The Benefit of Pilates

The Benefits of Pilates A refreshing mind-body workout Pilates gets your mind in tune with your body. By emphasizing proper breathing, correct spinal and pelvic alignment, and complete concentration on smooth, flowing movement, you become acutely aware of how your body feels, where it is in space, and how to control its movement. The quality of movement is valued over quantity of repetitions. Proper breathing is essential, and helps you execute movements with maximum power and efficiency. Last but not least, learning to breathe properly can reduce stress. Build strength without â€Å"bulking up† – gain long, lean muscles and flexibility Conventional workouts tend to build short, bulky muscles – the type most prone to injury. Pilates elongates and strengthens, improving muscle elasticity and joint mobility. A body with balanced strength and flexibility is less likely to be injured. Develop a strong core – flat abdominals and a strong back Building on the principles of Joseph Pilates, Pilates exercises develop a strong â€Å"core,† or center of the body. The core consists of the deep abdominal muscles along with the muscles closest to the spine. Control of the core is achieved by integrating the trunk, pelvis and shoulder girdle. Create an evenly conditioned body and prevent sports injuries In conventional workouts, weak muscles tend to get weaker and strong muscles tend to get stronger. The result is muscular imbalance – a primary cause of injury and chronic back pain. Pilates conditions the whole body, even the ankles and feet. No muscle group is over trained or under trained. Your entire musculature is evenly balanced and conditioned, helping you enjoy daily activities and sports with greater ease and less chance of injury. Be confident and safe No other exercise system is so gentle to your body while giving it a challenging workout. Many of the exercises are performed in reclining or sitting positions, and most are low impact and partially weight bearing. Pilates is so safe, it is used in physical therapy facilities to rehabilitate injuries. And be challenged Pilates is also an extremely flexible exercise system. Modifications to the exercises allow for a range of difficulty ranging from beginning to advance. Get the workout that best suits you now, and increase the intensity as your body conditioning improves. Learn efficient patterns of motion Pilates exercises train several muscle groups at once in smooth, continuous movements. By developing proper technique, you can actually re-train your body to move in safer, more efficient patterns of motion – invaluable for injury recovery, sports performance, good posture and optimal health

Casualization and Its Effects in Kenya

Impact of Labor Laws in Mitigating Effects of casualisation in Kenya Humphrey Mwangi  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1413/2009 Franklin Mutwiri  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1604/2009 Patrick Mutai  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-0087/2009 John Warihe  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1268/2009 Susan Awuor  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1222/2009 Mary Mumira  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1246/2009 James Otunga  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1421/2009 Kevin Kariuki  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1249/2009 Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology CBD Campus Presented to E. O. Achoch Abstract This study explores and examines the actual impact of labor legislation in mitigating the disturbing issue of casualisation of work in Kenya. The increase in casualisation in the country is a subject of great controversy. Increasingly casual employees are filling positions that are permanent in nature. Behind employee vulnerability in the country is the high levels of unemployment and accompanying poverty. Poverty has bred a dangerous work environment where many desperate job seekers in the labor force are willing to take any job for survival purposes rather than dignity. This is a big challenge for trade unions in their pursuit to protect and advance workers’ rights and foster decent work conditions. The study attempts to cover the following as per the terms of reference: What exactly is casualisation of work, How wide spread is it in Kenya, What difference has new provision in labor legislation made on casuals according to gender, occupation, status etc, How Labor Laws Have Affected Aspects Of Casual Workers rights, do labor laws affect the family of casual workers communities and local stakeholders such as trade union and NGO’s and what are the views of employers’ in terms of impact of labor laws and casualisation of work and their sustainability. Keywords: Federation of Kenyan Employers, Standard Employment Regulation Impact of Labor Laws in Mitigating Effects of casualisation in Kenya Collins Dictionary defines casualisation as altering of working practices so that regular workers are re-employed on a casual or short-term basis. Casual employment is also referred in some literatures as â€Å"precariousness† a familiar term in employment (Burgess and Campbell 1998; Weller and Webber 2001; Hunter 2006). Precariousness is seen in terms of bundles of job characteristics to do with insecurity and poor quality of life. It is characterized with lack of regulatory protection and working time insecurity Casualisation of a workforce is therefore reduction in full or part time employees and their replacement with employees who are called in on an as-needed or casual basis. This can reduce the employees working conditions by reducing the commitment from the employer to them, and giving the employer opportunities to control them by reducing their hours. Casual workers can be more difficult for employers to manage as they have no guarantee of finding available employees at any time, but they have the advantage of only employing people when they have the work for them An elastic approach to casualisation refer to non-standard and non-permanent employment relationships such as temporary work, fixed term contracts, seasonal work and subcontracting or outsourcing. It is also important to make a further distinction between casuals that are employed directly by the company or those that are supplied through outsourcing and subcontracting arrangements. Typically support services such as cleaning and catering and in some cases transportation and distribution and security are subcontracted. According to Okougbo (2004) casualisation of work is characterized by demand for employment which is highly variable such as port work, farm work, farm migratory work and other jobs of unskilled intermittent nature. He further states that contract labor is a form of involuntary servitude for a period of time. Labor and service contracts are terms used by management to describe contract labor. Management sometimes refers to it as â€Å"body shop† or â€Å"direct hire† while other refer to contract labor as service providers. Neo-liberal market restructuring globally and in the region is the driving force behind the sharp increase in casualisation. Neo-liberalism seeks to deregulate markets including the labor market to increase labor flexibility. In short, employers want the freedom to pay low wage, change the number of workers and how and when work is conducted thus this is casualisation. According to the employment act (2007) If an employee works for a period or a number of continuous working days which amount in the aggregate to the equivalent of not less than one month, or performs work which can not reasonably be expected to be completed within a period, or a number of working days amounting in the aggregate to the equivalent of three months or more, then the contract of service of the casual employee shall be deemed to be one where wages are paid monthly and section 35 (1) (c) shall apply to that contract of service. Labor Relations Act which prescribes that casual worker should be employed permanently after three months of continuous work besides which employees are supposed to be provided with medical and housing benefits. The Act also stipulate that an employee whose contract of service has been converted in accordance with subsection (1) (Employment Act, 2007) and who works continuously for two months or more from the date of employment as a casual employee shall be entitled to such terms and conditions of service as he / she would have been entitled to under this Act (Employment Act, 2007) had he not initially been employed as a casual employee. These include:- †¢ Notice. Where the contract is to pay wages or salary periodically at intervals of or exceeding one month, a contract is terminable by either party at the end of the period of twenty-eight days next following the giving of notice in writing †¢ Working hours. An employer shall regulate the working hours of each employee in accordance with the provisions of this Act and any other written law. Rest period. According to the employment Act subsection (1), an employee shall be entitled to at least one rest day in every period of seven days. Annual leave. After every twelve consecutive months of service with his employer to not less than twenty-one working days of leave with full pay †¢ Maternity leave. A female employee shall be entitled to three months maternity leave with full pay. The female employee shall have the right to return to the job which she held immediately prior to her maternity leave or to a reasonably suitable job on terms and conditions no t less favorable than those which would have applied had she not been on maternity leave. A male employer shall be entitled to two weeks paternity leave with full pay. †¢ Sick leave. After two consecutive months of service with his employer, an employee shall be entitled to sick leave of not less than seven days with full pay and thereafter to sick leave of seven days with half pay. †¢ Medical attention. Subject to subsection (2), an employer shall ensure the provision sufficient and of proper medicine for his employees during illness and if possible, medical attendance during serious illness. †¢ Service pay. The casual shall be entitled to service pay for every year worked, the terms of which shall be fixed. The wage bill in the private sector, a key driver of household consumption, is increasingly dipping as most employers opt for casual workers to cushion themselves against a harsh business environment. Despite stiff regulations introduced last year to protect casual workers from exploitation, thus making hiring of such employees expensive, Government statistics (GOK, 2006) show that casual employment grew by 13 per cent last year compared to a five per cent growth in 2007. Comparatively, the levels of regular employment dipped 2. 9 per cent in 2008, reflecting employers' preference of hiring casuals during the period, says the 2009 Economic Survey (GOK 2009). Casual workers accounted for 32 per cent of total wage employment. As a result of this preference, the private sector wage bill grew by a measly 10 per cent, compared to a 14. 6 per cent rise in 2007. This is attributed to increased use of casual laborers whose pay is usually lower than that of regular employees. The economy is also gradually sliding into a largely casual employment which could have dire implications in the already turbulent labor market,. This would reduce domestic consumption as households will have less to spend, thus reducing demand in the productive sectors and hampering poverty eradication. The Enactment of the Employment Act by Kenyan parliament roots for better protection of casual laborers by making it mandatory for employers to remit statutory deductions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). Previously, casual and contract workers – who constitute the majority of Kenyan workforce and include house-helps, watchmen, matatu touts and building and construction workers did not qualify for most of the benefits that are available to permanent employees. There is also a bigger risk of lay -offs for casual workers to escape the statutory contributions. The greatest impact that the new laws have had in the labor market is to push employers towards outsourcing the services of workers they would ordinarily employ as casuals to cut costs. This had negatively affected the job market in that companies cannot absorb more jobs and worse still, they have to cut their marketing and advertising budgets to cope. Casual employment remains the cheapest way of engaging workers, especially so at these hard economic times when employers focus is on taming labor costs. But the flipside is that we might end up with lower revenues from income tax if the labor market was to be largely made up of casuals. The purchasing power for families will also reduce drastically. Hired on short-term contracts, casual workers strive to fulfill production quotas for long working hours under poor working conditions and low wages, often without maternity or sick leave, housing and medical allowances. Most of them are denied right to join trade unions and basic services like water while some are victims of reported sexual harassment at the work place. They face stiff penalties for mistakes, work while sitting or standing for between eight and twelve hours daily, with only a forty five minute break in between, in order to beat the quota set by supervisors Kugler et al (2003). Their daily pay is between Sh120 and Sh160 but a percentage is deducted ostensibly for social security or hospital insurance contributions, which rarely benefit them (GOK, 2003). Casual labor market is perpetuated by lack of any permanent, on-going attachment between employer and worker (Ralph C. 1960). Where this condition exists and where entry of worker is easy due to low skill requirements and the absence of institutional barriers, the labor market is likely to accumulate a chronic surplus of supply. The resultant highly competitive market is conducive to corrupt hiring practice and a wide variety of other social evils. Casual workers provide cover at short notice for the absence of permanent staff. Some may belong to an area â€Å"pool† of relief workers who are contracted when work becomes available. The key characteristics of a casual worker are; †¢ They are offered work for a specific day or session only †¢ They have no right to be offered work beyond that day or session There is no regularity of work. It is characterized with lack of regulatory protection and working-time insecurity (Tham, 2007). In contrast to standard employment, there’s little right to protection against unfair dismissal and no right to notice in case of dismissal (O’Donnell, 2004). As a result casual tends to have even less employment security than fixed term employees since they can be dismissed with ease at almost any time. This greatly affects their financial proposition as they are not sure of their fate-they literally live a day at a time. Most dramatically, casual employment is exempted from almost all rights and benefits that have come to be attached to â€Å"permanent† contracts. These include such basic entitlements as annual leave, sick leave and payment for public holidays (Watson et al, 2003). The main attribute is a simple entitlement to wage enhanced in some cases by so called casual loading on the hourly rate of pay. Precariousness has several dimensions but ultimately two of which impact greatly on casual labor rights. These include; †¢ Lack of regulatory protection Working-time insecurity Other critical dimensions may include low and irregular earnings and employment insecurity which statues are overwhelmingly silent on. Statutory regulations has played only a limited role in establishing a standard employment regulation (SER) through the provision of dynamic standards to support a platform of â€Å"decent† work (Cooney et al, 2006). However, it is a complicated and layered system leaving sizeable gaps as a result of poor coverage, poor enforcement and exemptions. The award system provides a large array of rights and entitlements for employees but these are generally confined to full time permanent (standard) employees (Campbell, 2004). These clauses permit casual employment under certain limitations and then specify that casual workers are exempted from most rights entitlements starting with employment protections such as rights to notice and compensation for dismissal. This lack of regulatory protection is not confined to non-standard work. It can also apply to parts of standard workforce where gaps in protection have been eroded. Standardized working time arrangements are central to SER. Deviations from the norms centered on working hours involves; †¢ irregular work hour both in number and timing †¢ overly short †¢ overly long These represent a much change in present period, drains employees, control over work and sponsoring increased working-time insecurity. Another central feature of casual employment is the ability of employers to determine the number and timing of hours and to alter these at short notice. Casuals appears here as easily available, easily deployed in workplace and then easily disposable (Walsh et al, 1999). Negotiation of working hours is commonly a rather fraught process in which workers are often reluctant to refuse shifts-even at short notice and even at inconvenient times-for fear of jeopardizing future offers (Pocock et al, 2004). According to Barone (2001) there do exists various institutional arrangements that can provide employment protection; the private market, labor legislation, collective bargaining arrangements and contractual provisions. Some forms of de facto regulations are also likely to be adopted even in the absence of legislation simply because both workers and firms can derive advantages from long-term employment relations (OECD,1999). This is invariably averse to employment protection legislation which has of recent days been seen to shut its doors on plight of casuals (Kugler et al,2003). Employer’s opinion on casualisation can also be deduced from Federation of Kenyan Employers which is a registered umbrella body of employers in Kenya. FKE has duties such as; to encourage the principle of sound industrial relations and observance of fair labor practices as well as to promote sound management practices amongst employers through training, research and consultancy services and adoption of best practices. FKE was established in January 1969 in response to the activities of the then-Kenya Federation of Labor, which had unified the trade union movement into a single entity. The employers felt they needed an organization that could represent them on major social and economic issues. Since then, the Federation has gained considerable strength and power. It started as a body with only 161 employers; today it represents about 3,000. On the thorny issue of casual labor, the group has few real answers. Since a large number of Kenya's industries are seasonal in nature, like agriculture, hotels, restaurants, plantations and other related businesses, it is very difficult to eliminate casual labor entirely. According to the employment act (2007) cap 35 (a) casual staff can be employed by a company if the contract will not exceed the three month agreement for casual staffing stipulated by the labor law. If there is to be a continuation of the person in the position beyond the three month agreement, the employer is expected to give a contract letter to the individual stipulating the terms of employment. Accordingly FKE (2007) casualisation is rife in the country; but most of the companies perpetuating the offence are not mainly its members, so this has limited what the organization can do about it. However, many employers argue that due to economic hardship not only witnessed in Kenya but globally, they are forced to employ their workers as casuals because they will not afford to sustain them  in the long run. Many companies usually have periods of booming and recessions in there businesses and such will determine employment of staff. Some industrial companies employ workers as casual for two months then they relieve them of their duties and hire new staffs. The treatment of â€Å"casuals,† says COTU Secretary-General, Francis Atwoli (2009), â€Å"has haunted the trade union movement for many years and is a throwback to the colonial era when workers were classified as casual people†. Atwoli believes the Kenyan labor movement could be strengthened if the casuals were allowed to unionize. To this end, COTU is now negotiating with the government to organize casual workers regardless of their salaries. COTU also wants all casual workers to become eligible for the benefits that permanent workers get: worker's compensation, housing and pensions. The COTU secretary-general recently flayed FKE for advocating that the government should institute more controls on wages. Atwoli sees such a move as an obstacle to expansion in industry. He argues that if workers are poorly paid, their purchasing power will remain low and they will not be able to afford manufactured goods. This will keep manufacturers from expanding and new jobs will remain an unfulfilled goal. Observers in business circles think investors view low wages with mixed emotions: while some foreign investors look at low wages as a sure means of maximizing profits, others see them as a sure way of reducing purchasing power in the market which could subsequently mean low sales. On the other hand, government economists argue that it is better to maintain low wages that the national economy can support rather than high wages that will lead to high inflation. FKE argues that â€Å"In raising minimum wages they are guided by certain factors like the ability of the economy,†Ã‚   To sustain any level of minimum wages, FKE says, other factors come into play like the level of unemployment in the country as well as the ability of the small employers to pay. FKE believes that COTU has to be realistic in its approach to the whole issue but FKE is studying COTU's demands. However, it should be noted all players i. e. the government, FKE and COTU concurs that unionizing casuals may be essential to safeguard the gains of all Kenyan workers. Low wages and limited benefits make casuals an attractive proposition for companies trying to cut costs. Discussion The exploding population will only exacerbate the situation as more and more workers enter a work market incapable of keeping pace with this growth. As the population growth continues to outpace the growth of jobs, employers will have increasing leverage to demand concessions from both workers and their unions. Kenya's labor movement must somehow address these issues if it is to continue to make progress on worker's rights. References Campell, 1 (2004) ‘Casual work and casaulisation: how does Australia Compare’? Labour and Industry, 15(2): 85-111. – (2007) ‘long working hours in Australia: working-time regulation and employer Pressures' Economic and Labour relation Review, 17(2): 37-68. – (2008a) ‘Australia: institutional changes and workforce fragmentation’, S. Lee and F Eyraud (eds) Globalization, Flexibilization and working condtion in Asia And the Pacific London: Chandos (2008b) ‘Pressing towards full employment? The persistence of underemployment in Australia’, Journal of Australian Political Economy, 61:0156-80. Cooney, S. , Howe, J. and Murray, J. (2006) ‘Time and money under Workchoices: Understanding the new workplace Relations Act as a scheme of regulation’, UNSW Law Journal 29(1): 215-41. Hunter, R. (2006) ‘the legal orudution of precarious work’, in j Fudge and R. Owens (eds) Precarious Work, Women and the new economy: the challenge to legal norms, Oxford: Hart. Junor, A. 1998) ‘permanent part-time work: new family-friendly standard or high Intensity cheap skills? ’, Labour and Industry, 8(3): 77-95. Pocock, B. , Buchanan, J. and Campbell, I. (2004) ‘Meeting the challenge of casual Work in Australia: evidence, past treatment and future policy’, Australia bulletin Of Labour, 30(1): 16-32 Pocock B. , Prosser, R. and Bridge, K. (2004) ‘Only a casual†¦ ‘: how casual work Affects employees, households and communiti es in Australia, Discussion Paper, Adelaide: Labour studies, university of Adelaide. Okougbo, E. 2004. Strategic Issues on the Dynamics of Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Lagos: Wepoapo Enterprise. Weber, M. 1947. Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Gapitalism Tham, J-c (2007) ‘Towards an understanding of standard employment relationships Under Australian labor law’, Australian journal of labor law, 20(2): 123-58. Walsh, J. and Deery, s. (1999) ‘understanding the peripheral workforce: evidence From the service sector’, Human resource management Journal, 9(2): 50-63.

Visual Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Visual Communication - Essay Example On the other hand, few experts (Candy, pp. 23-25) believe that contemporary form of art, such as films, television, music videos, digital photography are outcomes of inspirations and influences from previous art movements (Candy, pp. 23-25). Thus, all contemporary representations of art enjoy a deeper relationship with different periods of art in a meaningful manner. For instance, Surrealism was a significant and successful art movement of 1920s; however, studies have indicated that present artists are doing nothing but blending technology with traditional artworks of Surrealism, and few other art movements, such as Impressionism, Cubism, etc. Analysis of the literature (Surrealism.org, 2009) related to Surrealism has pointed out that present progression in the field of art has changed only the tools and equipments, and artists are still continuing to add visual elements of Surrealism that will be part of the discussion later in the paper. In the past, Surrealists used to create artworks by their hands and brushes while using the techniques, such as collage, furnage, heatage, bulletism, outagraphy, etc (Surrealism.org, 2009). Today, artists, especially of the music videos are using computer software instead of brushes to use the same techniques, in order to communicate with the audience visually, as well as to present their music in an enhanced and inspirational manner (Candy, pp. 29-36). This is one of the reasons that music videos have now become the influential tools to popularize a song, and despite of weak lyrics of a song, artistic music videos result in success of the music (Williams, pp. 47-61). In this regard, it has now become very important to identify factors that existed and played significant role during the art movement of Surrealism, and have continued to dominate the music videos in contemporary era of 21st century. For this

Answer the questions 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer the questions 6 - Essay Example Some sentences do not adhere to the correct use of phrases such as â€Å"beyond a shadow of doubt â€Å" is a clichà © and should be, â€Å"beyond any shadow of doubt.† In this same paragraph there is misuse of the word impersonal. Following your request for suggestions on how to improve customer relations, I wish to submit some ideas. I am of the opinion that we can enhance customer satisfaction easily by making a change in our counters. Last December, glass barriers were installed in our branch separating tellers from customers. These barriers have air vents that allow tellers like to communicate freely with our customers. Management thought that since these barriers are bulletproof; they would help in stopping thieves from gaining easy access to the tellers’ cubicles. However, there were customers who were not pleased by these glass partitions especially since communicating with them became extremely difficult. This is because both the customer and teller had to raise their voices for them to be heard. It becomes even more inconveniencing when dealing with elderly people or someone from another country. This makes the customers think they are being treated in an inhospitable manner. After some careful research from other banks, I realized we are the only bank in town using such barriers. Most of the other banks are trying causal kiosks and open counters to make their customers feel at

W6 597A Leveraging a Generic Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

W6 597A Leveraging a Generic Strategy - Essay Example 1). Concurrently, application of the differentiation strategy means â€Å"the development of a product or service that offers unique attributes that are valued by customers and that customers perceive to be better than or different from the products of the competition† (4.2.1 What is meant by generic strategies?, 2009, p. 1). Finally, the focus strategy, also known as segmentation or niche strategy, basically means â€Å"segmenting markets and appealing to only one or a few groups of consumers or industrial buyers, to a not many select target markets. It is also called a segmentation strategy or niche strategy† (4.2.1 What is meant by generic strategies?, 2009, p. 1). After understanding the meaning of generic strategy, an existing organization in the United States that evidently established sustained market leadership by successfully leveraging a generic strategy is Ford Motor Company. Ford could be evaluated as employing the differentiation strategy which produces dif ferent models of vehicles that cater to differentiated needs and demands of the consumers. A closer look at Ford’s foundation for organizational success emphasized their commitment â€Å"to developing great products for customers around the world† (Ford Motor Company, 2015, p. 1). Their products are classified according to cars, crossovers and SUVs, trucks and vans, as well as the Lincoln (Ford Motor Company, 2015). For the cars, for instance, the lowest price is the Ford Fiesta at $13,965 and the most expensive is the Ford Taurus at $27,055 (Ford Motor Company, 2015). In addition, the company also offers payment schemes, incentives, and other special pricing offers (Ford Motor Company, 2015). The company’s special program offers, for example, are categorized according to programs for university students and newly graduates (Study Hard, Drive Well), for persons with disabilities (Ford Mobility Motoring), and for members of the military and their families (Showing Our

Social Exclusion and the Future of Cities Essay

Social Exclusion and the Future of Cities - Essay Example Dalton et al. (2007) argues that in a society that practices social inclusion, the members have a sense of value and self-worth. Their lives are full of dignity and satisfaction, and they are incorporated in the community systems that define its membership. For example, all people are involved in the community’s social and economic activities, they have an equal right of participating in community politics among other activities. Social inclusion is a significant factor in the mental health of a community. This paper examines the relevance of the concept of â€Å"social inclusion† for social work practice with adults experiencing mental health difficulties. It presents a narrative of the background and origin of social inclusion, the theories of social inclusion as well as policies that enhance the practice. Social inclusion emerged in the background of value based interventions towards maintaining clear goals regarding improvements of public welfare. Denissen et al. (2008) argues that it is a practical human development approach to facilitate social welfare that is focused on elimination of risks and barriers to social inclusion. The foundation of the strategies for social inclusion remain inclined towards recognizing and appreciating diversity as well as recognizing the shared experiences and ambitions for different people.

Education in the UAE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Education in the UAE - Research Paper Example Educational system in UAE is relatively new and transpires its basic formation in the middle of XX century. â€Å"The first real efforts to establish a general educational system came in the 1960s, inspired by British model and financed directly from the treasuries of the emirs† (Kjeilen, n.p.). It is worse to mention that with the independence and consolidation of United Arab Emirates the real start of a modern system of education occurs. Today UAE educational ranges may be divided into five groups. They are the following: pre-primary education, primary, preparatory, secondary and higher education (Kjeilen, n.p.). Pre-primary education presupposes children’s attending kindergarten and includes younglings of 4-5 age groups. Primary education has its beginning at the age of six and lasts for six years (Kjeilen, n.p.). In these schools, children receive the basic infornation and study general subjects. Preparatory and secondary education follows directly after each other and last six years in general. After finishing these branches pupils obtain Secondary School Leaving Certificate and have a chance to continue education in higher educational institutions or go to some technical schools (Kjeilen, n.p.). Hence, we may argue that people in UAE have a chance to acquire appropriate knowledge for development and progress. Higher education provides through the number of educational institutions which guarantee students appropriate knowledge due to the chosen subject. â€Å"The UAE University in Al Ain was established by the federal government in 1976† (Rojewski, 136). This is considered to be the largest higher educational institution in the country and counts over 16  000 students (Rojewski, 136). This university offers undergraduate and graduate levels together with degree programs for male and female representatives. The Higher Collages of Technology has founded by the government in 1988 and â€Å"consist of 11 collages in six emirates, six collages for female

IMRAD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IMRAD - Essay Example Additionally, researchers have come up with three approaches that lead to employee’s empowerment. These include feministic theory, structural empowerment and psychological empowerment (Jeannette and Roland, 2009). Based on the fact that nurses are not included in the oppressed group, this study covers structural and psychological empowerment theories as theoretical framework. Aim of the research based on four key hypotheses The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between structural empowerment as well as psychological empowerment and innovative behavior. This was undertaken using four hypotheses as indicated below. Hypothesis 1(H1): There is a positive relationship between innovative behavior by nurses and structural empowerment. Hypothesis 2(H2): There exist positive correlation between innovative behavior by nurses and psychological empowerment. Hypothesis 3(H3): Through psychological empowerment, structural empowerment leads to more innovation by nurses . Hypothesis 4(H4): The extent to which the psychological empowerment leads to innovative behavior is significantly influenced by structural empowerment. ... To ensure that adequate information was collected to come up with a proper analysis, this study collected data from the months of February and March 2007. This was followed by dividing the questionnaire that consisted of 58 items into four major categories. These included structural empowerment, innovative behavior, demographic data and psychological empowerment. To enhance the response from the interviewers, the research adopted various techniques that included cover letter, stamped envelops, follow-ups, in-house newsletters and book tokens. Confidentiality and ethics during the research were upheld by emulating the guidance of the ethics committee and the use of code numbers. By the use of the SPSS Version 12.0 the data was analyzed. This entailed the use of Q-Q plots also referred top as normal probability plots to identify whether the distribution was normal. According to the t Test that was conducted on the data collected, Jeannette and Roland, 2009 study indicated that 6.2% of the missing values differed statistically significant from the average obtained from the innovative behavior. The notable method that this study used to identify the relationship between variables was the bivariate tests of correlation. In the same way, a regression analyses and a one-way analyses of variance were conducted to test the hypothesis. Results The studies indicated that 92.6% of the respondents were female within the age of 41-44 years and those who were married with children. Additionally, 75% of the respondents indicated that they had worked in more than 5 years or more in the hospitals. By the use of the clinical specialty as one of the categories, 37.6% of the respondents had

Sugar Cane Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sugar Cane - Essay Example Probably the most vital contribution of understanding the origins of the plant in world history is recounting the suppression of Africans who became slaves in the pursuit of supplying the needs for the plant's products. Sugar cane has been known for at least 2200 years dating back from the rise of Alexander the Greta when his army saw the plant during the conquest of India in 326 BC (Purseglove, 1979). The discovery of Arabs and Greeks on the potential of sugar cane juices to substitute to the popularly used honey was a turning point to the spread of the plant. Western expansion of Arabs in the 7th and 8th centuries marked the introduction of sugar in Europe and the West (Heiser, 1981). It is a sub-tropical and tropical plant that grows well on spots with robust supply of sunlight and water - so long as the plant's roots are not waterlogged (Deerr, 1949). Purgloves (1979) accounts that sugar cane was originally grown for the sole purpose of chewing in vast territories of Asia and the Pacific. The rind was removed and the internal tissues sucked or chewed to extract the sugar and juice contents on it. According to the account, production of sweet products of the plant by boiling the cane juice was f irst discovered in India, most likely during the first millennium BC. It is in the purpose of this paper that sugar yield would characterize the sugar cane products to focus on the economics of the commodity on which the plant has been primarily known and used due to its properties to produce a sweet substance in whatever form. Processing of sugar canes whether following the old procedures or the present modern technique starts with harvesting. Harvesting of the sugar cane is done through chopping down the stems. Where possible the cane is fired before harvesting to remove the dead leaf material and some of the waxy coating. The fire burns at quite high temperatures but is monitored to last only for a short period so that the cane and its sugar are not harmed (www.food-info.net). Harvesting is done by hand during the earlier days but has been done with machine beginning 18th century. First stage of processing is the extraction of cane juice. Boiling was the main extraction procedure during the 15th century (Purseglove, 1979). With the upgrade of processes before the 19th century, extraction of sugar cane juice included the removal of excess water through the use of machines and cleaning up the juice with slaked lime (www.sucrose.com). As with the traditional way, evaporation comes next in the process by thi ckening up the juice in the syrup by removing the water through boiling. In earlier years, leaving it as syrup or drying up the water under the sun or through steaming and having unrefined crystals would have sufficed and the process of producing the end product would have ended (Heiser, 1981). With the advent of machines, even the simple traditional ones, crystallization takes place through painstaking procedures of boiling. After making the product fit for storage, affination comes next to continuously refine the end product characterized to be primarily as sweetener. The end

Success of Product Repositioning Strategy for Class B Office Essay

Success of Product Repositioning Strategy for Class B Office Development in Moscow - Essay Example My company hired by a real estate investments fund, an owner of this property, received commercial contract to arrange marketing campaign and to sell these buildings as residential property. The reasoning behind this strategy is quite simple. On one hand, relatively small investors receive opportunity to invest into lucrative office property market in Moscow, which has 10-12% rate of return on investment compared to 5-6% that of residential property market. On the other hand, property developers receive so much desired cash significantly decreasing the whole property development cycle and improve their own rate of return on investment. The classical scheme (when office buildings are kept by developers to receive lease income or sold to strategic investors interested in regular income stream provided by lease payments) is modified with a new buy option for typical clients (lease holders) and completely a new option for residential property investors. Despite recent severe turbulence o n the equity markets and overall pessimistic attitude towards any long term investments our group managed to achieve remarkable results. The success of the strategy is proven by retail sale of a number of office buildings in Moscow. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate how theoretical strategic tools can be used in a real business situation to identify new business innovations and to assess how close the theory is to reality. The strategy theory undoubtedly provides useful tools for assessing current situation and identifying new opportunities. Elements of Five forces, basic supply – demand analyses, Value creation model, ERRC (Eliminate, Raise, Reduce, and Create) grid, reluctant customers and non-customers issues are theory tools used in the analysis. The analysis consists of macro and micro examination of the current commercial property industry situation in Moscow, and formulation of new opportunities in the office property sector of the industry based on the above analysis. The description of the real estate investment market in Russia In the situation of global market economic crisis, investors are becoming more risk averse and switching investment portfolios in favor of core assets like gold and real estate. Investments in property market in Russia in 2011 demonstrated 46% year on year growth with the highest volumes of 7 bn USD (See Exhibit 1 Investment volume dynamics), of which the commercial real estate sector accounts for about 95% (See Exhibit 1 Investment by sector). 2011 in Russia was remarkable by the rising number of foreign capital investments, which comprise around 45% of the total investment volume (See Exhibit Investment by investor origin). The reason for this is potentially high demand almost on all sorts of commercial property. Retail and office segments usually dominate the sector investments having 40% of total investment volume each (See Exhibit 1 Investment by sector). Moreover, the deal size increased in 2011: the numb er of deals exceeding 100 mn USD increased to 33% of total number of deals compared to 23% 2010. The market sector prime yields in Moscow stabilized at 9% in office and 11% in warehouse sectors in 2011 from the recent highs of 11.5% and 14.5% in 2009 (See 1 Exhibit Prime yield dynamics in Moscow) reaching pre crisis levels achieved by the market in 2007-2008. Historically, the office sector in Moscow has been the most attractive for

Partnership with Parents Essay Example for Free

Partnership with Parents Essay Parents are experts on their own child and are their childs first and main educators. To meet the needs of children in our care effectively, childcare centers have to build strong relationships with parents and make sure that the sharing of information is a two-way, on going process. Aim for practitioners should be to achieve an open, supportive relationship with parents, who will be made to feel welcome, involved and fully informed about what happens in the childcare center. The preschool experience is often a young child’s first significant experience away from home. The first separation from home frequently places stress on the family until the transition is made. I have vivid memories of the first day I dropped off my son at preschool. I must have had a thousand questions and a million concerns: Would he behave? Would he cry? Would the teachers be able to keep up with him? The questions and concerns went on and on until I and my son finally felt comfortable with the preschool staff and environment. Positive parent-teacher partnerships assist young children with the transition from home and promote healthy growth and development. Even though actively reaching out to parents requires time, patience, and energy, teachers benefit by understanding children’s home environments. If the partnership between parents, staff and child is going well, each need to be able to trust and respect the other. The self-esteem and well-being of the people in the partnership are important when they are working together. Very important is a good start. Childcare staff should to help parents and children to feel welcome when they first arrive at the setting for e. g. parents and visitors are given a friendly welcome by staff; an attractive display in the entrance area showing some of the recent activities that children have been involved in; information showing the names of staff, with their photographs. Important is positive image and messages about diversity- for e. g. different languages, ethnicities and genders. The key to success in the partnership is good communication. Practitioners can sharing information with parent for one-way or two way communication. One-way communication occurs when teachers seek to inform parents about events, activities, or children progress through a variety of sources, such as an introductory letter at the beginning of the preschool year, newsletters, report cards, communication books, childcare center Web sites, and so on. Two-way communication involves interactive dialogue between preschool’s teachers and parents. Conversations may occur during telephone calls, home visits, parent-teacher conferences, open houses, and various preschool-based community activities. Teachers should actively incorporate both strategies to maximize sharing information with parents. Parents and teachers share in the responsibility of a childs education. The two should work cooperatively to foster a positive educational experience for a child. Often times, however conflicts do arise. Conflicts between teachers and parents can arise in a number of ways. A parents sometimes have a hard time dealing with the fact that someone else is parenting their child. Another common parental gripe is that the teacher is not giving the child enough attention or otherwise treating her inappropriately. Additional problem may be language barrier. An increasing number of parents do not speak English as a first language so they are unable to understand communications from the preschool. This can be a real issue and preschool teacher should assess whether hi or she is in a position to address this. When it comes to things like parents meeting teacher can invite some of parents family or friends who know English and can translate Even those parents who are fluent in English can have trouble understanding some communications from the preschool. Preschool teachers may be always think carefully when communicating with parents and ensure that they don’t use the jargon they might use with they colleagues. The key to a good relationship between teachers and parents is open communication. Parents should always talk directly with the teacher about the problem. Good communication prevents conflict from arising and makes resolutions a lot easier.

Understanding The Concept Of Gender Mainstreaming Sociology Essay

Understanding The Concept Of Gender Mainstreaming Sociology Essay This report is about gender mainstreaming which entered the mainstream of international public policy in September 1995, when it featured in the platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing where most nations have signed the Platform. The report present the background and the foundation of gender mainstreaming and discusses why, how and outcome of gender mainstreaming application in the institution and some problems and restrictions will be presented which may hinder the process of mainstreaming. 2.0 Background The road to guaranteeing equality between men and women began some decades back, and progress was made in certain sectors of society but we still a long way far from being to announce and state that equality exists in terms of womens access too all of society sphere. Access has been restricted in areas of power or those requiring further education which has lead to the glass ceiling phenomena which still exist up to now in most organizations and institutions. There has been always efforts and progressive approaches to achieve equality for women in the society and the main concern was over womens issues and womens access and opportunity to the different positions in the society. In the 1970s, which this period called the period of individual rights women in development (WID) main focus was on how women could better be integrated into existing development initiatives and was regarded as beneficiaries rather than full member of development. This approach has relevance to women only which had the effect of isolation and marginalizing of women n the decision making. In the 1980s, which this period called the period of specific action due to the ineffectiveness and limited approach of the (WID), it became an evident that a new paradigm was needed to explain the relationship between women and men, Gender and Development GAD approach was different from WID and is it approach was: The gender is not a women issue but both men and women Both men and women have different and special needs. Women can not be treated as homogenous group. Women are disadvantaged to men The inequality between men and women is systemic and structural. Gender equality and equity in institutions and organization must be looked at with the understanding the complex lives of people and in order to have an effective gender analysis, must make a practical explaining the differences n mens and womens lives and helping to produce policies and programs that reduce inequalities. The concept of gender mainstreaming was first proposed at the 1985 Third world Conference on Women in Nirobi and was developed further by the United Nation development community and is recognized as a global strategy for the promotion of gender equality. The idea of gender mainstreaming was formally featured in 1995 at the Fourth Conference on women which was held in Beijing. The UN Economic and Social Council defined the concept of gender mainstreaming as: Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making womens as well as ens concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men can benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. The importance of gender mainstreaming has been widely discussed since governments committed to the concept in Beijing Platform for Action in1995. It has become a generally accepted procedure that gender equality is a prerequisite for a sustainable human development. Gender mainstreaming is an essential strategy not only for attaining gender equality, but also for the sustainable development of societies as whole. National womens machineries (NWM) around the globe have been grappling with the complex task of turning concepts into reality to implement gender mainstreaming strategies. Gender mainstreaming incorporates the GAD perspective and aims to look the relationships between men and women in their access to and control over resources, decision making and benefits and rewards within a particular system. The system could be an institution, organization, a government or a department society. The mainstream refer to an inter-related set of dominant ideas, values, practices, institutions and organizations that determine who gets what within a society. The ideas and practices within the mainstream tend to reflect an reinforce each other and thus provide a rationale for any given allocation of societal resources and opportunities. Being part of the mainstream means that women and men have equitable access to resources, including opportunities and rewards. It implies equal participation influencing what is valued in shaping options within society. Becoming part of the mainstream means sharing equitable in the benefits of development. Becoming part of the mainstream offers the opportunity to influence who does what in a society, who won what, who has access to jobs and income, who controls the societys resources and institutions, who makes decisions and who sets priorities. Gender mainstreaming is a long term, complex and multi dimensional process that focuses on the needs of both men and women in order to achieve the optimal development and equality in the organization, gender streaming can defined as follows: Is a process or a strategy to work toward the goal of gender equality and it is not and end in itself. It is an approach to governance that makes mens and womens concerns and experience and integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all sectors of society. It involves changing policies and institutions so that they actively promote gender equality. It is a long term, transformative process that involves rethinking socio-cultural values and development goals. The gender mainstreaming involve not restricting efforts to promote equality to the implementation of specific measures to help women, but mobilizing all general policies and measure specifically for the purpose of achieving equality by actively and openly taking the account at the planning stage their possible effects on the perspective situation of men and women. An effective gender mainstreaming policy consists of four steps: Getting organized is on implementation and organization, and building awareness and ownership. Implementation and organization of gender mainstreaming refers to the process of providing a structural and cultural basis of equal opportunity. This includes formulation of objectives and targets, making a plan and drawing a budget and defining responsibilities and accountability of the different actors involved. All stakeholders involved in the policy should take equal opportunities of men and women in account. Training is essential in order to create a certain degree of gender awareness and expertise. Learning about gender differences, a description of the actual situation is essential in order to access actual gender inequality. In addition, monitoring the situation over time and making an assessment such as participation (group/population) such as the share of men and women in unemployment, among the disabled or among those with flexible contracts. Resources such as access or distribution of time, money, space, information, political and economic power. Norms and values such as influence gender roles, gender division of labor, the altitude of men and women. Values attached to men and women. It is essential to identify the role of policy measures in reinforcing social norms and values that maintain gender inequality. Rights pertain to direct or indirect sex discrimination, human rights, and access to justice in the legal, political or socio-economic environment. Assessing the policy impact is to analyze the potential gender impact of the policy with reference to participation, resources, norms and values and rights. Both quantitative and qualitative aspects should be taken account of participant. Its important to differentiate between particular groups of men and women such as ethnic minority groups, age groups, and regional groups. Its the changing policies and institutions so that they actively promote gender equality. It is a long term transformative process that involves rethinking socio-cultural values, development goals and redesigning policies to identify ways in which the policy could be redesigned to promote gender equality in the even of having negative impact on gender equality or to be broadly gender neutral. An effective gender mainstreaming policy diagram 3.0 Gender Streaming why, how and outcome: 3.1 Why Gender Streaming Gender mainstreaming is an important aspect of good governance. It seeks to ensure that institutions, organizations, policies and programs respond to the needs and interests of women as well as men and distribute benefits equally and justice for women and men. Thus enhancing the accountability of organizations / governments to achieve results for all citizens. The gender mainstreaming process does not mean a move away from specific women programs, special measures or women specific activities may still be required to address inequalities. Reducing poverty, boosting economic growth and strengthening citizenship is a proactive process designed to tackle inequalities which can discriminate against either sex. Gender mainstreaming is not only about women but it is also about men and society in general. It is also important for both men and women to feel comfortable as pat of the gender mainstreaming process and must play an active role in ensuring gender equality. It will benefit the organization directly in terms of improving its image, credibility ad enhancing their political capital. Mainstreaming can play an important role in eliminating sexual harassment and unprofessional attitudes towards people involved in gender work are series barriers that may not be easily surmountable through good augmentation strategies. Gender sensitivity and efforts to change attitudes within organization structure are vital elements in the gender mainstreaming process. Gender mainstreaming may load to changes which give women and men equal access to the operation, power and resources. In addition the mainstreaming will have a direct effect on the effective service of the organization and better distribution of resources for both men and women. It will lead also to more legal security, better democracy in that women and men are treated equally and a better grasp of gender equality policy and of the needs of those who use the organizations services. Why gender mainstreaming can be summarized as follows: Target major economic and social policies that deliver resources Make good economic sense ensuring that women as well as men are active, using full of the productive labor force. Represent a further step in the search for equality. Gender is the one of the most fundamental organizing features in society and affects our lives from the moment we are born. Recognition of male and female identities and recognizes that differences exist in mens and womens lives and therefore our needs, experience and priorities are different. Willingness to establish a balanced distribution of responsibilities between women and men. Needs determined political action and support with clear indicators and targets. Will not happen overnight, it is a continuous process. Equal division of power and influence between women and men. Women and men shall have the same rights and opportunities to be active citizens and to shape the conditions for decision making. Economic equality between women and men. Women and men shall have the same opportunities and conditions with regard to education and paid work that provide lifelong economic independence. Men violence against women must stop. Women and men shall have equal rights and opportunities in terms of physical integrity. 3.2 How, Gender Mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming in any organizations policy must first take stock to determine where equality needs to be established. We need a clear idea of the political measure for change. Previously such measures were usually understood to the promotion of women, thus the new strategy is called the gender mainstreaming which combined political perspective should then provide and idea of what must be changed, how, and with what means. All measures must first be checked for their political effects for both sexes and implemented only of they contribute to gender equality. Many measures must still contribute essentially to the promotion of women, that is, the dismantling of structural disadvantages for women, and to active gender equality. Gender mainstreaming resides in gender controlling, that is, in the analysis of each and every political activity from the perspective of its contribution to the establishment of equal opportunity. For such an analysis to be successful, expert knowledge, gender competence, and power must come together. Expert knowledge refers to knowledge of processes, that is, one must have a through knowledge of the legal, political, and bureaucratic conditions of the given field of action. Gender competence signifies the development of critical view of gender that will help to recognize gender hierarchies. Pointing out general patriarchal structures is no longer enough; rather, subtle processes of constrictions on men as well as women must be recognized. Power also means the power to define problems in any given situation by pointing and filtering out issues that needs and require action in order modify its situation. The inequalities exist in the organization is part of the domain of knowledge that would have to be made broadly available and should not remain in the hands of only a few specialists and mainstreaming means introducing gender relations in all themes and the fields they cover. A key point of gender mainstreaming is the demand that gender questions be made an obligatory theme in all areas, and a special theme for only a few. Giving this approach a political and legal foundation that is, as a measure applied from above will certainly makes things easier for activities struggling for general equality from below. But how to approach the theme, where it belongs, and how it is to be pursued remain largely open and needs expert recommendations. The different pattern of participation of the sexes in the varies departments and levels of the institution must be achieved, this apply to all people within the institutions. We need acknowledgment that unequal distributions are a problem and obstacle in equality, such an acknowledgment is relevant in identifying and applying the particular policies to achieve equality. Gender mainstreaming involves varies actions to be determined in order to formulate a policy of gender integration to achieve the final outcome, these actions include: Carefully assessing the situation of women and men in the organizing and identifying the different vulnerable groups of women and men and thats include ethnic minorities, disabled in relation to the objectives we need to achieve in our work. Determining the steps needed to improve the gender equality within the organization in order to support this improvement. Tracking the progress of mainstreaming with indicators or other means of monitoring the gender equality related issues. Raising awareness about gender equality problems, obstacles and the importance of adopting a gender prospective. Building a capacity program among the organization and partners to adopt a gender sensitive approach. Ensuring visibility of the gender dimensions of the activities in the organization with proper documentation, reports, seminars and public information materials. Sex disaggregated data and statistics Skills and opportunities to carry out gender analysis. Effective monitoring and evaluation systems and tools. Effective communication, networks and linkages Skilled human resource base Civil society participation. 3.3 Outcome of Gender Mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming was established as a global strategy for achieving gender equality, and in turn for achieving sustainable economic development in the 1995 Beijing platform for action ratified by all United Nations member states. It is now incumbent upon nation-states and international organizations to carry out gender mainstreaming and as such, has achieved widespread endorsement by individuals governments, regional suptra state bodies such as the European Union, the Nordic Council of Ministries and the Organization of American States, the United nations and its varies agencies, the Organization foe Economic Cooperation and Development and the Council of Europe. Gender mainstreaming is a process rather than a goal, where efforts to integrate gender into existing institutions of the mainstream have little value for their own sake. Mainstream gender concerns to achieve gender equality and improve the relevance of development agendas. Such an approach shows that the cost of womens marginalization and gender inequality are born by all. Gender mainstreaming include attempts to establish a gender-equality perspective across all policy areas, even where the gender issues at stake may be not immediately apparent, and where the impact of mainstreaming policy on gender relations is often indirect. Gender mainstreaming is neither conceived of as an achievement in itself nor as a liberal policy to include women in decision making roles, rather it is conceived as a strategy to re-invent the process of policy design, implementation and evaluation by taking into account the gender specific and often diverse interests and values of differently situated women and men. All accounts of gender mainstreaming imply significant changes to gendered institutions, a range of different visions or models of gender equality have been invoked. Three main models of gender equality have been identified: The first model is one in which equality based on sameness is fostered, especially where women enter previously male domains and this known as the transformations of gender relations. The second in which there is a move towards the equal valuation of existing and different contributions of women and men in a gender segregated society known as tailoring situations to fit the needs of the women. The third is one in where there is a new standard for both men and women, which is the transformation of gender relations in which there are new standards for everyone, replacing the segregated institutions and standards associated with masculinity and femininity. Gender mainstreaming is highly diverse with uneven impacts, it is situated within the development of global politics, multi forms of governance and diverse discourses of human rights. All gender mainstreaming agendas and policies must should be evaluated from the perspective of whether or not it reduces or increases gender inequalities, unfair and unequal gender outcomes can be redresses. Gender equality and justice thus rely on the creative and technical capacity of gender analysis and gender specialists in the institutions. The gender mainstreaming main aim and the resulting goal is to help to transform a society to better gender equality, the result of such an events can be difficult to identify and track. The signs of the outcome of the gender streaming may be observed after a long term and can be identified by the increase in equality and the development results may include: Womens increased access to and control over a societys development resources and opportunities. Reduction in poverty for both women and men assessed through several indicators associated with areas where significant gender gaps exist, such as health and income. More equitable participation in decision making concerning allocation of development resources that might produce results such as improved health service delivery or better access to opportunities. Improved media images of womens roles in relationship and society, promoting women as individuals with full human rights and discouraging intolerance and violence against women. The emergence of committed gender-sensitive leaders, planers and implementers, both men and women applying gender analysis to their work on a regular basis. Identification of gender focal points in various government ministries with the capacity to provide leadership and accountability. The provision of adequate resources for the collection and analysis of sex disaggregated data, particularly to track impact of policies and programming. Putting mechanism in place to facilitate regular consultation and validation of policy decisions with civil society groups and organizations promoting gender equality. 4.0 Possible Problems or restrictions of gender mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming is a new strategy which has not been a great success so far, and essentially contested form of feminist politics and policy, existing in the tension between the mainstream and interventions to secure gender equality. The gender mainstreaming in development policies has been limited by its discursive construction as well as the failure to empower key gendered actors and its development has been uneven and weakened by its subordination to other policy goals. Gender mainstreaming has been criticized as a confusing conceptual framework at best, and at worst, a force that has totally undermined womens rights. Some say that it has resulted in the disappearance of attention to womens specific needs and the gender differentiated impacts of policies and programs. Mainstreaming has been described as a deceptive simple concept that is likely to be extremely difficult to operationlize and as an extraordinary demanding concept, which requires the adoption of a gender perspective by all the central actors in the policy process. Most Organizations embrace mainstreaming without implementing the extensive ground work and structural change that is necessary to ensure effective outcomes. Gender mainstreaming has emerged as a strategy in a period in which many governments and organizations have been anxious to reduce the costs and burdens imposed on market actors. Present approaches to macroeconomics have tended to reinforce a simplistic anti-poverty agenda that is incompatible wit process of gender mainstreaming. The lack of general understanding of what gender mainstreaming entails in practical terms and a lack of access to support mechanism and the gaps between policy and practice, with particular challenges to inadequate institutional mechanism, including the area of data collection, accountability, monitoring, reporting and training, as well as inadequate resource allocation. Other factors which hindered and restricted the gender mainstreaming include: Women organization may influence the outcome of mainstreaming due to their claim that streaming is not the appropriate procedure to achieve equality and feel that their situation will even become worse than before. The policy of gender mainstreaming sometime will lead to the abandonment of specific, positive actions on behalf of women and the particular policies on behalf of women may be discontinued and the equal opportunity unit will be weakened in the name of mainstreaming. There is a far that gender mainstreaming might be an attempt to integrate womens work to cut down costs and to downsize staff and the fear of some women is that it might lead to integration and elimination of womens movement and therefore lad to invisibility rather than to transformation. Many of the initiative undertaken under its mandate fail to create and legally enforceable rights, such as equal pay. The promise of the mainstreaming approach lies not in the short term creation of legally enforceable rights, but in the long term transformation of the policy process to serve the goal of equal opportunity between women and men. Political will and leadership: Understanding and commitment from authorities is obviously crucial to creating an enabling environment for the implementation of gender mainstreaming. Formal acknowledgement from political leaders that gender equality is an essential component of sustainable development is a starting point. Policy framework: without a formal policy in place related to gender streaming, often the results will be weak and missed. Unavailable of Sufficient Resources: without sufficient of resources, the commitment to gender streaming will not be achieved. Resources must be allocated to support the structure and practice required of mainstreaming. Sex-disaggregated and data information system: Information are not available to assure that there differences in circumstances and opportunities between women and men in order to provide the basis for policy and program development and evaluations. Tools and knowledge for gender analysis is not available and missing, such as inappropriate person in key position, lack of understanding concerning national gender equality and rational, scarce human, financial and technical resources, a lack of incentives / recognition rewards, lack of professionalism or political skills within the organization who will be responsible for establishing linage with other agencies and government departments. 5.0 Steps and procedures needed to address issues in mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming is relatively new phenomena and drives from only 20 years experience and the main procedure needed to the successful polices of mainstreaming is capacity building and training is needed to ensure and enhance the system gender sensitivity and gender expertise and these include: Integrate a gender perspective into all training programs. Provide continuous gender training for all staff, including those at the highest levels. Provide special training for gender experts to enhance their skills. Ensure that specialized gender expertise is available to them. Coordinate their training efforts though a system-wide evaluation of the impact of gender training. Gender disaggregated statistics and indicators to be collected and analyzed. Information exchange on gender mainstreaming within organization in particular women watch groups. Provide gender sensitive public information activities and materials to all concerned parties. In addition all problems and restrictions of gender mainstreaming of previous section can be avoided in order to not to hinder the development policies of gender mainstreaming. 6.0 Conclusion The gender mainstreaming is relatively new and has taken a center stage in the world order since the United Nations Conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing have created very important aspects for women equality and rights to move the International development agenda from small scale to emphasizing the importance of gender mainstreaming in impacting the status of women in economics, social and political development. The mainstreaming gender equality is a commitment of organization to ensure that womens as well as mens concerns are the main parameters of the design policy in order to achieve equality for all sexes and to shatter the glass ceiling.

Are Muslim Communities Affected By Counter Terrorism Legislation Criminology Essay

Are Muslim Communities Affected By Counter Terrorism Legislation Criminology Essay This paper looks to critically evaluate whether Muslim communities have been affected by counter-terrorism legislation in the UK as part of a literature review in serving to prepare for a much larger piece of work. This work consists of considering whether these community members have been effectively radicalised leading to extremism either within the local community or in the UK at large. It is also necessary to evaluate the way in which views in this regard that have been put forward by academics have developed as a result of the laws that have been implemented to date in the UK. Muslim; Counter-Terrorism; Legislation Critically evaluate whether Muslin Communities have been affected by counter-terrorism legislation In seeking to critically evaluate whether Muslim communities have been affected by counter-terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom (UK), it is necessary for this literature review to consider whether these community members have been effectively radicalised leading to extremism either within the local community or in the society at large. Moreover, there is also a need to examine as to how security agencies approaches are implemented and applied and consider new methods that will serve to impact upon professional practice in relation to the legislation that has been enacted both in the UK and at the international level. In addition, it will also be recognised as to how this has led to claims from within Muslim communities that the tactics currently used by the police are heavy handed and, as a result, counter-productive. Finally, this literature review will conclude with a summary of the key points derived from this discussion in relation to as to whether and how Muslim communiti es have been affected by counter-terrorism legislation enacted both in the UK and internationally. With a view to assessing whether Muslim Communities have been affected by the introduction of counter-terrorism legislation, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 7/7 in the UK and 9/11 in the US New Terror discourse, the prevention of violent extremism has become one of the most significant issues for policy makers throughout the western world and, for the purposes of this discussion, the UK. In what is clearly a significantly heightened security context, Muslim communities have become an enhanced focal point for the UK with a multi-layered, multi-agency approach (Home Office, 2008). Currently there are at least 2 million Muslims resident in the UK making the Islamic faith the largest outside of Christians with almost half actually having been born in the UK (Bunglawala, Halstead, Malik Spalek, 2004), but the community is becoming more diverse with over 50 nationalities represented and 70 languages spoken (Khan, 2004). However, Muslim communities constitute some of the most deprived in the UK with almost a third of those able to work having no qualifications so that, as a result, many children experience high levels of risk associated with child poverty (Bunglawala, Halstead, Malik Spalek, 2004) because adults are three times more likely to be unemployed than Christians (Yunas Samad Sen, 2007). Nevertheless, such policy developments are illustrative of the apparent need to develop and support strategies based upon the maxim of counter-terrorism that communities defeat terrorism (Briggs, Fieschi Lownsbrough, 2006). But although counter-terrorism policies have been dominated by hard-sided strategies involving surveillance, the gathering of intelligence, the use of informants and the implementation of anti-terror laws under the Pursue strand of the governments CONTEST (and CONTEST Two) counter-terrorism strategy (Her Majestys Government, 2006), the ascendancy of a community centred notion of counter-terrorism has seen greater prominence given to an agenda based upon being able to Prevent terrorism (Home Office, 2008). In view of this shift towards interaction and engagement with citizens, policy makers within the UK government have placed the police and other enforcement authorities at the forefront of this work regarding the need to look to follow a strategy based on the nee d to Pursue terrorists along with the need to Prevent terrorism whereby the police are working with Muslim communities in order to help prevent violent extremism (Lowe Innes, 2008). The implementation of New Terror discourses in the UK are founded upon the recognition and construction of Muslim minorities as being comprised of communities at risk from violent extremism. In particular young Muslim men constitute a problem group and are recognised as being the predominant targets of anti-terrorist legislation and counter-terrorism surveillance policing in countries including the UK (Poynting Mason, 2006). With this in mind, the following issues were raised by participants in an effort to more effectively explain the negative impact of discourse and practice (a) Hard policing including increased stop and search, high profile raids, and the perception of an increase in aggressive attempts at recruiting informers to then lead to a greater sense of grievance amongst Muslims so they are perceived as suspect communities; (b) suspicion is detrimental to both an individual and their familys life since they may suffer job losses, family and community breakdowns, as well as mental health issues; (c) individuals have argue their experience of anti-terror laws has reduced their motivation to look to engage with state authorities with a view to improving relations; and (d) individuals feel pressurised to explain their Muslim identities in relation to the concept of Britishness (University of Birmingham/Arts Humanities Research Council, 2008). Under sections 62 and 63 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (along with section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2006) the UK appears to have asserted universal jurisdiction over a whole array of terrorist offences meaning anyone who commits any of these offences anywhere in the world so as to impact in some way upon the UK will fall within UK authorities jurisdiction (Sibbel, 2006-2007). In addition, under the Anti Terrorism, Crime Security Act 2001, a religiously aggravated element to crime has been introduced, which involves imposing higher penalties upon offenders who are motivated by religious hatred. On this basis, Islamophobia has become a significant issue for individuals and even whole communities living in the UK with instances including (a) being verbally and physically abused; (b) being threatened; (c) being physically assaulted; and (d) having homes or cars firebombed or attacked with acid. The problem is the reporting of actions that may be considered tantamount to Islamophobia is rare since it is considered the norm rather than the exception for both individuals and whole communities because they do not want to create a fuss around their experiences (University of Birmingham/Arts Humanities Research Council, 2008). A survey by several Muslim groups found that since 9/11, 80% of Muslim respondents reported being subjected to some form of Islamophobia, whilst 68% felt they had been perceived and treated differently and 32% reported being subjected to discrimination (Forum Against Islam phobia Racism, Al-Khoei Foundation the Muslim College, 2004). Some have also argued young Muslim men suffer disproportionately as the new folk devils of popular and media imagination (Alexander, 2000). More generally, however, it is also to be appreciated that a whole succession of opinion polls have shown many Muslims are uncomfortable with life in the UK (Pew Global Attitudes Project, 2006). In addition, there is an ongoing and concerted campaign against Islamism by a coalition of both left and right that have criticised the UK government for what they call a policy of appeasement. Martin Bright of the New Statesman claimed these organisations were engaged in a sophisticated strategy of implanting Islamist ideo logy among young Muslims in Western Europe (Bright, 2007). But, although the reality is that Islamism is not inherently violent, these nuances are rarely acknowledged and casual links are made between these groups and more specific concerns about violent extremism. Further concerns have then arisen from the fact there are some substantial concerns the definition of terrorism under the terms of the Terrorism Act 2000 (now Terrorism Act 2006) is too vague and excessively broad. The main reason for this is that the Terrorism Act 2000 served to criminalise not only those activities that are generally accepted to be terrorist in nature, but also lawful gatherings and demonstrations amongst other matters along with other forms of behaviour that, although unlawful, could not be considered terrorism (Submission to International Court of Justice Panel of Eminent Jurists on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism Human Rights, 2006). Section 1(1) of the Act served to define terrorism as being based on the use or threat of action where (a) the action falls within subsection (2); (b) the use or threat is designed to influence the government, an international organisation or to intimidate the public; and (c) the use or threat is made to advancing a political, religi ous or ideological agenda. Under section 1(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 it has then been recognised that action under this subsection involves (a) serious violence; (b) serious property damage; (c) the endangerment of anothers life; (d) creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public; or (e) is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously disrupt an electronic system. The problem with the overly broad nature of the anti-terror laws put in place is they serve to trigger executive powers that are very restrictive regarding the recognition of both individuals and communities human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (enacted domestically under the Human Rights Act 1998) often with reduced judicial oversight. Therefore, the use of such executive powers should be confined to those circumstances when such severe restrictions can truly be deemed necessary so there is a need for the laws to be narrowly drafted and proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued protecting national security rather than ostracising whole communities (Submission to International Court of Justice Panel of Eminent Jurists on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism Human Rights, 2006). As has already been alluded to within the remit of international human rights law, any legal measures that serve to restrict the exercising of individual and community rights need to be both narrowly drafted and proportionate to what is being pursued. With this in mind, the United Nations Human Rights Committee now regularly criticises the remit of individual States efforts in this regard in view of the the broad scope of their anti-terror laws particularly those that have been enhanced since 2001 (Submission to International Court of Justice Panel of Eminent Jurists on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism Human Rights, 2006). By way of illustration, in 2005 the United Nations Human Rights Committee criticised what was understood by terrorism under Canadian law that includes very similar elements to the UK definition under section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for being unnecessarily broad. As a result, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recommended The State party should adopt a more precise definition of terrorist offences, so as to ensure that individuals will not be targeted on political, religious or ideological grounds, in connection with measures of prevention, investigation and detention (Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee Canada, 2005, at paragraph 12). In addition, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has also made some significant similar criticisms of what is understood by the concept of terrorism under Norwegian (Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee Norway, 2006, at paragraph 9), Icelandic (Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee Iceland, 2005, at paragraph 10), and Bahraini law (Conclusions recommendations of the Committee against Torture Bahrain, 2005, at paragraph 6(i)) amongst others so there is clearly a need for a more precise definition in the UK to avoid similar problems. To conclude, it is clear that there has been a significant impact upon Muslim communities as a result of the implementation of counter-terrorism legislation in the UK. Such a view is largely founded upon the way in which Muslims are perceived within our society leading to instances of Islamophobia so that suspicion falls on a broad range of groups and individuals whose behaviour may on the surface appear dangerous or subversive. Clearly, there can be little doubt that it is incumbent upon government policy makers to look to act to maintain national security and prevent instances of terrorism. However, there is also a significant need to prevent the alienation of the Muslim community so that it is clearly important to engage in greater depth with these groups, understand the complexities of community politics, and come to a more nuanced understanding of political mobilisation now flourishing across large parts of Muslim communities in the UK. Therefore, it is arguable increased awaren ess of the rights of individual citizens and communities will, with some notable exceptions, offer the solution to radicalisation by providing vehicles for solving the deeply entrenched problems associated with deprivation suffered by many Muslims and challenge extremist rhetoric and build community resilience along with political integration.

Linux Against Microsoft Window Essay -- essays research papers

Linux Against Microsoft Windows Linux is a free operating system that was developed on the internet.It was formed by Linus Torvalds first,then he put its source code to his web page.After that,the internet hackers and the programmers developed it.It is a Unix-like operating system because it is the main reason to develop the Linux.By the time,it becomes a big organization and now it is a powerful, advanced operating system.It has an important feature that is not available for other operating systems.You can run Linux with other operating systems like MacOS, DOS,Windows 95, Windows NT, Novell, OS/2 on the same machine.It is an advantage of linux that a user can easily compare Linux with other operating systems. Unlike Windows, Linux is a capable of runnig on large variety of computer systems.One of them is Intel Based PCs.Most of the home users prefer Intel Based PCs.So they can run Linux on their computers(Windows can only run on Intel Based PCs).Digital Alpha systems are used by the huge companies.Linux has the capability of running on the Digital Alpha systems so it can reach the advanced users.Other computer system is Macintosh Power PC that is used by graphical designers,press companies and advertising companies, can be run with Linux. The others are Sun Sparc&Sun Ultra, Amiga, 3Com Palm Pilot which are rarely used. This capability of Linux provides a large user number and user kind that makes Linux more popular.(www.linux.org) Linux has a powerful security system.It is almost impossible to write a virus for Linux because it must be 30-40 Mbytes.Also it has firewall system to protect the network from the hackers.If we think that there are a lot viruses for windows that can harm all of your system, we can understand how Linux is secure.Linux is a stable operating system that never fails like Windows.When Bill Gates presented the Windows 98, an error message appeared on the screen that says you must shutdown your computer. In Linux, there are not error messages like that. You can kill a process that is not replying with kill command.Linux has true multitasking property.It is true because it is not like Windows. You can run up to twelve process in the same time with no performance loss.Miicrosoft claims that Windows has the capability of multitasking but you can not run two process on the same time. Linux has virtual memory.It means that you can use ... ...any to communicate with its branch. These are impossible on Windows 95/98. Linux have a lot of features and by the time its features are getting more. By the spreading of internet, Linux become more popular and more people learn that there is an operating system called Linux which is better than Windows.Linus Torvalds answers the question ‘What makes Linux so successful?’. He says “It is very simple.Because the software is free, there is no pressure to release it before its really ready just to achieve some sales targets. Every version of Linux is declared to be finished only when it is actually finished, which explains why it is so solid. The other reason why free software is better is because the personal reputation of the developer is attached to every release. If you are making something to give away to the world, something that represents to millions of users your philosophy of computing, you will always make it the very best product you can make. That’s the reason why Linux is a success .“(www.linux.org). We can understan d that Linux(It is a free software) is not worried about sales, and it wants to give the best to the user.

Black & Decker Essay -- Business, Globalization

Black & Decker was recognized as the power tools international industry leader during the early1980’s. However, due to the maturity of its power tools business and competition from companies joining the global market, B&D shifted from a single business firm to a diversified company. Early success with acquisitions such as GE propelled the company to acquire Emhart, a highly diversified manufacturer of industrial products. The acquisition of Emhart is well documented and provides a roadmap for the internal and external challenges and opportunities companies face when attempting to gain market share, increase profits, and expand globally through diversification. Thus, the integration and globalization strategy B&D used after buying Emhart will be examined. Globalization Strategy 1. What do you think of Grunewald’s plan for creating a â€Å"global lock business†? Grunewald’s plan to gain market share by acquiring a company that will continue Black & Decker’s diversification strategy and provide inroads to other international markets had merit. It was, in fact, what he was hired to do- expand the business globally (Cummings & Worley, 2009). According to B&D CEO, Nolan Archibald, Emhart’s distribution channels and products such as Kwikset door locks, Price Pfister faucets, and Bostik adhesives, aligned with B&D’s product lines, in other words, it was a good fit (Deutsch, 1989). Moreover, both companies have international experience. B&D targets homeowners while Emhart’s target market is industrial (Deutsch, 1989). Also, the merger will increase B&D’s margin significantly. For example, Archibald estimates increased revenues of $50 million by moving products through integrated distribution channels (Deutsch, 1989). Finally,... ...its global strategy and be competitive with existing international companies (Yips, 1996). Conclusion The ability to compete globally is a problem all companies face. It requires a departure from traditional methods of operation and an awareness of external and internal forces that can undermine a company’s success. Thus, a clear strategic plan engineered by experienced and committed managers is necessary. B&D assumed that its past success with diversification and acquisitions inoculated them from making a mis-step. This bravado, if you will, caused B&D to ignore the warning signs when acquiring Emhart; a venture that took approximately ten years to recover from. Consequently, B&D returned to its core strategy of product innovation, quality, and concentration on profitable company acquisitions in order to remain competitive in the global market. Black & Decker Essay -- Business, Globalization Black & Decker was recognized as the power tools international industry leader during the early1980’s. However, due to the maturity of its power tools business and competition from companies joining the global market, B&D shifted from a single business firm to a diversified company. Early success with acquisitions such as GE propelled the company to acquire Emhart, a highly diversified manufacturer of industrial products. The acquisition of Emhart is well documented and provides a roadmap for the internal and external challenges and opportunities companies face when attempting to gain market share, increase profits, and expand globally through diversification. Thus, the integration and globalization strategy B&D used after buying Emhart will be examined. Globalization Strategy 1. What do you think of Grunewald’s plan for creating a â€Å"global lock business†? Grunewald’s plan to gain market share by acquiring a company that will continue Black & Decker’s diversification strategy and provide inroads to other international markets had merit. It was, in fact, what he was hired to do- expand the business globally (Cummings & Worley, 2009). According to B&D CEO, Nolan Archibald, Emhart’s distribution channels and products such as Kwikset door locks, Price Pfister faucets, and Bostik adhesives, aligned with B&D’s product lines, in other words, it was a good fit (Deutsch, 1989). Moreover, both companies have international experience. B&D targets homeowners while Emhart’s target market is industrial (Deutsch, 1989). Also, the merger will increase B&D’s margin significantly. For example, Archibald estimates increased revenues of $50 million by moving products through integrated distribution channels (Deutsch, 1989). Finally,... ...its global strategy and be competitive with existing international companies (Yips, 1996). Conclusion The ability to compete globally is a problem all companies face. It requires a departure from traditional methods of operation and an awareness of external and internal forces that can undermine a company’s success. Thus, a clear strategic plan engineered by experienced and committed managers is necessary. B&D assumed that its past success with diversification and acquisitions inoculated them from making a mis-step. This bravado, if you will, caused B&D to ignore the warning signs when acquiring Emhart; a venture that took approximately ten years to recover from. Consequently, B&D returned to its core strategy of product innovation, quality, and concentration on profitable company acquisitions in order to remain competitive in the global market.

Media Corporations Profiting from Violence Essay -- Argumentative Pers

Media Corporations Profit from Violence      Ã‚   Whether it is a body found along the road, a school shooting, or planes flying into the World Trade Center, the images will be replayed over and over on Television ad nausea.. The most horrific acts may eventually be retold in books and movies. Packaging and selling the violence of the moment belongs to television - and television will keep reminding us of it.    The special custom-made armor covered his body from neck to toe. As the black-clad gunman wandered the street, randomly firing a high powered semi-automatic rifle at Los Angeles police, a city sat transfixed to their televisions, hypnotised by the unreal events unfolding outside their doors. When the LAPD realised that the gunman was covered with body armour, a call to aim for the head was shouted across their 2-way radios. The camera was in the perfect position to catch the shot. The black-clad bank robber firing at will suddenly jerked back, a jet of red exploding from his head. His legs buckled underneath him. His hands dropped the gun, but he was dead before they could reach for the massive wound. He never felt himself hit the ground. A few moments later, the television helicopter landed and began interviewing eyewitnesses. One middle-aged woman looked straight into the camera and deadpanned, "Things like this just don't happen in America."    In Amusing Ourselves To Death, Neil Postman states that "...The clearest way to see through a culture is to attend to its tools of conversation." If that is true, then the tool of conversation in America is television. There are more television sets in American homes than there are homes, and those sets are on for an average of six hours per day, with the average p... ...of all becomes the death of the neighbor next door.       Got the bubbleheaded bleach blond comes on at five she can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye It's interesting when people die give 'em dirty laundry Don Henley             Works Cited 1. Operation Desert Storm: Outright Disinformation Scheme, David Fingrut 2. Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman, Penguin Books, 1985, pg. 8 3. Electronic Heroin, Jay Hanson 4. This statistic comes from the United Nations radio program Perspective (no. 96/52). The program was a report on the 1996 UN sponsored World Television Forum. 5. Millions of Viewers Tuned In, But Total Never Will be Known, Mike McDaniel, Houston Chronicle, 10/4/95. 6. Felons On The Air: Does GE's Ownership of NBC Violate the Law? , Sam Husseini, EXTRA!, 11/12/94