Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Journal - Essay Example On the same day I started to research McGraw Hill Publishing which I should have began much earlier for the details of my business class. I was trying to find out the definition of love. Various interesting questions were disturbing me. I was thinking that when any body is in touch with someone for quite some time then whether he/she would be in love with that person. On September 16, I went to visit the grave of my mother accompanied by my brother. After reaching there we found that the gates were closed. I doubted whether we would accomplish anything by praying from the gates of grave instead of doing it from the grave. After that we ate together. We had a good time together after quite some time. On that day my father had a fight with my step mother and once again the issue of fighting was my brother. I think my brother should ignore her (my step mother) if he can not have share healthy relationship with her. On September 19, I could not wake up early and as a result I missed the prayers. I was upset because the prayer takes place once a year and I missed it just because of my laziness. I realized that next time I need to wake up early in the morning so that I can attain it in time. September 19 was a nice holiday, because my sister and her husband came to our place and spent the day with us. It was actually quite boring to stay everyday at an empty house just with my parents. On that day a interesting question came in my mind. I asked myself whether the concept of throwing away all sins into a fish bowl really make any sense or not. The last day began with the visit to the synagogue. On this day, my brother-in-law got to see an unusual sight. It was about the killing of fish in the synagogue. He was not comfortable with the sight. We did not have such feelings as we had become quite used to it. It was a inspiring holiday for me. I learnt

Humanism in the Renaissance Period

Humanism in the Renaissance Period Humanism of the renaissance period has manifested a new and developed courtier that is different from earlier courtiers of the medieval age. Courts, during the Renaissance, were the center of social as well as political life of monarchs and other members of society. Individuals like clergymen, soldiers, and clerks were always present in courts. But the most important figure in courts is the Courtier who basically is a person who attends a royal court as a companion or adviser to the king or queen.  [1]  . This definition of the courtier is applicable to the medieval courtier who is knightly and chivalric, but with the emergence of Humanism and the publication of books of conduct that strive for perfection in a human being a new Humanistic inclusive courtier has emerged. To understand what constitutes a Renaissance courtier and whether he is different from his medieval counterpart an examination of the medieval ideal and of Renaissance Humanism is a must. Classical mythology has always appealed to the medieval court and many medieval romances were based on classical works. The pagan Greek and Roman heroes were transformed into chivalric knights, the classical wars became medieval crusades and the platonic concept of love inspired medieval courtly love. Chaucers parfit gentil knyght (Halsall L.71)seems to be the noblest of the pilgrims embodying military expertise, devotion, honor, bounty, and courtesy. He carries himself in a gracious and well bread fashion, never articulating a cruel word about anyone: A knyght ther was, and that a worthy man, That fro the tyme that he first bigan To riden out, he loved chivalrie, Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie. Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre, (Halsall L.43-7) His tale, a chivalric romance set in ancient Athens, touches upon all the great subjects and values of knightly conduct. Courtly love, honor, chivalry and adventure dominate this tale. Every conduct in this story is ideal; the love is pure, ideal and platonic, honor is at its highest standards, chivalry is exemplary in its magnificence. The poem starts with the Knight, Theseus, coming back from a triumphant journey and on his way he meets a group of mourning women grasping onto his horses bridle. The women tell their terrible story of how they lost their husbands in the siege of Thebes and how the cruel tyrant of Thebes plans to dishonor their husbands bodies by denying them burial. Moved by this spectacle the Knight takes pity on them and changes his course. Instead of returning to Athens to celebrate victory, he rides off with traditional knightly spirit to right the wrongs in this world. Then in this war he takes two prisoners who are friends, Arcite and Palamon, and who are Knigh ts as well. In prison the two notice, from the window of their cell, the beautiful Emily walking in the garden. In an instant they fall in love, and their friendship is replaced by a passionate rivalry. At this point in the Knights tale readers are introduced to the concept of courtly love. After a great deal of dispute and duels and a grand tournament, Arcite, the noble knight and gentleman, calls Palamon Emily to his deathbed and asks of his friend to marry his beloved in an attempt to reconcile with his friend. A true embodiment of the medieval gentry. In early modern Europe, people paid special attention to the life of the royal court, and the image of the courtier was depicted in many literary works. In Cortegiano (1528), or The Book of The Courtier (an English translation by Sir Tomas Hoby 1561), Baldassare Castiglione an Italian courtier in the Renaissance Italy writes an account on the ideal image of the perfect courtier. This book is recognized by historians as a resourceful reference to the Renaissance court life. Over the course of four evening conversations between the courtiers in the court of Urbino in Italy, the narrators discuss and describe what constitute a perfect courtier, for they agree that a courtier who had the privilege to accompany the royalties must be perfect. It is been argued in The Book of The Courtier that a noble courtier is often: endowed with such gifts that they seem not to have been born but to have been formed by some godand blessed with every possible advantage of mind and body (Castiglione 124 ). The perfect courtier must have a reputation of a brave strong man and must maintain this reputation. His profession should be of a warrior who is enterprising, bold, and loyal to whomever he serves(131). This warrior courtier should be fierce rough and always to the fore, in the presence of the enemy; but anywhere else he should be kind, modest, reticent and anxious above all to avoid ostentation or the kind of outrageous self- glorification (135). The aspect of the perfect courtiers appearance is also identified. He must be very agreeable and pleasing and well dressed. He should manage to appear both manly and graceful (141). There is great resentment for the courtier who tries to appear soft and feminine not only in his looks but also in the way he speaks and walks. As for the physical appearance, he should be well built not necessarily too small or too big. He must possess the physical appearance of a warrior who masters the skills of every kind of weapon. The perfect courtier is expected to be a good athlete who is so skilful in many kinds of sports, like horse riding, swimming, and running. There are also many other sports, but it seems that hunting is the most important since it resembles warfare [and] it is the true pastime of great lords (147). Besides his appearance, the good gentleman of the court must possess the finest set of manners. He is modest, gentle, elegant and graceful. He ought to avoid the affectation of being a bold fellow who shouts, swears and brags. When the perfect courtier speaks, his words have grace and dignity and they are sensible and effective and convey what he wants to say. He is a good writer too, and the words he uses in his writings should be appropriate, carefully chosen, clear, and well formed. The courtier requires knowledge in order to speak and write well, because the man who has nothing in his mind that is worth hearing has nothing worth writing and speaking of. Another literary work that depicted the lives of the courtiers is Le Morte Darthur (1485) by Sir Thomas Malory. This work is considered a masterpiece of the fifteenth century prose of romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. (Alexander). The Faerie Queene (1590), an allegorical epic poem written in praise of Queen Elizabeth I, follows several knights in an examination of several virtues. In Spensers A Letter of the Authors he states that the entire poem is cloudily enwrapped in allegorical devises and that the aim of publishing The Faerie Queene was to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline (Department of Literature). The printed text of Jonsons Every Man out of his Humour (1599) opens with a series of short prose sketches entitled The Characters of the Persons Fastidius Brisk, for example, is described as: A neat, spruce, affecting courtier, one that wears clothes well and in fashion; practiseth by his glass how to salute; speaks good remnants (notwithstanding the base viol and tobacco); swears tersely, and with variety; cares not what ladys favour he belies, or great mans familiarity: a good property to perfume the boot of a coach . (Braunmuller and Hettaway) Instructive prose, which become somewhat of a trend at the time, were written for the aim of improving gentlemen. They were mostly written by tutors to the greats, sons of monarchs and noblemen. These prose were written under the influence of the Humanist tradition of the time, the instruction of the youth (Bates). Sir Thomas Elyot dedicated his Governor (1531) to guide Henry VIII on being the perfect gentleman and governor. He stressed the importance of education in classical literature for governors. Henry VIII, prior to being a king, was in fact a ideal example of a renaissance courtier and gentleman; a champion athlete who composed poems and songs, highly educated and skilled in speech. Another instructive book of the Renaissance within the same tradition is Toxophilus (1544). A book about bow archery by Roger Ascham also dedicated to King Henry VIII. Toxophilus is written in the form of a dialogue between two characters, Philologus, who loves study, and Toxophilus, who loves arc hery and who is also a scholar and defends archery as a noble hobby (Ascham). The Prince (1532) by Niccolo Machiavelli is a political treatise that was published after the death of its author. The book is a practical guide to the exercise of political power. It preaches that the princes ends justify the means which they take to attain them; a rather disturbing but truthful statement (Machiavelli). Other instructive books with titles like, The Schoolmaster and On the Excellency and Dignity of Mankind appeared during the Renaissance (Baldwin). Renaissance Humanism in its narrowest sense is a movement devoted to the study, revival and translation of classical literature which is why at its beginnings early Humanism focused on education. The need to educate the rulers springs out from the platonic and ancient belief in a perfect republic. Renaissance humanists found it most necessary to educate the leaders of the time in a hope to transform them into capable intelligent patrons of a humanist culture. Thus, early Humanism transformed the European high culture pushing for the inclusive human who is not only educated in the classics but who is educated in philosophy, art, literature, science, music etc. this lead Renaissance Humanism to have a broader philosophical dimension; to encompass all forms of knowledge for the aim of guiding humanity to a better position in life, hence the explosion in scholarly interests and inventions. The Humanistic movement was initiated by Petrarch, the father of Humanism. He is the first to put into words why the centuries between the Roman age and his current age were called age of darkness. According to him this darkness can be remedied only by the study and imitation of the great classical authors. Only by caring about the self, educating and polishing ones mind can one attain wisdom: The care of the soul calls for a philosopher, while the proper use of language requires an orator. We must neglect neither one, if, as they say, we are to return to the earth and be led about on the mouths of men. But I shall speak of the care of the soul elsewhere; for it is a great undertaking and an enormous labor, though very rich in harvest. At this time in order to avoid slipping into a subject other than the one that I set out to treat, I urge and admonish that we correct not only our life and conduct, which is the primary concern of virtue, but our language usage as well. This we will do by the cultivation of eloquence.  [2]  (Zak 79) Petrarch here is building on Ciceros conception of the art of persuasion. Petrarch emphasizes that once language is mastered it could be utilized to attain eloquence or rhetoric, and then rhetoric is led to embrace philosophy. Renaissance Humanism have made use of the earlier idea of the exemplary magnificence of knights and fused the ideal Knight with the Classics scholar and the end result was the Renaissance Courtier. He is a citizen who excels in classical literature, history, and arts. A skilled fencer, rider, and most importantly a composer and performer of music and poetry which is the immediate result of humanistic stress on eloquence. This courtier is of noble decent and is trained to administrate and govern. Success to him comes naturally and it is worn with grace. The historical records of the era list a number of English poets who were courtiers. Sir Thomas Wyatt, is considered the first English Gentleman courtier (Alexander). Surreys Epitaph on Sir Thomas Wyatt praises the parts that constitute of him a Renaissance courtier: A tongue that served in foreign realms his king, Whose courteous talk to virtue did inflame Each noble heart: a worthy guide to bring Our English youth by travail unto fame. An eye whose judgment no affect could blind, feeling Friends to allure and foes to reconcile, Whose piercing look did represent a mind With virtue fraught, reposà ¨d, void of guile. (Alexander 57) Surry portrays him as an exemplary gentleman. In fact Sir Thomas Wyatt lead the typical life of a courtier; performing political duties and going on diplomatic posts on behalf of his patron, King Henry VIII. He was a sonneteer who sang about unrequited love, and is rumored to having a romantic relation with the kings wife which caused him to suffer imprisonment. But given the tradition of courtly love it is not strange for courtiers of the time to go through such ordeals. Sir Walter Raleigh was also a very famous courtier who served Queen Elizabeth I and who suffered imprisonment for unbecoming conduct. The ideal, however, of aristocracy and courtliness is embodied in the person and accomplishments of Sir Philip Sidney who served in several political and military posts. He refers, for example, to his vast literary work Arcadia as a trifle. But his ultimate embodiment of the Renaissance courtier is when he lay dying on the battlefield, he is said to have given his water-bottle to a common soldier, saying, Take it, for thy necessity is yet greater than mine  [3]  . It is interesting, however, to find that these courtly values and commitment to character and its refinement are not restricted to the Renaissance age. Islamic humanism has produced a similar tradition of ethics. Courtly Humanism existed in the form of ambitious wazirs  [4]  and princes seeking to be polished and of a higher culture through the patronage of poets, painters, scholars, scientists, and philosophers. Having administrative skills and military expertise were virtues that were highly rewarded. The tradition of courtly love was also present in Islamic culture; Ibn Hazms Neckring of the Dove (Tawq al-Hamama)is the first book that talks about this tradition of courtly love; its symptoms, secrets, betrayals, etc.(62) The most explicit advocate of this philosophical concept is Miskawayh. He is an embodiment of the Muslim courtier; Khalidi describes him as a prolific author, a philosopher of very broad interests, an accomplished poet and adib  [5]  , as well as a universa l historian. His On the Refinement of Character [Tahdhib al Akhlaq] has been called the most influential work on philosophical ethics in Islam (Goodman). It is an ethical work that encompassed all his values by demonstrating and stressing the importance of an inclusive gentleman, courtier or rather human for the purpose of the betterment of humanity (107). Evidently, the Renaissance courtier springs out from Humanisms tendency for perfection. Humanistic conduct texts and literary works have contributed to exemplify what a courtier should be, an all inclusive human being. As the attainment of perfection is integral in humans, and the aspiration for perfection and the affirmation of human ability is universal, the Humanistic courtier can be found in other cultures as well.

Environmentally Safe Ethanol :: Environment, natural resources, fossil fuels

Environmentally Safe Ethanol In order to fund conservation of the natural environment, the federal government should increase gasoline tax by one dollar per gallon. How does this statement make you feel? Does it make you want to argue about how unfair this is, especially when gas prices are climbing to higher and higher rates? Would you say that this is an unfair claim because it is unclear where your tax money would go? I agree. This plan seems to have a good general idea, but there are details left out. I think the first priority should be to sort out where these extra resources would be used. It seems too vague to fund conservation of the natural environment. There are so many ways that this tax could benefit natural resources. When I was trying to decide on how to narrow this claim to more specific terms, I started to think about what kind of environmental problems affect me the most. The first word that came to mind was pollution. There are many parameters for a suitable environment for life. These include temperature, pressure, salinity, acidity, water and good oxygen content. Any type of air pollution could dissolve these parameters. It seemed that air pollution is such a large environmental problem that I knew my search should be narrowed. I chose to discuss pollution caused by cars because raising the gas tax and prices are part of my claim. I went to the Internet and ran a search for "car pollution," and found a large amount of information. It became even clearer to me that car pollution is a major problem for our environment. According to The Environmed Research Inc, driving a car is the most polluting act an average citizen commits (2001). Vehicle engines emit many types of pollutants into the air, including nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulates, sulfur dioxide and lead. All of these can pose environmental risks and health risks. Most of these pollutants rise from the engine. These emissions are related to the fuel type and the temperature of the fuel combustion. At low speeds, and when engines are at idle, the products of incomplete combustion dominate. When the speeds are heightened, however, impurities like nitrogen are oxidized to nitrogen dioxide, which creates pollution. All of the pollutants mentioned above are known as trace gases. Some of these trace gases can even release completely new gases into the atmosphere (Environmental Effects, 2001).

A Feministic Reading Of Donnes Poetry English Literature Essay

To analyze seventeenth century literature, one can barely overlook John Donne and to read done literature, one can non ignore his love sonnets through which Donne ‘s position of love and how he viewed the adult females of his clip, as the object of this love, can be scrutinized absolutely. However, one facet remains changeless ; Donne seldom lingers over the adult female ‘s physical visual aspect, and leaves the reader to presume that the adult female in Donne ‘s verse form is a shady figure, the object or contemplation of male desire, or a sex object to be circulated for the exhilaration and amusement of Donne ‘s male groups. Beauty was merely a thing that happened by opportunity and is accordingly, as Donne concludes, of no existent worth. Not merely was beauty of no existent worth, but neither were the females themselves. These ideals were set forth chiefly by mediaeval and early-modern Christians, who found several justifications for adult females ‘s lower status in the narratives of Genesis and the New Testament ; 1 ) adult female was created after adult male, and hence adult male must be more perfect ; 2 ) Eve ‘s function in the autumn suggests pride, that she was governed by passions, and that adult females ‘s beauty and gender made them possible corrupters of adult male ; 3 ) adult females were clearly expected to be subservient to their hubbies ; and 4 ) as the ‘weaker vas, ‘ adult females possessed non merely less physical, but less mental strength than work forces. Though there were so many statements against the female sex, the female physical ( non needfully sexual ) organic structure and psyche was held in the highest respect, particularly the abovementioned thought of the female as â€Å" vas. † John Donne expanded this thought in his poesy, composing about adult females in a manner that degraded their physical organic structure, their mental and emotional capablenesss, and their relation to the male sex. Women, in John Donne ‘s eyes were seen as a necessary portion of the male-female, body-soul connexion but were unsafe every bit good. Womans, in the 16th and 17th centuries were believed to transport merely every bit much truth – and secrecy – as work forces. Womans were vass that could be filled ( with anything ) ; this capacity non merely made adult females appealing, but made them unbelievable agents of any force, good or bad. The relationship between organic structure and psyche, a relationship Donne regarded as one of common necessity, was the specifying bond of his life. His experiences ( of friendly relationship, love, wellness, unwellness, work, leisure ) were all conditioned by the interactions between the two parts of the ego. As a poet and a curate, the physical and the religious, the male and the female, the layman and the Godhead were inexorably linked for Donne, and were ever carried into his poesy. To obtain farther grounds of how Donne, every bit good as his talkers, views the female organic structure, one must look closely at his poesy ; for illustration, Donne ‘s verse form â€Å" Air and Angels. † This verse form addresses the struggle of Love within the spirit and the organic structure. The verse form begins: â€Å" Twice or thrice had I loved thee, / Before I knew thy face or name ; / So in a voice, so in a shapeless fire † ( 1-3 ) In another verse form, â€Å" The Extasie, † Donne states that â€Å" Our soules, ( which to progress their province, / ere gone out, ) hung ‘twixt her, and mee./ And whil'st our soules negotiate at that place, / Wee like sepulchral statues ballad † ( 15-18 ) . Asserting this anterior belief that souls/spirits can go forth the organic structure to mix with other psyches, Donne carries this belief to the lines in â€Å" Air and Angels. † Possibly how he ‘met ‘ his lover, their psyches negociating far from their physical organic structures, Donne ‘s talker in â€Å" Air and Angels † believes his spirit met his lover ‘s spirit ( a voice or shapeless fire ) while their organic structures lay elsewhere. Despite the talker ‘s declaration that the female was disembodied and â€Å" shapeless, † and merely as psyches are required to take a organic structure, the talker needs to concentrate upon the human signifier ( as sim ply an empty outline/container ) in order to make full it with whatever he chooses, in this instance his love. The female lover addressed is the concrete incarnation required to finish this relationship. The talker describes the determination of the physical being and their first meeting in the 5th line: â€Å" Still when, to where 1000 wert, I came, / Some lovely glorious nil did I see † ( 5-6 ) . When the talker came ( physically ) to where his female lover was, a â€Å" glorious nil † did he see. This interesting line becomes a sexual wordplay sing the female genital organ. If we look back at Galenic theories of foetal development, ( Galen, a outstanding Roman doctor, philosopher, and accomplished medical research worker ) we find that 2nd century doctors believed that the female was an inferior version of the male. Despite multiple grounds for this, one ground was universally accepted ; the female was an â€Å" undercooked † male for the parts that are indoors in adult female are outside in man.The outgrowth of the phallus in male foetuss was an look of â€Å" doneness † in foetal development. Since the vagina remained inside the female foetus, Galen a nd co-workers understood this to intend the female foetus was non â€Å" done. † Therefore, the female genital organ were nil, a â€Å" glorious nil, † and an interestingly present absence. As a consequence, the talker supposes that he must make full that empty infinite, that absence, within this lover ‘s organic structure. He utters, â€Å" Since my psyche, whose kid, love is/ Takes limbs of flesh and else could nil make † ( 7-8 ) . Because the kid of the psyche is Love, Love needs a corporeal organic structure ; a place. Love must take a organic structure, so the talker asks Love to â€Å" presume thy organic structure, I allow, / And repair itself in thy lip, oculus, and forehead † ( 12-14 ) . Her organic structure is the container for Love, and the talker must come to acknowledge and love her physically. Other footings throughout the verse form that suggest her organic structure is simply a container are â€Å" ballast † and â€Å" tender † ( a little boat ) as in: â€Å" Whilst therefore to ballast love I thought, / And so more steadily to hold gone, / With wares which would drop esteem, / I saw I had love ‘s tender overfraught † ( 15-18 ) . In the verse form, Donne expresses that the talker ‘s love is excessively much for the female ; that he invades her and â€Å" love ‘s tender is overfraught † ( 18 ) . What should hold been a stabilising weight ( Love ) was emotionally unwieldy for the bantam vas. The talker had intended to stabilise love ‘s boat with wares which would drop an undistinguished ship of mere esteem, but alternatively had overloaded even Love ‘s ship ( a more powerful abstraction than mere esteem ) , unbalancing the really Love which he meant to maintain safe. The concrete and physical specifics were excessiv ely overpowering for human love, which can non inhere ( be portion of something natural and built-in ) in discorporate liquors. Here, Donne reasserts his passionate belief that one can be neither merely affair nor merely spirit ; one must capture both. Therefore, neither can Love happen its permanency in â€Å" nil, † nor in the appendage or glare of passion or beauty as the talker states, â€Å" For, nor in nil, nor in things/ Extreme, and dispersing bright, can love inhere † ( 21 ) ( Nutt 24 ) . In the concluding lines: â€Å" Merely such disparity/ As is ‘twixt air ‘s and angel ‘s pureness, / ‘Twixt adult females ‘s love, and work forces ‘s, will of all time be † ( 26-28 ) , Donne stresses the Elizabethan sentiment that there will everlastingly be a duality between a adult male and a adult female ‘s love. A adult female ‘s is more fugitive and sacred, yet harder to capture and more widely sought after, hence, le ss â€Å" bodily † and more â€Å" spirit-like. † These factors besides make her love less stable. A delicate balance is required to non merely maintain Love afloat, but to non overburden it every bit good ; even the most carefully placed, but lopsided ballast can easy tip the tender of Love. In â€Å" Air and Angels, † the female organic structure is highly misunderstood, and described as a mere container for Love to busy. Although look up toing adult female for her ownership of a sacred and widely sought-after Love, the full verse form relies upon the female signifier and the fact that it is uninhabited and can easy be filled with a assortment of things. The transforming regard of the witness, need non be constrained by an being outside the organic structure. In imaginativeness at any rate, it might be possible to sail into the organic structure which could therefore look as a topographic point of infinite infinite, a topographic point with infinite possibilities ( 140 ) . Sadly, this filling is non done of her ain will, but of the male talker ‘s ; she must digest his use and idealistic position of love, and addition nil in return save an overfraught tender. And in Donne ‘s verse forms, we seldom hear the female voice, or learn of Love from the female position. In the bulk of Donne ‘s verse forms, the talker is male, and the audience is preponderantly male. John Donne was a clique poet, significance that he wrote to a choice group of close friends, most likely poets themselves. Writing in an epoch where a female was deemed a lesser being than a male, Donne was entirely following the conventions used by other coterie poets by composing misogynous Hagiographas about adult females from a hypermasculine point-of-view. And though he seldom wrote about Love itself, he did compose about Love in the sense that it was an abstract male-female connexion. Work cited The Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume one, Sixth edition. Abjadian, A. A study of English Literature. Tehran ; 2006. www.wikipedia.com

Gentrification, the Issue of Today Life

Ever since the 1960s, there has been an influx of high-income populations moving into urban areas from the suburbs. This phenomenon was coined ‘gentrification’ by sociologist Ruth Glass in 1964 to describe â€Å"the movement of upscale (mostly white) setters into rundown (mostly minority) neighborhoods† (Hampson). Proposition 555 has stated that in order to increase government funding and provide citizens a better life with a cleaner environment and safer community, the process of gentrification would require the destruction of some old and unsafe houses. Since then, this policy has received mixed reception from all walks of life.Protagonists, on one side, consider gentrification as the solution to current hard urban issues. Antagonists, on the other side, believe that it causes severe poor-displacement. Debates seem to be endless, yet the whole society is changing due to the great impact of gentrification: luxury condos replacing once deteriorating houses, street s becoming cleaner, and crime rates declining significantly, thus, consolidating my strong support for Proposition 555. To begin with, the first and foremost upside of gentrification is economic improvements in the neighborhood because it boosts up the use of urban land and attracts more business investments.Brooklyn and the Bronx, two of the five boroughs of New York City, are two typical examples. Urban renewal in Brooklyn, also known as ‘brownstoning’, has encouraged a huge wave of investment: $300 million from the city and $3. 5 billion from private investors (Browdie). While the former has been invested in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s construction, the latter has yielded â€Å"7. 8 million square feet of new residential, retail and commercial space, including 26 apartment complexes, four hotels, and a glassy shopping complex† (Browdie).In regards to the Bronx, the gentrifying process has brought to the region a new appearance. The notorious neighborhood, wh ich used to be considered off limits to investors due to commercial waste, crimes, and violence, has become â€Å"a diamond in the rough, being discovered† (Magistro). Today, the Bronx has numerous remarkable attractions like the Bronx Zoo—one of the world’s largest metropolitan zoos, the New York Botanical Garden, Wave Hill, excellent subway service, retail strip malls, and affluent bedroom communities (Magistro).In South Bronx, Majora Carter, a famous urban revitalization strategist says that the removal of Sheridan Expressway and construction of Lafayette Avenue has made this area appeal to stakeholders for parkland, affordable housing and local economic development (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto). Once urban land is in use, it signals huge economic improvements, especially in the tourism industry, job developments, and real estate. Recent studies conducted by Rutgers University have found that in New Jersey, historic preservation, part of the state gent rification policies, has significantly profited the state’s tourism.Besides 2,316 jobs created annually in this industry, New Jersey has earned $15 million in state and local taxes, $16 million in GDP, and $432 million for the economy (Listokin and Lahr). Moreover, in restructured neighborhoods, new projects associated with job training have emerged to meet the investors’ demands. For example, the South Bronx community is running the Bronx Ecological Stewardship Training project to â€Å"seed the area with green collar jobs† in the fields of ecological restorations so that its people will be qualified for these well-paying jobs (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto).As a result of being employed, a person gains a greater opportunity of sustainable income and will tend to purchase a house to settle into family life. In other words, gentrification is an impetus to the local economy because it stimulates the use of urban lands, opens more job opportunities, and encou rages real estate. Along with economic improvements, a great number of social achievements have been accomplished due to gentrification, especially in community-safety increase. Prior to redevelopment, low-income areas had to cope with a lot of crimes and violence such as gang shootings, drugs dealings and prostitution.However, gentrification has improved the people’s safety significantly. For example, according to Betty Baye, a columnist of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, New York was once appalled by a Dominican group of gangsters named Jheri Curls: They traded tons of cocaine and shot anyone complaining about their illegal business. She calls gentrification as â€Å"a new gang in town,† ousting the Jheri Curl from their old stomping grounds. The openings of â€Å"amenities as river views, parks, large rooms and convenience to public transportation [†¦have replaced†¦ grand old buildings that long were the domain of poor folks on rent control, buildings that are being reborn as luxury co-ops and condos,† Baye explains. Sharing her views, researchers from the Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, add that the building of new amenities prevents up to 45 percent of homicides and another 60 percent of robberies (Papachristos, Smith, Scherer, and Fugiero 225). Accordingly, gentrifying the neighborhoods helps lessen crimes, providing their residents with a safer community.In addition to economic and social achievements, gentrification also brings environmental justice to the redeveloped neighborhoods. Prior to renewal, people living around these areas encountered many health problems because of pollution and contamination issues that accumulated for many years. South Bronx, for example, used to be a location for the city’s commercial waste in sewage treatment and the food industry’s byproducts. Carter says a black person has a greater chance of being forced to live in an air-polluted area or within a walking distance of chemical facility in comparison with a white person (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto).As a result, diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and asthma have plagued the community for many years and damaged the future generation (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto). In other words, in non-gentrified neighborhoods, along with economic and social degradation, environmental injustice also drives these communities into even worse situations. However, once gentrification policies are implemented, the people’s health can greatly improve: air gets cleaner, water turns fresher and the environment becomes healthier and greener.In South Bronx, its inhabitants witnessed the inauguration of Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first waterfront park that the community had had in more than 60 years (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto). Therefore, it is understandable that gentrification provides a boost to environmental quality. Advocates of anti-gentrification usually argue that urban renewal is a one-sided benefit—profiting the white while harming the poor. Nonetheless, studies conducted by Lance Freeman, an assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University, suggest that there is merely a slight connection between urban renewal and displacement (Hampson).He says that in gentrified neighborhoods, the chance of a poor being dislocated is only 0. 5% greater in comparison with a non-gentrified one (Hampson). Freeman believes that â€Å"although higher costs sometimes force poor residents to leave gentrif[ied] neighborhoods, other changes—more jobs, safer streets, better trash pickup—encourage them to stay† (Hampson). Besides coming to the same conclusion, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Duke University, also show that black householders with high school degrees account for 33% f the total neighborhood income, 13% greater than that of white householders (Kiviat). In conclusion, as urban p lanner Duany says, gentrification has proved to be â€Å"the rising tide that lifts all boats† because it provides an effective solution to the economy, social issues, as well as environmental justice that benefit all social classes. However, there are always two sides of a coin, and the story of gentrification is not an exception. The biggest issue of gentrification, as many antagonists believe, is the poor displacement.It is obvious that as a city is redeveloped and attracts more investors, housing prices will soar, making it difficult for old residents to manage to get by. Research conducted by Newman and Wyly of the Centre for Urban and Community Studies shows that residents of a gentrified city, especially seniors, find it hard to live when housing prices increase while their incomes stay (4). In the long run, this produces â€Å"exclusionary displacement,† â€Å"a process in which neighborhoods become off-limits, forcing lower-income residents to look elsewhere for housing† (1, 2).Adding to the housing burdens, other negative elements such as landlord harassment, evictions, and daily expenses drive former inhabitants out of their neighborhoods. So what is the solution to the problem? To answer this question, it is worthwhile to first acknowledge that gentrification is a natural process, meaning there is no way to stand against it, especially on the poor side. Sadly speaking, gentrification remains a dirty word to some people as it sounds—its origin dates back from the word â€Å"gentry,† meaning a â€Å"noble person. Baye explains that gentrification â€Å"may seem to some as nothing but the inevitable circle of life† because many of the upper settlers (mostly white) claim that those gentrified neighborhoods are their â€Å"rightful inheritance,† left for the colored by their predecessors as they fled to the suburbs. Looking negatively at urban renewal, it benefits the white folks; they have money, and th us, have the rights to demand higher services. Looking positively at urban renewal, these folks are doing good things after all, â€Å"for there is nothing more unhealthy for a city than a monoculture of poverty† (Duany).This leaves the only question: Can we gentrify the right way? Fortunately, there are numerous solutions that have been proposed by strategists, urban planners and experts in the field. To solve housing problem, New York has built a shelter system to support displaced residents (Newman and Wyly). Moreover, Duany insists that in order to avoid overpricing, urban renewal needs to be built as a long-term policy, tested and modified many times to fit the particular neighborhood so that it doesn’t negatively affect the community.Carter has come up with a model called the triple bottom line that seems to be a solution for the long run. She explains that her model can produce sustainable development because it â€Å"has the potential to create positive return s from all concerned: developers, government and the community where [the] projects go up† (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto). In addition, I propose the use of government power on taxing: The local government can weigh the impact of gentrification through data, statistics and surveys so that it can modify the tax base imposed on every household.No matter what solutions are proposed, there seems to be a general consensus among experts about the role of government: It can act as a peace broker to reconcile any hostility provoked by the misunderstanding between the rich and the poor. In summary, Proposition 555, whose process is to rebuild the old, unsafe towns and cities, is a good process for neighborhood residents who want to have better lives. Although gentrification sometime causes the poor to be displaced due to housing burdens and expenses, its benefits assist in solving urban issues.It provides a stimulus to the economy through the use of urban lands for business purpo ses, a safer society by clearing gang violence and a healthier environment by building public parks. To overcome its downsides, a number of useful and practical ideas have been brought about by many experts, ranging from shelter systems and tax modification to government regulation. The fight in favor of urban renewal, as Carter says, is the fight that â€Å"we have nothing to lose and everything to gain† (Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto).

Writing Sample Essay

Writing Sample Essay Writing Sample Essay The book â€Å"Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James,† is the first book of its kind to reach popular culture. Although there are a lot of stimulating fiction novels that exist, one has to ask what was it that caused this series to hit top-seller all around the world and turn out to be a sensational hit? Many people in the world and critics claim to say that the book was incompetently written and is a literary disaster, however it’s fame, success, and popularity cannot be overlooked. With the media calling the trilogy â€Å"Mommy porn† and feminists arguing it’s negative repercussions in regards to male dominance and female subordination, E.L. James has caused quite the controversy with this series. I found this trilogy appealing because aside from all the negativity and positivity I heard from it, I wanted to see for myself what was the fuss about this book. When I first started to read the trilogy almost two years ago, I remember saying to myself that this book was going to be a about a sappy love story like Nicholas Sparks. After reading a couple of pages, I knew that this book was nothing like a Nicholas Sparks novel. Aside from all the uncensored sex scenes, it has it’s similarities. I noted that this trilogy was written in first person narration from the view of the protagonist. Anastasia Steele whom is the protagonist, is an innocent, beautiful, smart, young woman fresh out of college. Her sexual experience is non-existent, particularly in comparison with the sex crazed,

Why is good indefinable and what is moores definition of they naturalistic fallacy

Why is good indefinable and what is moores definition of they naturalistic fallacy? Moore has a very unique version of good. Maybe because he spent 40 years researching the general idea of good or maybe its not. All distribution of praise or blame to any personage or thing that has existed, now exists, or will exist does give some answer to the question What is good? There are far to many people, events and discussions to question if something is good or is it bad. If you asked Moore what is the meaning of good he would reply that good is good and that is they end of it. In this quote Moore does a excellent job of why good cannot be explained Good is a simple notion, just as yellow is a simple notion; that, just as you cannot, by any manner or means, explain to anyone who does not already not it, what yellow is, so you cannot explain what good is. What hes trying to say is that you can only tell some one the qualities of good and after you explain the qualities of good you cannot break those qualities down even more. Like a horse ! if someone asked you what a horse was you could describe the many features a horse has but after you describe it you can not break it down any more than that. I also think that moore spent too much time researching the idea of good he really gives you the big picture of what is good compared to other philosophers that try to really break down the idea of good. Im sure that Moore did too, but after researching it for so long I think he got frustrated and gave up. But I do believe moores statements are to be true. And to the next question of What is Moores definition of the Naturalistic Fallacy Moore believes that the definition of the Naturalistic Fallacy is any attempts to define good, weather as &quo...

What If Your Writers Wont Work In WordPress

What If Your Writers Wont Work In WordPress Your blogging team has writers who dont want to work in WordPress. And this is not good. It really shouldnt matter where people get their writing done, so long as they write. Except that it does matter, at least for the person who has to finalize the posts. When writing in something outside of WordPress, content gets wrapped in rather messy formatting. Writers send you posts in the body of an email, or in  Microsoft Word, for example. Getting rid of the extra formatting so it doesnt blow up your WordPress blog  involves manual copy-paste solutions with an extra step to strip out formatting. Even worse? You cant really create a complete blog post outside of WordPress; someone is going to have to upload the images, make sure the headline tags are correct, and add code for things like . Writing Outside Of WordPress Here, each of our writers has their own preference. Some of us work in WordPress because of the preference of frequent previews. At other times, we prefer Google Drive,  Evernote,  Editorially, or  Draft. Thats our preferences. One of the  most common place where blog posts get written is in  Microsoft Word. Why would anyone write outside of the blogging platform that is ultimately going to do the actual publishing of their work? 1. WordPress can be confusing. Some writers are used to, and most comfortable, writing in the software theyve always used. Dragging them into WordPress and asking them to write as good as ever while learning an entirely new system is counterproductive. Even us longtime users of WordPress have rather negative feelings about the entire writing experience in the system. 2. People dont trust WordPress. The new updates included an autosave that works well, but many bloggers still have that old ingrained fear of writing the Greatest Blog Post Ever only to lose it by accidentally swiping the wrong way on their Apple Magic Mouse or closing the browser tab. Theyve known that possibility, and experienced it, in the past. 3. Getting them to write is the main battle. Sometimes your writers are writing because they have to, not that they want to. Getting them to write is the main battle; why fight another about where they write? If they are more likely to write in Word or Evernote, great. Be happy that they will write. What do you do when your writers wont work in WordPress?Try to Change Their Mind Its worth the attempt to try to get your writers on board with WordPress, and heres how you can do it. 1. Get them training. Whether its in-house or through an online course, you can insist that your writers get training. There are many place online that offer training and tutorials in using WordPress. Theres the popular Lynda.com training site, as well as WordPress.orgs very own tutorials. 2. Give them a contributor account. A contributor account in WordPress allows your writers to write and manage their own posts, but they cannot publish them. You can keep them from having access to anything that might seriously do damage to your blog. Even if they dont know anything about formatting, the writing is happening inside of WordPress and will save you from importing it in. 3. Use a third-party app. Apps like MarsEdit, Live Writer, and Editorially allow your writers to work outside of WordPress, and import what theyve written beautifully into the system. The can choose an interface that is less intimidating to do their work. Remember, you are changing a habit for your writer. They may have been writing in Word their entire life, and this is going to be nothing short of a rebellion for them. Be sure the battle to change the habit is worth it in the long run.

International law seminar. Legal memo Case Study

International law seminar. Legal memo - Case Study Example This has enabled her rise above her competitors on the market. Packaging is a vital factor in trade that enables consumers to identify a particular item. An attractive way of packaging a product catches the buyer’s eye and this promotes sales hence earning much profit. It is on this note that Danielle decided to make her order of the boxes from Stuttgart Germany even though she was a citizen of United States. Entrepreneurship involves producers inventing new ways and approaches so as to dominate the market. This includes strategy. Proper strategy enables producers to counter challenges that may face their business. Therefore, Danielle wanted her chocolates to have a unique packaging feature hence going for the Box Masters Company. The paper indicates that since the bossiness partners originate from two different countries, the CISG shall be used as an applicable law. Danielle made an order of 40000 boxes of chocolate from her supplier. According to Danielle, the holiday season was a perfect time for her business since chocolates are favorites for a large number of people. The first issue indicates that the supplier delivered goods on 16th October as expected by Danielle, but they were not the boxes that she had ordered. This shows that they were normal boxes, which her competitors used on market. Her clients identified her chocolates from others on market as a result of her packaging design. The issue reflects that consumers will not be able to distinguish Danielle’s chocolates and this will lead to a loss. Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays offer reliable opportunities for business operations. Danielle was optimistic that she would make much profit similar to past years. Danielle wrote to the Box Masters informing them that the goods she had received were not what she had ordered. She explained to the company that using the normal boxes would make her lose customers, which would bring down her business. The Box Masters explained to the entrepren eur the challenges the company was facing, and indicated that they would send 10000 boxes by October 26th and finally deliver the remaining 30.000 boxes on November 16th. The Box Masters fulfilled their request where they delivered 10000 boxes on October 26. However, at that time damage had already taken place. Danielle had lost several clients as a result of the delay. The memo indicates that it was not imperative for the Box Masters to argue that Danielle could be sold the items on a subsided price. The mutual agreement between the buyer and the seller indicated a specific item and not just any item on shelf. Since they sent a wrong product they are required by law to stand in for the cost of shipment and insurance. According to article 16 of United Nation’s Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods [CISG] an offer may be revoked if goods reach the buyer before he has transmitted an acceptance. Therefore, from the above illustration, Danielle has aright to refuse the delivery of the 40000 boxes because they were dispatched without acceptance. It also states in article 17 of the CISG of the constitution that an offer is terminated when rejection reaches the seller. This can be shown since Danielle wrote to the Box Masters indicating that she had nothing to do with the normal boxes. According to this information, the Box Masters should make arrangements for the shipment of the normal boxes back to their warehouse since Danielle had paled a rejection. The main objective of any business venture is to satisfy her

Relationship Between Cultural Consumption, Identity And Holidays Essay

Relationship Between Cultural Consumption, Identity And Holidays - Essay Example The research and subsequent analysis of data clearly indicated that choice of holiday destinations depended largely on the cultural trend of the society under consideration. Members of a society made choices in accordance with the human values that were attributed to various destinations and it was further confirmed that human values played a much more decisive role in collectivist societies than in individualistic societies. Thus this study also brings to light the most pertinent fact that a proper analysis of subjective trends in a culture is absolutely imperative if one were to form clear predictive perceptions about how people transfer value to their environment and how they make their consumption choices. The commercial lesson that can be obtained from this study is that these findings must be kept in mind when formulating campaigns to attract tourists from various societies having various biases and any product or service that can be placed favourably with respect to the percep tions of that particular society will quite obviously get a very positive reception from large sections of the society. This report makes the conclusions drawn above apply for a large majority of members in different societies, there will always be individual members in every society who would defy the norms and set out their own agenda. Thus never be surprised if you see a Brazilian skiing down an especially tricky mountain slope in the Alps or hitch hiking along country roads of Cambodia.

CJUS 410 DB1 Replies DB3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CJUS 410 DB1 Replies DB3 - Essay Example However, he had no chance to make any comment on the allegations against him considering he was the victim of the day. Without any testimonies from witness, passing of judgment took place whereby unanimously majority agreed his actions qualified him to die through crucifying. Just like in Jesus’ case, the woman did not have a chance to explain herself despite holding onto solid proof regarding the former husband trailing her, hence prompting the victim fear her life but little in ensuring safety took place. Non-testimonial evidence, apart from playing an important and dramatic role especially in advocate cases, I think it also quite a probative when it comes to the value of evidence. The only issues that makes non-testimonial evidence complex is because it requires more than probative value to convince the jury that the case is worth pursuing (â€Å"NLRG†). It is because of this reason I believe the woman in question people failed to take him seriously even after providing photographs and texts stating that her former husband was still on her trail. NLRG. Persuasion at Trial: Nontestimonial Evidence. 2014. Web. 21 April 2014.

Discussion of Decision Making Model Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion of Decision Making Model - Assignment Example Firstly, the model identifies the object. The clinical objective was to assist a patient about. The second step entails surveying available options. The options considered are; terminating the pregnancy, and encouraging the patient to keep the baby. Step three involves analyzing complex health issues involving abortion. Abortion is legally allowed when the life of the expectant woman is threatened. The patient did not have a serious health problem, and hence abortion is not the best option. The fourth step entails the significance of the health decision made. The decision of encouraging the patient to stop abortion demands is very important because the life of the unborn child was ensured. Step five involves budgeting energy and time. The efforts were aimed at convincing both the doctor and the patient that abortion is not the best alternative. Decision making strategy is adopted in step six. The strategy involves convincing both the patient that her health is not worsened by the pre gnancy. Step seven shows the major option adopted. The doctor was tasked with the responsibility of testing the patient to ensure that her health can ensure full-term pregnancy. Step eight communicates an expert opinion. Test results show that the patient can healthily carry the pregnancy. The last step involves making the right choice. The patient was shown the test results that show she is capable of proceeding with the pregnancy. She, ultimately, agreed to continue with the pregnancy and give birth to the baby.

Audi's Strategic Capabilities Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Audi's Strategic Capabilities - Case Study Example Tangible resources are the physical resources such as land and building, man and money and intangible resources are non-physical assets such as knowledge, intellectual capital and reputation. Audi is known by its abundant resources in physical as well as non-physical form to differentiate it from its rivals. A large amount of skilled people with right aptitude is the most significant capital of Audi. In a market of many giant car manufacturers with diverse products and product strategies, the first and foremost weapon of every automaker is to keep itself ahead in producing quality products at minimum cost. The strategic management basically relies on the philosophy that difference creates business. This difference from rivals firms can be achieved in many ways. Firms differ in competencies and resources. Cost reduction and efficient production has been the basis of strategic capability for many organizations. Audi has also been very strategic in reducing the cost of their production without sacrificing the quality of their products. This has made the company to turn itself as one of the most sought after automaker in the world. Competitive advantage of an organization is the unique quality which its rivals firms do not possess. These competitive advantages can be attained in any area such as production, marketing or customer relationship management. Firms that possess these competencies in more fields as compared to that of its rivals are said to have competitive edge over others and they are likely to succeed more in relation to its competitors. As regards Audi is concerned, it has built overtime a highly effective and efficient multichannel customer care center across the world which helped the firm to be effective in individualized marketing campaigns, customer process costs. This has further reduced the lead-processing by more than 80 percent. Discusses how the concept of organizational knowledge relates to strategic capability and how it might contribute to competitive advantage of organizations. Organizational knowledge is the aggregate acquaintance accumulated through systems, routines, and activities of sharing across an organization. As such it is carefully accompanying to what has so far been discussed as the competences of an organization. Organizational knowledge has become so important because of several reasons. In the modern business environment organizations have become so complex and larger, as a result of people need to share their knowledge over wide sphere of activities and departments. Moreover, the information technology has improved dramatically so as to pave the ways for more accurate and real time knowledge processing and sharing. Consider the ways in which strategic capability might be analyzed. First consider the concept of the value chain and value network as ways of understanding which activities add value and which do not. Conclude with a SWOT from the point of view of understanding strategic capability in relation to competitors Strategic capability

Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Research Methods - Essay Example Hence, it is the research question B which is least suitable for hypothesis testing. The purpose is to find out different sources of income that are being currently utilized by the households, living in the communities surrounding the national park. The question is mainly exploratory in nature. It would not be appropriate to predict one particular livelihood as the answer of the question and develop a hypothesis on the basis of such prediction. Hypothesis corresponding to question D: Environmental education causes significant changes in the behavior of local people. In other words to say, environmental education makes local people more environment friendly. Hypothesis corresponding to question E: The Third species of tomato among the three proposed varieties of tomato is the most suitable variety for the local farming system for the purpose of cash cropping. Since the basic objective here is to find out what changes have occurred in the composition of the forest over time since the creation of the park. Here composition of the forest is the variable to be examined. Here relationship between two variables – the distance from the transport routs and nature of livelihood- will be examined. The objective here is to find out whether people living in proximity to the transport routs have a tendency to adopt commercial farming as their livelihood. Hence Cross sectional Comparison would be appropriate for testing this hypothesis. Purpose is to find out which variety of the tomato proposed for cash cropping in the areas adjacent to the park is best suited to the local farming system. The extent of suitability will be measured in terms of the yield that each of the variety is capable of producing within a particular time period using same local technique under same environmental and other required conditions for farming. The hypothesis is that â€Å"the third species of tomato among the three proposed varieties of tomato is the most

Audi's Strategic Capabilities Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Audi's Strategic Capabilities - Case Study Example Tangible resources are the physical resources such as land and building, man and money and intangible resources are non-physical assets such as knowledge, intellectual capital and reputation. Audi is known by its abundant resources in physical as well as non-physical form to differentiate it from its rivals. A large amount of skilled people with right aptitude is the most significant capital of Audi. In a market of many giant car manufacturers with diverse products and product strategies, the first and foremost weapon of every automaker is to keep itself ahead in producing quality products at minimum cost. The strategic management basically relies on the philosophy that difference creates business. This difference from rivals firms can be achieved in many ways. Firms differ in competencies and resources. Cost reduction and efficient production has been the basis of strategic capability for many organizations. Audi has also been very strategic in reducing the cost of their production without sacrificing the quality of their products. This has made the company to turn itself as one of the most sought after automaker in the world. Competitive advantage of an organization is the unique quality which its rivals firms do not possess. These competitive advantages can be attained in any area such as production, marketing or customer relationship management. Firms that possess these competencies in more fields as compared to that of its rivals are said to have competitive edge over others and they are likely to succeed more in relation to its competitors. As regards Audi is concerned, it has built overtime a highly effective and efficient multichannel customer care center across the world which helped the firm to be effective in individualized marketing campaigns, customer process costs. This has further reduced the lead-processing by more than 80 percent. Discusses how the concept of organizational knowledge relates to strategic capability and how it might contribute to competitive advantage of organizations. Organizational knowledge is the aggregate acquaintance accumulated through systems, routines, and activities of sharing across an organization. As such it is carefully accompanying to what has so far been discussed as the competences of an organization. Organizational knowledge has become so important because of several reasons. In the modern business environment organizations have become so complex and larger, as a result of people need to share their knowledge over wide sphere of activities and departments. Moreover, the information technology has improved dramatically so as to pave the ways for more accurate and real time knowledge processing and sharing. Consider the ways in which strategic capability might be analyzed. First consider the concept of the value chain and value network as ways of understanding which activities add value and which do not. Conclude with a SWOT from the point of view of understanding strategic capability in relation to competitors Strategic capability

A Short History and Summary of the Current Conditions in Chile and Its Geographical Situation Essay Example for Free

A Short History and Summary of the Current Conditions in Chile and Its Geographical Situation Essay Chile is a country situated on the west coast of South America. It is also known as The Republic of Chile. The size of Chile is 289,112 square miles with a width of less than 100 miles. It is basically a little larger than Texas. Chile is divided into three main parts, mainland and two territorial islands named Isla Sala y Gomez and Easter. Chile has an interesting history and it has seen many ups and downs in its economic development (Hudson, 1994). A description of the history of the 20th century of Chile and its current economic and political situation is presented below. The history of the 20th century of Chile is mainly focused on its entrance to the parliamentary system and thus it saw the changes in its political situation. In the beginning of the 20th century, Chile was stable despite of having lesser power in the hands of presidents. During this time, congress selected the president for the country. The presidents of this century mainly includes: German Riesco Errazuriz, Pedro Montt, Ramon Barros Luco, and Juan Luis Sanfuentes. During the 1920’s, there was an increasing gap between the middle class and lower class of society (Bizzarro, 1987). Due to this gap, the masses were dissatisfied and they called a new leader, Arturo Alessandri Palma, who brought the system of election for the selection of president. He brought other changes as well such as compulsory primary education and separation between the church and state. After a few months’ service of Alessandri, Carlos Ibanez came into power and promoted public works and industry; however, he is known as a military dictator. Electoral Democracy was there during the years of 1931 to 1971 in Chile. After a period of uncertainty in Chile, Alessandri came into power again. Alessandri ruled Chile almost like a dictator and restored the power of Constitution of 1925. Considering the presidency elections of 1958, it is found that there were three candidates and all were from different types of people. They were conservative, Christian Democrat, and Socialist (Zanartu, Kennedy, 1969). Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez won the election of 1858 and maintained a stable situation in Chile. Alessandri was sensible and with his ability to maintain the economic and political situation, he put a halt to the inflation in Chile; thus, contributed in the economic development of the nation. In 1964, Frei defeated Allende again. Frei was a Christian Democrat and took control over the copper industry of Chile. In the next elections, Allende came into power with his socialist view. Allende was the first elected Marxist in Chile. Allende brought new policies and changed the existing policies; such as, he finished the nationalization of the copper firms of the United States, nationalized banks, and sped up land distribution in the country. Some leaders in Chile were against the socialists programs of Allende. In 1973, with the help of the U.  S. , a military coup ousted Allende (after which he committed suicide). After Allende, Pinochet ruled untill 1990. He was mainly focused on privatization and returned the banks, factories and lands to the private owners, and put strict economic and social condition on the people of Chile (Weil, 1969). Overall, it can be said that Chile saw many different leaders in the history of the 20th century and developed in many directions. Current economic and political situation of Chile is described below in the paper. The Economic Situation During the 1970’s Chile saw the economic growth, but in the next decade it experienced recession. Pinochet was the president of Chile and he put some strict economic conditions on Chileans. Looking at the current economic condition of Chile, it can be said that it is a growing and prosperous economy. The government of Chile has a played an important role in the economic development of Chile. Peso is the official currency of the country. The government has intervened many times in the financial market of Chile to control the economic situation of the nation and promoted the social spending (Loveman, 1988). According to the current economic condition, the total GDP of Chile is U. S. $ 268. 3 billion and its GDP growth is 5%. Inflation in the country is 4 to 5% and its main industries include copper, iron, lithium, fish processing, foodstuffs, wood and woods products, cement, textile, etc. (Thomas White International, 2013). It is already discussed above that culture and history of Chile has affected the economic development of the country many times and its reflection can be seen in the economic system of Chile. Chile has seen both growth and recession (with the different economic treatments of its presidents) It is currently able to manage a decrease in the foreign debt and open for the foreign investment. The Current Political Situation The current political system of Chile is also stable. It is nation with multiparty. The country has three branches of executive, legislative, and judiciary. The cxecutive branch selects the president for the country and the legislative branch has two houses named Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The Supreme Court and other lower courts come under the judiciary system. There are many political parties involved in the Chilean Government and they are trying to maintain the social and economic condition of the country (Kelleher Klein, 2011). Analysis and Conclusions Concluding the paper it can be said that Chile has now become an important part of the global economy with its growing industries. Due to many changes in its political atmosphere in the 20th century, Chile faced many challenges in its economic development as it saw growth as well as recession. In 1990, the democratic government was again brought into Chile. A Christian democrat Eduardo Frei won the election in 1993. Currently, the condition of Chile is stable. Chile is facing some challenges in its development of having some problems between the military and the government. Also, there is a belief in the people of Chile that the income inequality is getting worse. Apart from the economic problems, the people of Chile are facing the problems of natural disaster. A devastating earthquake has affected the economic condition of Chilean. The newly elected president of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, is trying to control the challenges that the country is facing (Cynthia Crabtree, 2010).

Literature review: learning on the internet

Literature review: learning on the internet RESTRICTED CHAPTER TWO LITREATURE REVIEW LITERATURE ON THE SUBJECT 1.Internet is an important tool in the modern day context. All searches pertaining to any kind of search to are within the finger tips. There by it has become a topic for researchers to research and write the thesis on covering various aspect of the internet. Saunders says that a thorough understanding of, and insight into, previous research that relates to a project is essential for the quality of the study, this usually being achieved by means of critically reviewing the extant literature1 2.My literature review of research will be based on publications such as subject related text books .E books, articles, journals, periodicals, projects proposals and unpublished thesis, pamphlets, completed reports and other available literature information resources already published by external authors on the respective subject area. According Timothy and Ellis they state that the literature review should be structured in following stages. So that I have used this model in order to sequence my literature review.2 On the attributes of a critical literature review Saunders, Mark N. K.1 Rojon, Cà ©line21School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, United Kingdom;2Department of Psychology School of Management, University of Surrey,Guildford, GU2 7XHUnited Kingdom Achieved by means of critically reviewing the extant literature.1 2A Systems Approach to Conduct anEffective Literature Review in Support of Information Systems Research Yair Levy and Timothy J. Ellis Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences,Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET 3.There are plenty of definition can be find on what internet and this what the oxford dictionary says â€Å"A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols†. The definition itself brings out what it exactly does and also it describes under which conditions it should use. According to Linux information project on 2005 describes it as a network that is composed of a number of smaller computer networks which connects thousands of networks and hundreds of millions of computers throughout the world. It shows that no barriers on using the internet for any kind of a user for the benefit of him or for his organization. 4.The internet is a unique collection of networks, or a network of networks, that was made possible by scientists with vision to implement a compatible communication standard. These standards’ allow computers built by a variety of manufacturers running on different operating systems to exchange data. The internet, therefore, is able to facilitate the sharing of resources among participating organizations, which include government agencies, educational institutions, and private corporations.3 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF INTERNET 5.The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this unprecedented integration of capabilities. The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location. The Internet represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of sustained investment and commitment to research and development of information infrastructure. Beginning with the early research in packet switching, the government, industry and academia have been partners in evolving and deploying this exciting new technology4 6.The history of the Internet begins with the development of electronic computers in the 1950s. Initial concepts of packet networking originated in several computer science laboratories in the United States, Great Britain, and France. The US Department of Defense awarded contracts as early as the 1960s for packet network systems, including the development of the  ARPANET(which would become the first network to use the  Internet Protocol.) The first message was sent over the ARPANET from computer science Professor Leonard Kleinrocks laboratory at  University of California, Los Angeles(UCLA) to the second network node at  Stanford Research Institute(SRI)4. 7. Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when theNational Science Foundation(NSF) funded theComputer Science Network (CSNET). In 1982, theInternet protocol suite(TCP/IP) was introduced as the standard networking protocol on the ARPANET. In the early 1980s the NSF funded the establishment for national supercomputing centers at several universities, and provided interconnectivity in 1986 with theNSFNETproject, which also created network access to thesupercomputersites in the United States from research and education organizations. CommercialInternet service providers(ISPs) began to emerge in the late 1980s. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. Private connections to the Internet by commercial entities became widespread quickly, and the NSFNET was decommissioned in 1995, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic4. 8.Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication byelectronic mail,instant messaging,voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) telephone calls,two-way interactive video calls, and theWorld Wide Webwith itsdiscussion forums,blogs,social networking, andonline shoppingsites. The research and education community continues to develop and use advanced networks such as NSFsvery high speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS),Internet2, andNational LambdaRail. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher ___________________________________________ exploring the internet by Clive C. Sanford 4http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet#Origins(accesed on 03 march 2014) speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbit/s, 10-Gbit/s, or more. The Internets takeover of the global communication landscape was almost instant in historical terms: it only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-waytelecommunicationsnetworks in the year 1993, already 51% by 2000, and more than 97% of the telecommunicated information by 2007.[1]Today the Internet continues to grow, driven by ever greater amounts of online information, commerce, entertainment, andsocial networking4. 9.The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this unprecedented integration of capabilities. The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location.3 10. The graph below shows how the expansion of internet from 1996 to 2014. Sri Lanka as a developing country 31mpeople out of hundred use intenet accordind to the cences given by the international telecomunucation union. Internet users per 100 inhabitants Source:International Telecommunications Union POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET 11.Educational achievement is perhaps of secondary importance to many of the children; however, it too seems to be a real advantage. From 10 years of age onwards, there is a pressure from school to get the internet and a sense that access to the internet allows the willing student to attain a higher quality of extra information relevant to the subjects.4 12.This research suggest that it also has a role re-engaging some of the educationally disengaged, as they enjoy the control and fun of working with a PC. It can also enable the academically able to find more relevant information and research more effectively. For some though, who are not particularly interested in schoolwork, they remain uninterested whether they have internet access or not. 13.Research about the Internet generally has focused on social effects, such as psychological well-being; for instance, children are more likely to use the internet when they feel lonely. A study by Michigan State University has found that the internet has had a positive effect on reading but not mathematics. One explanation is the internet is a text rich environment with fewer opportunities to foster mathematics or science skills; however, both the Internet and children are changing. Students increasingly use visualization, which can relate to mathematics and science as much as creative writing.4 14.The internet can facilitate a game like learning environment, which is highly motivating and interesting to students. Unlike in traditional classrooms, students do not sit across from the teacher, hold a textbook, and take a final exam. Instead, they can explore new information on the internet like a game combining both the learning journey and entertainment. More research is needed in this area as additional online games are built specifically for history, mathematics and science. Gaming has the potential to have a different kind of cognitive impact than traditional learning. 15.The internet’s is more exciting and challenging as a research environment than earlier media because it is a complex virtual, social and physical world that school children participate and co-construct, rather than something that is merely watched TV or PC. It becomes a complex virtual universe behind a small screen on which developmental issues play out in old and new ways, offering new views in to the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of schoolchildren’s. This universe will continue to expand as web-connected cell phones and other new internet applications emerge. Thus, existing theoretical models, research programmes and methodological techniques in developmental psychology are both challenged and stimulated by interactions between youth and the internet.5 16.According to the research done by three Japan universities regarding â€Å"Children and the Internet in Japan†, they identified that junior high school students enrolled in the school that use the internet had higher skills for practical use of information compared to students in the school that did not use the internet in its classes. This indicates that internet use in school activities helped in increasing the ability of students to use information practically. In this research, they proposed that â€Å"skills for practical use of information† are composed of six sub skills, namely, skill of collections, the skill of judgment, the skill of expression, the skill of processing, the skill of creation, and the skill of communication. In terms of these skills, students in the school that used the internet in its classes had particularly better skills of collection, judgment, expression, processing and communication compared to the students enrolled in the school that d id not use the Internet in its classes.5 17.Students possibly will feel bored if they only study from textbook day by day. That is why internet can be good alternative media to improve students’ motivation in studying. By using internet as a learning media, students can see relevant pictures or animations, which are related to lesson. Based on some reliable researches, students’ motivation in studying can increase fast if teachers or lectures use pictures or animations in explaining lesson.5 2-1 RESTRICTED Unethical Act Among Contractors: Class F in Selangor Unethical Act Among Contractors: Class F in Selangor 1.0 INTRODUCTION Contractors are the independent entity that agree to construct certain number or quantity of goods, material, equipment personnel ,or services that meet the requirement of specifications at a mutually price with a specific timeframe with another independent entity call contractee or project owner (Oxford Times). All contractors are rated Class F are Bumiputera. According to Article (160(2)) the concept of a bumiputra ethnic group in Malaysia was coined by activist Tunku Abdul Rahman. It recognized the special position of the Malays provided in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, in particular Article 153. But, the constitution does not use the term bumiputra; it defines only Malay and aborigine (Article 160(2)).This means that the contractor is Class F Bumiputera contractors and do not need to apply for Recognition of Bumiputera. According to PKK (Pusat Khidmat Kontractor) until 26th June 2010 there are 4210 registered class F contractors in Selangor. A countrys economic system, irrespective construction industry plays a role in, construction industry plays a substantial role in a countrys national economic system (Zantanidis Tsiotras, 1998). Indeed, this sector is an important employer of a nations workforce as it employs between 2% to 10% of total workforce of most countries (Abdul Rashid Hassan, 2005). Malaysia has gained an impressive economic growth during the last three decades (Abdul Rahman et al, 2005) and this sector has employed an estimated 798,200 workforce nationwide in 2004 (CIDB, 2006). The Malaysian Government has given a much needed boost to the countrys construction industry under the 9th Malaysian Plan where a total of 880 projects worth RM15billion is to be tendered (The Star, 2006). It should be foregrounded that the issue of poor quality in the construction sector has, nevertheless. been identified as a major concern even as far back as the mid 1980s (The Star, 2006). Generally, it is a rule that constructi on projects must be completed within the planned cost, scheduled time and required quality. Quality may sometimes be ignored in this industry to cut the costs or to shorten the project time (Turk, 2006). To deal with the low quality problem faced by the industry, quality management is seen as an approach to achieve the required level of quality of the end product and has been given great attention worldwide over the past three decades (Hiyassat, 2000; Berawi and Woodhead, 2005). However, there is a perception that majority of quality related issues are caused by human factor. In response to that perception, a study was performed to look into the relationship between professional ethics among participants of construction sector and the quality related issues in Malaysian construction sector. It should be noted that for this purpose of survey, contractors and clients are regarded as professions and they are required to demonstrate a high degree of professionalism in performing their t ask, in response to the Governments effort who has introduced the National Integrity Plan to enhance integrity and ethics in the nation. Unethical acts of fraud, waste, abuse, and corrupt practices are what receive prominent treatment in the media worldwide. Such as inappropriate gifts, unauthorized payments, and fiscal infractions are the unethical act problems most noted. The Conference Board in New York reported that the above issues have widespread agreement on each of these issues as being a serious concern among the leaders of the free world, including those in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia. Due to the increased of public awareness toward the contractor unethical acts and also decreased of public tolerance for wrong-doing, it is important for contractor to focus specifically on the question of how professional ethics should be incorporated into awareness of individual to make sure every projects should be completed as standard. The ethical statement can describe the act was right or wrong, or act with a right or wrong which it can provide a line of distinction between good and evil of the act or the tendency of a person or at least it can develop guidelines that can be made with various moral considerations(J.L Mackie, 1971). Ethical act are very important because it use to determine the thoughts, actions and behavior of members of the organization to fulfill their responsibility and trust as an employee. It is also to create statements and coordination between the contractors as a key institution for national development. Ethical act also important to maintain and improve client confidence in the organization, 84% of FMIs respondents said that theyve seen an unethical act committed in the construction industry in the past year is an alarming statistic. Contractors, can take little comfort in the probability that incidence of unethical behavior is just as high in other industries these days. FMI had offer f our solution and one of the solutions is to stiffer the penalties for those caught in unethical or illegal acts is the least likely to succeed. Secondly, the FMI had suggest to develop an industry-wide code of ethics which these codes of ethics need to be enforced in every country. A less formal but corollary solution would hit closer to home. Companies should place more emphasis on social responsibility in their dealings with other firms. This approach is easier said than done, of course, although a few respondents in the survey say they have walked away from projects or companies and suffered short-term consequences as a result. They did not indicate, however, that they regretted their decisions in the long term. Training in ethical conduct is the fourth solution, and its the one that holds the most promise as long as it is coupled with commitment to these practices from the top ranks of any construction company. The FMI report states that unethical acts can signal a failure of management to know how to get the job done the right way. 1.2 Problem statement Due to many issues in our country regarding construction industry that lead to the unethical act by the contractors in running the projects such as the issue on the Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2( MRR2 ), Matrade building and also the issue on the Navy Recruit Center. If this ethical issue still going on in our construction industry, it will affect our construction quality. According to the Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, more than 18,000 contractors and sub-contractors were either paid late or have yet to receive payment for completed work totaling RM23.7billion since 2000. This is a very huge sum, about 14% of the allocation for development projects under the 9th Malaysia Plan. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) had carried out a six-month survey on 330 contractors, in which 273 cases of payment problems involving RM877.8mil were reported. Another example for the issue in Malaysian construction industry is the Plaza Rakyats project. The government will iss ue a warning notice to the Plaza Rakyat project contractors to continue the project as early as next week, initially, and if defaults, the tender will be forfeited. Minister of Federal Territory and Welfare Commissioner, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said, a notice will be given to contractors in a week or two so that they continue construction work. 1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH. The aim of this research as far as the unethical act among contractors class F in Selangor is concerned, is to identify the effect in the construction quality. These main objectives are broken down to more specific objectives in order to better understand the topic at hand. To achieve the desired aim of the research, there are some of the objectives had been choose for this research. Objectives for this research are: Assess the level of professional ethical standards and its practice in the Selangor construction industry, To identify the problems associated to unethical acts in construction industry Determine the role of professional ethics in improving quality management in construction industry. 1.4 Organization of Study Chapter 1 introduces the research topic. It discussed about the unethical acts, definition of contractor, definition of bumiputera, issue related to unethical acts in construction industry problem statement and the objectives that initiated this study. Chapter 2 involves the extensive review of literature relating to the relevant topic of the subject matter of research including the professional ethic and relationship between ethic and construction. Chapter 3 discussed the methodology used in this study. It includes the developed hypothesis and data collection methods. It also includes a brief explanation on the data analysis methods. Chapter 4 reports data analysis and findings of the survey obtained from the findings. Chapter 5 involves detail finding and discussion on the result of survey base on the analysis. Chapter 6 present conclusions and recommendation based on the findings of the study. Key recommendation and their future prospect have been outlined which may assist in future plans to facilitate knowledge sharing plan in school. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction In this chapter a great extent of literature of relevant concepts are being reviewed in order to get insight of and identify variables which have impact on the objectives of this research. The researches which are done by different scholars and researches will be reviewed. 2.1 Quality In Construction Industry Quality is a measure of excellence or a state of being free from defects, deficiencies, and significant variations, brought about by the strict and consistent adherence to measurable and verifiable standards to achieve uniformity of output that satisfies specific customer or user requirements. ISO 8402-1986 standard defines quality as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs Since tribal chiefs, kings, and pharaohs ruled the issues of quality have already existed (Gitlow, 2005). In a project scenario, quality can be defined as meeting the legal, aesthetic (Arditi Gunaydin, 1997) and functional requirements of a project (Berawi, 2006). Customers nowadays place more emphasis on the quality of products rather than the price which was the major concern in the past. Hence, a rapid expansion of international competition in quality has occurred (Tsiotras Gotzamani, 1996; Abdul Rahman Berawi, 2002). In America, the professional societies have prepared codes of ethics since before early twentieth century. These have been incorporated to a greater or lesser degree into the regulatory laws of various countries. Such as The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the UK, they have a code of ethics incorporated into its standards of conduct and as for Canadian societies of professional engineers likewise have such codes of conduct as well (Bowen, P., R. Pearl and A. Akintoye. 2007). Mainly for practical and professional use, codes of ethics are developed for supplementing the building codes and other acts of law. These ethical aspects were considered based on mans natural morals (Darabarek Symotink, 1999). In terms of quality in construction industry, Turk (2006), citing Arditi Gunaydin (1999), mentioned that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"high quality building project includes factors like the design being easily understandable and applicable, conformity of design with specifications, economics of construction, ease of operation, ease of maintenance and energy efficiency. According to S. Fryer, Buro Happold, UK (2007), no matter how clever or elaborate the design of a structure is, any construction project will ultimately be judged on the quality of the finished product. Zantanidis Tsiotras (1998) and Abdul Rahman Berawi (2002) mentioned the expectations for quality construction projects will continue to grow rapidly as the number of affluent, educated and quality conscious customers are increasing. With the globalization of economy, construction firms worldwide are actively engaged to achieve internationally accepted quality levels to ensure their position in the emerging international market especially in those developing economies. Thus, the need to have a proper system that ensures quality is critical, coupled with high level of attention paid to quality management in construction industry (Abdul Rahman, Berawi, et al, 2006). Scholars indicate that quality management has been adopted by many countries in their construction industry including Hong Kong (Leung et al, 1999; Au Yu, 1999 and Tang Kam, 1999), Singapore (Low Omar, 1999 and Low Yeo, 1997), Greece (Tsiotras Gotzamani, 1996 and Zantanidis Tsiotras, 1998), Turkey (Turk, 2006), Jordan (Hiyassat, 2000), Saudi Arabia (Bubshait Al Atiq, 1999), Sweeden (Landin, 2000), United States (Chini Valdez, 2003), South Africa (Rwelamilla, 1995) and Malaysia (Chew Chai, 1996). As for Malaysia,we have the code of ethics for co ntractor which need to be followed by the contractors. In that code of ethic it emphasizes more about the level of professionalism, productivity, and quality. Excellence in the construction industry is very much determined by the level of efficiency, productivity, quality and professionalism in the delivery services. The delivery of construction services is connected directly or closely related integrity of the construction contractors in the performance responsibilities. This aspect has been dealt with when Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP): 2006-2015 enacted. CIMP has given special emphasis on increasing productivity, image and professionalism in the construction industry as the strategic thrusts of this industry to greater high. For this purpose CIMP also has proposed legislation Code of ethics to further strengthen the practice of values and moral ethics among contractors in the country in implementation of construction works. Many developers were also fined for not confo rming to the Housing Development Act, including not preparing reports on schedule, especially work progress reports every six months (NST, 2010). This quality in our construction industry can be improved if everybody doing their part. For every developer, starting a new housing project is a new business. So, if they understand their responsibility as a developer and follow the agreement, they must complete the projects according to the dates set. According to Michael S. Poles, the quality of the construction can be control by competence supervision. It is the duty of the contractor to complete the work covered by his or her contract, in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. The contractor must carefully study the approved plans and specifications and should plan their schedule of operations well ahead of time. If at any time it is discovered that the work which is being done is not in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, the contractor should immed iately correct the work. In order to assure that the work being done is in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, the contractor must always supervise, and coordinate of all of the work that need to be completed. 2.2 Professional Ethic in Construction Industry Profession is an occupation that requires both advanced study and mastery of a specialized body of knowledge and undertaken to promote, ensure or safeguard some matter that significantly affects others well being (Vee Skitmore, 2003). Almost every profession has its codes of ethics to provide a framework for arriving at good ethical choices. Therefore, professional ethics is a system of norms to deal with both the morality and behavior of professionals in their day to day practice, and ascribes moral responsibility not to an individual, but to all professionals practicing in a particular profession. For the building and designing professions, the incalculable value of human life demands nothing less than the highest moral considerations from those who might risk it otherwise (Mason, 1998, cited in Vee Skitmore,2003). Professional ethics concerns the moral issues that arise because of the specialist knowledge that professionals attain, and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a service to the public (Ruth Chadwick, 1998). The construction industry is a perfect environment for ethical dilemmas, with its low price mentality, fierce competition, and paper thin margin (FMI, 2006). Jordan (2005) stated that unethical behavior is taking a growing toll on the reputation of the industry. From a survey conducted by FMI, 63% of the respondents whom are the construction players feel that construction sector is tainted by unethical conducts (FMI, 2006). Surveys conducted by researchers in Australia (Vee Skitmore, 2003) and South Africa (Pearl et al, 2005) identified several unethical conducts and ethical dilemmas in the construction industry such as corruption, negligence, bribery, conflict of interest, bid cutting, under bidding, collusive tendering, cover pricing, frontloading, b id shopping, withdrawal of tender, and payment game. It is evident that there exist significant areas of concern pertaining to the ethical conducts practiced by the construction professionals. There are many other efforts taken to increase the ethical standards and integrity among the professionals in construction sectors worldwide. According to Pearl et al (2005), the regulatory professional Acts relating to the built environment professional sector in South Africa were totally overhauled in the late 1990s and a new suite of professional Acts were promulgated in 2000 to enhance the professionalism. Meanwhile, in America, the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) has updated its code of ethics to include a wider range of professional services as well as professional services among construction players (CMAA, 2006). A Standard of Professional Conduct to govern the ethical practices in the American civil engineering profession was published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE, 2007). On the other  hand, Australia has their own codes of tendering to enhance fairness and transparency (Ray, 1997). In Malaysia, the government is very serious about improving ethics in both public and private sector. For instance, the construction industry has introduced codes of ethics for contractors to encourage self regulation among the contractor in this sector (The Star, 2006). Stakeholders of construction projects were asked to enforce the existing code of ethics to safeguard the engineers good name (The Star, 2006). The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) of Malaysia also host integrity courses for contractors to promote the importance of integrity and plans to make the course as a pre9requisite for contractors when renewing their registration (The Star, 2006). Finally, the launching of the Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP) by CIDB in 2004 also had in the master plan an objective to enhance professional ethics in the local construction industry (Construction Industry Master Plan 2006 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2015). According to Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha, 1,345 developers and more than 5,000 directors of such companies involved in problematic projects have been blacklisted because they abandoned housing projects and also those that were not completed on schedule. They are not only been blacklisted, they also fined for not conforming to the Housing Development Act, including not preparing reports on schedule, especially work progress reports every six months(NST 2010). 2.3 Relationship between Professional Ethic and Quality Related Issues Besterfield et al (2003) mentioned quality is dependent on ethical behavior, whereby quality and ethics have a common care premise which is to do right things right and it is a proven way to reduce costs, improve competitiveness, and create customer satisfaction. It is evident that low  ethical standards among construction professional will lead to quality problem. These issues were highlighted in the media and received great concern of public (Fleddermann, 2004; NST, 2004; and RTM, 2006). As an example, the ethical related case in the construction industry was the collapse of the Hyatt Regency Kansas City walkways (Fleddermann, 2004). It is a hotel project in 1970s with walkways suspended over the large atrium. With the intention to save the cost, the subcontractor for the fabrication and erection of atrium steel suggested changes in the structure and it was approved by the consulting structural engineer. During the construction, part of the atrium collapsed and the engineer came out with the report saying that the design was safe and ready to be opened for business in 1980. The tragedy happened one year after the completion of the project during a dancing party in the atrium lobby. Some of the walkways on which people were dancing collapsed onto the crowded atrium floor, leaving more than a hundred people died and almost two hundred injuries. Investigation was then conducted by the Missouri Board of Architects, Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors reported that the original design was only marginally acceptable to the Kansas City building code where the walkways would only have had approximately 60% of the capacity required by the code. The situation was even worse in the new design proposed by the steel subcontractor and approved by the engineer. The consultant was found negligence in its investigation of the atrium collapse and places too much reliance on the subcontractor. Therefore, the engineer has been charged for negligence, incompetence, and misconduct. Both the engineer and the consultant firm lose license of practicing. This case strongly indicates that unethical behaviour will lead to quality problems and structural failures. In Malaysia, as an example, a newly opened specialist hospital in Johor Bahru was closed due to fungi attack on the equipments and walls (RTM 2006). It was found that many of the hospitals equipments such as oxygen piping and sewerage system are not according to the specifications. This clearly shows the poor ethics of the contractor who failed to do right things right. The contractor was given three months to rectify problems including leaking pipes, broken ceilings and faulty air conditioning ducts (NST, 2004). Another substandard quality of construction project in Malaysia is the RM238 million Middle Ring Road Two (MRR2) flyover which was closed to traffic after cracks were found in 31 pillars and structural movements were detected (The Sun, 2004). The Government engaged an independent consultant from the United Kingdom to investigate the defects. The independent consultant identified that design deficiencies and improper anchoring of the columns to the crossbeam were the main cau se of the cracks (NST, 2004). Design deficiency is found to be a negligence on the design team and the repair works was then carried out at an estimated cost of RM20 million. Contractors confront dozens of issues, many of which have substantial impact on their own self or organization, as well as others involved in the project. Many decisions have a straight forward answer determined by contract language or budget. Some, however, require entering an indistinct gray zone where the contractor must use best judgment to devise a course of action. Ethical questions raised include: what happens when professional codes and regulations lag behind technological innovations; what precautions must engineers take when trying to balance the benefits, new technologies bring against risks to public safety, often associated with engineering innovation and what are engineering and corporate responsibilities to the public for failed innovation; and should he hold then payments for the benefit of his organization. Often these challenges are managed with little or no preparation or formal guidelines and sometimes with negative results. Engineering ethics is attracting interest in colleges of engineering throughout the world. Therefore, the new technology must address the human being as its central subject and has to be introduced by ethics (Cywinski, Z. 2001). The construction of the new national palace at Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur has doubled in a period of four years from RM400 million to RM 811 million. Contracts for the construction were awarded to three companies through direct negotiations instead of open tenders ( NST 2003). Government will focus on overcoming the problem `leakage of tenders in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9) are exploring the possibility of tightening conditions of the application to the contractor class F. Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the conditions were studied for class F contractors license applican t is to ensure that applicants undergo interview, examination, has offices and operations background of the net. The number of contractors has increased dramatically recently that 46.983 of the contractors registered with the Contractor Service Centre (PKK) in the country. Of the total, 35,544 are Class F contractors. The contractors will face intense competition in seeking jobs or contracts, and more disturbing is the number of contractors that own more than the number of contracts offered, especially from the government. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This section describes the methodology used in conducting this research. It starts by describing the sample selection, research design, variables and hypothesis and continues with the description of the methods of data collection and data analysis. Finally, some of the limitations and key assumption of the findings are described. Primary source were used to collect data from the sample to assess the perception of respondents toward knowledge management and knowledge sharing, the school culture and work environment, individual barriers and organization barriers toward knowledge sharing. The selected data was tested and conclusions were drawn. There are 6 procedures used in completing this study. First, a review of literature was conducted. The review was focused on the emergence of knowledge economy and knowledge management. Then the roles of knowledge sharing were discussed. A further potential barrier toward knowledge sharing was reviewed. Variable which has affected on knowledge sharing was also discussed. The review of literature served as a frame work for the study, and offered contrasting opinions of the authors. Second, a rough draft of the survey instrument and possible methods of testing and assessment of variables was done. A questionnaire was tested and validated before implementation reviewed for preventing any bias and avoiding errors. Questionnaire survey is the main research methodology used to achieve the research objectives. Five hundred (500) sets of questionnaires were distributed to targeted respondents in Selangor state by post ,via the internet , by hand. Targeted respondents ranging from consultant firms and contractor personnel within Selangor area .To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire survey, the sample size taken was then compared to match with the sample size recommended by Krejcie and Morgan (Sekaran, 2000: 295). Third, a survey was implemented. Questionnaire was sent to the list of all class F contractors which registered under PKK within Selangor area. Fourth, the result of the survey was assessed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 15.0 software. The result were tested and presented with illustration. Scores were converted into percentage rating and presented in graphical format using excel 2003. Fifth, the conclusion was driven from data analysis and findings. Important points were highlighted and recommendations were given. Research Design The research was designed to explore the unethical acts among contractors regarding the issue on the construction quality in Selangor. The data produced from the research was then analyzed so that the following objective could be achieved. The stated hypothesis could be tested and further recommendations could be made with regard to specific focus of this research. To identify areas for further, and more specific areas of research Quantitative method utilizing survey method is used for gathering information. Variables Variables are classified into three groups including dependent variables, moderate variables and independent variables. Dependent Variable Unethical act is considered as dependent variable Independent Variable Contractors and construction quality are considered as independent variables. Data Collection A comprehensive literature review and self administered questionnaire were used to provide an insight to the study. These instruments provide informative ideas on the possible issued experienced by factors affecting perception of respondents about unethical acts will effected the construction quality The survey aimed is to target contractor class F in Selangor. The aimed was chosen because of two reasons. Firstly, there are too many contractors class F in Selangor. Secondly, the issues that involved contractor class F are more major in our construction industry and this give the author the possibility to sent the questionnaires to some contractor firm on one to one basis. The author would have preferred a larger sample of respondents to participate in the research, but due to limitation of time, this was not possible. The survey was aimed at the contractors class F in Selangor area. Data were collected from 500 contractors selected randomly from different firm and background. Questionnaire was send through mail and respondents were given three weeks to respond before they were send back to the author. 3. 4 Research Assumptions When conducting this study a number of assumptions have been made with regards to the literature reviewed and the respondent sample selected. These assumptions are identified as below. The secondary data collected from various resources have been assumed to be valid and based on the research done by authors. The secondary data has been assumed to present public interest as a whole and without any biases. The respondents have responded to the questionnaire without any biasness and to the best of their abilities. Instrumental Biases In administrating the questionnaire, there has been a significant degree of biasness that was exercised by researcher. The questionnaire was developed based on the respondents. This minimizes the respondent biasness to a certain level. Various scaling methods were utilized where appropriate to minimize biasness. Sample size Approximately 500 contractors were randomly selected from the target population of different firms. The simple random sampling method was utilized in this situation. This was to deter any sample biasness that could have distorted the result. The respondents samples of contractors were surveyed in the Selangor area. The contractors who responded came from various hierarchy levels of different firms. Scaling of Questionnaire In order in measure the operationally defined and elements of a variable, the rating scale has been used to elicit responses with regard to the person studied. A number of rating scales techniques and measurements were utilized when administrating questionnaire involving Category scale and Likert scale. Example: Category Scale What is your highest educational qualification? PHD degree Bs degree Ms degree Diploma/STPM Knowledge sharing is fully supported by school administrator. Extremely disagree/ Strongly disagree/ Disagree /Agree /Strongly Agree/Extremely A