Engineering Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Building Management - Essay Example The edge should consistently adjust consistently. There are nuts and bolts to realize when making cashbook sections. The benefits increment with a charge and diminishes with credit .The incomes and the liabilities decline with a charge and increments with a credit. At last , the costs are expanded with a charge and diminishes with a credit. Bookkeeping is consistently dependent upon translation, supposition and consistency. The most significant themes in this segment are job of bookkeeping and money. The point will assist me with acknowledging bookkeeping as a significant element in any flourishing organization. Budget reports as a theme will help with understanding of my own bank proclamations .Accounting rudiments and twofold section as subjects will support the executives and improvement of my very own cashbook for a nearby business. Diary passages as a point will help in accommodating money book proclamations of my business with the announcement according to the bank. Money related examination is significant in bookkeeping .It helps in distinguishing whether the business or the organization has made benefits or misfortunes. Budgetary investigation is constantly done from period to period, when a critical change has been noted or between organizations to organization. There are different sorts of budgetary investigation. These are: current proportions, productivity examination proportions, movement investigation proportions, capital structure examination proportions and capital market examination proportion. Financial plan is another capacity of the directors. The money related examination and articulations causes directors to make budgetary assignments and plans for approaching exercises that require subsidizing. Planning is constantly done every year and designated to the individual divisions. During planning, money related history, presumptions, outer variables and adaptability must be placed into thought to make the planning procedure compelling. Monetary bookkeeping additionally helps in arranging. Budgetary arranging helps in charge of assets, coordination of exercises, time the executives and improved efficiency. Planning

Miscegination Is Genetic Suicide:- A Critical Look At Race-m :: essays research papers

Each specie on earth has it's variations. For instance, the contrasts between Wood Ducks and Mallards have developed for explicit reasons - specifically, those which best guarantee the endurance of the Duck species in various situations. The equivalent applies to people. The Negro race has developed under a specific arrangement of conditions and those conditions varied immeasurably from those under which the Nordic Aryan race advanced. Though the Nordic Aryan required warmth and safe house exposed atmospheres of Europe and thus built up a progressively shaggy body, fair complexion, and a restricted formed nose in addition to other things, the Negro, showering in the hot atmosphere of Africa, required cooling and in this way devoloped a compliment nose, a body with insignificant hair, and a compliment, more extensive nose. This sort of hereditary assorted variety which has developed over a huge number of years so as to all the more likely adjust us for our individual surroundings is b eing obliterated with miscegination - that is - "race-mixing". As each specie on the planet created, it's sub-species and it's further strains and breeds under those have developed for a quite certain explanation - the conservation of the species, and eventually, life itself. Every specie resembles a tree, with several branches, each prompting a huge number of different branches. Each part of the tree is somewhat not quite the same as the one adjacent to it, because of living in an alternate domain it has needed to adjust and the subsequent contrasts are because of the blend - the recipe - of qualities, which has endure the best in whatever condition it has experienced. Due to this fanning of the species, at whatever point a specific malady, a characteristic marvel, or another predator has shown up on the scene, the species has consistently been various enough to proceed, as there will be one part of the tree which has the resistance, adjusted after some time, so as to protect itself or getaway from the fiasco. This technique, extraordinary stre tching, has guaranteed the endurance of different species for a huge number of years, and is in certainty the explanation behind the existance of various species. Since the starting billions of years back when God came to down and intertwined the base components of life into a solitary cell living being, that is to what extent this procedure has been occurring. As the one-celled critter of life spread to various pieces of a world that was simply starting to come to fruition, it experienced various difficulties for endurance, the cells that couldn't endure passed on and the a couple transformed cells that could endure kept, increasing and ruling every specific condition.

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development “I find myself opposed to the view of knowledge as a passive copy of reality.  â€" Jean PiagetHow do we learn things? The answers to this age-old question have been examined and analyzed by many scientists. There are plenty of prominent theories explaining cognitive development and helping us to understand the foundation of knowledge.One of the most prominent answers to the question has come from a Swiss psychologist, Jean Piget. What is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development? Let’s examine the theory and its core concepts, before analyzing its applications and the critique the theory has received. PIAGET AND HIS THEORY IN A NUTSHELLLet’s start by introducing Jean Piaget, the theory’s founding father, together with the core idea of his theory.Who was Jean Piaget?Jean Piaget was a psychologist, who became famous for creating his scientific theory about the intellectual development of children. He was born in Switzerland in 1896, showing an interest towards nature and science from an early age. When he was just 10 years old, he published a scientific paper about albino sparrow in a naturalist magazine. Piaget gained his Ph.D. in natural history at the age of 22 at the University of Neuchatel, after which he gained formal training in psychology.Piaget spent some time studying with Carl Jung and during this time, he met with Theodore Simon, who had been a collaborating with Alfred Binet. Simon offered Piaget a role, which led to Piaget developing an interest in the cognitive development of children. The role saw him supervise the standardization of an intelligence test develope d by Binet and Simon. While working, Piaget observed children and concluded that children are not less intelligent than adults, but the difference is how they think and view things.Piaget’s interest in cognitive development of children was further increased by his nephew Gerard, and specifically how he played around with toys in ways that seemed irrational to adults. When Piaget had his daughter Jacqueline, he paid specific interest in her early development. These observations reinforced his idea that children’s minds aren’t just miniature adult brains, but that development and intelligence are gained in stages. He believed strongly that education is the greatest strengths of humankind and said“only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual”.Piaget was one of the first psychologists to construct a systematic understanding of cognitive development â€" how do we learn? How do we gain intelligence? He contributed to a num ber of fields, including children’s cognitive development but also genetic epistemology. In 1955, Piaget founded the International Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva. He worked on the faculty of the University of Geneva and as the director of the Center until his death in 1980.The essence of Piaget’s theoryAlbert Einstein once called Piaget’s discoveries of cognitive development as, “so simply only a genius could have thought of it”. As the above shows, Piaget’s theory was born out of observations of children, especially as they were conducting play. When he was analyzing the results of the intelligence test, he noticed that young children provide qualitatively different answers to older children.This suggested to him younger children are not dumber, since this would be a quantitative position â€" an older child is smarter with more experience. Instead, the children simply answered differently because they thought of things differently. Similarly, when Piaget obse rved his nephew Gerard playing with a ball, he noticed something that to adults seems irrational. When the ball rolled out of sight under a sofa, Gerard began looking at it from the spot he last saw the ball, not under the sofa. These observations reinforced his idea that young children and older children have qualitative and quantitative differences in thinking.At the heart of Piaget’s theory is the idea that children are born with a basic mental structure, which provides the structure for future learning and knowledge. He saw development as a progressive reorganisation of these mental processes. This came about due to biological maturation, as well as environmental experience.We are essentially constructing a world around us in which we try to align things that we already know and what we suddenly discover. Through the process, a child develops knowledge and intelligence, which helps him or her to reason and think independently. Instead of there being a gradual increase in the c omplexity of behavior and ideas, development is marked by qualitative differences. We simply don’t yet have a proper alignment of things we know with things we discover. Therefore, Piaget’s theory has two core aspects to it:We first construct our image of the world â€" coming to know something.We then go through stages of implementing the knowledge with what the world around us is telling â€" discovering the discrepancies.The below clip is a great illustration of Piaget’s theory in a nutshell: THREE COMPONENTS OF THE THEORYThe theory is built around three core components: schemas, equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation, and the different stages of development.SchemasA schema is a description of both the mental and physical actions required in understanding and knowing. It’s a category of knowledge used in interpreting and understanding the world â€" the building blocks of knowledge. Without them, you would find the world incomprehensible. The world with its things would n’t mean anything.But schemas provide you a way to organize your knowledge, creating units of objects, actions and abstract concepts. According to Piaget’s own definition of schema, from his 1952 book The origins of intelligence in children, they are,“a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning”.You have many schemas about a variety of things. An example could be your schema about potatoes â€" what do you know about them? Your knowledge might be based on your experiences; they taste good when baked, they have an outer layer and they are grown underground. Your schema is essentially the knowledge you have (they grow under the ground) and your experiences of the object/idea (they taste good when baked). Therefore, a schema will change over time.SCHEMATAA schema is a cognitive structure that represents knowledge about everything that we know about the world, including oneself, others, events, etc.A schema is important because it allows us to quickly make sense of a person, situation, event, or a place on the basis of limited information.So, when a schema is activated, it fills in missing detailsSource: SlidePlayer  presentation by Kazuyo NakabayashiPiaget thought schemas to have this ability to change as people process more experiences. According to his theory, a child would modify, add or change the existing schemas as new information or experiences occur. So, if the child would one day eat a disgusting potato, he or she would add to the existing schema. Potatoes wouldn’t be just tasty, but could have the occasional foul taste to them.Piaget’s ideas of schemas were driven by his background in biology. He saw the schemas as mental organizations controlling behavior or adaptation to the environment. Furthermore, as you gain maturity, the schemas become more complex. For instance, your schema about potatoes becomes much wider; perhaps you gain more information about t he different varieties, you understand how different potatoes taste different and so on.Piaget suggested that the schemas eventually become organized in a hierarchical order, from a general schema to a specific schema. An infant has a schema, such as the sucking reflex. When something touches the baby’s lips, they start sucking. On the other hand, as you grow older these schemas become less genetic and more about our surroundings. You don’t go to a restaurant, pay the bill, eat the food, and then order. You do it all in reverse order and this is an example of a complex schema.Equilibrium, assimilation and accommodationThe second fundamental concept is the compilation of three concepts: equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation. Out of these three, assimilation and accommodation are the two core processes people use in order to adapt to the environment â€" the attempt to make sense of new information and to use it for future.On the other hand, equilibrium is the attempt to stri ke a balance between the schemas in your head and then what the environment is telling.AssimilationWhen you take in new information regarding your existing schema, you are assimilating. When you encounter French fries and identify it as potato, you are assimilating the French fries into your pre-existing schema. You are essentially using a pre-existing schema to deal with a new experience, situation, object or idea. You take the French fries and assimilate them inside a schema, instead of creating a new one. The process of assimilation is a subjective occurrence, since we are always modifying experiences and information in a way that fits our pre-existing beliefs.Children’s assimilation can, therefore, seem silly on the onset. R.S Siegler et al. gave an example of a child with a pre-existing schema of clowns in their 2003 book How Children Develop. A young child might have an image of a clown and according to his or her schema, clowns have shaved heads and lots of frizzy hair on t he sides. When the child encounters a man with the haircut (even without clown costumes and the like), the child might point to him and say “clown”.AccommodationAssimilation is the first attempt of understanding new information and experiences, with accommodation adding another solution if the above is insufficient. In accommodation, you try to modify your existing schemas and ideas, with the process giving you a new experience or knowledge and often resulting in the birth of new schemas. For example, you might see French fries, but after biting into them realise they are made from sweet potato. You therefore, accommodate your existing schema (not everything that looks like French fries is potato) and add or create a new schema (you can use sweet potato to make French fries). You are changing the existing structures or the knowledge you have to fit the environment around you.Generally, accommodation is a result of a failure of the schema. The existing knowledge you have simply d oesn’t work in the situation you are in â€" the French fries just don’t taste like potato, no matter how hard you try. Therefore, to overcome this obstacle, you change, add and modify your strategy or schema. If you think about the example of the child and the clown, the child’s parent might explain how the man is not a clown, but that the hairstyle was just something he has and it isn’t there for laughs. Now the child would need to change the schema of clown to include other things (making people laugh, red nose, funny costume) in order for it to work.EquilibriumFinally, you have the idea of equilibrium, which Piaget believed to be the child’s attempt to strike a balance between the two mechanisms: assimilation and accommodation. Piaget believed it to be the mechanism children use in order to move from one stage of thought to the other.The process involves the child applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing the behaviour if the knowledge is not aligned with the new knowledge (accommodation). The process is beautifully illustrated in the below image: Source: Based on SlidePlayer  presentationCognitive development is not a steady process according to Piaget’s theory. Instead of knowledge being something we gain at a steady rate, we tend to develop in leaps and bounds. Therefore, equilibrium occurs in different ways and is the key process children, specifically, use to move beyond simply assimilating things. You could think of equilibrium as a sort of balance restoring process.When you encounter the odd taste of the sweet potato fries, you don’t just go frustrated and wonder what is happening, but you restore balance by accommodating your existing schemas. Next time you encounter a French fry that looks like it’s from sweet potato, you won’t assume it’s potato anymore. If the taste doesn’t match to sweet potato, you again try to accommodate â€" perhaps it was carrots!The stages of developmentThe final core concept of Piaget’s theory is perhaps the most important: the stages of development. As I mentioned above, Piaget thought cognitive development as a process or construction of a mental model of the world. Development is biological and as the child matures, changes occur in cognitive understanding. According to Piaget, there are four universal stages of cognitive development:Sensorimotor stage â€" The core idea for the sensorimotor stage is object permanence. This requires the formation of a schema of the object and the knowledge the object continues to exist even after it is out of view. According to Piaget, the stage allows people to learn objects are distinct entities, with an existence out of the individual’s perception. The ball will still be a ball even when it rolls under the sofa.Pre-operational stage â€" Thinking begins moving towards symbolical stages during the pre-operational period. You learn that words and objects can be something other than themselves. Children start to develop imagination and things can start having more meaning. You might remember having a ball as a best frie nd or you made a toy plane out of cardboard. Nonetheless, the pre-operational stage is still controlled by egocentric thoughts. This means you would find it difficult to see another person’s viewpoint and illogical thinking can still occur. For example, if you split water into two jugs, one wider and the other taller, the child might think the taller one has more water inside it.Concrete operational stage  â€" Things start heating up during the concrete operational stage. According to Piaget’s theory, this is when the child starts showcasing logical or operational thought. Instead of having to physically try things (such as pouring the water back him- or herself), the child begins to think things through internally. While the developmental stage sees more logic in thinking, the thought patterns continue to be rigid. Another important aspect is the diminishing of egocentric thinking. Children begin to understand their thoughts, feelings and ideas are unique and other’s might th ink and feel differently.Formal operational stage â€" The final stage for Piaget was about the ability to increase logical thinking, using deductive reasoning and understanding abstract ideas. You don’t just think there’s one solution to problems, but you start using abstract ideas and different hypotheses to go about your life. The operational stage doesn’t really end, as we continue to gain new knowledge and experience long into adulthood.Piaget never assigned any specific years to each stage, although there have later been an attempt to indicate an average age at which the child might reach each stage. More importantly than that, Piaget did believe the stages to be experienced in the same order by everyone and you can’t miss a stage under normal development.APPLICATION OF PIAGETS THEORYPiaget’s theory is one of the most influential cognitive development theories out there. Despite being conducted and challenged (as I’ll explain in the next section), the findings have been used in a number of different contexts. Based on Piaget’s observations, the ideas have been applied in classrooms, dealing with young children. But the ideas and concept at play can also tell a lot about training and development in more general.You should keep in mind that Piaget didn’t ever relate his theory to education, but other psychologists and researchers have applied his ideas to educating and training children. The theory was used as a basis for primary education practices in the UK, for example. Nonetheless, Piaget did have a few essential things to say about learning and development, which you should take note of.First, Piaget based his ideas on biological maturation and stages, which means there is a concept of ‘readiness’ involved with development. He believed children to require a certain level of maturity before they can be taught a specific concept. Until the child is mature enough to think of other people’s feelings, it can be difficult to make them u nderstand how other children might not find teddy bears cuddly.Piaget also thought assimilation and accommodation to be active learning experiences. To him, problem solving is not a skill to be taught, but to be discovered. Therefore, children and other learners must be active participants of the training or education, not just passive participants. Therefore, many classrooms use active discovery learning as the basis, in which the teacher simply facilitates learning instead of directing. The child essentially gets to make his or her own experiments while learning.If you want to draw certain application conclusions from Piaget’s theory, they could be the following:Use props and other aids to support learning. Since development is an active experience, you want to engage the person learning. You should provide the opportunity to test things, feel things, and experiment with things in order to boost to engagement and ensure the child gets to test assimilation and possibly accommodat ing to the new information.Combining actions with words. In the earlier stages, it is especially important to keep things simple and short. You want to give a presentation and an explanation at the same time. For example, if you are teaching how to build a paper plane, you should explain the building process while simultaneously showing how it’s done.Understanding the different experiences people have. As well as teaching children about the importance of understanding other people’s experiences or feelings, you need to be conscious of this. People ascribe different meanings to words and the schemas might be different to everyone. When you encounter such a situation, you need to understand it rather than fight against it. Both you, as a teacher, and the person, as the student, might occasionally need to assimilate and accommodate your schemas.When it comes to application of Piaget’s theory, it’s crucial to remember he didn’t think intellectual development is a quantitative process, i.e. you aren’t just adding more information to existing knowledge over time. Instead, development is about qualitative change, meaning that you gradually process more information and change your existing understanding accordingly.CRITIQUE OF PIAGET’S THEORYWhile Piaget’s theory has caught a lot of attention and many educational institutions have used it, the concept has also attracted its fair share of criticism. What do researchers find most bothersome about the theory? One of the key critique is directed to the theory’s focus on development as stages.While Piaget didn’t think these stages occur at a specific age, he nonetheless suggested you move from one stage to another. According to scientist who find this problematic are Lev Vygotsky and Bruner, who believed development to be a fully continuous process. Instead of moving from a single stage to another, they feel cognitive development is never ending process that doesn’t transform in its essence. The Russi an psychologist, Vygotsky, also disagreed with Piaget’s notion that language is secondary to action. Piaget believed thoughts always precede language, while Vygotsky thought the origin of human reasoning to be rooted in our ability to communicate rather than interacting with the material world.Furthermore, Piaget’s theory is criticized for its emphasis of biological maturation. The theory sees development as a genetic and biological process and therefore leaves out the impact of culture or social setting. Dasen shares in his essay in the book Psychology and Culture his observations amongst aboriginal children in Australia.The children did similar spatial awareness and conservation tasks that Piaget conducted, with the aboriginal children having the ability to conserve later than Piaget’s Swiss children. On the other hand, the aboriginals had learned spatial awareness much earlier to Swiss children. According to Dasen, cognitive development is therefore not just a maturation pr ocess, but also dependent on cultural factors. In this instance, spatial awareness is crucial for nomadic groups to survive and live on a day-to-day basis.Piaget’s theory was based largely on observation and clinical interviews. As I outlined at the beginning, he got interested in the topic as he observed children’s answers and playtime. But observation is more open to bias than anything else. My observations of a child playing with a ball might be very different to your observations.This is especially true for his theory, as he constructed the whole theory on his observations alone. If he had discussed the findings with another researcher, the results might be found more reliable. For example, his interviews weren’t observed by another psychologist or observer â€" the answers might have been interpreted differently if someone else also looked at them.FINAL THOUGHTSThe key takeaway from Piaget’s theory should be that learning and gaining intelligence is an active process, no t passive. The theory believes development to be about continuous change and adaptation to the environment â€" you aren’t just obtaining information, but you are actively transforming your thoughts to fit the reality around you.You use your obtained knowledge, the schemas, and implement new knowledge either through assimilation or accommodation. Essentially, the search for information is about finding equilibrium â€" balancing your existing knowledge with new. While Piaget’s theory has attracted criticism from other behavioral scientists, some of its core findings about learning and education are still being used in training facilities for young and for old.

The Process Thats Involved In Recruitment Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1527 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Recruitment is the process of generating a pool of qualified candidates for a particular job (Luis R, 2007, P.146). It is the major function in the human resource management department and the recruitment process is the first step to create the competitive advantage for the organizations. Recruitment process involves a serious of systematic steps from identifying the talents needed by the organization until the arranging and conducting the interviews. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Process Thats Involved In Recruitment Business Essay" essay for you Create order The recruitment process will bring a few benefits towards the organization. Firstly, it is helping to attract and encourage more and more qualified candidates who are having different background, experience and skills to apply the jobs are provided from the organization. Secondly, the recruitment process is also helping the organization to identify and determine the human resource requirements needs for the development of an organization at present in the future time. Thirdly, the recruitment process is also helping the organization to increase the diversity of its workforce by receiving the employee who are having different background, experience and skills. This will help the organization to improve the quality of service towards customer and enhance the customer satisfaction. Lastly, the recruitment process is also helping the organization to make sure the employees are having enough ability to fit for the job in order to increase the productivity and increase the conflicts. The recruitment process is playing a major role for the sustainable development of an organization. Thus, I will use Kuo Kuang primary school as an example to discuss and comment on its recruitment process in the next part of this assignment. The steps of recruitment process Kuo Kuang primary school is a Chinese primary school which is having two campuses and both are located in Skudai. In terms of student population, Kuo Kuang is one of the largest primary school in Malaysia. In this part, I will introduce the recruitment process within school in a simple manner. 2.1) Step 1: Identifying the human resource needs During the first steps, the human resource department in Kuo Kuang is responsible to identity the human resources needs for the present and the future development of the organization. For Kuo Kuang primary school, there are certain thing must be included such as the purpose of the job must in the line with the mission and vision of the organization. This is very important for an organization to identity its human resource needs in order to ensure that the human resources is available to deal with any changes or make expansion for the organization. Identity the human resource needs timely will help the organization to control and facilitate its operations and even help the organization to increase its productivity. 2.2) Step 2: Prepare the job description and specification After identify the human resource needs, a job description and specification must be prepared. Job description is a written document that identifies describes and defines a job in terms of its duties, responsibilities, working, conditions, and specifications (Luis R, 2007, P.63). Kuo Kuang is treated the job description and specification as a criteria for selection. For Kuo Kuang primary school, there are certain thing must be included in the job description and specification such as the function of the job , the task and responsibility of the job, nature of authority, the required skills, working condition, job title, personal traits and characteristics, knowledge and working experience. The benefit of job description and job specification is that which is helping to contribute a serious of criteria for the performance appraisal and evaluation. Additionally, which is also helps the organization to save the cost of training and development if the employee is fit for the job. 2.3) Step 3: Advertising the vacancy After finished the preparation of job description and job specification, the recruitment process is entering into the step of advertising the vacancy. The purpose of advertising the vacancy is to attract and inform the qualified applicant to apply for this vacancy. For Kuo Kuang primary school, it is only use the newspaper to advertise the vacancy. Kuo Kuang also emphasize that a job advertisement should be consist of certain information such as the job title, requirements of the job, the criteria for the job applicants, job location and contact number, payment or reward structure as well as the details information on how to apply. The content of a job advertisement should be communicate directly and concisely as well as related to the job. However, newspaper advertising still has its limitation such as the advertising space in newspaper can be expensive and the popularity of the Internet is gradually increased so that a growing number of readers are interested in read the onlin e publication rather than read the newspaper. 2.4) Step 4: Managing the application process After undergo the advertising process, the vacancy has been informed to public by the newspapers. Thus, the recruitment process is entering into the step of managing the application process. For Kuo Kuang primary school, due to the reason that it is not using online recruitment process so that the organization only wait and collect the resume latter from the postman. Thus, managing the application process in this step is very time consuming. 2.5) Step 5: Prepare for short listing After undergo the application process, the resume latter from the applicant have been collected. Thus, the recruitment process is entering into the step of short listing. Short listing is refers to the process of identifying which applicant has the opportunity to be interviewed by the organization based on criteria that set by the organization. As mentioned before, Kuo Kuang is treated the job description and specification as a criteria for selection so that those applicant who are meet the requirement in job description and specification have the opportunity to be interviewed by the organization. For Kuo Kuang primary school, this short listing process should be undertaken by at least two people in order to avoid bias and ensure that the recruitment process is to be fairness to every applicant. 2.6) Step 6: Arrange interviews and selection tests After undergo the short listing process, the recruitment process is entering into the step of interview and selection test process. A job interview is a process that a potential employee is evaluated by an employer. Interview is an important way to finding out more information about the applicant whether they meet the criteria or having the ability to fit for the job. For Kuo Kuang primary school, it is require the applicant conduct a presentation of their teaching method, this can be regarded as a knowledge and skill test. 2.7) Step 7: Preparing the letter of offer The final step of the recruitment process in Kuo Kuang is to prepare the latter of offer. The latter of offer is done by the department of human resource management in order to inform the winners of the job interviews and welcome them to join the organization. For Kuo Kuang primary school, there are certain thing must be included in the latter of offer such as the position, the salary, and any other benefits that the applicant has negotiated or has agreed by the company. Conclusion From the above, a simple understanding of the recruitment process within Kuo Kuang primary school has been introduced. The recruitment process in Kuo Kuang primary school is having seven steps which include identifying the human resource needs, prepare the job description and specification, advertising the vacancy, managing the application process, prepare for short listing, arrange interviews and selection tests and finally preparing the letter of offer. Overall, Kuo Kuang primary school has a good recruitment process but I would like to suggest another two methods to improve the recruitment process in order to make the recruitment process become more perfect. Firstly, Kuo Kuang may be able to try to match the online recruitment into the traditional recruitment process together in order to make its recruitment process more effectively. Online recruitment is refers to the use of technology or the internet tools to help the recruitment process run smoothly. The tools may include a job website like JobsMalaysia.com, or the corporate web site of the organization. The internet is treated as a source of recruitment and using by many big and small organizations. These organizations advertise the job vacancies through the internet. The benefit of online recruitment is that it is very convenience for the job seekers to post their resume easily and view the progress of their application through the internet. Besides that, the jobs vacancies can be posted on the web site immed iately and it is also cheaper than advertise this post in the newspapers by saving the design and print costs. Secondly, Kuo Kuang may be able to try the outsourcing recruitment. Outsourcing recruitment refers to the organizations is outsourcing its recruitment process to an external consultant in which are providing the recruitment services. The benefit of outsourcing recruitment is that it help the organization to save most of the recruitment costs and the organization can improve the speed and the quality of the whole recruitment process with the help of the experienced consultants. In this way, the organization is able to be more concentrate to develop the strategy for managing people resources rather than wasting the efforts, time and money on this recruitment process.

The Effects Of Conditioning On Us And How That Affects The...

Introduction Individuals in our society today are constantly adhering to some cultural norm, be it to impress those around them or as a way to elicit a sense of belonging. However, individuals rarely realize that the cause of their behavior is not entirely innate; rather it is also the consequence of numerous, ongoing conditioning by parents, friends, family, cultural groups, and schools. Throughout this paper, I will be highlighting the effects conditioning has on us and how that affects the way we lead our lives. Experience of Classical Conditioning Although various activities and classes require me to wake up in the early hours of the morning, I would generally regard myself to be a relatively late riser. The only thing that was able to get myself out of bed was the light of the sun streaming in through my windows causing my sleep to fade away. It was around the eighth grade that I began to use an alarm clock consistently to wake myself up early in the mornings, rather than rely on the morning sun. Previously, I was unable to be awaken with the sound of an alarm; however, once I started pairing the alarm with the light from the morning sun it become easier for me to get out of bed due to the sound of the alarm. By learning through association, I was gradually able to find myself getting up due to the sound of the alarm, rather than the brightness of the sun. Whereas previously the sound of an alarm could not get me to budge, I can now set an alarm at any time of theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of I Heart Huckabee s There Was A Scene About The Blanket Theory Essay1154 Words   |  5 PagesI Heart Huckabee’s Our personality varies based our environment or situation and is subjected to change. As many may know, our personality tells us who we are as a person. It is a substantial role in our lives. Personality is the pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings. In the movie I Heart Huckabee’s there was a scene about the â€Å"blanket theory†. Bernard, the detective, names a couple of things to his client Albert under the blanket. Bernard is stating that everything is connected andRead MoreThe Theory Of Psychology And Psychology1599 Words   |  7 Pageslaboratory which specialized in psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Wundt used controlled experiments to investigate the mind by using a method called introspection which examined an individual’s mental state to gain an understanding of how our mind works. This approach became known as Structuralism, deals with the study of the conscious mind, with the idea that the conscious mind can be broken down into basic elements that combined to form to the structure of the human mind. The secondRead MorePsychology : Psychology And Psychology1519 Words   |  7 Pagesthe study of human mind and its functionality which includes the way we think, act, perceive things and be able to make decisions; all these makes man a complex being. Psychology isn’t just a phenomenon; it is a scientific study. Psychology as a science answers the question â€Å"why†, proposes a theory and sets experiment to test the hypothesis. The research is geared towards evidence-based strategies to solve problems and improve lives. As a science, it is subdivided into various groups such as clinicalRead MoreGlobal Warming : Climate Change923 Words   |  4 Pagesin my living room with the air conditioning blasting, I am pressed with a question- why is it 100 degrees in the middle of October? This steady increase in temperature is a direct result of climate change, although some scientists may disagree, climate change is happening, and this change can be clearly identified by such indicators. By defining climate change, displaying the unnatural causes, and portraying how this affects us, I intend to then bring light to how we can lower the risks of the unintendedRead MoreDiverse Nature of Psychology Essay1150 Words   |  5 Pa gesthis paper it will discuss the influence of diversity and it’s major concepts within psychology. It will also discuss subtopics within psychology, as well as how subtopics are identified, and applied to other disciplines within society. As well as, explain how these subtopics affect my personal theoretical perspective. Lastly, it will discuss how my contribution of studying psychology will benefit society within my area of profession in which I hope to achieve in my near future. Theorists influenceRead MoreThe Gender Discrepancy Of Women888 Words   |  4 PagesGender: How our Minds, Society and Neurosexism Create Difference. Published 2005 Famed English Poet and Writer William Shakespeare once said â€Å"all the world a stage, and all men women merely players † Theatrical yet fitting worlds. Each us of Man, women and child is given a part to play, a role to fill in our society. These roles are based on a great many factors, Age, Race, Education, even height and weight, yet of all these factors, none weighs quite so heavily as Gender. From our earliestRead MoreThe Theory Of Human Behavior1528 Words   |  7 Pagesis controlling from outside. It means, that how people behave we can controlled from many different aspects. There were scientists who tried to proved that way of thinking. One of them was B.F. Skinner. â€Å"His theories were hugely important and have played a role in child rearing practices therapy and animal training.† He thought, that there is needs to make perfect environment to make a perfect human. You can do it by how he called â€Å"operant conditioning†. During experiments with small animals hisRead MoreThe Radical Groups Of Thinkers1548 Words   |  7 Pagessingle question, which if solved, can help us decode our every behavior and decision. Why exactly are we the people we are today? This question has sparked many passionate debates, one of them being; Nature (Genetics, biological traits,) versus Nurture (Environmental effects, learning behavior). There are two radical groups of thinkers in which strictly oppose each other, Nativists and Empiricist and with a common interest in mind, their perspective of how a being develops behaviorally and cognitivelyRead MoreEffects Of Alcohol During Athletic Activities816 Words   |  4 PagesAlcohol has many negative effects on those who participate in athletic activities. The NCAA warns â€Å"Excessive alcohol can lead to loss in balance and coordination, reduced reaction time, and increased appetite. The decline in cognitive function can lead to an increase in sports-related injuries† (SCAN Registered Di etitians, 2013). This only scratches the surface of negative effects. Drinking alcohol prior to an athletic event often leads to dehydration which causes problems such as â€Å"increased coreRead MoreConsumerism and Environment783 Words   |  4 PagesHOW CONSUMERISM AFFECTS THE ENVIRONMENT 1. Firstly, I will give an introduction about consumerism and its evolution throughout time and, to get a general picture of the subject, I will try to present different views on consumption, that is to say, advantages /disadvantages or pros and cons of consumerism 2. Afterwards, Ill focus on problems of over-consumption, concerning the environment†¦ 3. And finally, I ´ll give some ideas about what we can do (these are†¦solutions) as well

The Importance Of Inclusion For Special Education

According to Idol (2006) (p.77), â€Å"inclusion is when a student with special learning and/or behavioral needs is educated full time in the general education program. The student with special education needs is attending the general school program, enrolled in age-appropriate classes 100% of the school day† (Idol, 1997, p.4). By enforcing inclusion, special education students are brought out of isolation and placed back into the general education classroom among their peers. This prepares the students for the real world by teaching them to coexist with both their classmates and teachers. They are able to develop better social and cognitive skills needed for a productive lifestyle. General education teachers are provided with support in the inclusion of teaching special education students. Their support derives from collaborative teaching programs that consist of: consulting teacher services, cooperative teaching in the classroom, supportive resource programs, and instruction al assistants (Idol, 2006) (p.78). The programs are set in place not only to assist the teacher but to ensure that the student is afforded the same educational opportunity as their counterparts. The consulting teacher is usually a special education teacher that works indirectly with the student by providing services in the teacher classroom. The student is able to sit in the classroom and follow the same assigned classwork plan but with the assistance of the consulting teacher. In some cases a cooperativeShow MoreRelatedInclusion Of Special Needs For Students With Disabilities Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pagesstructuring the education system to include students with disabilities, there has being an ongoing research topic of inclusion. Inclusion, in this area, means the full inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom . The research and the debates about the issue of whether or not there should be full inclusion of Special Education students in all gene ral education classrooms in all public schools throughout the United States rages on. The number of students with special needs thatRead MoreInclusion Of Special Needs For Students With Disabilities1173 Words   |  5 Pagesstructuring the education system to include students with disabilities, there has being an ongoing research topic of inclusion. Inclusion, in this area, means the full inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom. The research and the debates about the issue of whether or not there should be full inclusion of Special Education students in all general education classrooms in all public schools throughout the United States rages on. The number of students with special needs thatRead MoreMainstreaming Vs. Inclusion: The Best Possible Outcome.1343 Words   |  6 PagesMainstreaming vs. Inclusion: The Best Possible Outcome While there are many aspects of the education system that are constantly under question and review there is a relatively new idea that is changing the classroom dynamic all together. The question is if mainstreaming students with disabilities or having special classrooms to meet their needs enhances their learning experience. The traditional classroom environment for children with special needs is to be in their own classrooms with specificRead MoreAnalysis Of The Article President Bush Announced On A Nation At Risk982 Words   |  4 PagesOrganization According to the article President Bush announced on April 18, 1991 he wanted to achieve six national education goals by the year 2000. . There are six objectives: (1) To guarantee that every child starts school ready to learn; (2) To raise the high school graduation rate to 90%; (3) To ensure that every student leaving the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades can demonstrate competence in core subjects; (4) To make students fir it in the world in math and science achievements; (5) To ensureRead MoreThe Importance Of The Teacher s Inclusive Education Essay1663 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay discusses the importance of the role of the teacher in inclusive education. For several years’ children who suffer with disabilities and learning difficulties where separated and not given the same opportunities. Thankfully changes have been made in the education system and society, showing these children may seem different and may struggle a little more than the average child but they are not stupid and can exceed the expectation for a child of their age. In this essay I will be goingRead MoreEducation Is An Integral Part Of Our Lives1420 Words   |  6 PagesEducation is an integral part of our lives. We all seek education in one form or another, and at different levels. The importance of education cannot be stressed enough. Education is knowledge gained and knowledge is power. Education gives us a knowledge of the world around us and changes it into some thing better. The influence of special education focuses on individualized directions and teaching. Special education has gone from just identifying individuals with disabilities and showing themRead MoreThe Special Education System On Those With Disabilities1427 Words   |  6 Pages The special education system in the United states has drastically changed, but some are questioning where it stands; is it for the better, or for the worse? Many can agree that improvements have helped shape education Acts and school environments which, were proposed in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, but others questioned if it had, at all, started with distinguishing the purpose of inclusion, and if so, is it key in understanding the impact of the special education system onRead More Inclusion Essay example1028 Words   |  5 Pagesprovide education for students in special education. Although the change in the educational environment is significant for handicapped student the concepts of inclusion also bring up new issues for the regular education classroom teachers. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The movement toward full inclusion of special education students in general education setting has brought special education to a crossroad and stirred considerable debate on its future direction. Proponents of full inclusion argue thatRead MoreInclusion For Students With Special Needs1512 Words   |  7 PagesIn the Education discipline, there has been a long debate for many years over the topic of inclusion. Inclusive education is defined as students with disabilities, being supported in age appropriate general education classrooms, at their home school, and receiving specialized instruction as needed per the student’s IEP (Individualized Education Program) within the general education class curriculum and activities. Inclusion is there to help student with special needs in attending school regularlyRead More Research Paper958 Words   |  4 PagesResearch Paper Inclusion is a type of teaching that is being researched by many school districts across the country. It is the act of combining special education students in a regular classroom environment. Inclusion is a very controversial topic when it comes to the education of children, both regular and special education students. There are many beliefs in the welfare of all students and their ability to learn and function together. This belief has put a damper on school districts adopting

Dred scott Essay Example For Students

Dred scott Essay The Dred Scott DecisionThere have been several cases in the history of the Supreme Court that have had a powerful impact on both the highest court of the land and the history of the United States. The Dred Scott decision can definitely be included in this category of monumental cases that changed the course of American history. Until this decision the Supreme Court had a flawless reputation. Its prestige and credibility were beyond reproach. This high regard for the Supreme Court made people on both sides of the slavery issue turn to it in the hope that what could not be resolved in the political world could be solved in the legal world by the highest court of the land. But this was really expecting too much of judicial power. The major error associated with this case was the misguided belief that a flaming political problem,slavery, could become manageable by calling it a legal problem and handing it over to the courts to resolve.In the Dred Scott case the decision was based on expe diency not principle. The big problem was trying to use judicial power to settle a major political problem. Although the Dred Scott decision may have been the result of a trial , in reality it was a case of the court battling with the complex issue of slavery, especially in the territories, in the mid l800s.In order to tell the story of a slave you have to tell the story of his master.The slave does not have an identity or history of his own. In Virginia, Peter Blow and his family had many slaves. Among these slaves was a young man named Sam, or as we know him today, Dred Scott. Peter Blow decided to move his estate to Alabama and then to the thriving port city of St. Louis. During these years ,Dred married and had a child. After the death of the Blows, Dred was sold to Dr. Emerson, an army surgeon. He and Scott traveled through Illinois and Minnesota. When Dr. Emerson died , Dred Scott was sent back to St. Louis to Mrs. Emerson. This was when Scott argued that under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, the fact that he and Dr. Emerson lived in Illinois and Minnesota made him a free man. The Missouri Compromise did not allow slavery in whatever territory that remained from the Louisiana Purchase north of a specific line, 36o 30 of north latitude. At this time the issue of slavery was a major concern. The Mexican War provided the United States with a lot of new territory, and the question of the future of slavery in the territories was on everyones mind. The people of the North who were against slavery wanted Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories. John C. Calhoun, the spokesman for the South, said that Congress did not have the right to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Southern attempt to extend the line of the Missouri Compromise failed, so their only hope was Calhouns constitutional criticism of Congress attempt to prohibit slavery in the territories.This was why they plunged themselves completely behind Calhouns ideas. Calhoun argued that the territories were the common property of the states of this Union. They are called the territories of the United States, and what are the United States but the States united? Sir, these territories are the property of the States united; held jointly for their common use. This statement beautifully illustrates how extreme the Southern view of state sovereignty was. It was the Southern belief that the states should have the right to declare slavery in their states and it is beyond congressional power to prohibit slavery. Southerners believed that their very existence depended on an equal amount of slave and free states. They realized that if Congress prohibited slavery in the territories there would be no more equality of slave states and free states. The Northern view was based upon the Wilmot Proviso which expressed the view that Congress had not only the right but also the responsibility to prohibit slavery. The Northern view was also based upon the very constitution itself which said that Congress has the power to make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory belonging to the United States.Calhoun presented his ideas to Congress, telling them that the territories belong to the states and since Congress is merely the agent of the states, it has no right to prohibit slavery. It all came down to whether or not you believe that states rights are more important than federal rights or vice versa. Many debates, including the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, focused on this hot issue. Shakespeares Is One Of The Most Read Writers Ever And His Writing Was EssayIt would be very hard for Dred Scott to win this case. The court was Southern and pro slavery. There were nine justices. Taney, the Chief Justice, and four others were from the South. Two of the Northern judges were for state rights and one was pro slavery. Only one judge was against slavery. After hearing the case, the judges wanted to rule in favor of Sanford. This is an example of using the law to get the results that you want. The judges wanted to use the law to promote the view of the United States that they considered most desirable. They could not decide on what legal principle their decision should be based. Some judges wanted to override Scotts status as a citizen. Justice Nelson said that since this case was so controversial, and the election of l856 was so controversial, they should wait until after the election to hear new arguments. This request was granted. More arguments were heard and the judges decided upon a verdict. The decision, which Justice Taney presented ,had three main points: Negroes, even those who were not slaves, could not be citizens of the United States, according to the meaning of the Constitution. Scotts claim that he had become a free man because he lived in a territory from which slavery had been prohibited as a result of the Missouri Compromise, was not valid. This was because the Missouri Compromise which excluded slavery went beyond the constitutional power of Congress. Finally, Scott was not free because he had lived in Illinois. Once he returned to Missouri he was obligated to obey the laws of Missouri and was bound by the position he held in that state. In l86l-1862, two very important things happened : Abraham Lincoln was elected president and Congress prohibited slavery in the territories without judicial restraint. These two things helped the North gain power. People were very upset with the Dred Scott ruling, even after his death. Other cases received similar verdicts and were not judged by the merits of the individual cases, but by the issue of slavery. People were not getting fair trials even though they were insured fair trials by the Constitution of the United States of America. Calhoun continued to fight and remained a defender of slavery. He based his position on the right of states to regulate their own domestic institutions.There was still much debate and the issue was nowhere close to being solved. The hope of having it solved by the Supreme Court proved to be an illusion. The mood of the country was angry. Compromise was out of the question. The Dred Scott case made the common folk aware of slavery and its horrors. It added much more depth to the newly formed Free Soil and Republican Parties. But it was also used as a weapon for the Democrats. Every time the issue of judiciary involvement came up, they just pointed to the Dred Scott case. Republicans said it was just proof of Southern unfairness, and a good reason to fight against them. The South had extremists who stuck to their belief in their absolute sovereignty. This further isolated and separated the South from the rest of the country. The Dred Scott case bears directly on the Civil War. It not only strengthened the Republican Party but it also angered them to the point that they were ready to fight in a war. There was a war and the North prevailed. This war marked the end of slavery, but was one of the most traumatic events in the history of the United States. The Dred Scott decision was a major factor in dividing the nation beyond repair. It was the moving force for the Civil War that followed it. The Supreme Courts consideration of the case represented the last chance for a peaceful and legal solution to the issue of slavery. All prior political solutions proposed by Congress proved futile. Having exhausted both political and legal means for a solution, the fanatics took over and the bloodshed of war became inevitable.

Information Terrorism Essays - Terrorism, Definitions Of Terrorism

Information Terrorism The introduction of the computer has created a new type of terrorism known as informational terrorism, which presents a threat, equal to or greater than physical terrorism. E-mail bombs and attacks on internet servers are the lowest forms of informational terrorism in terms of destruction. Higher forms of informational warfare include using the internet as a catalyst to produce physical terrorism on a higher scale. "The national security establishment is concerned with a new form of conflict; informational warfare." (Devost, 1) The Department of Defense definition of terrorism is "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological." (Research, 1) While in physical terrorism, the perpetrator must come in contact with the target, in informational terrorism the perpetrator only needs a computer connection. Not only are the tools of information terrorism more accessible but the implications can be more devastating. In conjunction with the Internet and the infancy of its laws, the criminal justice system has fallen behind with its vague set of incoherent laws. Terroristic violence, as portrayed in Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger, presents a serious threat to the U.S. which should be dealt not only with caution and security, but also in conjunction with response. "Identifying international terrorists and their networks providing warning so that protective or deterrent measures can be taken, and gathering information on terrorist acts require a major U.S. intelligent effort." (Wilcox, 1) In Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger, information is not correctly distributed to U.S. agents causing underestimation of enemies. To rectify the drug problem initiated by Columbia, both the United States and Columbia use physical terrorism to contend one another. After Colombian drug lords murder a United States ambassador, the United States retaliates by mounting a series of covert operations including assassinations and interdiction of drug production and smuggling. Does the Colombian drug lords murder of one man justify the reactions of over exertion of force from the U.S.? Tom Clancy used small teams of covert operatives to launch a counter attack on the Colombians. The U.S. currently employs a strategy similar to this. "To respond promptly to terrorist incidents abroad which require varied U.S. resources, we have developed a unique fast reaction team. This team, led by an officer from S/CT, consists of experts from DOD, CIA, FBI and other agencies, as needed. At the request of a foreign government or an U.S. Ambassador abroad, this team can be dispatched within a few hours on a specially dedicated aircraft provided by DOD to any place in the world. The team's job is to provide support to the Ambassador and the host government in resolving a terrorist crisis, and to advise on additional U.S. assets that might be needed."(Combating, 2) This response does not only embody Clancy's counteraction but surpasses it with the annexation of whatever force is necessary. "Small, tailored teams can be launched, depending on the crisis, and specialists from individual urgencies can be sent alone, as the situation arises"(Wilcox, 2) If the product of physical terrorism is fear and death, how can information terrorism render a greater threat? "Considering the presence of computers in modern society, it is not surprising that terrorists have occasionally targeted computers systems in the past."(Devost, 2) "Information terrorism is the nexus between criminal information system fraud abuse, and the physical violence of terrorism"(Devost, 2) "Information technology offers new opportunities to terrorists"(Devost, 1) "Information warfare, loosely defined, is targeting the information and information systems that comprise and support civilian and military infrastructures of an adversary. Information warfare runs deeper than attacks on tanks and troops: an information warfare campaign can target and disrupt the information and networks that support crucial day-to-day workings of civilian, commercial, and military systems, e.g., air traffic control, power grids, stock markets, international financial transactions, logistics controls, etc. "(Informational, 1) "Information technology offers new opportunities to terrorists. "A terrorist organization can reap low-risk, highly visible payoffs by attacking information systems. In an effort to attract the attention of the public, political terrorists perpetrate their acts with the media at the forefront of their strategy: this strategy calculus is based on the assumption that access to the communication structure is directly related to power." (Informational, 1) In short, informational terrorism can affect millions of people, thousands of miles away, without leaving a trail for restitution. "Terrorism is a rapidly evolving and responsive phenomenon." (Devost, 1) "It is war in which there are no front lines and in which terrorism practitioners have Information Terrorism Essays - Terrorism, Definitions Of Terrorism Information Terrorism The introduction of the computer has created a new type of terrorism known as informational terrorism, which presents a threat, equal to or greater than physical terrorism. E-mail bombs and attacks on internet servers are the lowest forms of informational terrorism in terms of destruction. Higher forms of informational warfare include using the internet as a catalyst to produce physical terrorism on a higher scale. "The national security establishment is concerned with a new form of conflict; informational warfare." (Devost, 1) The Department of Defense definition of terrorism is "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological." (Research, 1) While in physical terrorism, the perpetrator must come in contact with the target, in informational terrorism the perpetrator only needs a computer connection. Not only are the tools of information terrorism more accessible but the implications can be more devastating. In conjunction with the Internet and the infancy of its laws, the criminal justice system has fallen behind with its vague set of incoherent laws. Terroristic violence, as portrayed in Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger, presents a serious threat to the U.S. which should be dealt not only with caution and security, but also in conjunction with response. "Identifying international terrorists and their networks providing warning so that protective or deterrent measures can be taken, and gathering information on terrorist acts require a major U.S. intelligent effort." (Wilcox, 1) In Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger, information is not correctly distributed to U.S. agents causing underestimation of enemies. To rectify the drug problem initiated by Columbia, both the United States and Columbia use physical terrorism to contend one another. After Colombian drug lords murder a United States ambassador, the United States retaliates by mounting a series of covert operations including assassinations and interdiction of drug production and smuggling. Does the Colombian drug lords murder of one man justify the reactions of over exertion of force from the U.S.? Tom Clancy used small teams of covert operatives to launch a counter attack on the Colombians. The U.S. currently employs a strategy similar to this. "To respond promptly to terrorist incidents abroad which require varied U.S. resources, we have developed a unique fast reaction team. This team, led by an officer from S/CT, consists of experts from DOD, CIA, FBI and other agencies, as needed. At the request of a foreign government or an U.S. Ambassador abroad, this team can be dispatched within a few hours on a specially dedicated aircraft provided by DOD to any place in the world. The team's job is to provide support to the Ambassador and the host government in resolving a terrorist crisis, and to advise on additional U.S. assets that might be needed."(Combating, 2) This response does not only embody Clancy's counteraction but surpasses it with the annexation of whatever force is necessary. "Small, tailored teams can be launched, depending on the crisis, and specialists from individual urgencies can be sent alone, as the situation arises"(Wilcox, 2) If the product of physical terrorism is fear and death, how can information terrorism render a greater threat? "Considering the presence of computers in modern society, it is not surprising that terrorists have occasionally targeted computers systems in the past."(Devost, 2) "Information terrorism is the nexus between criminal information system fraud abuse, and the physical violence of terrorism"(Devost, 2) "Information technology offers new opportunities to terrorists"(Devost, 1) "Information warfare, loosely defined, is targeting the information and information systems that comprise and support civilian and military infrastructures of an adversary. Information warfare runs deeper than attacks on tanks and troops: an information warfare campaign can target and disrupt the information and networks that support crucial day-to-day workings of civilian, commercial, and military systems, e.g., air traffic control, power grids, stock markets, international financial transactions, logistics controls, etc. "(Informational, 1) "Information technology offers new opportunities to terrorists. "A terrorist organization can reap low-risk, highly visible payoffs by attacking information systems. In an effort to attract the attention of the public, political terrorists perpetrate their acts with the media at the forefront of their strategy: this strategy calculus is based on the assumption that access to the communication structure is directly related to power." (Informational, 1) In short, informational terrorism can affect millions of people, thousands of miles away, without leaving a trail for restitution. "Terrorism is a rapidly evolving and responsive phenomenon." (Devost, 1) "It is war in which there are no front lines and in which terrorism practitioners have

Questions During Fraternity or Sorority Recruitment

Questions During Fraternity or Sorority Recruitment Although the majority of students interested in going Greek might be most concerned about getting a bid from the house they want, its important to remember that the recruitment process goes both ways. Just like you want to promote yourself to the various houses, they want to promote themselves to you, too. So how can you tell which fraternity or sorority will really be the best fit? Questions You Should Ask Although it can be challenging to take a step away from the whole recruitment process, doing so can ensure your college Greek experience is everything you want it to be. Make sure to ask yourself the following questions: What is the history of this fraternity or sorority? Is it old? New? New on your campus but with a larger, older history elsewhere? What was its founding mission? What has its history been? What kinds of things have its alums done? What kinds of things do they do now? What legacy has the organization left? What kind of legacy is it working on today?What is the organizational culture of your campuss chapter? Is it a positive community? Do the members support each other? Do you like seeing how the members interact with each other? With other people on campus? In public? In private? Is it a good fit for the kinds of interactions you like to have in your own life and in your own relationships?What is the larger organizational culture? Is the fraternity or sorority social-service minded? Is it academic in nature? Does it cater to a specific professional field, religion, sport, or political membership? Will you like having this affiliation during your time in college? After college? Once yo u are no longer on your campus, what kind of larger organization will you be connected to? What kind of experience do you want to have? When you close your eyes and imagine yourself as a member of a sorority or fraternity, what kind of experience do you picture? Is it with a small group of people? A large group? Is it mostly a social scene? A mission-driven organization? Do you live in the Greek house or not? How do you imagine being a member as a first-year student? A sophomore? A junior? A senior? An alum? Does the fraternity or sorority youre thinking of joining match what you see in your mind when you think of your ideal? If not, whats missing?What kind of experience does this fraternity or sorority offer? Is it an experience youre looking forward to having for 2, 3, 4 years? Will it challenge you in appropriate ways? Will it provide comfort? Will it match well with your college goals? Will it match well with your personality type and interests? What benefits does it offer? What challenges does it present?What kind of experience do other students actually have? What ki nds of experiences do the seniors in this fraternity or sorority actually have? Do their memories and experiences match up with what the organization promises? If so, how? If not, how and why not? When people talk about their experiences with this organization, what kinds of words do they use? Do they match up to how you want to describe your own Greek experiences after you graduate? What rumors have you heard about this fraternity or sorority? How much truth is behind them? Are the rumors ridiculous? Based in fact? How does the house respond to them? What people spread the rumors? How is the fraternity or sorority perceived on campus? What kinds of actions does the organization take that either counters the rumors or perhaps provides fodder for them? As a member, how would you feel and respond to hearing rumors about this fraternity or sorority?What does your gut say? Does your gut usually give you a good feeling about whether something is the right choice or not? What does your gut say about joining this fraternity or sorority? What kinds of instinct do you have about whether or not this is a wise choice for you? What kinds of things might be influencing that feeling?What kind of time commitment does this fraternity or sorority require? Are you able to realistically make that level of commitment? How will doing so have an impact on your academics? Your persona l life? Your relationships? Will a high (or low) level of involvement enhance or hurt your other, current time commitments? Will they complement or detract from what you need to commit to your classes and academic workload? Can you afford to join this fraternity or sorority? Do you have the money to pay for the requirements of this organization, like dues? If not, how will you afford it? Can you get a scholarship? A job? What kinds of financial commitments can you expect? How will you meet those commitments? Joining - and being a member of - a college fraternity or sorority can easily become one of the highlights of your time in school. And making sure to be wise about what you need, and what you want, from a fraternity or sorority is an important and smart way to make sure that the experience you want is the one you end up having.

Taxation and Personal Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Taxation and Personal Finance - Essay Example The current theory of â€Å"Green† taxation posits that the revenues received from the companies, industries or organizations that are guilty of emitting these greenhouse gases should be used to repair the environment that these gases have destroyed in one form or the other. This means that the taxes placed on the emission of the greenhouse gases are actually used to carry out researches and invest in alternative source of energy that are more friendly to the environment when compared to the use of the greenhouse gases. The current theory of green taxation is just like using a problem as an advantage to proffer a viable solution It is pertinent to note that business and corporate income taxes are taxes placed on the useful productive activity of a corporation or industry and should not be classified as green taxes. Green taxes are described as the taxes placed on the industrial activities that are capable of destroying the environment and these taxes are placed in order to reduce or put a stop to these activities (Taxation Trends in the European Union, 2009). The current theory of â€Å"Green† taxation has forced corporations and industries to invest less in environmentally dangerous sources of energies for their production. The concept of this â€Å"Green† taxation intends to generate a substantial revenue from the taxation of environmental degradable industrial activity that should reduce the taxation on gainful corporate and industrial activity that have done little or nothing to destroy the environment. If this theory of green taxation must be duly followed, there has to be an even balance between the damage done by the greenhouse gases to the environment and the taxation placed on the emission of the gases. The taxation of the gases would now seek to resolve the problems created by the greenhouse gases as earlier stated above. Finland became the first country to introduce carbon tax in 1990,

Analyze an article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Analyze an - Article Example It is evident even when it comes to sourcing of finance. Manufacturing companies in Egypt are expected to give more collateral when seeking cash to finance import of raw materials. On the other hand, the Egyptian pound has dropped by 6.6% making exports low-priced. On the opposite, the price of fuel has increased. Therefore, companies incur higher cost of manufacturing. In the long run, the manufacturers end up getting minimal profits. Companies can reduce the risk of losing their customers by refraining from increasing the price of their commodities. When manufacturers pass the added cost incurred to the buyers, they stretch the ability of the consumers. Therefore, the customers will consider buying cheaper alternative goods. Manufacturers can also opt to seek to produce cheaper affordable goods. Customers will tend to spend the cash they had put aside as saving. Therefore, more money will be in circulation making the rate of inflation to go

Federalism uneven regional Development

Federalism uneven regional Development The pursuit to bring together both the goals of regional and national development in multinational countries gave rise to federalism. This is used to describe a system of government in which the sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units like states or provinces. A federal entity is characterised by harmony, conflict, satisfaction and dissatisfaction. (Pritam) Regional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are facilitated by the national pattern of development. It is likely to lead to a successful and strengthened federation and at the other end, will cause the federation strain in the neglect of a region or a region being sacrificed for the sake of national development. This according to pritam, is as a result of the necessity to centralise control over the utilisation of resources or because of the necessity to transfer resources from one region to the other. (Schoenfield et al cited in Pritam Federalism and development attracts more scholarly attention where federations fail or are in crisis than when they are successful (pritam page 1). Federations as it is, represents some of the largest national entities in the world which includes countries like india, china, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy, United states, Argentina, Germany, Venezuela, Pakistanm, South Africa and Nigeria. Pre-second world war federations like USA, Australia, Canada, and Switzerland have been noted as cases of successful federal entities despite Canada having some crisis in its Quebec region. (PRITAM PAGE 2). Contrary to this, some failed federal entities include Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia; Ethiopia has been split into independent nation states (pritam page 2). Other federal entities such as Nigeria and sudan in Africa, india and Sri Lanka in Asia, spain in Europe have felt a high level of tension in theor federal political arrangement(birch 1989, pritam pg 2) Instances of lessening regional inequality and stressing regional inequality have acted as a medium for regions to feel dissatisfied with federal arrangements (pritam pg 2). A situation whereby regional inequalities are accompanied by conflicts of ethnicity and nationalism, the relationship of a region to the federal centre becomes more conflict ridden.(pritam pg2). The most likely cases of regional conflict with the federal centre are likely to be those where the regions because of its relative economic backwardness, feels dissatisfied with prevailing structure of the economic relations with the centre.(pritam pg 2) Uneven regional development is a universal phenomenon with its presence found in almost all large countries, be it a developing or developed country. The problem of regional inequality that results from uneven development is of interest for a variety of reasons. First, the issue of regional disparity is a problem of economic growth. If all regions had grown at the same pace, there would be no income differences between regions in the first place. Even if regional gaps exist, as long as poor regions are able to grow faster than rich ones, the former would converge with the latter and the initial differences would thereby disappear in due course. To find the root causes of regional inequality, we have to trace the long term growth paths of different regions in the national economy and to understand the dynamics of regional growth. Second, regional disparity is an ethical issue. Less the process of economic development is intrinsically even, society is always confronted with the fundamental contradiction between ethically motivated efforts to establish socio economic parity in space and the economically more advantageous strategy of letting inequality increase, as long as it makes the whole economy grow faster. No one denies the importance of attaining a high overall growth rate, but the question being posed is; who benefits from the rapid economic growth? Both economic growth and fairness in the distribution of income are desirable. Unfortunately, the two goals are often in conflict with each other. The maximisation of growth could worsen the problem of inequality, whereas the pursuit of equality may slow down national growth. A development strategy should not concern itself simply with the maximisation of one objective at the expense of the other; it has to consider the trade off between them. On another note, regional disparity is an issue of political significance because regional economic disparities may have adverse effects on the political stability and unity of the nation. The relationship between inequality and political instability is a close one. In countless instances, real and perceived imequities give rise to political conflicts. Inter regional inequality could be a source of political conflict, just as inequalities between groups are. Residents of one region tends to care more about the welfare of other residents than about the welfare of the inhabitanrs of other regions. As a result, there tends to be a widespread sense of grievence among the people living in regions where average incomes are nocticeably lower than in other regions of the country, or the incomes are growing noticeably slower. They may regard an insufficiently sympathetic central government as partly responsible for their plight. Meanwhile, those living in more developed regions are likely to perceive that their economies are the backbone of the nation. If the central government intervenes to corrct regional disparites in such a way that the high income regions have to subsidise the poor one, then these regions are likely to believe that such fiscal transfers to low growth regions ae just a waste of money because in their view, trying to sustain inefficient economic activity is irrational. Thus any attempt to redistribute resources across regions is likely to provoke resistance from rich regions. Thus persistence regional disparities may not only frustrate people living in impoverished regions but also alienate those living in affluent regions. History suggests that when regional disparities becomes excessive, it could lead to massive political consequences especially when ethnic, religious, language differences are combined with ethnic disparities. Examples of such include Biafra in Nigeria, Punjab in India, Wales and Northern Ireland in Great Britain. NIGERIA AS CASE STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO NIGER DELTA REGION Nigeria is the most populous African country with a population of 154 million people who account for 47% of West Africas population and nearly a fifth of sub-Saharan Africas population. Nigeria is Africas largest oil producing country, and it is the eleventh largest producer and the eight largest exporter of crude oil in the world. In 2006, Nigerian oil production averaged approximately 2.45 million barrels of oil per day (World Bank, 2011) Oil has been the dominant factor in Nigerias economy for the past 50 years. In 2007 over 87% of government revenues, 90% of foreign exchange earnings, 96% of export revenues, and almost half of GDP was accounted for by oil (Watts 2008:43). Despite its vast resources however, Nigeria has been a disastrous development experience, and Nigerias performance since independence has been dismal at best. Today, out of a population of 140 million, approximately 70 million people live on less than $1/day, 54% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, over 1/3 live in extreme poverty, 1one in five children die before the age of five, 3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and 7 million children are not attending school (Higgins 2009). In an attempt to gain access to the allocation of oil revenues, each ethnic group in Nigeria had to seek its own state or local government council. This is why Nigeria, which originally had only 4 regions and 50 local governments, now has 36 states and 774 loca l governments. According to the United Nations Development Program, Nigeria ranks in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) a composite measure of life expectancy, income, and educational attainment number 158 out of 177 countries, below Haiti and Congo; over the last 30 years the trend line of the HDI has been upward but barely (UNDP, 2006a). Nigeria also appears close to the top of virtually everyones global ranking of corruption, business risk, lack of transparency, fraud, and illicit activity; Nigerian fraud even has its own FBI website. According to former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, at least $100 billion of the $600 billion in oil revenues accrued since 1960 have simply gone missing. Nigerian anti-corruption chairman noted that 70% of the countrys oil wealth was stolen or wasted; by 2005 it was only 40%, and by most conservative estimates, almost 130 billion was lost between 1970 and 1996. After the discovery of oil in Mongolia, a local leader announced: We do not want to become another Nigeria (Watts 2008:43-44). This rise in oil wealth has not translated into significant increases in living standards in Nigeria, however. In fact, the rise in poverty and inequality coincides with the discovery and export of oil in Nigeria. As Sala-i-Martin and Subramanian (2003:4) show, in 1965, when oil revenue was about US$33 per capita, GDP per capita was US$245. In 2000, when oil revenues were US$325 per capita, GDP per capita was stalled at the 1965 level. Evidence such as this has led to widespread acceptance that Nigeria has suffered from the resource curse and according to Sala-i-Martin and Subramanian (2003:24), waste and poor institutional quality stemming from oil has been primarily responsible for Nigerias poor long-run economic performance. The Niger Delta region is the area covered by the natural delta of the Niger River and the areas to the east and west. The Niger Delta consists of 9 of the 36 states in Nigeria, 185 local governments (UNDP, 2006: 44)occupying about 12% of Nigerias territory (Figure 2).These states include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers state. The Niger Delta is a region that has been somewhat marginalized from Nigerias national development despite being the region that generates Nigerias oil wealth (Higgins 2009:1). The oil boom in Nigeria has been driven by oil extracted from the Niger Delta region. Oil wealth, from the Niger Delta region, is largely responsible for sustaining the Nigerian Federation (UNDP, 2006: 62). Despite fuelling much of Nigerias economic growth, the Niger Delta is somewhat marginalised from Nigerias national development. Higgins writes that, Essentially there is a significant disconnect between the wealth the region generates for the Nigerian Federation and the transnational oil companies extracting oil from the region, and the regions human development progress (Higgins 2009:3). The regions human development index is 0.564 and while this is slightly higher than the Nigerian HDI of 0.448, the area rates far below regions or countries with similar gas or oil reserves (Venezuela is 0.772 and Indonesia is 0.697) (UNDP, 2006: 15). Table 5 shows incidence of poverty in the Niger Delta from 1980-2004, and according to Higgins, Analysis of poverty and human development indicator s paints a dismal picture for the Niger Delta. Poverty incidence increased in the Niger Delta between 1980 and 2004 as Table [5] shows (Higgins 2009:3) As well, when further disaggregated to the local government level, the Niger Delta Human Development Report shows that state and regional HDI scores mask inequalities in human development among oil producing communities. Significantly, local government areas without oil facilities appear to have fewer poor people than those with oil facilities (UNDP, 2006: 15). The report also concludes that decline in the HDI has been steeper for the Niger Delta states than the rest of Nigeria (UNDP, 2006: 137). In addition, the high earnings of some oil industry workers leads to localised price distortions, driving up prices and so constraining the purchasing power of ordinary people and making it difficult for many to meet the costs of basic needs such as housing, healthcare, transportation, education and good and making poverty more pervasive tha n conventional measures reveal (UNDP, 2006: 57). CONSEQUENCES 1. Social and political exclusion: The two post-military national elections (1999 and 2003) are widely agreed to have been extensively rigged in the Niger Delta states, with fraudulent results sustained by violence and threat and so leaving a serious democratic deficit. The political process is held in complete mistrust and considered exclusionary and corrupt. Formal institutions have failed and local customary institutions have become eroded. Youth have turned to violence and militancy to challenge the government and extort oil from oil companies (World Bank, 2007b). 2. Economic exclusion: Despite substantial resource flows to the State government, and significant natural resource endowments the people of the Niger Delta are destitute. The panel described the Niger Delta as an iconic representation of destitution amongst the possibility of wealth. The people of the Niger Delta feel excluded from the wealth generated by their resource rich region substantiated by the region having the highest rate of unemployment in Nigeria (World Bank, 2007b). Remote rural communities have very limited economic opportunities and often cannot tap directly into the employment. benefits of the oil industry because they lack capital resources or skills (UNDP, 2006:17). 3. Poor governance and corruption: Corruption, especially at the state and local level, is endemic and at the root of many of the regions problems. Large sums are received at both the state and local level, but there is little evidence of this being applied to productive development endeavours. This situation exacerbates the sense of hopelessness, exclusion and anger of the citizenry of the Niger Delta, who have lost faith in existing governance structures (World Bank, 2007b). 4. Poor infrastructure and public service delivery: The panel (World Bank, 2007b) describes the current situation as akin to a human emergency and UNDP describes infrastructure and social services as generally deplorable (UNDP, 2006: 15). The general neglect of infrastructure, often rationalised by the difficult terrain of the region, has worsened the populations access to fundamental services (UNDP, 2006: 16). For example, the town of Edeoha, in the state of Rivers, lacks basic services such as water, education, healthcare and electricity and jobs are hard to come by. There is no local government office in the town, the primary schools lacks chairs and desks, and the nearest hospital, which lacks medicine and equipment, is twenty kilometres away (International Crisis Group, 2006: 17). Analysis above highlights the poor human development of the region. 5. Environmental degradation: Oil exploration and production gas led to environmental damage on many levels: land, water and air pollution, depleted fishing grounds and the disappearance of wetlands (World Bank, 2007b). These environmental changes have had significant implications for local livelihoods, and the alienation of people from their resources and land has led to the inefficient use of resources that remain and poor or inequitable land use practices (UNDP, 2006: 17). Measures to counterbalance environmental damage are inadequate and this is a major focus of community disconten (World Bank, 2007b). 6. Escalating violence and disorder: The democratisation of the means of violence has emerged, as the state has lost monopoly power over the use of force. This violence has emerged in many forms, and exists between communities over host community status, resource and land claims and surveillance contracts; within communities over compensation distribution; between communities and oil companies; and between communities and security forces. The fault lines of these conflicts often coincide with, or are justified in terms of, ethnic differences (World Bank, 2007b). Persistent conflict, while in part a response to the regions poor human development, also serves to entrench it as it is a constant drag on the regions economic performance and opportunities for advancement (UNDP, 2006: 16). 7. A vicious cycle of violence: Conflict has become militarised, with the intensive proliferation of arms, sabotage, hostage taking and the emergence of warlords and youth cults. This process is fuelled by the illegal bunkering of oil fuels (World Bank, 2007b). Since January 2006, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) have been central to this violence (International Crisis Group, 2006:i). 8. Landownership: There is much juridical ambiguity over land rights. While the Land Use Decree of 1978 formally vested all land in State governments, the expropriation of this has never been accepted by the individuals, families and communities that have made customary claims to the land. This has resulted in a double system, and combined with weak judicial systems has resulted in long running conflicts and ambiguity at many levels (World Bank, 2007b). GOVERNMENT POLICY TO REVERT THE SITUATION The marginalisation and poor human development progress of the Niger Delta has not gone unnoticed by successive Nigerian federal governments. Since the late 1950s, the Niger Delta has been recognised as a region requiring special development attention (Osuoka, 2007: 5). A number of special agencies have been created by the federal government to address development in the Niger Delta. These have included the Niger Delta Basin Development Board, established in 1965 and the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, established in 1992 (Osuoka, 2007: 5). it established a new body called the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties of the Niger Delta Region (UNDP, 2006: 31). In 2006, the NDDC launched the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan, which states the development goals and objectives of the Niger Delta. For the foundation phases (2006-2010), the key programmes are the economy, physical infrastructur e, human and institutional resources, human and community needs and natural environment. Focusing on some key elements, these will seek to create an enabling environment for enterprise; improve the functioning of key markets and access to them; increase agricultural (and fisheries) productivity and micro-investment; protect and develop human capabilities; protect natural resources and mitigate harm. (For a summary of the NDDC Master Plan Programs and Areas of Focus, see Annex 1). The NDDC clearly aims to have a redistributory function, with nearly a quarter of the funding coming from the Federal Government 1, with additional contributions expected from oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, the Ecological Fund and States of the delta. Unfortunately, States have yet to contribute to the Commission, and oil companies are still wrangling over how much they should contribute (UNDP, 2006: 31-32). But assessment of development in the Niger Delta since the NDDC was established shows that poverty reduction progress has been slow, particularly given the Niger Deltas substantial natural resource endowments and additional federal government resources. And, as mentioned above, according to UNDP, the worsening of the HDI has been more acute for the Niger Delta states than for the rest of Nigeria (UNDP, 2006: 137). However, we do not really know how effective the NDDC is. We also do not know much about which programme components are more or less effective at achieving the programmes overarching goals. This is a really important data gap, as given the programmes multisectoral nature clearly attributable information about causality would go a long way to telling us which approaches might be best at reducing spatial disparities and regional inequalities. If we look at a range of indicators, we can see how significant the challenge still is. Disaggregated human development indicators pa int a dismal picture. The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS is among the highest in Nigeria (UNDP, 2006: 17). Energy availability is poor, despite the region providing the United States with one fifth of its energy needs (UNDP, 2006: 25). For example, in Bayelsa State is not linked to the national electric power grid (UNDP, 2006: 110). Similarly, while the delta region has a dense network of freshwater distributaries and vast groundwater reserves, no part of the region has a regular supply of potable water (UNDP, 2006: 110). Some health indicators are below the national average. As Table 3 indicates, the Niger Delta region (South-South) has a higher than average infant mortality rate and the highest post-neonatal mortality rate in Nigeria (UNDP, 2006: 125). The region also fares comparatively poorly in terms of accessing health treatment. For example, only 25.1% of children with acute respiratory infections and fever sought medical treatment from health providers, compared with 49.5% in t he North Central region and 52.6% in the South West region (UNDP, 2006: 123). The South-South zone also had the largest proportion of births attended by traditional attendants (UNDP, 2006:123). Interestingly, in a 2003 NDHS survey, the Niger Delta had the largest proportion (34.8%) of respondents identifying the distance between their residence and health facilities as a major problem. In this same survey, nationally, 30.4% of women cited a lack of money as a barrier to accessing health care. In the Niger Delta, this was 47.1% and the highest regional figure (UNDP, 2006: 125). Additionally, there is an intense feeling among the people of the Niger Delta that they should be doing far better: the Niger Delta has a self-assessment poverty rate of 74.8% (UNDP, 2006: 58) Policy Recommendations The policy recommendations address the issue of regional inequalities and overall national developmentandmodemisation in Nigeria. As we saw during the review, regional imbalance has been perpetuated in the country over time. The result has been the prevailing unwarranted uneven distribution of resources and benefits of development Warranted unevenness is inevitable during the incipient growth and development of any country because of inadequate administrative machinery, lack of clear direction of redistribution mechanisms, non-diversification of the economy and technology and limited employment opportunities for the majority of people. During the early stage of development income development surpluses and even hierarchy of cities are not adequately distributed. However in a country such as Nigeria where development aided by the petro-dollar has proceeded for quite a long time, the perpetual existence of unwarranted inequalities among individuals and regions is unpardonable. Individual and regional equity based on consensual socio-political policies, especially in the form of Acts, is still possible. Attractive socio-political, economic and administrative consensus policy options that are likely to be acceptable to every region and individual will be those which 74 EbenezerAka promote a change that is desirable in its own right: for example, a multicultural po.licy on ethnocentrism, capacity-building, and sustainable self-reliant peoplecentered development. Ethnocentrism has been a major driving force which has fueled and perpetuated regional imbalance in the country over time. For the problems of ethnicity to be ameliorated in the country, a concerted effort by the local, regional and federal governments is needed urgently. The effort will ensure that all references that vilify individuals or incite unwarranted division and unnecessary competition are removed by law from the mass media and other instruments of propaganda (Nnoli, 1978). According to Nnoli the concept of the existing North/South and East! West that mark the social, cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic divisions and affinities for socio-economic development planning should be applied with caution. At times in Nigeria this creates the notion of us versus them. A new set of references is needed which explains the countrys present socioeconomic predicaments. For example the concept of developed and backward or depressed regions stemming from the differences in regional distribution of natural and mineral resources including income, employment and welfare, should replace the North/South and East/West distinction or dichotomy. Moreover, in order to realise a long -term solution, strategies to accommodate the major ethnic groups in the development process should be pursued. For example, the languages and histories of major ethnic groups should be taught in schools for the understanding and appreciation of each other; information for important social services (public or central services) should beprovided in major languages, and the political system and its policy and decision-making apparatus should be representative of multiethnic groups in the country, in order to allay the fears of the minorities. Socioeconomic planning administration, and management based on the new concepts are likely to enhance socio-economic and political equity if constantly pursued over a long period of time. A cogent remedy to regional inequality also lies in the creation of a nationally integrated economy rather than on the creation of mushroom states based on ethnolinguistic sentiments for sharing the national wealth. The suggestion here is a gradual shift of emphasis from the existing centre-down, urban-biased, productioncentred organisation to a sustainable, self-reliant, people-centred developmenL What is actually advocated is a bi-modal or dualistic strategy of development where both paradigms are operative. According to Korten (1984:309) ifpeoplecentred development is to emerge it will bean offspring of the production-centred industrial era. The new paradigm should focus on ruraVregional development based on the community or basic needs approach. The federal government should use its authority to improve the relative and absolute shares of the poor regions or states because the free market mechanism Regional Inequalities in the Process of Nigerias Development 75 does not operate in Nigeria to guarantee the redistribution of the benefits of socioeconomic development. TIle Nigerian market is imperfect, corrupt and not well developed. Distributive measures should be initiated by the government to include: industrial decentralisation by giving priority to lagging regions; job-training programmes as a targeted policy for the poor, the underprivileged and the minorities; and direct income transfers. The aim is to improve on the economic base of those regions, as well as their employment potential and income which will eventually make the local economy richer. The aim of the people-centred or grass-roots approach to rural and regional development is to create a society that is secure and sustainable. Growth which has occurred so far becauseofa production-centredapproach, has not been accompanied by equivalent increase in employment, thereby resulting in individual and regional poverty as well as socioeconomic inequalities. To create jobs and ensure that all share in the benefits of economic growth, government should make markets more people-friendly by: investing more in basic education and worker retraining; ensuring universal access to markets; redesigning credit systems and fISCal incentives to support small-scale 6nterprises and informal employment; and using tax breaks to encourage labour-intensive technology and production in ruraltowns, agro-towns, or small- and intermediate-sized cities (Collins, 1993:4). The new concept focuses on human security based on environmental sustainability, employment, and provision of basic needs. Perhaps, this is what Strong (1993:5) calls, in both environmental and economic terms, eco-industrial revolution. Strong goes on to say that for the government to effect economic sustainability, it will require a fundamental reorientation of policies and budgets, redeployment of resources, and reshaping of the system of incentives and penalties that motivate economic behaviour. In order for the resources to be adequately managed and for long-term economic sustainability to be entrencbed in Nigeria, the federal government should embark on capacity-building. This will enhance the existing management capacity of Nigerian public institutions and private economic agents, and also help provide the much needed top-level managers and policy-makers. Capacity-building willachieve littleinNigeriawithoutpolitical development. TheNigeriangovemment mustdevelopaform of governance thatpermits free expression and full participation in the development process. Participation empowers the local people to take charge of their lives by increasing their potency ,as theiraltemative ideas, social techniques and technologies are released. Political development is likely to create societywide trust and predictability, and foster a stable political order that is the sine qua non for a long economic growth. Without creating more states in Nigeria, which often depends on ethnocentric sentiments, a decentralised administrative structure can be achieved which is capable of providing stability, creativity, and civic 76 EbenezerAka commitment of every Nigerian, and more importantly, capable of reducing regional inequalities. Regional inequalities can bealleviate in terms of administrative decentralisation. The recently created local government areas throughout the country could be strengthened and employed as a seeding agent for local and regional growth, development, and modernisation. There exist today 449 local government areas with their headquarterS or capitals. These capitals Egunjobi (1990:22) calls third-order centres(6). Administrative decentralisation plays an important function in the redistribution process during a deliberate national development effort, especially by strategically locating the headquarters or capitals for the newly created administrative areas. The local government area capitals should be targeted as development and modernisation diffusion agents, and also as the agro-political units for the provision of basic needs using local materials, manpower, and small-scale enterprises. That is, these capitals can be deliberately employed to act as innovation nodes or poles by which growth and modernisation impulses could diffuse or trickle-down to their tributary areas. Inother words, they should provide development stimuli and act as a change agent to their hinterlands or catchment areas. As a process of national urbanisation, socioeconomic and modemisation strategy, administrativedecentralisation sho