to select a particular brand, especially when brands appear to be equal, and they can produce more immediate and measurable results than advertising. However, too heavy a reliance on sales promotions results in deal-prone consumers with little brand loyalty and too much price sensitivity. Sales promotions can also force competitors to offer similar inducements, with sales and profits suffering for everyone. Personal Selling (PS) Personal selling includes all person-to-person contact with customers with the purpose of introducing the product to the customer, convincing him or her of the products value, and closing the sale. The role of personal selling varies from organization to organization, depending on the nature and size of the company, the industry, and the products or services it is marketing. Many marketing executives realize that both sales and non-sales employees act as salespeople for their organization in one way or another. One study that perhaps supports this contention found that marketing executives predicted greater emphasis being placed on sales management and personal selling in their organization than on any other promotional mix element. These organizations have launched training sessions that show employees how they act as salespeople for the organization and how they can improve their interpersonal skills with clients, customers, and prospects. Employee reward programs now reward employ ees for their efforts in this regard. Personal selling is the most effective way to make a sale because of the interpersonal communication between the salesperson and the prospect. Messages can be tailored to particular situations, immediate feedback can be processed, and message strategies can be changed to accommodate the feedback. However, personal selling is the most expensive way to make a sale, with the average cost per sales call ranging from $235 to $332 and the average number of sales calls needed to close a deal being between three and six personal calls. Sales and marketing management classifies salespersons into one of three groups: creative selling, order taking, and missionary sales reps. Creative selling jobs require the most skills and preparation. They are the point person for the sales function. They prospect for customers, analyze situations, determine how their company can satisfy wants and needs of prospects, and, most importantly, get an order. Order takers take over after the initial order is received. They handle repeat purchases (straight rebuys) and modified rebuys. Missionary sales reps service accounts by introducing new products, promotions, and other programs. Orders are taken by order takers or by distributors. Direct Marketing (DM) Direct marketing, the oldest form of marketing, is the process of communicating directly with target customers to encourage response by telephone, mail, electronic means, or personal visit. Users of direct marketing include retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and service providers, and they use a variety of methods including direct mail, telemarketing, direct-response advertising, online computer shopping services, cable shopping networks, and infomercials. Traditionally not viewed as an element in the promotional mix, direct marketing represents one of the most profound changes in marketing and promotion in the last 25 years. Aspects of direct marketing, which includes direct response advertising and direct mail advertising as well as the various research and support activities necessary for their implementation, have been adopted by virtually all companies engaged in marketing products, services, ideas, or persons. Direct marketing has become an important part of many marketing communication programs for three reasons. First, the number of two-income households has increased dramatically. About six in every ten women in the United States work outside the home. This has reduced the amount of time families have for shopping trips. Secondly, more shoppers than ever before rely on credit cards for payment of goods and services. These cashless transactions make products easier and faster to purchase. Finally, technological advances in telecommunications and computers allow consumers to make purchases from their homes via telephone, television, or computer with ease and safety. These three factors have dramatically altered the purchasing habits of American consumers and made direct marketing a growing field worldwide. Direct marketing allows a company to target more precisely a segment of customers and prospects with a sales message tailored to their specific needs and characteristics. Unlike advertising and public relations, whose connections to actual sales are tenuous or nebulous at best, direct marketing offers accountability by providing tangible results. The economics of direct marketing have also improved over the years as more information is gathered about customers and prospects. By identifying those consumers they can serve more effectively and profitably, companies may be more efficient in their marketing efforts. Whereas network television in the past offered opportunities to reach huge groups of consumers at a low cost per thousand, direct marketing can reach individual consumers and develop a relationship with each of them. Research indicates that brands with strong brand equity are more successful in direct marketing efforts than little-known brands. Direct marketing, then, works best when other marketing communication such as traditional media advertising supports the direct marketing effort. Direct marketing has its drawbacks also. Just as consumers built resistance to the persuasive nature of advertising, so have they with direct marketing efforts. Direct marketers have responded by being less sales oriented and more relationship oriented. Also, just as consumers grew weary of advertising clutter, so have they with the direct marketing efforts. Consumers are bombarded with mail, infomercials, and telemarketing pitches daily. Some direct marketers have responded by regarding privacy as a customer service benefit. Direct marketers must also overcome consumer mistrust of direct marketing efforts due to incidents of illegal behavior by companies and individuals using direct marketing. The U.S. Postal Service, the Federal Trade Commission, and other federal and state agencies may prosecute criminal acts. The industry then risks legislation regulating the behavior of direct marketers if it is not successful in self-regulation. The Direct Marketing Association, the leading tra de organization for direct marketing, works with companies and government agencies to initiate self-regulation. In March of 2003 the National Do Not Call Registry went into affect whereby consumers added their names to a list that telemarketers had to eliminate from their out-bound call database. Emerging Tools of IMC Sponsorships (Event Marketing) Sponsorships, or event marketing, combine advertising and sales promotions with public relations. Sponsorships increase awareness of a company or product, build loyalty with a specific target audience, help differentiate a product from its competitors, provide merchandising opportunities, demonstrate commitment to a community or ethnic group, or impact the bottom line. Like advertising, sponsorships are initiated to build long-term associations. Organizations sometimes compare sponsorships with advertising by using gross impressions or cost-per-thousand measurements. However, the value of sponsorships can be very difficult to measure. Companies considering sponsorships should consider the short-term public relations value of sponsorships and the long-term goals of the organization. Sports sponsorships make up about two-thirds of all sponsorships. Social Media Marketing The concept of social media marketing basically refers to the process of promoting business or websites through social media channels. It is a powerful marketing medium that is defining the way people are communicating. It is one of the significantly low-cost promotional methods that provide businesses large numbers of links and huge amount of traffic. Companies manage to get massive attention and that really works in favour of the business. Social media marketing is a potent method applied by progressive companies for selling their products/services or for just publishing content for advertisement revenue. Social media is an extremely useful tool using which companies can get their information, product descriptions, promotions all ingrained in the chain of networking world. Considering the newness of this marketing method, organizations are coming up with innovative ways to develop their marketing plans. New platforms are being created to approach potential clients. A large number of business organizations are allocating budget for online business development using social media marketing. It is a booming sector which is going to redefine the way marketing strategies are being formed and promoted. Internet Marketing Internet marketing also referred to as i-marketing, web-marketing, online-marketing or e-Marketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. The Internet has brought media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing in terms of providing instant responses and eliciting responses are the unique qualities of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including: design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner ads on specific websites, e-mail marketing, and Web 2.0 strategies. Mobile Marketing Mobile Marketing involves communicating with the consumer via cellular (or mobile) device, either to send a simple marketing message, to introduce them to a new audience participation-based campaign or to allow them to visit a mobile website. Mobile connectivity not only enables people to connect to the Internet via a cellular telephone, PDA or other gadget, but also consolidates the different communication channels in a simple, yet effective medium. Cheaper than traditional means for both the consumer and the marketer and easy enough for almost any age group to understand and engage with Mobile Marketing really is a streamlined version of traditional eMarketing. Strategic Framework for IMC in Rural Markets in India A strategic framework for implementing Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) in the rural markets in India has been proposed. The following are the elements of the framework: Objectives: The firms need to set and review their objectives for the rural markets. The desired effects and output needed from an integrated communications programme need to be decided and this becomes the base for the next steps in the implementation framework. 3As of the Adoption Process: Awareness Creation: Firstly, awareness needs to be created about the brand and the product in the rural market. An urban product might have low or almost nil awareness level in the rural market. The various tools that should be used at this stage are Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Advertising and Events. Adopt the Brand: Once awareness has been created about the brand, steps need to be taken so that the rural markets adopt the brand. The various tools that should be used at this stage are Personal Selling, Sales Promotions and Road shows. Brand Purchase: Once people have adopted the brand, steps must be taken to ensure that people purchase the brand and become repeat buyers. The tools which must be used at this stage are Sales Promotion and Personal Selling. IMC Tools: As mentioned before, different tools serve different purposes in the rural markets. For awareness creation, Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Advertising and Events are useful. Rural advertising will be different from the urban advertising keeping in mind the different profiles of the rural customers. Events also are very effective tools as they engage prospective consumers. The tools useful for adopting the brand are Personal Selling, Sales Promotions and Road shows. The markets accept and adopt the brands once salience has been achieved in the previous stage. Road shows are newer IMC tools which are proving to be very effective. They should be leveraged in the rural markets. In the brand purchase stage, tools like Personal Selling and Sales Promotions must be used as they have a direct impact on the brand purchase by providing incentives and more direct information about the brand. Select Right Mix of IMC: All these above mentioned tools need to be used judiciously and in the right proportion to achieve the desired marketing objectives. There needs to be a strategic fit between the chosen tools and the IMC objectives. Depending on the stages of the adoption process, the corresponding tools should be given importance over others and also overall media budget must be considered. Adds Incremental Value to the Firm: The implementation of an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) model in the rural markets in the above mentioned manner will add incremental value to the firm. Since most of the corporate are looking in a big manner to exploit the rural markets in India, the above strategic framework might be useful for them to devise an IMC strategy. And it goes without saying that an urban IMC will be different from a rural IMC. Conclusions Customers in villages have their own set of aspirations and are willing to pay for the right services. Companies are understanding that to play the game in rural markets is to understand and innovate products exclusively for the rural consumers and after tasting success can also be replicated in the urban markets. The rural environment is different from the urban and therefore communication to potential customers in a proper and effective manner is a major challenge for corporate marketers. An urban communications approach might not hold well in these rural markets and thus there is a need to have a different Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) approach for the rural markets in India. The strategic framework for Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) developed in this paper may be used by companies as a part of their rural strategy. Thus the companies can add incremental value to themselves.

Impact of Air Pollution to the Environment in Malaysia

Impact of Air Pollution to the Environment in Malaysia 1.0  Introduction Health impact assessment (HIA) is the process of evaluating the possible impact of a biological, chemical, physical or social factor on specific human population system under a fixed environment and for certain duration. (HIA) is an important element of the environmental impact assessment process, which has been considered compulsory for all approved activities under the Environmental Impact Assessment Order, 1987, which comes under the umbrella of the Environmental Quality Act, 1974. Although all involved HIA consultants are registered under the EIA Consultant Registration Scheme, their HIA conduct in Malaysia is not consistent with the requirement. Therefore, introduction of a guidance document is a needed to make all HIA practice is more consistent with the enforcement. The aim of the Guidance Document on HIA is to provide information to all stakeholders such as consultants, industries, government agencies and the public on the assessment of health impacts from a project developme nt. Prof. Dr. Jamal Hisham Hashim, DOE,( 2009) Health Impact Assessment also a planning tool and a process that systematically recognizes and inspects both the potential positive and negative health impacts of an activity or a project development. In this planning structure, the outcome of an assessment provides the perfect way to implement the plan to maximize positive health controls and minimize negative health impacts to the environment. Open burning is a major source of air pollution in the urban area in Malaysia. Burning rubbish openly, burning the forest for replantation or development, burning rice straw on paddy fields which releases harmful chemicals and gases should be totally avoided altogether to avoid the air pollution in Malaysia. Many citizens of Malaysia are still unaware of the impact of their action which their action lead environmental and health effect in Malaysia. In this assignment, the reader should be able to understand the assessment process of Health and Impact Assessment and the effects of air pollutio n from open burning in the urban area of Malaysia and the strategies that can be applied to reduce or eliminate them. Prof. Dr. Jamal Hisham Hashim, DOE, 2009) 2.0  Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Process According to Department of Environment (DOE)Malaysia, environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a study to explore, predict, evaluate and convey the consequences of the open burning to the environment and the mitigating measures prior to a project approval and implementation (DOE, 2009). Minister of Natural Resources and Environment was empowers under section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act, 1974 to perform prescribe any activity which may have substantial environmental impact in Malaysia. 2.1  The purpose of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Process The purpose of HIA process is to evaluate the potential development need to conduct an HIA for the project. HIA may not require for all development projects in Malaysia. As detailed in EIA, HIA is not required unless it can be objectively debated that an HIA is not give significant effect to the particular project. Referring to the previous project history and the known outcome of the prescribed activities of the projects record will describe the requirement of HIA for a particular project. However, the project not listed in HIA database listing are must be screened for the need to undergo an HIA. A screening checklist is has been developed to assist the Project Initiators and the Department of Environment in screening potential projects or prescribed activities that would require an HIA. 2.2  The scope of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Process Health impact assessment (HIA) is becoming an important tool for assessing the health impacts of policies, programmes and projects. There are several guidelines on HIA, both general and specific procedure that has been published to describe the requirements. The aim of this â€Å"Guidance Document† is to specifically address requirement of the assessment. The application of HIA has been mainly in the framework of an EIA study in Malaysia. However, due to lack of official guideline on its implementation, many methodologies and formats have been engaged by HIA consultants resulting in inconsistency in the HIA. Therefore, the scope of HIA is to prevent the health impacts that may arise from a project development. HIA not only developed to help avoiding unnecessary difficulties of negative health impacts but also preventing a health effect in which certainly less cost effective than treating them. 2.3  The assessment of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Process Risk reduction is a process of risk management and it required to be assessed before an initiative to minimize the risk can be taken. The goal of health risk assessment process is to identify, define the risk and subsequently is to assess the risk exposure to the surrounding. The risk can be adequately assessed and categorised from the information obtained from hazard and exposure and Health Impact Assessment and it can also be defined as an organisational approach. Health risk assessment is applied for the assessment of health hazards from the environment. There are two methods to assess the health risk exposure, namely the quantitative and qualitative health risk assessment. A numerical measure of the risk or safety of a chemical exposure is derived from the quantitative risk assessment. The generated numerical measure value of the risk is than compared with the guideline or a defined acceptable risk level. There are two categories of risks being assessed when performing a quantitative risk assessment, namely non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk and it is the preferred assessment for HIA in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) whenever this is applicable. DOE (2009) A qualitative risk assessment simply characterises or compares the hazard of a chemical relation to each other’s or describes the hazard in only qualitative terms, such as mutagen or carcinogen, which predicts certain risk or safety procedures measures may not require a numerical assessment or quantitative risk assessment. Some health risk related with contagious diseases may not fit well to quantitative risk assessment due to the nature of the risk. Therefore, a qualitative risk assessment may only be the assessment method whenever it is possible to execute based on the requirement. As quoted in National Academy of Sciences (1996), â€Å"quantitative risk assessment can be defined as the classification of the potential adverse health effects of human exposures to environmental hazards†. The risk assessment contains four steps, which consist of hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment and risk classification. The use of quantitative health ri sk assessment is mostly limited to the assessment of chemical hazards. Biological and physical hazards do not fit well to quantitative assessment where in such cases, qualitative assessment should be applied for the purpose. DOE, (2009) 3.0  Open burning activity According to Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) any burning conducted in such a manner that combustion air is not efficiently controlled and that combustion products are not vented through a stack or chimney, including but not limited to burning conducted in open outdoor fires, common burn barrels and backyard incinerators is define as open burning. The burning is typically conducted using burn barrels, separated pits, backyard burners, and pilling up of refuse, trash, yard trimmings or leaves also considered into this category. Datuk Law Hieng Ding, DOE (2000) 3.1 Causes of open burning i)  Jungle fire Jungle fire fires and the resultant smoke-haze are somewhat new experiences to Malaysia. The problems are seemed to be intensely increasing and repeated occasionally. Under normal circumstances, the unexplored jungles of Malaysia will not catch fire easily and even if it catches fire, the fire will not be spreading extensively due to the humidity that exceeds 75% and the rate of litter decomposition on the forest ground is reasonably fast. There is very little chance of the forest to catch fire unless these conditions are changed due climate changes. However, when water in these areas is drained during development projects, the ground becomes completely dry and is has high possibility to catch fire. Under these conditions the fire spreads underground and can keep burning for a long time. Wan Mohd Shukri Wan Ahmad ( 2001) ii)  Human causes The other sources that can contribute to one of the causes of the fire are mostly by the actions of humans. Some of the major reasons are caused by individuals who want to eliminate things like garbage from their backyard. There are some farmers who burn rice straws to clean their fields before replantation and preparation of agricultural plantations. These are activities that are very commonly can be seen in Malaysia. DES,(2013) 3.2 The effect of open burning The fire gives extensive damage to plants, animals, environment and the health of people surrounding the affected areas. The haze and air pollution are at a dangerous level in most of these areas and at times it reaches to intolerable and hazardous levels. Although there’s an increase in respiratory related sicknesses in the neighbourhood caused by the forest fire, the long term effects of open burning will affect mainly the health of people and is difficult to solve and is now an issue of concern in Malaysia. Besides the effect as mentioned above, open burning also disrupts the Malaysian economy and other measurable effects including reasons as quoted below. i)  Production losses. In year 1997, Malaysia reached a new urgency causing by the haze when the Air Pollution Index (API) readings reached 500ÃŽ ¼g/m3. Sarawak declared 10 days emergency state due prolongation of the haze which resulted in various production losses of economic activities. Firstly, the production losses inclusive of a reduction in growth of crops subsequent caused by reduction of sunlight. Secondly, the fishing activities reduced due to poor visibility for the fishing boats. These effects indirectly have reduced the expected profit per day of the business. Finally, the industrial and commercial activity delays in logistics and an increase the effort in cleaning and maintenance of equipment due to dust and corrosion occurrence. During this production downtime, the profits fall far away from the estimated value. Wan Mohd Shukri Wan Ahmad ( 2001) ii)  Tourism losses Tourism industry will tremendously hit by a drastic impact due to reduction of tourist arrivals from various countries to Malaysia caused by the haze. The government is forced to declare a state of emergency in certain areas where the air pollution indices reached dangerous levels which may lead to serious health concerns. This action is taken in order to regulate the effect of economic crisis which in itself is expected to affect the incoming of tourists into this land. Wan Mohd Shukri Wan Ahmad ( 2001) iii)  Health effect Open trash burning can release hexchlorobenzene (HCB) to the environment. This chemical contains high toxin that miscible slowly in the air. Theoretically, it can travel long distances in the air. It bio- accumulates in marine lives, birds and animals that feed on fish and sea plants. HCB is a probable human carcinogen, and based on studies, long-term and low-level exposures to HCB can damage growth of a developing baby or animal, kidney and liver damage and cause exhaustion and skin disease. Environmental service, (2013) iv) Global worming Open burning can also be the cause for global warming on earth. Numerous open burning is done by individuals who are not responsible. These activities can result in the release of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere and in will trap heat that originates from the earth. 3.3  Legal requirement for open burning. Government has launched an initiative to prevent and control the deterioration of air quality when the Department of Environment enforced the Environmental Quality Act (EQA 1974) Section 29A that discusses the prevention of open burning and Section 22 of the EQA 1974, section 29AA which prohibits individuals, companies or the premise of the release of pollutants air into atmosphere above the limit prescribed under the Environmental Quality Regulations EQA 1974. Datuk Law Hieng Ding, DOE (2000) a) Three main rules are enforced under Section 22 is as follows; i. Regulations Environmental Quality (Clean Air) ii. Regulations Environmental Quality (Control of Emission from Diesel engines) iii. Regulations Environmental Quality (Control of Emission from Petrol engines) b)  Exclusion from open burning â€Å"section, 29AA† The minister may declare the stop order relates to any fire, combustion or smouldering for the purpose of any activity specified in that order is not open burning as defined in and for the purpose of section 29A whenever conditions as may be specified in section 22A which exceed the specified in the order. DOE, (2014) c)  Offenses and penalties To prevent the open burning in Malaysia, the Department of Environment will take firm action against those who are involved in open burning as specified as an offense including compound of RM 2000 for each offense and court action in which the convicted will be penalised of the offense under Section 22 (3) Act and can be fined up to One Hundred Thousand Dollars (RM100,000) or imprisonment up to 5 years and under Section 29A of the EQA 1974 may which bring to a fine of up to Five Hundred Thousand Dollars (RM 500,000) or 5 years imprisonment if the charges are proven in the court. DOE,(2014) d)  Strategies to reduce open burning There are several ways to tackle the air pollution caused by open burning. i) The first step is that we need to change the mind set and attitude of our own. Most air pollution is due to the attitudes of people who are concerned with their own interests. Factory owners release toxic gases into the air because they want to make more profit and do not want to waste the money to filter gases. Therefore, we need to change the mind set and attitude of our own knowing air pollution will bring a lot of negative effects of environmental damage. ii) The second step is that the government should hold campaigns on air pollution awareness to the public. The aim is educate society about the importance of maintaining and protecting the environment. In addition, the public will be exposed to the effects, causes and measures to cope with the environment. This campaign should be held throughout so that the community will not forget the effort to protect the environment. This campaign can be provided at the school, council housing or public library and posters can also be placed in places that can be seen by the public. iii) The third step is to enforce laws and regulations. Intention to enforce the laws and regulations are parties to air pollution will be share out with in terms of the law. Factories, agricultural field that release fumes that pollute the air will be charged will be summoned. If they continue to perform these activities, the business license should be revoked. The objective is to minimize air pollution levels are lower. iv) Responsibility of community. Last but not least to the actions taken by the government and the authorities, the public must be responsible and equally protect the environment to ensure the earth is sustainable. Among the actions that can be made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹is that to use public transport instead of private vehicles or car. On the other hand, the owner of the vehicle must ensure their vehicles do not release black smoke by taking steps to perform regular inspection and maintenance especially for the engine carburettor and fuel pump to be in good condition. The farmers are also should responsible take initiative to recycle the residual wood to transform into fertilizer or other mean of disposing waste creatively. The public can also make a complaint to the Royal Malaysian Police, Fire and Rescue Department and Local Authorities What if there is combustion of solid waste and reports can also be made to the DOE of any open burning carried out by industry and plantations. 4.0  Conclusion Health impact assessment (HIA) is the process of evaluating the possible impact of a biological, chemical, physical or social factor on specific human population system under a fixed environment and for certain duration. The activities approved under the Environmental Impact Assessment Order 1987, which comes under the umbrella of the Environmental Quality Act, 1974. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a study is conducted to explore, predict, evaluate and convey the outcome of the consequences of the environment pollution and the mitigating measures prior to project approval and implementation of EQA 1974 and the purpose of HIA process is to evaluate the potential development need to conduct an HIA for the project. There are two methods to assess the health risk exposure, namely the quantitative and qualitative health risk assessment. A numerical measure of the risk or safety of a chemical exposure is derived from the quantitative risk assessment whereby the qualitative risk as sessment may only be the assessment the nature of the risk. Open burning becomes the contribution factor for air pollution in this country. Several cause which being identified such as Forest fire and Human causes and the effects which contributing to production losses, tourism losses, health effect and global warming. Rules and regulation are established by the government to prevent and control the deterioration of air quality under EQA 1974 and the action taken who found to be breaking the law. Strategies taken inclusive of changing people mind set and attitude, campaigns for public awareness, enforcing laws and regulations and encouraging using public transport which may reduce the environmental impact to air pollution. In conclusion, the people and the government must work together to solve the problem of air pollution. Although it cannot be eliminated overnight, but with the cooperation of various parties air pollution problems can be solved. We must think of the generations that will require environmental gives a beautiful and comfortab le for them to live in this world and just treat the environment that has been created by God. 2973 Words 5.0  References Datuk Law Hieng Ding/DOE. (2000). Environmental Quality Act 1974 [ACT 127]. Retrieved Oct 2,2014, from http://cp.doe.gov.my/pdf/Environmental%20 Quality %20(Prescribed%20Activities)%20(Open%20Burning).pdf Department of Environmental Services , New Hamspire. (2013). Open Burning of Residential Trash. Retrieved Oct 2,2014, from http://des.nh.gov/organization/ commissioner/pip/factsheets/ard/documents/ard-33.pdf Department for Environment. (2014). Enforcement on Air Pollution . Retrieved Oct 3,2014, from http://www.doe.gov.my/portalv1/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kenyataan-Akhbar-Mengenai-Penguatkuasaan-Pencemaran-Udara-24-Julai-2014.pdf Prof. Dr. Jamal Hisham Hashim/DOE. (2009). Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Retrieved Oct 2,2014, from http://www.doe.gov.my/eia/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/HIA-Guidance-Document.pdf Wan Mohd Shukri Wan Ahmad/ Natural Forest Division. (2001). Forest Fire Situation in Malaysia. Retrieved Oct 2,2014, from http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/ iffn/country/ my/ my_2.htm

Change vs. Development Essay -- essays research papers

Change Vs. Development The concepts of change and development come up frequently in the fields of business, technology, education, sociology, psychology, and many other fields. These concepts may appear to be the same, or similar, but they are very different concepts. According to Webster’s Universal College Dictionary, the definition of change is as follows: â€Å"To make different in form; to transform; to exchange for another or others; to give and take reciprocally; to transfer from one to another; to give or get smaller money; to give or get foreign money in exchange for; to remove and replace the coverings or garments of; to become different; to become altered or modified; to become transformed; to transfer between conveyances; to make an exchange; to pass from one phase to another; a replacement or substitution; a transformation or modification; variety or novelty.† The synonyms for the word change, as listed in Roget’s Desk Thesaurus, are: â€Å"alter, modify, make different, adjust, shift, vary, recast, restyle, remodel, reorganize, reform, revolutionize, transfer, transmute, mutate, transform, turn, convert, metamorphose; exchange, replace, substitute, swap, trade, switch, shift, interchange, shuffle, remove and rep lace; difference, modification, switch, shift, variation, deviation, variety, fluctuation, veering, alteration, conversion, substitution, swapping, reform, reformation, revolution, reorganization, and remodeling.† Roget’s Desk thesaurus even gives a good d...

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The basis of this paper examines the impacts of the social, political, and religious movements through a multi-layer study of the Dancing Plague in Strasbourg from the early 1200s through the early 1500s. By analyzing this historic, but rather odd dancing hysteria, these movements created severe forms of depression, stress, and anxiety that ultimately led to high levels of psychosis within the community. The time period studied includes the Bundschuh uprisings and peasantry gains to Strasbourg citizenship, the religious justifications for diseases and the emergence of powerful saints, and the severe hunger strikes which resulted from years of failed crops and abnormal climate changes. This analysis uses several major sermons from Lutheran theologians such as Matthà ¤us Zell and Martin Bucer, eyewitness reports of those present in Strasbourg before, during, and after the Dancing Plague, and medical reports from Strasbourg physician, Johann Widmann. Likewise, this study challenges the pre-Reformation argument that the Dancing Plague was a form of punishment sent from God, but rather induced by biological and psychological means. The various Strasbourg movements challenged the inequalities and injustices of the Church towards the peasantry, which created severe and impossible living conditions for the peasantry. This in turn, resulted in approximately four hundred citizens dancing feverishly in the streets of Strasbourg in the summer of 1518. Located on the southeastern border of the Holy Roman Empire, Strasbourg, flourished as a major agricultural market and transportation center. The region’s landscape provided equilibrium between the two most important natural resources: grain and wine. The plains abundantly provided the city wi... ...areas designated specifically within the city and were barred from wearing luxurious accessories. Likewise, gamblers were forced to entertain themselves with card and dice players in gambling dens. The crops for the following year improved dramatically, which reinforced the belief that the city was divinely rewarded for purifying the city. However, the excitement was short-lived as Europe became introduced to syphilis. The first acknowledged record of the reported disease was on February 22, 1495 during King Charles VIII invasion of Naples. Syphilis crept into Strasbourg through mercenary pike men, or Landsknechts, on return from the Italian wars and came in contact with Spanish troops who had sexual relations with prostitutes. In the spring of the same year the executive head of the city, or the Ammsister, reported of having a â€Å"bad pox† unseen before in the city.

Factors Affecting the Rate of Reaction Between Sodium Thiosulfate and E

Factors Affecting the Rate of Reaction Between Sodium Thiosulfate and Hydrochloric acid. Plan I will be conducting an experiment to find out if concentrating Thiosulfate and Hydrochloric Acid will effect the rate of reaction. I predict that the higher the concentration of the Thiosulfate, the quicker it will react with the Hydrochloric Acid. I will test: 20 Acid 20 Thio 0 Water 20 Acid 15 Thio 5 Water 20 Acid 10 Thio 10 Water 15 Acid 20 Thio 5 Water 10 Acid 20 Thio 10 Water The total volume of all the liquids will be kept the same. As will the temperature, conical glass, measuring cylinder and the cross on the piece of paper. I will ensure that all these are kept the same by doing all the experiments on the same day, not changing my equipment and the to...

Gender Differences in the Use of Technology Essay

At the center of 21st century culture is computer technology which presence and use just decades ago, were limited for the government and some institutions. Today, computer technology steps out from such isolation pervading all institutions, industries, commerce and other areas of life at what appears to be logarithmic speed, making its mastery or at least working knowledge an essential requisite if one is to keep pace with time. The ubiquity of technology, continuous rise in the demands for technologically-advanced workforce combined with the application of basic economic principles make one think whether the study on gender differences as it relates to technology is really a matter worthy of anyone’s attention. Statistics say it is. Generally, in a technological workplace, women are still underrepresented: only five percent of computer programmers, ten percent of system analysts and ten percent of electronic technicians are females (Statistics: Women in Technology, 2008). In major companies in Silicon Valley, only 5-6% is led by females (Statistics: Women in Technology, 2008). There has been a decline in the number of females pursuing careers related to science and technology. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of women who earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science has decreased from 37% to 28. 4% from 1984 to 1995 (Statistics: Women in Technology, 2008). Female students who took the advanced placement computer examination comprised only 17% (Statistics: Women in Technology, 2008). From these statistics, one may speculate that females’ future career choices still fall along traditional paths. This was confirmed by a study done by Lupart and Cannon (2002) on students’ perceptions on desirable career characteristics and career choices. With the rising demand for high-tech jobs (Statistics: Women and Technology, 2008), knowledge and use of technology become an essential condition to improve women’s participation in the workforce and to enable them to pursue higher status and better-paying jobs in the future. However, the general belief is that not only are women underrepresented in the technology-related industry; they are also considered to be less interested, less confident and less skilled in this area. These three factors affect their usage of technology. Still, underneath these factors, women’s computer usage can be traced on socialization and upbringing. Boys and girls do not play the same games during childhood. While boys are usually made to play video games or games that promote problem-solving, hands-on skills and spatial-relationship skills, girls play with dolls, which tend to develop their value of relationships (Milgram, 2007). Problem-solving, hands-on and spatial-relationship skills are critical to the study of computer and technology-related subjects. As a result of this discrepancy in development, males become more interested in technology and become better-equipped with the necessary skills as they reach adulthood (Milgram, 2007). The males’ generally higher interest in technology, however, does not affect the possibility of improving females’ perception and attitude towards technology. The effect of ubiquitous computing on gender differences was examined in a study done in 2006. Here, the participants were given access 24-hour access to a laptop. Gender differences were observed in behavioral attitude towards future use of computers before the laptop program. Prior to the laptop program, males were more inclined to use computers. This changed after the laptop program. No significant difference was observed in the attitude towards the use of computers after the program (Kay, 2006). Before the program, males were observed to be more skillful in computer abilities compared to females. No significant difference was observed in computer abilities between males and females after the program, except for the skill in programming (Kay, 2006). In central Georgia middle school, the study on 8th grade students showed a statistically significant difference between achievements of males and females. In this experiment, the participants were instructed and given an exam both written and applied on two modules, information and broadcasting. A greater improvement was seen in females for the information module while the males showed greater improvement in the broadcasting module. This study partially debunks earlier findings that males generally show higher achievements compared to males, in the study of computer technology (Hale, 2005). These studies suggest that females’ do not have an inherently unfavorable computer skill, interest, and attitude which affect computer use. Provided with the right tools and knowledge, females may do as well or even better than males (Milgram, 2007). The comparatively lower use of technology by females can be attributed to the differences in perceptions on technology between genders. While the females see technology through its social function, the males’ perspective is more focused on the hardware itself (Brunner, 1997). Males, therefore, are more likely to study more on the intricacies and technicalities of the use of technology compared to females which in effect allows them to maximize its use. Meanwhile, the females’ perspective of technology limits their use to only a number of functions.. According to Milgram (2007), â€Å"[females] are much less likely to retain interest if they feel they are incapable of mastering the material. † Also, males tend to exaggerate their accomplishments while females tend to feel less comfortable even when they do well in tests (Milgram, 2007). The females’ initial lack of skill in technology affects their confidence and perception towards its use. However, like interest and attitude, these may be changed upon exposure. Nicolino, et. al. (2006) measured the confidence gain of male and female respondents in the frequency of use of computers at home and at work. No significant difference in computer use was observed between males and females. Significant differences were observed in the only in the applications used by the two genders. The possible change in perceptions and confidence which may affect usage is evidenced by the study by Wong and Hanafi in 2007. In this study, the attitudes of male and female student teachers in Malaysia towards exposure and use of Information Technology were measured in terms of usefulness, confidence and aversion. No significant differences were seen between the two genders were observed during the pre- and post IT course. Both genders showed improvement in their appreciation of IT usage after the IT course. Females exhibited greater confidence in IT usage after the course compared to their male counterparts (Wong and Hanafi, 2007). Given the males’ higher degree of confidence towards technology, the question now is whether such confidence really translates to increased use of technology. In a study on some 6,800 fourth and eighth grade students, it was reported that males significantly increase their use of technology with age while no such significant increase was seen in females (Barker and Aspray, 2006). It has been established that the males have a more positive attitude and higher degree of confidence towards technology. These, however, are not solely gender-based but more importantly, based on their differences in upbringing, with males having more background in problem-solving and spatial-relationship. Based on the general principles derived from studies on gender-gap in technology, strategies can be employed to address such gap, improve computer attitude, increase computer use and create a culture where everyone can participate and take advantage of the benefits of technology, regardless of gender. Milgram (2007) lists some of such strategies targeting the middle school where attitudes in computer use start to emerge. These strategies include the creation of same-sex groups in classrooms, the integrated and meaningful use of technology, the improvement of teachers’ computer skills, the use of gender neutral softwares, simulation games for all genders, and the discouragement of using technology and computers as a reward. Common among these strategies is their focus on building the confidence of females who often have less experience than males. Simulation games, for example, ensure that not only males are given the opportunity to develop problem-solving and spatial relationship skills. Simulation games also promote hands-on proficiency which is necessary in developing technological skills and use. The creation of same-sex groups in classrooms and the discouragement of using technology and computers as reward minimize the males’ aggressive, assertive and self-assured behavior which stem from their confidence in their skills. In sum, it is by simulating the environment that contributed to the development of males’ skills that the gender gap in the use of technology can be significantly reduced. The fact that females respond to technology more positively if given the right building blocks, as shown by previous studies support this. Works Cited Barker LJ and Aspray W. (2006). The state of research on girls and IT. In J. M. Cohoon and W Aspray (eds. ), Women and information technology (pp. 3-54). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Brunner C. (1997). Technology and gender: Differences in masculine and feminine views. NASSP Bulletin, 81(592), 46-51. Hale, KV. (2005). Gender differences in computer technology achievement. Meridian, 8(1). Kay R. (2006). Addressing gender differences in computer ability, attitudes and use: The laptop effect. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 34(2), 187-211. Lupart J and Cannon E. Computers and career choices: gender differences in grades 7 and 10 students. Gender, Technology and Development, 6(2), 233-248. Milgram D. (2007). Gender differences in learning style specific to science, technology, engineering and math. SelfGrowth. com. Retrieved 27 April 2008 from http://www. selfgrowth. com/articles/Gender_Differences_in_Learning_Style_Specific_to_Science_Technology_Engineering_and_Math_STEM. html. Nicolino, P. , Fitzgerald, B. , Maser, K. & Morote, E. (2006). Gender Differences in Confidence about Using Technology: An Introductory Course. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds. ), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2006 (pp. 3544-3549). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Statistics: Women in Technology. (2008). DeVry University Website. Retrieved 27 April 2008 from http://www. phx. devry. edu/outreach/her_world_stats. asp. Wong, S. L. , & Hanafi, A. (2007). Gender Differences in Attitudes towards