Latest Trends on Global and China Atm Industry Essay

Firstly the report describes the background knowledge of ATM, including ATM(Automated Teller Machine) CRS(Cash Recycling System) Concepts Classification production process technical parameters; then statistics Global and China 15 Manufacturers ATM CRS product 2010-2016 Capacity production cost price production value Gross margins and other relevant data, statistics these enterprises ATM CRS products, customers, raw materials, company background information, then summary statistics and analysis the relevant data of these enterprises. and get Global and China ATM CRS 2010-2016 production market share, different Type ATM production market share, Global and China ATM demand supply and shortage, Global and China ATM 2010-2016 production price cost Gross production value gross margins, etc. At the same time, the report analyzed and discussed supply and demand changes in ATM market and business development strategies, conduct a comprehensive analysis on Global and China ATM industry trends. To Have a Copy: http://www.allmarketresearch.com/wiki/global-and-china-atm-industry-2013-deep-research-report.php Finally, the report also introduced 5000 Sets/year ATM project Feasibility analysis and related research conclusions. In a word, It was a depth research report on Global and China ATM industry. And thanks to the support and assistance from ATM industry chain related experts and enterprises during Research Team survey and interviews.

Egg Flotation

Egg flotation Objective/Question/Problem My objective is to see which egg will float. The question is how much salt is needed to be added to make the egg float. The problem is that I do not know how much salt is needed to make an egg float. Hypothesis If I add salt to the water then the egg will float because the egg has a density that is lower that the density of the fluid it displaces. Background Information If the object has a density that is higher than the density of the fluid it displaces, it will sink.If the object has a density that is lower than the density of the fluid it displaces, it will float. Some objects that sink in fresh water will float in salt water. This is because saltwater has a higher density than freshwater. Websites that I used for this project are the ones below. ‘ www. ehow. com †º Education ‘ www. sciencehound. com/science_project_community/node/7206 ‘ www. blurtit. com/q729307. html ‘ answers. askkids. com †º How Stuff W orks ‘ www. thegeminigeek. com/why-an-egg-floats-in-salty-water/ VariablesThe manipulated variable is that the water will be changed one is salt water and the other is not. The Responding variable is that I will measure how much salt is needed to make the egg float. The controlled variable is that I will be the one doing everything and recording the project, and I will have the same type of eggs. Materials ‘ 2 eggs ‘ tab water ‘ Two Beakers ‘ salt ‘ stirring stick ‘ Measuring cups Experimental Procedures Step 1 : Put the water in cup halfway upStep 2 : Put 6 tsp of salt into the water. Step 3 : Mix the water and salt with stirring stick until you cant see the salt at the bottom. Step 4 : Gently Put in the egg and record what happens. Data Analysis As you can see in the first tbsp the egg floated about 200mL. After putting the second tbsp it floated up to 350mL. The third and fourth tbsp stayed the same at 500mL. After putting in the fifth tb sp it raised up to 600mL. The last tbsp did not make the egg rise all the way to 800mL it only raised up to 750mL. DataMy observations are that eggs could float because as the density of the water increased then the heavier objects could float. After each tablespoon the egg would rise little by little to get all the way to the top. After I put the egg in with all 6 tablespoon in the beaker I put the egg in and it sinked all the way to the bottom. After 1 minute passed it floated all the way up. Conclusion Eggs could float because the density of the water increased which it made the egg float. The more salt you put the more the egg will float.

Mrketing Mngement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mrketing Mngement - Essay Example Plnning process is n initil stge of mrketing strtegy for ny orgniztion tht helps to shpe objectives nd gols of firm s well s to produce the principl policies nd plns for chieving those gols. During the plnning process it is normlly defined the nture of the business the orgniztion is to pursue which in turn hs gret bering on the kind of economic nd humn orgniztion it needs to possess. Gols nd objectives re usully set within time frmework. Strtegy entils mtching the compny's ctivities to its resource cpbility. There is little point in trying to tke dvntge of some new opportunity if the resources needed re not vilble or cnnot be mde vilble. n orgniztion must formulte strtegy during the plnning process of mrketing strtegy within the boundries of the resources tht re likely to be mde vilble. This is fundmentl considertion tht must be ddressed when formulting the pln. Strtegy is lso to do with the mtching of the ctivities of compny to the environment in which it opertes. Since the environm ent is continully chnging, strtegic decisions necessrily involve coping with chnge. The extent nd speed of environmentl chnge will vry nd the pce t which strtegy must chnge will necessrily vry too. s it ws lredy mentioned, there re lot of fctors tht need to be considered in the plnning process of n orgniztion tht ffect mrketing strtegy of the compny. These fctors re described in bellow nd re the reflection of stges of the plnning process of n orgniztion. 1. Initite nd gree Upon Strtegic Plnning Process This step is to ssure tht the key stkeholders understnd the plnning process nd re committed to it. Importnt persons nd groups re identified. The plnning process nd objectives re discussed with them nd their support nd commitment is sought. 2. Identify Orgniztionl Mndtes This is the identifiction of the legl nd politicl demnds which define wht the orgniztion must do. The explicit requirements of these mndtes re outlined s precisely s possible, nd clrifiction of gols nd ctions tht re not prohibited (the boundries of wht cn be ttempted) is initited. 3. Clrify Orgniztionl Mission nd Vlues This stge strives to clrify the purpose of the orgniztion. The possibilities which the orgniztion might undertke re filtered through the orgniztionl vlues to begin definition of wht it wnts to do nd wht it should do. comprehensive stkeholder nlysis is performed which expnds the work initited in step one. mission sttement, or the frmework for one, should be developed, nd this my be good plce to begin tht tsk. 4. ssess the Orgniztion's Externl nd Internl Environments The objective of this step is scnning opertion to identify strengths, weknesses, opportunities, nd threts (SWOT). This step (s well s plnning process generlly) grows from Open Systems Theory which sserts tht ll environmentl impcts, s well s ll internl forces, re interrelted nd hve potentil effect on ech other nd on the orgniztion. This step is the hert of the plnning process. It is firmly entwined with ll the other steps, nd is lmost synonymous with the plnning process concept. 5. Identify the Strtegic Issues Fcing the Orgniztion This identifiction emerges logiclly from the SWOT nlysis in concert with the mndtes, vlues, nd mission. "Strtegic issues re fundmentl policy questions or criticl chllenges tht ffect n orgniztion's mndtes, mission, nd

How did British settlers, officials and experts understand the Mau Mau Essay

How did British settlers, officials and experts understand the Mau Mau - Essay Example The movement also managed to unite the rest of the country under the objective of liberating the country from colonial rule. British experts viewed the movement as a collection of people who wanted justice for the atrocities committed by British settlers. It suited British settlers and administrators to brand Mau Mau as a primitive and cruel organization (Barnett 1972, p. 5). They also hid the real objectives of the movement in order to deny the local population justice and equality. This was important for the settlers because it gave them a platform for justifying their brutal repression and approaches towards the Mau Mau. British experts who viewed the Mau Mau as a freedom movement willingly offered legal and political assistance to the leaders of the movement (Durrani 2006, p. 17). They even provided platforms for the education of the leaders of the movement. British settlers strategically condemned the movement and freedom fighters in order deny them justice. Mau Mau was isolated from its historical context by British experts and elitists. These individuals did not consider the freedom movement as an organization that stood up against the atrocities of the settlers. Mau Mau was historically placed as a group of people who took arms to protect their native land against British settlers (Elkins 2006, p. 28). From the moment, settlers began to enter the country, natives organized themselves to counter the invasion. Many studies by British scholars and administrators during the period of the Mau Mau described the freedom movement as a modern nationalist response to the oppression and unfairness of the settler’s domination (Bennett 2013, p. 22). Colonial administrators and settlers considered the movement as an uprising that needed to be stopped vigorously. In response to the Mau Mau insurgency, British settlers and administrators created policies that confined natives to reserves and camps. Natives who lived in

Sexual harassment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sexual harassment - Research Paper Example The harasser can also be an agent of the employer, a co-worker, a worker from another area, a non-employee, a teacher, a student or any number of individuals with whom the victim might come into contact in the daily course of their living activities. Although most employers have some kind of sexual harassment policies in place, it is often not taken seriously enough and the victims may have difficulty bringing their concerns to attention. What has come to light and what is important to remember when finding it difficult to understand the significance of true sexual harassment, is that it is very limiting to both male and female students and workers. In many ways, sexual harassment functions to restrict access to certain professions or educational paths based on nothing more than gender simply because those being harassed are not taken seriously or chose to flee rather than bring the offending behavior to attention. Despite the emphasis given to sexual harassment issues within the wor kplace, the patterns of harassment actually start much earlier, often in grade school.

Military's last barrier to Equality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Military's last barrier to Equality - Essay Example McSally therefore, justifiably argues that ban on women in combat should be repealed. The author, Martha McSally is a retired Air Force colonel who had led several combat positions and repeatedly proved that women are equal if not better than men in the area hitherto dominated by men. Indeed, many women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have even won silver medal for bravery in the field. They have proved their usefulness in various positions vis-a-vis at checkpoints for searching women and children for weapons, acting as agents under counterinsurgency strategy, going as frontline soldiers to kill enemies etc. But unfortunately, their meritorious actions have yet to be recognized as such in their own country of birth. They are still relegated to areas that are least equipped to exploit their huge potential as a military person in their home country. McSally is absolutely correct when she says that ‘current policy is a legal fiction, which not only degrades combat efficien cy, effectiveness and flexibility but confuses military commanders’. ... Women have not been the isolated cases where gender differences were used to subvert the rights of citizens. In the contemporary environment of sexual freedom, sexual equality has wider implications. The categorization of sexual preferences has resulted in people exhibiting homosexuality, gay or lesbian behavior. Thus, rights of such people have also come under lot of controversy. But recently, allowing homosexuals within the military services, President Obama has succinctly indicated that time for change has become a necessity. He has particularly emphasized that homosexuals’ contribution in military could significantly increase national security. Justice, fairness and equality must be enjoyed by all. But McSally is not impressed because the same has yet to be filtered down to encompass women who are still deprived of coveted positions in many areas of military services. Diversity within the workforce, especially related to sexuality of persons must be included at all levels of services. Equal opportunity has become a ground reality that must cut across gender. The patriarchal society has been the major factor that has consistently denied women their rightful place in the society. Their empowerment therefore, has become a major issue that must be addressed. While the constitution has been amended to facilitate their inclusion and gives them equal opportunities, the court of law has surprisingly been quiet in the matter of American military services where women are openly differentiated. The court’s intervention in the case of homosexuals is a positive step that should greatly influence the decisions of higher hierarchy of military services to ensure that army

Gulf War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Gulf War - Essay Example Today there are reports that US administration deceived the rest of the world, because the suppressed photographs of Russian network showed that there was absolutely no danger to oil supply by the Iraqi forces. The truth of this statement is yet to be established beyond doubt, although this war became the inception of the present Gulf War. Iraq had the world's 4th largest army with the elite 'Republican Guard'. It was widely assumed that Iraq used chemical weapons against Kurds and Iran. The contagious bacteria connected with the chemical weapons became a threat to the region. Even though now we are in the throws of another Gulf War, it should not be forgotten that the first Gulf War has left behind a trail in the form of Gulf War Syndrome. Most of the forces returned by the spring of 1991 to their home countries with apparent good health, other than the injuries of a few soldiers. Slowly self-reported, real or assumed health symptoms started emerging out. American, Canadian and British soldiers who served in the first Gulf War seemed to have developed certain common ailments after the war, which are generally termed as Gulf War Syndrome (GWS). The symptoms are varied, but if looked into, there is a common thread running in all of them. "These veterans "These veterans have been exposed to a variety of damaging or potentially damaging risk factors including environmental adversities, pesticides such as organophosphate chemicals, skin insect repellents, medical agents such as pyridostigmine bromide (NAPS), possible low-levels of chemical warfare agents, and multiple vaccinations in combinations, depleted uranium, and other factors" says a University Neurology Department paper of NHS Glasgow," http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgicmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9638279&dopt=Citation Many researches were conducted, findings of the clinical epidemiological studies were codified and now we have a remarkable knowledge of this syndrome that has bothered soldiers, their families and their physicians for a long time. With every new patient, old records were reviewed diligently. There were many studies that have tried to link them together so that one clear picture could emerge out of the entire problem. Soldiers were exposed to toxins, drugs, environmental hazards and many more risk factors and physicians feel that they have left behind strong negative affects on genetic and biological factors. Many of the researches have tried to find out the far reaching implications, including psychological affects left behind by the war. Some of them have questioned the safety level of the drugs used on soldiers as pain killers, or while treating the wounded soldiers. Some of the reviews have highlighted the importance of a combined approach, psychological as well as clinical while treating the problem. Emerging picture still is confusing and of little cohesion. It is also referred as "Chronic Multisystem Illness" according to Keiji Fukuda, in JAMA, Vol. 280, No. 11, September 16, 1998 (981-988). He had conducted well designed cross sectional survey of characters and symptoms with clinical evaluations, and research and he has arrived at the following conclusions: "Among currently active members of 4 Air Force populations, a chronic multisymptom condition was significantly associated with deployment

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 58

Marketing - Essay Example The wide variety of foods available at the restaurant in comparison to other restaurants in the regions will ensure that the customers are able to get the dish of their choice. Despite the Hispanic making the larger population of Denver, consideration on other groups of people is necessary to ensure that the business is welcomed by all. This has been addressed by ensuring that there is diversity of the dishes. In addition, since the languages mostly used in the region are Spanish and English, the employees are to be fluent in both languages, which will facilitate effective communication. This will ensure that all customers are fully satisfied with the service offered. In addition, consideration about demographics, age, education, and marital status is taken into account, as most of the frequent customers of restaurants in the region are youths and the unmarried. Considering this, it will be very easy to attract and maintain customers to the business. The environment of carrying out a business determines the success to be achieved. Operating in an environment in which the interaction between the business and the community is poor usually poses challenge to the business in achieving its set goals and objectives (Louche & Idowu, 2010). El Palenque business is ready to implement its corporate and social responsibilities, which will ensure that the relationship between it and the community is continuously strengthened. Moreover, through implementing its corporate and social responsibility, we will be able to get a better understanding of the customer’s specific needs which when implemented, will be beneficial to both parties. Although maintaining the corporate social responsibility will be challenging at the start of the business operations, El Palenque is dedicated in continuously improving its relationship with all the stakeholders. Since the business will be new in this region, challenges in entry are to be encountered. In addition,

Mythology in Contemporary Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mythology in Contemporary Culture - Essay Example Perhaps the most famous of mythologies in the world is the one that Ancient Greece created. While most mythologies in other parts of the globe dealt with the macabre, the mythology of Greece lavished in stories of love and honor. Unlike other gods, the Greek gods were like humans; with good and bad qualities. They often fell in love and sometimes felt jealousy and hatred. Roman mythology is not far from the Greek one since they derived their stories from them. They merely changed the names of the deities but the stories remained the same. Popol Vuh, on the other hand is a book that contains the records of the mythological narratives and lineage of the rulers of the Quich Maya kingdom of highland Guatemala. This paper deals with contemporary things that echoes the influence of mythology from past times. In writing this paper, we can learn some of the things that are still rooted to common mythology and its impact to society's everyday lives. One of the most enduring of all human practices that has to do with mythology is our use of them in naming heavenly bodies. Let's start off with the planets. The first planet from the sun is Mercury. In Roman mythology, Mercury (Hermes in Greek) is one of the twelve primary gods (Dodekatheon) that reside in Olympus. As messenger of the gods, he is known to be the swiftest of them. It is no wonder that the fastest planet would be named from the fleet-footed Mercury. Another of these planets is Venus, known as the morning star for its brightness. As the goddess of beauty, it is quite explicit that the most brilliant star would be named after her. Our very own planet Earth is personified as Gaea (mother earth). Long before the emergence of the gods, t he earth was inhabited by the Titans. Gaea was one of them and she is married to Uranus (the heaven). Uranus in turn is where the name of the seventh planet is derived. One of Gaea and Uranus' children is Saturn, often identified with the Greek deity Cronus (time). Saturn is also known as the god of agriculture. After it was foretold that one of his children will vanquish him, Cronus devoured each of them after they are delivered. His sixth child, Zeus (Jupiter) was saved by his mother. When Jupiter was strong enough, he saved his siblings from the dreaded body of Cronus and became the leader of the Gods. As the king of heaven and earth and the strongest of them all, it is just obvious for people of modern times to name after him the largest of the planets in our solar system. The fourth planet from the sun, known as Mars, is named after the Roman god of war. It is part of the mythology that Venus fell in love with Mars; thus popularizing the symbols and , which are the symbols of Venus and Mars respectively. It is not hidden knowledge that these are the symbols for the feminine and the masculine; and commonly these symbols complement each other, the way the two deities complement their selves. The eight planet is named after Neptune, the Roman god of the sea and he is the brother of Jupiter. The last planet in our solar system is the Pluto. A small, cold, dark, rocky planet, it's identity is still a mystery to most scientists. However, it is not a mystery to us that the planet is just aptly named since Pluto

Judaism Religion and Theology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Judaism Religion and Theology - Essay Example One reason is that the Essenes formed one of the greatest sects during that time of Christ, in which the Jews were divided. Judaism is the way of life, philosophy and religion of the Jewish people. One might be interested in being part of these separatist societies because of the uniqueness of these societies. The Essenes for example had no women and also had no money. These were believed to be the major causes of sin and were therefore forbidden from these societies. They only had palm trees as their companions. This saw many people who were tired of life being driven to these societies to adopt their interesting mannerisms. This paper will discuss â€Å"The Damascus Document† and the â€Å"Rule of the Community† expanding on why someone might have been interested in being a part of these separatist communities. One would therefore be interested in being part of these separatist societies because they were thought to have advantage over the weariness that comes with li fe. â€Å"The land of the Essenes was also very fertile and it attracted people to it†. Another factor that would make one to be interested in being part of these separatist societies, first, according to Josephus and Philo, the members of the sect numbered 4000. Judaism is a religious system whereby everyone is under the rule of God. This was because becoming a member of Essene sect for example was not easy to achieve. Only the male adults were allowed to join the group. The Essenes for example believed in living very simple lives.... There are a number of factors that made their ways of life appealing. First, their days began with prayer and they believed in purification after working in their various occupations. That is why they would assemble for ritual purification at the end of each day. â€Å"Followers had communal meals which were prepared by the priest† (Brownlee, 1982). These meals were served to each member in order of their status in the society but each member would wear special garments for these meals. They would return to work after these meals and later on reassemble for another meal. They often recited prayers together at sunset. Their unique mannerisms and ways of life made them to be different and they were separated from their fellow Jews. One can therefore desire to be like them because of their unique mannerisms (Trans, 1942). These societies overemphasized on ritual purity in the sense that they would purify themselves several times after relieving themselves for example, after worki ng, after being in contact with people who were not members of their societies and before meals. According to the rule of the community, the character of these communities such as that which required one to undergo thorough examination before being allowed to join the sects made them to be desirable and appealing. Such an examination process would last for almost two years before one became a fully fledged member. Their celibacy, community of property and theology were unique and made them to be different. The Jews are considered to be an ethno religious group. The members of these separatist societies such as the Essenes only worked in certain occupations such as crafts and agriculture. They avoided other occupations that were considered as not being pure. These

Relations Between East and West Germany in 1969 Essay Example for Free

Relations Between East and West Germany in 1969 Essay The relationship between the two states in Germany, FRG (West) and GDR (East) has improved drastically in recent times resulting in the restructuring of Germany. Though the basis of this reunification stems from the years between 1969-1974. These years where immensely important for the two Germanys and with the change of leaders for political parties, so to did the views change. Such as the introduction of Ostpolitik. There was also the continuation of control from the mother countries that these two nations represented. The two superpowers (USA and USSR) wanted improved relations in the late 1960’s to prevent an annihilation of an international scale – there where too many weapons the stakes where too high. Many people thought that the money used to develop these weapons could be put to better use, such as improving living conditions. First it is necessary to talk about Willy Brandt, who was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic as General Secretary of The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1971 until 1989. He had created the policy of Ostpolitik, which was aimed at improving the relations with the East. This was the first time that either one of the nations had stated any realisation of each other. They’re where many aims of Ospolitik of which its main goal was to strengthen the relations within the entire Eastern Bloc. It was to develop relations with the East and reduce the negative effects of Germany’s division. It used a policy of ‘rapprochement’ rather than a policy of strength, which was only possible due to the serious confrontation in 1962 between the USA and USSR after nuclear bases were found to have been installed in Cuba. This policy allowed both nations to be admitted into the United Nations after the signing of the Treaty of Moscow in August 1970, in which the FRG recognised the western boarders of Poland as well as stating that neither country had any territorial claims against each other. Willy Brandt was the driving force behind this offering of an ‘olive branch’ to East Germany. In March 1970, Brandt visited Willi Stoph (leader of the GDR’s Council of Ministers) in Erfurt, East German. This was the first ever meeting between senior government figures of the FRG and GDR and demonstrated that measures to develop better mutual relations were being taken seriously by both Germanys. This visit changed the views of the East German public as proven by their enthusiastic welcoming of Brandt. It gave them hope that life may improve now that they where recognised as a country. They even displayed a banner with the letter ‘Y’ on it to symbolise Willy Brandt apposed to Willi Stoph It also calmed tensions with the USA as the USSR viewed Brandt as a ‘good guy’ with whom they could do legitimate business. Although, the USA was worried that Brandt was acting of his own accord, they feared that they would lose control over the FRG and Brandt. Later that year in August he visited Moscow, the capital of Russia, which reinforced the idea of Ospolitik, it was something that Konrad Adenuer would never have done. Finally on his return journey he stopped off in Poland, which was heavily scared from the war when Germany invaded in 1939. His press stunt of stopping at a Jewish Memorial acted as a major step towards repairing relations. This could also be seen as a stepping stone for the dà ©tente of when Ospolitik did have its negative though such as, the loss of traditional support (eg. refugees) as the loss of territory in Poland caused quite an upset many calling it illegal and some went as far treason. In 1971 the GDR elected Erich Honecker as General Secretary. Erich had to respond to Brandt. He had a commitment to improve the relations. He made Western media legal in the GDR, the people could view TV and listen to radio freely – although newspapers where censored as this was the how the majority of East Germans received their news. There where significant improvements in the postal service and the telephone lines between West and East, there had been no official line linking the cities before. Finally, a new motorway was constructed from Hamburg to Berlin as part of the plan to improve its links with West Berlin. Though it helped people inside to travel around the GDR. This was again all due to the fact that the beginnings of Ospolitik and the four power agreement (an agreement that ensure what was known as a time of dà ©tente) had led to wider international recognition. Both Germanys had a applied for, and were accepted as, members of the United Nations. During the period of 1969 to 1974 over nighty countries officially recognised the GRD. They also were finally accepted by the USA. Now that both states recognised each other, in 1974 the first ever football match between the two states was held with the first round of the world cup. It ended with a 1-0 away win for the GDR. This was significant in the fact that it showed the world that communism was not necessarily a losing way. However, there where still many things wrong with the society between the two. Some parts of the relationship were still cold. Such as, the continued restriction of travel from the GDR. Travel from the GDR to West Berlin and West Germany remained tightly restricted. Despite having signed many agreements, the SED refused to comply with the human rights aspects of the 1975 Helsinki Accords, which were designed to ensure there was free travel from either country. Overall travel to the West was far more restricted from the GDR than that of Poland or Hungary. Apart from business meeting, sports matches and politicians, access to the West was made impossible to people of working age. This had to be implied or the East would have lost its whole work force to the West, at one point up to 250,000 people where leaving the country. If they didn’t prevent them their economy would have collapsed. In the 1970s, Erich Honecker rejected any aim of reuniting Germany. Instead, he focused on emphasising a policy of ‘demarcation’ to stress the differences between East and West Germany and to develop a clearer sense of the GDR’s own unique national identity. A new constitution in 1974 helped emphasise it as the true ‘German’ state and helped justify it as the only ‘anti fascist’ state that is organised on the basis of class-consciousness. The SED also promoted itself as the natural successor of Karl Marx and Engels, who, of course, were Germans. It also claimed that the FRG was too Americanised; many West German conservatives believe the same ironically. Finally, they stated that the GDR bore no responsibility for the war crimes that had been committed by Nazi Germany. Overall it is obvious that the policy of Ostpolitik was significant in that it led to a cooling of relations between East and West Germany, and between the Superpowers. It is debatable whether this alone led to the eventual reunification of Germany and its role in doing so is often overstated. Ostpolitik was in some ways limited in its impact and not supported by all. It did however mark a turning point as the FRG and GDR were prepared to recognise each other. All of this said, it is not the most significant in the development of relations- the initial events which divided Germany and the creation of a wall dividing the nation physically are far more important.

The training needs of HCL Technologies employees

The training needs of HCL Technologies employees In a business, Human Resource is one of the disciplines which drives business for competitiveness. To achieve this training is very important. Competent employees will not remain competent forever. Their skills can deteriorate; technology may make their skills obsolete; the organization may move into new areas, changing the type of jobs that exist and the skills necessary to do them. This reality has not been overlooked by management. In order to train the employees the training need analysis is a must for enabling them to provide quality services to the customers both inside and outside .In order to assess the training needs, it is also necessary to derive the job contents and job descriptions for each category and cadre in respect of Employees working in all the Departments. An analysis of training need is an essential requirement to the design of effective training. The purpose of training need analysis is to determine whether there is a gap between what is required for effective performance and present level of performance. WHY TRAINING NEED ANALYSIS? Training need analysis is conducted to determine whether resources required are available or not. It helps to plan the budget of the company, areas where training is required, and also highlights the occasions where training might not be appropriate but requires alternate action. Training Need arises at three levels: Corporate need and training need are interdependent because the organization performance ultimately depends on the performance of its individual employee and its sub group. ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL Training need analysis at organizational level focuses on strategic planning, business need, and goals. It starts with the assessment of internal environment of the organization such as, procedures, structures, policies, strengths, and weaknesses and external environment such as opportunities and threats. After doing the SWOT analysis, weaknesses can be dealt with the training interventions, while strengths can further be strengthened with continued training. Threats can be reduced by identifying the areas where training is required. And, opportunities can be exploited by balancing it against costs. For this approach to be successful, the HR department of the company requires to be involved in strategic planning. In this planning, HR develops strategies to be sure that the employees in the organization have the required Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes (KSAs) based on the future KSAs requirements at each level. COMPANY PROFILE HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services company, working with clients in the areas that impact and redefine the core of their businesses. Since its inception into the global landscape after its IPO in 1999, HCL focuses on transformational outsourcing, underlined by innovation and value creation, and offers integrated portfolio of services including software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management, engineering and RD services and BPO. HCL leverages its extensive global offshore infrastructure and network of offices in 26 countries to provide holistic, multi-service delivery in key industry verticals including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Consumer Services, Public Services and Healthcare. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of Employee First which empowers our 55,688 transformers to create a real value for the customers. HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidated revenues of US$ 2.5 billion (Rs. 11,822 crores), as on 21st December 2009 (on L TM basis). HCL is a $5 billion leading global technology and IT enterprise comprising two companies listed in India HCL Technologies and HCL Infosystems. Founded in 1976, HCL is one of Indias original IT garage start-ups. A pioneer of modern computing, HCL is a global transformational enterprise today. Its range of offerings includes product engineering, custom package applications, BPO, IT infrastructure services, IT hardware, systems integration, and distribution of information and communications technology (ICT) products across a wide range of focused industry verticals. The HCL team consists of over 62,000 professionals of diverse nationalities, who operate from 26 countries including over 500 points of presence in India. HCL has partnerships with several leading Global 1000 firms, including leading IT and Technology firms. While HCL Enterprise has a 20-year history, HCL Technologies is a relatively young company formed, nine years ago, in 1998. During this period, HCL has built unique st rengths in IT applications (custom applications for industry solutions and package implementation), IT infrastructure management and business process outsourcing, while maintaining and extending its leadership in product engineering. HCL has also built domain depth through a micro-verticalization strategy in industries such as Financial Services, Hi-tech and Manufacturing, Retail, Media and Entertainment, Life Sciences, and Telecom. HCL has created the ability to distribute value across the customers IT landscape through its well-distributed services portfolio, significant domain strengths, and locally relevant geographic distribution. HCL has the widest service portfolio among Indian IT service providers, with each of its services having attained critical mass. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: To study the training needs of the employees in order to increase the number of competent person and retain them in the organization. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: To bridge the gap between the actual and expected performance and behavior. To attain the level of performance this leads to the fulfillment of objectives. To increase the level of motivation among the employees in the organization. To develop their skills in interpersonal group communication. To develop potential knowledge and skills of the trainees to carry out defined tasks and responsibility. To assists in removing mental blocks, dispelling those doubts or misconceptions that may be preventing a participant from realizing the full range of his potential. NEED FOR THE STUDY We can identify several positive results that accrue from a well designed training program. Training efforts are consistent with and a natural extension of human resource planning. An analysis of training need is an essential requirement to the design of effective training. The purpose of training need analysis is to determine whether there is a gap between what is required for effective performance and present level of performance. Training need also develops the employee friendly work environment with high learning curve and leadership mentoring. Training need analysis is conducted to determine whether resources required are available or not. It helps to plan the budget of the company, areas where training is required, and also highlights the occasions where training might not be appropriate but requires alternate action. The need for training mainly to retain and promote employee who are strategic to the companies success. It leads to a strong sense of direction coupled with responsibility boosts motivational level and hence performance. The objective of this assessment is not that of selecting future promotes, but rather to help employees to improve their skills to achieve their performance. SCOPE OF THE STUDY To know the reasons for non-performance of employees. To create a platform for employees to fill the gaps in knowledge, competency, skill and experience. To create an opportunity for employees to interact with each other apart from job purposes. To consider as a change agent since management objectives are conveyed to the employees throughout the organization. To help in strengthening the team spirit. To help in applying knowledge, developing core competencies, and reducing work load. To help in developing focused and inspired staff. To know about the number of competent person and retain them in the organization. To know about employee satisfaction. To know about the growth opportunities of employee. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY It is not possible to conduct the perfect study because every study has its own limitations. Limitations of the study allow us to know, to what extent the findings can be generalized. In our study some of the limitations are: The study is limited to some particular unit of HCL. It is difficult to know whether the respondents opinion is exactly genuine as people perception may change from time to time. Since the study was during the time period of February 2010 TO March 2010, the findings may remain true for a certain period, after which it may not be applicable. Time was the main constrain. The research has to be completed within the stipulated time limit. Some information cannot be accessed due to its confidential nature. The employees are replied in a random number. 2.2 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION TABLE NO: 2.2.1 TABLE INDICATING AGE COMPOSITION OF THE RESPONDENTS OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS 7 6 25-25 25 29 26-45 44 27 >45 24 28 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: The above table shows that 6% of respondents are below 25, 29% of respondents are between 25-25, 27% of respondents are between 26-45 and 28% of respondents are above 45. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that majority of the respondents are between the age group of 26-45. FIGURE NO: 2.2.1 TABLE NO: 2.2.2 TABLE INDICATING GENDER COMPOSITION OF THE RESPONDENTS OPTIONS NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Male 109 91 female 11 9 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: The above table shows that 91% of the respondents are male and 9% of the respondents are female. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that majority of the respondents are male. FIGURE NO: 2.2.2 TABLE NO: 2.2.2 TABLE INDICATING THE WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE RESPONDENTS OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS 40 22 5 to 10 25 29 11 to 20 22 19 >20 22 19 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: It is found that 22% of the respondents are below 5years of experience, 29% of the respondents are 5-10 years of experience, 19% of the respondents are 11-15 years of experience and 19% are above 20 years of experience. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is found that majority of the respondents are having below 5 years experience. FIGURE NO: 2.2.2 TABLE NO: 2.2.4 TABLE INDICATING THE DESIGNATION OF THE RESPONDENTS OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Senior officer 22 19% Manager 24 28% Deputy manager 20 25% Assistant manager 22 28% Total 120 100 FINDINGS: The above table shows that 19% of the respondents are senior officer and 28% of the respondents are manager, 25% of the respondents are deputy manager and 28% of the respondents are assistant manager. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that majority of the respondents are manager and assistant manager in the organization. FIGURE NO: 2.2.4 TABLE NO: 2.2.5 TABLE INDICATING THE TYPE OF TRAINING PROGRAMME PROVIDED TO EXECUTIVES OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Class room training 89 74 Simulation exercises 5 4 Workshops and seminars 10 9 E-learning 11 9 Under study assignments 5 4 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: The above table shows that 74% of respondents are of opinion that class room training are provided to them during their training, 4% of the respondents referred simulation exercises are provided, 9% of the respondents referred workshops and seminars are provided, 9% of the respondents referred E- learning are provided and 4% of the respondents referred under study assignments are provided during their training programme.. INFERENCE: From the above findings it is inferred that majority of respondents referred class room training methods is provided to them during their training programme. FIGURE NO: 2.2.5 TABLE NO: 2.2.6 TABLE INDICATING THE INITIATOR OF TRAINING PROGRAMME IN THE ORGANISATION OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Supervisor 15 12 Employees 5 4 HR Department 92 77 External consultants 1 1 If others 7 5 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: From the above table it is found that 12% of the executives identified that their supervisor initiates the training programme, 4% of the executives identified that they themselves initiates the training programme, 77% of the executives identified that the HR department initiates the training programme, 1% executive identified that external consultant initiates the training programme,5% of the executives identified that other person will initiates the training in the organization. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that 77% of the executives identified that the HR department initiates the training programme in the organization. FIGURE NO: 2.2.6 TABLE NO: 2.2.7 TABLE INDICATING THE TYPE OF VISUAL AIDS USED IN TRAINING PROGRAMME OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Overhead projector transparencies 40 22 Board 20 17 Flip charts 5 4 Hand outs 6 5 Power point presentations 49 41 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: From the above table it is found that 22% of the respondents referred over head projectors are used in their training, 17% of the respondents referred boards are used as the visual aids in their training, 4% of the respondents referred flip charts are used in the training,5% of the respondents referred handouts are used in their training, 41% of the respondents referred power point presentations are used as the visual aids in their training INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that 41% of the respondents referred power point presentations are used as the visual aids in their training programme. FIGURE NO: 2.2.7 TABLE NO: 2.2.8 TABLE INDICATING THE EXTERNAL TRAINING PROGRAMME PROVIDED IN THE ORGANISATION OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Yes 116 97 No 4 2 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: The above table shows that 97% of respondents are of opinion that external training programme provided in the organization,2% of the respondents are of opinion that they are not accepting that statement.. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that 97% of the respondents say that the external training programme are provided to them in the organization. FIGURE NO: 2.2.8 INTERVAL ESTIMATION: CALCULATION: NEED FOR TEST: To find out whether any external training programme had provided to executives. Let p be the total no: of responses yes Let q be the total no: of responses No p===0.96 q=1-p=0.04 n=120 At 95% level of confidence z=1.96 CONCLUSION: It is concluded that at 95% confidence level of population proportion of external training programme provided in the organization and it lies between 0.85 and 0.995 that is 85% to 95%. TABLE NO: 2.2.9 TABLE INDICATING EFFECTIVE FACTOR OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Yes 116 97 No 4 2 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: From the above table it is found that 97% of the employees are of opinion that the training programme was found effective, 2% of the respondents are of opinion that they are not accepting that statement. INFERENCES: From the above findings it is inferred that 97% of the respondents say that training programme was found effective in the organization.. FIGURE NO: 2.2.9 INTERVAL ESTIMATION: CALCULATION: NEED FOR TEST: To find out whether the training programme was effective Ho: The training programme does not found effective. H1: The training programme found effective. Let p be the total no: of responses yes Let q be the total no: of responses No p===0.96 q=1-p=0.04 n=120 At 95% level of confidence z=1.96 CONCLUSION: It is concluded that at 95% confidence level of population proportion the training programme was found effective and lies between 0.85 and 0.995 that is 85% to 95%. TABLE NO: 2.2.10 TABLE INDICATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS Very high 28 22 High 60 50 Neither high nor low 20 25 Low 2 2 Very low 0 0 Total 120 100 FINDINGS: It is found that 22% of the respondents have very high level of expectations in the effectiveness of the training programme, 50% of the respondents have high level of expectations in the effectiveness of the training, 25% of the respondents have neither high nor low level of expectations in the effectiveness of the training, 2% of the respondents have low level of expectations in the effectiveness of the training programme. INFERENCES: it is inferred that 50% of the respondents have high level of expectations in the effectiveness of the training programme. FIGURE NO: 2.2.10 CALCULATION SHOWING PEARSONS CORRELATION TEST (Between effectiveness and satisfaction in the training programme) {Combining Table No 2.2.10and Table No.2.2.16} EFFECTIVENESS (X) SATISFACTION (Y) X2 Y2 XY 28 7 784 49 196 60 94 2600 8826 5640 20 16 900 256 480 2 2 4 9 6 X = 120 Y= 120 XY = 5288 X2 = 9150 Y2 =6222 Pearsons correlation coefficient(r) = = 0.886 r = 0.886 r value is positive and nearer to 1 FINDINGS: From the above table it is found that 50% of respondents feel the training was effective. INFERENCE: It is inferred that there exists high degree of relationship between effectiveness and satisfaction in the training programme. FINDINGS From the study it is found that majority of the respondent i.e.) 27% of the respondents have age composition of 26 to 45. From the present study it is found that the majority of respondents working in the organization i.e.) 91% of them are male. From the study it is found that majority of the respondents are having below 5 years experience in the organization. From the present study it is inferred that majority of the respondents are manager and assistant manager in the organization. From the study it is found that the most recent training programme attended by the respondents are information security, corporate etiquette, service training, six sigma and team building. 74% of the respondents have responded that the organization is providing class room training methods during training programme. It is found that 77% of the executives identified that the HR department initiates the training programme in the organization. From the present study it is found that 41% of the respondents referred power point presentations are used as the visual aids in their training programme. It is found that 97% of the respondents say that the external training programmes are provided to them in the organization. SUGGESTIONS Job rotation method of training is very useful to the executive persons for understanding job linkage with varied skills. Programmed instructions seminars will increase the knowledge of the executives Behavioural training programs like role playing are necessary to improve the psychological fitness of the executives so as to face any kind of problem at any stage. Some additional reinforcement programs can be conducted to chisel the skills of the executives to remain competent enough to face the challenges of the changing technological, social environmental factors. Training programs, which are necessary to improve the ethical values moral values of the executives should be conducted. Field study exposure to customers working place will be helpful for executives to improve their performance. Training programme should be conducted in a periodical manner and updations of our technical and on the job training is necessary for better performance and improves our efficiency. CONCLUSION In recent years, the important and role of training and development has increased manifold. More and more use of training and development is being made by all sections of the organization .These training programme has become a part of human resource development. Training is one of the main activities which change the behaviour of the people. Training has become essential part not only to increase the productivity but also to motivate and inspire workers. It increases the skills of the persons at all levels of the organization. Human resources are the life blood of any organization .This can be achieved through well trained personnel The training programme increases the performance of the members in the organization. It also increases the human relation skills. It also helps to stimulate creative thinking. Training plays a vital role in the organization performance. The training programme conducted by Berger Paints India LimitedIndia are satisfactory but still it should keep on conducting the training programme to the executives which will generate interest and create innovative ideas to take part in the training programme and in improving their knowledge skills along with their personality development. The training programme should be frequently conducted so as to improve efficiency of executives in the organization. Training leads to increase in morale among executives, better human relations, reduced supervisions, increased organizational viability and resilience, advancement in technology. Training need analysis arises because of the market slow down and executives attrition rate. 2.6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lead Poisoning In Children Health And Social Care Essay

Lead Poisoning In Children Health And Social Care Essay In 1988, the Agency for Toxic substances and Disease Registry released a report on lead poisoning giving health partners and stakeholders an overview of the adverse health effects of lead poisoning in children 6 months to 5 years of age. They found that about 2.4 million children nationwide (excluding other racial categories) living in metropolitan areas were at risk of lead exposure health effects using a blood-lead level of a maximum 15ug/dl acceptable standard. Higher blood-lead threshold levels were found in black children living in inner-cities as well as children from low income families. Another report in 1990 released by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) saw varying differences in lead exposure in children ranging from racial, economic (Perkins, 1992) and residential location. Based on this study, lead exposures were found to be higher in states of the Midwest (Wisconsin) and Northeast where most of the housing were very old. This doesnt mean states with larger amounts of relatively new housing dont suffer from lead exposure as found in Las Vegas where despite increase in new buildings, over 12,000 children making up 28% of the entire population has blood-lead levels exceeding 10ug/dl. Among the states of the Mid West of the USA, Wisconsin stands out as one that has over the years being at high risk of lead exposure. In a study carried out in 2006 by the Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (WCLPPP), lead exposure prevalence within the state stood at 2.6% in children tested under the age of 2 years. This was twice the national prevalence which stands at 1.4%. Lead exposure in children has been a major public health concern for over a century now. According to the CDC Surveillance Data of 1997-2006, the number of children being poisoned by lead in Wisconsin was greater than in other states, leading to serious health hazards with high financial burden to families especially low income families. In 2010, over 735 new cases of children w ith blood lead levels à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥10ug/dl were identified. In that same year the prevalence of lead poisoning in children tested in Milwaukee with blood lead levels à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥10 µg/dL stood at 3.4% which is 2.4 times the national average of 1.4%. Source: Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Public Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health; April 201 In the state of Wisconsin the prà ©cised number of children at risk of lead poisoning still remains unknown but in compliance with the Chapter 151 of Wisconsin statutes which requires that every physician reports any conformed or suspected cases of blood-lead poisoning, over 3265 children with blood lead concentrations of over 20ug/dl were reported to the Wisconsin Department of health between the periods of July 1992 to June 1993 (Schirmer, 1993). Based on the national estimate of 17% of blood lead poisoning, the Wisconsin Division of Health estimated that over 36000 children within the state were at high risk of lead poisoning (Schirmer, 1993). According to the Title XIX program also known as the HealthCheck program which makes blood-lead screening mandatory for all children between the ages of 2-6years (Hoffman, 1993), in 1992, , over 12,435 children were screened for blood lead poisoning based on the HealthCheck under the Wisconsin Medicaid program and of this number 2644 of the m had blood-lead levels à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 10ug/dl (Department of Health and Social Services, 1992). In 2006, 5% of enrolled children in Wisconsin public schools had at least a blood lead concentration above the normal value. In two separate studies carried out in 2000 and 2007, their resulting data showed that childhood lead poisoning accounted for about 88% of violent crime rates in the USA over several decades as could be seen in the rate of school disciplinary problems resulting to an increase in school dropouts, juvenile delinquency and even adult criminality. In the fall of 2006, it was estimated that one in every 20 children between the ages of one and two years who entered the Wisconsin school system had lead poisoning and below a third of these children who are at high risk of lead exposure have been screened for lead in their blood (WI DHS; 2008). Most of the children identified in Wisconsin to be at risk of lead poison accounting for over 90% lived in very old homes that were built before the 1950s. Lead poisoning is not just a serious problem here in the Milwaukee County but its a major problem in all the 72 counties statewide affecting children primarily. In a study carried out in 2006, it was estimated that over 75% of children known to be poisoned with lead lived in 266 out of all 1330 high risk census tracts in Wisconsin with over 200,000 homes built before 1950. Blood lead levels equal to or greater than 10micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dl) is regarded as a call for concern as set by the center for Disease Control (CDC) in 1991 (CDC, 1991) and in 2007, the CDC reaffirmed this level (CDC, 2007). These findings made law makers to look deeper into the issue of lead poisoning as a major cause of unusual societal behaviors (Nevin 2000; 2007). Based on this blood lead level, Wisconsin children with these levels are considered to be lead poisoned and this blood lead concentration has been used for surveillance purposes to help identify, treat and manage new cases (Wis. Stats 245.11 CDC Blood Lead Surveillance Data, 1997 2006). Sources of childhood lead poisoning Most of the routes of lead poisoning in children include inhalation, ingestion of soil (Harrison et al., 1981) or household dust and drinking water (Harrison et al., 1991) that has been contaminated with lead from old paintings flakes which occurs during when old houses are being renovated or through lead paint coated surfaces found in the kitchen, bathroom walls and windows of homes that were built before 1950. Most of these lead particles are extremely small and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Since its ban in 1978 in the USA, it has still been used to coat walls, frames of windows, doors, floors and ceilings of old homes and toddlers and other children are at risk of ingesting these surface fall offs reason why the CDC recommended lead testing and required by the federal Medicaid policy in children under 6 years (CDC, 2000). Lead poisoning within the state is a complex combination of the poverty, and low socio economic status of most families coupled with the old housing puttin g children at risk. However, other sources of lead exposure have been found in some consumer products which may pose a health risk to children and adults alike. They include toys, lunch boxes, and jewelries for kids, ceramics, candies as well as products made in China and Mexico. The state recommends that people stop buying these products, dispose of them or return them for a refund if bought. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention through the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled a list of these items with unsafe levels of lead some of which include toys, candies such as SINDOOR a coloring food product was recalled by the Food and Drug administration (FDA) 2007 after a series of test were conducted by the Illinois Department of Public Health found this product to have over 87% of lead. Lead poisoning and its Adverse Health effects Lead, is a naturally occurring element on earth whose chemical properties allow for its use in building construction. Its use dates back to about 3500BC (Needleman, 1990) when Romans started using it to make lead pipes and storage containers. It has been extensively used in many products such as paint, gasoline, and ceramic. Even though adults can suffer from lead poisoning it is much more severe in children. Despite the fact that its preventable its health impact is severe ranging from behavioral defects, delay in speech, hearing problems, poor performance at school, increased juvenile delinquency and in severe cases death. There is really no safe level of lead in our bodies as even very smaller amounts below the Wisconsin blood lead concentration could cause serious long term health effects such as a brain damage (Mendelson et al, 1998). Other strange behaviors exhibited by lead poisoned children include aggression and the tendency to become over active (Nevin 2000). Other studies have shown that lead exposure in children may cause kidney disease when they reach adulthood, diabetes and even memory loss as seen in Alzheimers disease and severe cases stroke and heart attack (Needleman 1990). It affects especially their brains and the central nervous system since both systems are still forming and low exposure could result in reduced IQ learning disabilities, stunted growth (Brubaker et al., 2009). Studies have shown that blood lead concentrations as low as 70ug/dl and as high as 100ug/dl can lead to encephalopathy in children which is linked to anorexia, decreased in activity, poor coordination, vomiting and aggressiveness and rapidly progresses to death (CDC 1991) Structure of Wisconsins Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs The Wisconsin Department of Health services (DHS) is in charge of all health programs and services that are geared towards promoting the protecting and promoting the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin. They carry out functions like assessment, policy development and advocacy. Of these programs is the WIC program which is a federally funded program under the child and youth services of the DHS. This program provides special supplemental nutrition to women, Infants and Children (WIC) in other to promote and maintain the health and wellbeing of pregnant women, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children. Children eligible for this program must be infants of up to a year or a child up to age 5 and whose parents are Wisconsin residents, be income eligible and have a health or nutrition needs. In the state of Wisconsin, children are required to be tested twice for lead in blood with the first testing taking place between 6-16 months of age and the second testing betw een 17-28 months. However within the DHS is the Wisconsin Division of Public health (DPH) which addresses three major lead hazard control programs namely the Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance (ABLES) program, Asbestos and Lead Certification Unit and Wisconsin Healthy Homes and Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. The ABLES program focus on monitoring laboratory based lead levels in blood of adults most due to occupational exposure while the Asbestos and Lead Unit program provides accreditation and certification programs for the Wisconsin DHS under the Chapter 254 Wisconsin statue provision as well as standard guidelines required for abatement activities within the state. There is also the Wisconsin Healthy Homes and Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (WHHCLPPP) which makes possible resources such as technical, financial and consultations to help stakeholders completely eliminate and treat childhood lead poisoning Funding for Lead poisoning control programs Increased pressure from the Wisconsin public lead to the creation of a federal law called the Title X Residential Lead-based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 with focus on the federal government taking a major role in lead poisoning prevention. This law requires that all housing programs have lead safety addressed in them. It also calls for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set up guidelines for lead safety to be executed by a well trained workforce and lastly it calls for all owners of private property to provide basic information with any possibilities of lead exposure hazards to home buyers or new tenants. It was not until 1991 when the CDC started funding lead poisoning preventions programs within the state of Wisconsin such as blood lead testing, managing serious cases as well as raising programs aimed at educating the public on the issue. This led to increase testing of Wisconsin children for lead poisoning with many new cases being identified an indication that ma ny local health department within the state lacked sufficient resources to facilitate follow-ups of lead poisoned cases or identify potential lead hazards in homes. These concerns and pressure from parents and other NGOs such as the March of Dimes and the Council of Developmental Disabilities pushed the Wisconsin State Legislature to implement state laws by providing more resources to help facilitate the work of the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) and other local health departments to effectively response to lead poisoning prevention programs and develop a good reporting system for blood lead test results in children. This saw an increase in funding for local health departments from zero dollars to $1.2 million each year which subsequently decreased to $879,100 because of certain cuts in the state budget. Wisconsin was amongst the 12 grantees in 1994 to receive a housing grant of $6 million to help fund projects aimed at fixing lead hazards such as eliminating dust c ontaining lead in old homes and screening children living in these homes. The project was a huge success as lead dust levels greatly reduced in homes and since then many cities within the state namely Milwaukee, Kenosha and Sheboygan have submitted grant proposals and received competitive grant funds aimed at control lead hazards programs in high risk homes. In February of 2011, the city of Milwaukee received a $4.5 million grants from the U.S department of Housing and Urban Development to help fund a program aimed at controlling lead hazards in two areas namely the citys North and South sides known to have a very high rate of childhood poisoning within the city covering over 900 city homes. The prevalence of lead poisoning in these areas peaked 7.1% causing a serious alarm to public health officials. In a press release on January 2011, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded over $127 million to some 48 projects nationally which focused on improving quality of lead paint based low income homes that served as a health hazard to its occupants. This grant would help clean up lead paint based hazards in over 11000 homes, increase public awareness on the issue as well as train more personnel in lead safety practices. The following is a breakdown of the grants Grant Program Funding Awarded Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program $66,600,000 Healthy Homes Initiative funding $2,300,000 Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program $48,000,000 Healthy Homes Production Grant Program $10,000,000 TOTAL $126,900,000 Wisconsin City of Milwaukee Health Dept LHRD $4,500,000 City of Sheboygan LBPHC $1,528,296 Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services HHP $1,000,000 HHP Healthy Homes Production, LBPHC Lead Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program (includes Healthy Homes Initiative supplemental funding, as applicable), LHRD Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program (Source: HUD, 2011 HUD No. 11-004) Ongoing Lead-based paint control programs In June 2004 the Phase 1 of the Wisconsin Childhood elimination strategic Plan was completed and this plan was developed by a diverse group of experts from the health field, the housing departments, government agencies and other community groups with the aim of eliminating childhood lead poisoning by 2010. This strategic work plan focus on achieving four main goals through the creation of these subcommittees namely; Education through which the general public will be aware of the problem within their community and how to protect children from lead exposure. Also parents and childcare providers would be educated about lead hazards through home visit. Policy makers and state legislators were to be educated on how much impact lead poisoning has in the community while addressing issues of neglect of the problem and what needs to be done to overcome some of this negligence which could be potentially costly. Property owners and construction contractors would be educated and provided with opportunities to maintain old homes while ensuring a safe work environment Lead hazard correction in homes with emphasis on identifying and analyzing some of the risk factors associated with lead poisoning while focusing resources on homes that were built before the 1950s as they pose a high risk of lead exposure. This goal focused on enforcing home owners so they can repair possible lead hazards in their buildings and to ensure a strong community engagement on the problem, incentives were to be provided to home owners who comply with all these regulations. Screening for lead poising in high risk groups through the provision of enough funds to help identify and evaluate children with risk of lead exposure as well as evaluate existing practices being performed by physicians and the barriers they may pose to families and healthcare providers in terms of providing blood lead screening to children. This goal also emphasized on the need for better data sharing and quality reporting like the STELLAR or the Wisconsin Immunization Registry among partners within the community so that children who are at risk of lead exposure are identified and tested Funding through the allocation of and resources and making available increased funding for lead hazard control in Wisconsin was a major priority. This funding would help local communities with high risk housing by investing in homes so that the financial burden of having to treat or manage children with lead poisoning will be less on the state. Phase 2 of the Wisconsin Elimination Plan is ongoing but in 2009 the sub committees in charge of Funding and Resources and Correcting Hazards in housing combined their efforts and all 3 existing committees now meet independently of the Implementation and Oversight Committee (IOC) and provide a progress report at each IOC meeting which usually meets 3 times a years (January, May and September). These meetings are aimed at evaluating progress made so far and identifying some of the challenges faced in the execution of some of the existing programs as well as make recommendations to the IOC for effective and efficient implementation. The IOC is made up of partners from the Wisconsin Division of public health, local councils, State departments of Hygiene and administration, community health centers as well as insurance companies. Within the city of Milwaukee, over 40 employees are involved in lead based prevention programs which provide resources and services to identified children at ri sk if lead poisoning and those with lead poisoning as well as programs geared towards prevention of lead poisoning before it even happens Huge Financial burden of lead poisoning in its impact on the state of Wisconsin The negative burden of lead poisoning to the community is the huge medical expenses in treatment and management of the health problem, increased health care premiums and increase in Medicaid expenses. Since childhood Lead Poisoning (CLP) often results to attention disorders and developmental delays (Canfield et al, 2003) in lead poisoned children, there is need for increased special education expenses for programs to help accommodate children with disabilities as well as programs to cope with juvenile delinquent lead poisoned children who are at high risk of dropping out from school and early teen pregnancies (Needleman, et al, 1990). It has been shown that most children who are poisoned by lead are thrice more likely to fail standardize test as well as being arrested for a criminal case as they transition into a young adult. Also, lead poisoned children at fourth grade where three times more likely to fail their reading tests compared to those with very minute amounts of lead exposu re (Miranda et al. 2007). The state spends an estimated $5 billion in school aids to children including a $375 million to assist children with special needs and a $1 billion for children who need corrects with most of these cost is attributed to lead poisoning. The number if children living in Wisconsin between the ages 0-6 is approximately 540,000 and if the state embarks on lead hazard control programs that aim at eliminating lead exposure in homes build pre 1950, it would save the state about $7 billion in direct cost with an increase in earnings of over $21 billion based on an analysis that was conducted in New Jersey that analyzed cost savings such as direct medical cost, special education, crime and juvenile delinquency, low rates of high school graduation and cost to state government (Muennin et al., 2009). The recommendation from the Wisconsin Childhood Elimination Plan and the Implementation and Oversight Committee (IOC) suggested an annual investment of $20 million would g o a long way to provide resources to help control lead pain hazards in over 2,000 pre-1950 homes annually. The state would safe over $28 billion in savings if all children between the ages of 0-6 years were protected from lead hazards which will further help lead to an increase in the graduation rate of the state as well as crime reduction (Muennin et al., 2009) In the spring of 2010, a Joint Resolution 65 was passed and approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature which called on the Implementation and Oversight Committee of the Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Elimination plan, a program within the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to provide report on the financial burden result from childhood lead poisoning been experienced through the states education and criminal justice systems resulting from juvenile delinquent risk behaviors that most children with lead poisoning are at high risk at encountering at some stage in their lives which will help policy makers and state officials make financial resources and other logistics available to address lead paint hazards as well as create a widespread community awareness campaign program which makes loans available to home owners of house build pre 1950 thus reducing lead hazard risk. This report was delivered to the State legislature on December 30th of that year. This joint resolution gai ned several approval from state agencies such as Departments of Public Instruction, Children and Families, Corrections Division of Juvenile Correction, the Wisconsin Court System and State Prosecutors Office with the creation of a committee that helps gather relevant data which will help stakeholders within the state to better evaluate the cost due to lead poisoning and ways to completely eliminate lead hazards in homes. In a 2006 study, over 80,000 young children are estimated to be living in lead paint hazards in Wisconsin and if the state focuses more on protecting families from exposure, we would be saving over $40,000-50,000 for each under the age of six giving us a estimated savings of over $3.6 billion (Jacobs and Nevin, 2006). Lead Testing and Reporting To increase blood lead testing coverage within the state of Wisconsin, four main Medicaid managed Care organizations teamed up with state and local WIC agencies in 2010 and together donated a quick three minute LeadCare II testing instrument approved by the CDC with the overall aim to improve on the blood lead testing levels in children at risk. These organizations also gave WIC staff access to the electronic reporting system that exists within the state as well as resources to follow up children who showed high levels of lead in blood. Within the city of Milwaukee, the WIC program is the only program that has got direct access to the STELLAR (State Blood-Lead Reporting System) and the WIR (Wisconsin Immunization Registry) and this enables them to enter data correctly which is required for state and federal reporting compliance. This system also helps WIC staff to easily identify children who have not been tested for blood lead and follow-up with them to get tested as well as follow up with cases that show elevated levels of lead in their blood. With the donation of 10 LeadCare II analyzers as well as 20 test kids in 2010 in all 10 WIC clinics within the state of Wisconsin, the program has witnessed over 41% increase in the number of WIC children tested for lead in blood in the city of Milwaukee. Children enrolled in the WIC program receive two rapid tests namely an Iron and blood lead test using a finger stick. Over 139 children in 2009 tested positive for high levels of lead in their blood samples giving a 300% increase in lead poisoning cases when compared to the previous 2 years due to the fact that most of the children living in high risk urban areas who were now being tested had previously been missed. Since 2006, Medicaid health care providers have received an annual Blood Lead Testing developed through collaboration with the Wisconsin Medicaid Program and the Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. The individualized reports summarize the blood lead testing data for children under age 6 within each providers practice. In addition providers received a list of untested children in their practice to facilitate follow-up to ensure these children get tested. It is normally required that children be tested for lead poisoning at ages 1 and 2 and since most of them are not tested at those early ages because of lack of follow-up, it is mandatory that they get at least a test between the ages of 3 to 5 years. For example in 2007, over 2,049 children with blood lead levels of greater than or equal to 10mcg/dL were identified within the state and almost two thirds of children eligible for the Medicaid program entering the Wisconsin school system that fall have not properly tes ted even though 88% of children eligible for Medicaid which covers blood lead poisoning were enrolled that year. (Data is from Individual Medicaid Providers for period of July 1, 2006 through June 30 2007 (SFY07) Collaborative Partnerships There are some NGOs within the state that are focused on raising awareness through community leadership on lead poisoning and one of them is the Milwaukees Hmong American Friendship Association (HAFA) through its Parents Against Lead (PAL) alliance. Its made up of neighbors, parents and other passionate individuals who have come together to collectively eliminate childhood lead poisoning. Being a great partner with city of Milwaukee Health Department, they have promoted lead abatement activities in families living in pre 1950 homes as well as amongst home owners on how to eliminate possible lead hazard within the city. Another community based group working within the community is the Sherman Park Community Association (SPCA), a group of over 167 residents who come together during a cold Winter day and have breakfast with Santa Claus as a way to bring communities together and educate them on the work they do including a window repair/replacement program with emphasis on lead based pai n hazard. Advocacy and Public Policies The presence of GIS Maps within each Wisconsin legislative district identifying areas with Lead poisoning is now available and from this data no place within the state is free from lead poisoning with more cases in communities with old housing. As part of the Healthier People 2020 Public Health plan, the state of Wisconsin through the U.S Department of Health Services, EPA, HUD, Energy and the CDC came together during the 2011 National Healthy Homes Conference which brings partners, leaders and experts from the public and private sector to discuss on how to improving on housing conditions and making them safe from lead paint based hazard and environmentally sustainable. However, certain rules and number of statutes that regulate activities geared towards lead hazard control have been approved within the State and these rules protect residential areas, tenant/landlord agreements, drinking water facilities, lead hazard reduction and the manner in which blood lead results are reported. They include the Wisconsin statute Chapter 254 which lays emphasis on detection, treatment and response to lead hazards. In Wisconsin, a number of statutes and rules have been enacted to regulate activities having to do with hazards due to lead-based paint and include residential facilities, worker protection, landlord and tenant agreements, housing sales, lead hazard reduction, drinking water, reporting of blood lead test results and public health response to lead poisoning. There is the Wisconsin Statute Chapter 704 which outlines conditions in which tenants could move without having to face any liabilities from health hazards such as lead. We have the Statue Chapter 709 which requires that owners of residential real estate make certain disclosures about their property. Amongst the administrative rules is the DHS 163 which requires people such as contractors to get certification for identification, removal and reduction of Lead-based paint which was amended in 2009 and the DHS 181 which allows for quality reporting of blood lead test results. Assessment Performance of Childhood Poisoning in Wisconsin The State department of Health and Services is charged with the collection, evaluation and sharing information concerning the incidence of lead poisoning in risk populations and communities while the local health departments within the state would maintain a local surveillance system that gives the population an idea of the prevalence and trends of testing and making this information available to the state Department of Public health and other stakeholders. A tracking system to effectively monitor children at risk and those with very high blood levels would be maintained and made available to the department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) through the WCLPPP. The local health departments trough the support of state agencies of Public health would develop protocols and procedures to better monitor the screening of children at risk of lead poisoning and well as provide clinical and educational resources for better programming and reporting Lead Prevention and Control Lead poisoning is preventable if the necessary precautions are well respected one of which is the lead abatement of homes. The primary way to protect Wisconsin children from lead exposure is by stabilizing all cracked, deteriorating, peeled or flaking paint in old homes, replacing very old windows, fixing roofs with and other leaks, while making sure that the window sills and floors remain smooth hence eliminating major sources of lead exposure. Other precautionary measures include re-painting on interior surfaces with no friction such as ceiling, walls but surfaces that are susceptible to friction or bad weather should not be repainted. All the above precautions are carried out through a process called Lead abatement which refers to any action by and individual (a certified lead abatement contractor), the state or a company to effective minimize lead exposure by permanently eliminating or removing lead-based paint or dust lead hazards or any possible lead containing object or surfac e in response to orders from the state or the local council. The Milwaukee Health Department is charged with giving orders so that homes identified within the community to be at risk of lead exposure are lead abated and this requires either voluntary consent from the owner of the property or through a Court order in case the home owner doesnt comply with orders from the Health department to allow his property to be abated. Conclusion Despite the huge progress in reducing childhood lead poisoning rate within the city of Milwaukee, the number of children been identified with lead poisoning is still on the rise within the state and it has surpass the national average. In 2009, the state prevalence of lead poisoning was 1.5 and in Milwaukee alone, of all the children tested for lead poisoning 4.4% of them had blood lead levels greater than 10ug/dl. More work is needed in this fight despite the progress mad

Albert the frog :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Albert   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Albert lived in a can. He was a frog that lived in a large coffee can. You may say to yourself, coffee cans are rather minute, but you must know one thing to answer this pondering, Albert is simply a small frog that doesn’t need a large home. One day he stopped sleeping and realized that he was In a puddle of water. Albert doesn’t like water even though he is a frog. He screamed and yelled a lot. He then woke up and realized it was a dream but there was a cat standing above his can that was about to pounce. With a lightning fast thought, Albert grabbed his water jug and hopped as fast as he could into a thicket. Albert did not know what a thicket was or why he jumped into one but he started to walk like a frog, due to him being a frog. On his daily walk towards the little creek were he fills his water jug he saw a curious-looking spotted object and concluded that he should hop over to it so he did. Once he got closer he realized it was a 1 foot tall mushroom. Albert’s favorite kind too! The ones with orange spots and blue stems. Since Albert did not have time to eat some flies for breakfast due to the cat trying to kill him, he decided to treat himself to a mushroom pie. Albert did know how to make wonderful mushroom pies. He sat upon a log and started a small little campfire on which to cook the mushroom. He went and grabbed a huge chunk off of the mushroom and plopped it on the on the pan as he nibbled on a smaller chunk. Albert became upset when his mushroom pie melted instead of turning into bread, which mushrooms tend to do this time of year. Albert drank the soupy slime from the pan and was on his way. Due to Albert being tired from all of the excitement he sat atop of a huge bed he found in the forest. When he woke up it was dark out. Albert was very worried due to his need to fill his water jug so he continued looking for the creek. Even though his luck was down Albert was happy due to the fact that his favorite song was being played by the trees.

Tundra swan :: essays research papers

TUNDRA SWAN The Tundra Swan is the most widespread and numerous species of swan in North America. Though the Tundra Swan is mostly found in Alaska or Canada, many flocks are now beign spoted in Oregon. Tundra swans, once called whistlers, are winter visitors to Oregon. More and more are now seen in the Willamette Valley and along the Columbia River northwest of Portland. With a wingspread to about 7 feet, males weigh around 20 lbs. Tundras vary in size from 4 to 4 1/2 ft. long. Females are slightly smaller than males. Sometimes tundras are mistaken for snow geese which are much smaller birds with black wing tips. You can certainly tell a Tundra Swan from their bill. It is all black bill with variably-sized yellow spot at base. Some swans have short, duck-like bills... but the Tundra Swan has a long, strait bill. Imature Tundra Swans have a body much grayer than an adult. Males are called cobs while females are called pens. When nesting, Swans gather and pile up grass and mosses within 100 yards of water. The resulting nest measures about 6 feet across and 12-18 inches high. This nest will support the eggs above water level and provide a lookout station for the swans to guard against predators. During incubation, females care for the eggs while their mates stand guard nearby. The female does most of the incubation, but the male will sit on the nest while she eats. The nest varies from 2-8 rough shelled, pale yellow or creamy/ white eggs which hatch in late June. When the downy, ash-gray chicks emerge... they weigh about 180 g. They are soon able to forage for themselves. Both parents help them find suitable plant food around the peramiters of the nest. The young enter the water soon after hatching. Food for the tundra swans is largely vegetative. Their long necks equip them to reach bulbous roots which they dislodge with their feet from the bottom of the shallow ponds. Occasionally they will feed on farm crops. While wintering on the east coast, they also feed on mollusks and crustaceans. While the flock is feeding one swan stands guard to warn of any approaching danger. To achieve flight, swans face the wind, run along the surface of water for 15 to 20 feet, flap their wings, and beat the water with their feet alternately until they have gained sufficient headway to launch into the air.

Multicultural Educational System Essay -- Multiculturalism Education C

Multicultural Educational System Historically, The United States has been a racially and ethnically a diverse nation. Since Americans represent a variety of cultures and have a variety of viewpoints, we share many cultural traditions, values, and political ideals that cement us together as a nation. Children can develop their ideas and their identity at early stages in schools. Education should stress the value of diversity and avoid portraying one culture or group as superior to others. A multicultural educational system would not only educate the students in a classroom, but also enrich the teacher and society. The definition of multiculturalism is education that focuses on providing equal opportunity for students who’s cultural or language patterns make it difficult for them to succeed in traditional programs. (Oxford) Some discuss multicultural education as a shift in curriculum, perhaps as simple as adding new and diverse materials and perspectives to be more inclusive of traditionally underrepresented groups. Others talk about classroom climate issues or teaching styles that serve certain groups while presenting barriers for others. Still others focus on institutional and systemic issues such as tracking, standardized testing, or funding discrepancies. Some go farther still, insisting on education change as part of a larger societal transformation in which we more closely explore and criticize the oppressive foundations of society and how education serves to maintain the foundations such as white supremacy, capitalism, global socioeconomic situations, and exploitation. The melting pot theory is the Americanization process brought about by teaching everybody English and American social ideals from European Ethnic Cu... ... 30, 2004 Levine, Daniel U. (1997) Foundations of Education, Education in Culturally Diverse Society. Pages 159-170, 535. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston Meacham, Jack (2003) Student Diversity in classes and Educational Outcomes: Student Perceptions, Pages 627 retrieved from Eric Journal September 30, 2004 Ryan, Francis. (1993) The Perils of Multiculturalism, Educational Horizons, spring, pgs 134-138 Sternberg, Robert J. (2002) Educational Psychology, Group Differences, The Big Picture. Pages 191-225 Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Shorter Oxford English dictionary (5th ed.). (2002). New York: Oxford University Press. Viadero, D. Increased choice found to have modest impact on school improvement. Edweek. Retrieved Nov 7,2004 from Edweek.com Watkins, William. (1994) Multicultural Education... Educational Theory, v. 44, no. 1, winter, esp. pp. 99-110

Critics on Cooperative Principle Essay

As phrased by Paul Grice, who introduced it, it states, â€Å"Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. â€Å"[1] Though phrased as a prescriptive command, the principle is intended as a description of how people normally behave in conversation. Speakers and listeners involved in conversation are generally cooperating with each other. For reference to be successful, it was proposed that collaboration was a necessary factor. In accepting speaker’s presuppositions, listeners normally have to assume that a speaker who says his something really does have that which is mentioned and isn’t trying to mislead the listener. This sense of cooperation is simply one in which people having a conversation are not normally assumed to be trying to confuse, trick, or withhold relevant information from each other. In most circumstances, this kind of cooperation is only the starting point for making sense of what is said. Since conversations between people are not always straight forward, the linguistic philosopher H. P. Grice attempted to explain how a hearer gets from what is said to what is meant, from the level of literally expressed meaning to the level of implied meaning and he termed the implied meaning conversational implicature in his theory. Grice suggests that there is a general principle guiding conversation what he calls the Cooperative Principle (CP for short), and communicators observe the general conversational maxims of truthfulness, informativeness, relevance and clarity within the CP, according to the four main maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation and Maner. When the listener hears the expression, he has to assume that the speaker is being cooperative and intends to communicate something. That something must be more than just what the words mean. It is an additional conveyed meaning, which is an implicature. People who obey the cooperative principle in their language use will make sure that what they say in a conversation furthers the purpose of that conversation. Obviously, the requirements of different types of conversations will be different. The cooperative principle goes both ways: speakers (generally) observe the cooperative principle, and listeners (generally) assume that speakers are observing it. This allows for the possibility of implicatures, which are meanings that are not explicitly conveyed in what is said, but that can nonetheless be inferred. For example, if Alice points out that Bill is not present, and Carol replies that Bill has a cold, then there is an implicature that the cold is the reason, or at least a possible reason, for Bill’s absence; this is because Carol’s comment is not cooperative — does not contribute to the conversation — unless her point is that Bill’s cold is or might be the reason for his absence. (This is covered specifically by the Maxim of Relevance). We assume that people are normally going to provide an appropriate amount of information. We assume that they are telling the truth, being relevant, and trying to be as clear as they can. Listeners and speakers must speak cooperatively and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way. The cooperative principle describes how effective communication in conversation is achieved in common social situations. However, there are some circumstances where speakers may not follow the expectation of the cooperative principle. In courtrooms and classrooms, witnesses and students are often called upon to tell people things which are already well known to those people, thereby violating the quantity maxim. Such specialized institutional talk is clearly different from conversation. However, even in conversation, a speaker may opt out of the maxim expectations by using expressions like ‘No comment’ or of such expressions is that, although they are typically not â€Å"as informative as is required† in the context, they are naturally interpreted as communicating more than is said. For example, the speaker knows the answer. It is speakers who communicate meaning via implicatures and it is listeners who recognize those communicated meanings via inference. The inferences selected are those which will preserve assumption of cooperation. In the theory of conversational implicature, Grice proposes that in an exchange of conversation, there is an underlying principle that determines the way in which language is used maximally effectively and efficiently to achieve rational interaction. He calls this governing dictum the co-operative principle and subdivides it into nine maxims classified into four categories. The co-operative principle: Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged. He suggests that there is an accepted way of speaking which we all accept as standard behaviour. When we produce, or hear, an utterance, we assume that it will generally be true, have the right amount of information, be relevant, and will be couched in understandable terms. If an utterance does not appear to conform to this model (e. g. B’s utterance in (1) above), then we do not assume that the utterance is nonsense; rather, we assume that an appropriate meaning is there to be inferred. In Grice’s terms, a maxim has been flouted, and an implicature generated. Without such an assumption, it would not be worth a co-interactant investing the effort needed to interpret an indirect speech act. This is the standard basic explication of the CP, maxims and implicatures1. At this point, many descriptions immediately turn to detailed explanations of the many ways in which the operation of the CP can be tracked in language use: flouts, violations, infringing and opting out. However, in this mass of detail, Grice’s underlying ideas are too often lost. Taylor & Cameron (1987:83) stand alone in making this point: â€Å"Few commentators pause to consider Grice’s avowed motive for introducing the CP. Instead they rush on to consider the various maxims which are subordinate to it. † All the examples of flouts, violations and opting out are there to further illustrate the distinction between saying and meaning: an interest which has been evident in the Gricean program since Grice (1957), and to show that there is a pattern in the way we interact. There is a relationship between the conventional meaning of an utterance and any implicit meaning it might have, and it is calculable. What Grice (1975) does not say is that interaction is ‘cooperative’ in the sense which is found in the dictionary. In fact, as we have suggested in Davies (1997), it could be argued that the existence of this pattern of behaviour enables the speaker to make the task of the hearer more difficult. Speakers can convey their intentions by a limitless number of utterances, it is up to the hearer to calculate the utterer’s intention. It would seem from this that the CP is not about making the task of the Hearer straightforward; potentially, it is quite the reverse. It allows the speaker to make their utterance harder, rather than easier, to interpret: we can omit information or present a non-literal utterance, and expect the Hearer to do the extra work necessary to interpret it. We would suggest that there is a conflict between the way we interpret the CP’s position in the Gricean program, and the way it is often represented in the linguistic literature. Grice suggests that conversational implicatures- roughly, a set of non-logical inferences that contains conveyed messages which are meant without being said in the strict sense – can arise from either strictly and directly observing or deliberately and ostentatiously flouting the maxims. Furthermore, he distinguishes between those conversational implicatures which arise without requiring any particular contextual conditions and those which do require such conditions. He calls the first kind generalised conversational implicatures and the second kind particularised conversational implicatures. Grice also points out that conversational implicatures are characterised by a number of distinctive properties, notably (i) cancellability, or defeasibility (conversational implicatures can simply evaporate in certain linguistic or non-linguistic contexts), (ii) non-detachability (any linguistic expression with the same semantic content tends to carry the same conversational implicature (a principled exception is those conversational implicatures that arise via the maxim of Manner)), (iii) calculability (conversational implicatures are calculable via the co-operative principle and its attendant axims), (iv) non-conventionality (conversational implicatures, though dependent on what is coded, are non-coded in nature), (v) reinforceability (conversational implicatures can be made explicit without producing too much redundancy) (Sadock 1978), and (vi) universality (conversational implicatures tend to be universal, being motivated rather than arbitrary) (see Sadock 1978 for a critique and Nunburg 1981 for a defense). Recent advances on the classic Gricean theory of conversational implicature include Atlas & Levinson (1981), Leech (1981, 1983), Sperber & Wilson (1982, 1986), Levinson (1983, 1987a, b, 1991), Horn (1984, 1988, 1989, 1992) and Atlas (1989). 2 In these new developments, the original Gricean programme has been revised in somewhat different ways. Sperber and Wilson, for example, in an attempt to make a paradigm change’ (Kuhn 1970) in pragmatics, propose that the entire Gricean apparatus be subsumed within a single cognitive principle, namely the principle of Relevance. On this Relevance theory, which is essentially a modification of the Fodorian theory of cognitive modularity (Fodor 1983),3 it is assumed that the human central cognitive mechanism works in such a way as to maximise Relevance with respect to communication, that is, ‘communicated information comes with a guarantee of [R]elevance’ (Sperber & Wilson 1986: vii). Thus, the principle of Relevance is claimed to be responsible for the recovery of both the explicit and implicit content of an utterance. In other words, on Sperber and Wilson’s view, in interpreting an utterance, one is always maximizing the informational value of contextual stimuli to interpret the utterance in a way which is most consistent with the principle of Relevance. Horn suggests a less reductionist, bipartite model. In Horn’s view, all of Grice’s maxims (except the maxim of Quality) can be replaced with two fundamental and antithetical principles: the Quantity principle and the Relation principle. These maxims may be better understood as describing the assumptions listeners normally make about the way speakers will talk, rather than prescriptions for how one ought to talk. Philosopher Kent Bach writes: We need first to get clear on the character of Grice’s maxims. They are not sociological generalizations about speech, nor are they moral prescriptions or proscriptions on what to say or communicate. Although Grice presented them in the form of guidelines for how to communicate successfully, I think they are better construed as presumptions about utterances, presumptions hat we as listeners rely on and as speakers exploit. (Bach 2005). Gricean Maxims generate implicatures. If the overt, surface meaning of a sentence does not seem to be consistent with the Gricean maxims, and yet the circumstances lead us to think that the speaker is nonetheless obeying the cooperative principle, we tend to look for other meanings that could be implied by the sentence. Grice did not, howev er, assume that all people should constantly follow these maxims. Instead, he found it interesting when these were not respected, namely either â€Å"flouted† (with the listener being expected to be able to understand the message) or â€Å"violated† (with the listener being expected to not note this). Flouting would imply some other, hidden meaning. The importance was in what was not said. For example: Answering It’s raining to someone who has suggested playing a game of tennis only disrespects the maxim of relation on the surface, the reasoning behind this ‘fragment’ sentence is normally clear to the interlocutor (the maxim is just â€Å"flouted†). Criticism Grice’s theory is often disputed by arguing that cooperative conversation, as with most social behavior, is culturally determined, and therefore the Gricean Maxims and the Cooperative Principle cannot be universally applied due to intercultural differences. Keenan claims that the Malagasy, for example, follow a completely opposite Cooperative Principle in order to achieve conversational cooperation. In their culture, speakers are reluctant to share information and flout the Maxim of Quantity by evading direct questions and replying on incomplete answers because of the risk of losing face by committing oneself to the truth of the information, as well as the fact that having information is a form of prestige. [3] However, Harnish points out[4] that Grice only claims his maxims hold in conversations where his Cooperative Principle is in effect. The Malagasy speakers choose not to be cooperative, valuing the prestige of information ownership more highly. It could also be said in this case that this is a less cooperative communication system, since less information is shared) Another criticism is that the Gricean Maxims can easily be misinterpreted to be a guideline for etiquette, instructing speakers on how to be moral, polite conversationalists. However, the Gricean Maxims, despite their wording, are only meant to describe the commonly accepted traits of successful cooperative comm unication. Geoffrey Leech created the Politeness maxims: tact, generosity, approbation, modesty, agreement, and sympathy. Flouting the Maxims Without cooperation, human interaction would be far more difficult and counterproductive. Therefore, the Cooperative Principle and the Gricean Maxims are not specific to conversation but to verbal interactions in general. For example, it would not make sense to reply to a question about the weather with an answer about groceries because it would violate the Maxim of Relevance. Likewise, responding to a question with a long monologue would violate the Maxim of Quantity. However, it is possible to flout a maxim intentionally or unconsciously and thereby convey a different meaning than what is literally spoken. Many times in conversation, this flouting is manipulated by a speaker to produce a negative pragmatic effect, as with sarcasm or irony. One can flout the Maxim of Quality to tell a clumsy friend who has just taken a bad fall that her gracefulness is impressive and obviously intend to mean the complete opposite. The Gricean Maxims are therefore often purposefully flouted by comedians and writers, who may hide the complete truth and manipulate their words for the effect of the story and the sake of the reader’s experience. Speakers who deliberately flout the maxims usually intend for their listener to understand their underlying implication. In the case of the clumsy friend, she will most likely understand that the speaker is not truly offering a compliment. Therefore, cooperation is still taking place, but no longer on the literal level. Conversationalists can assume that when speakers intentionally flout a maxim, they still do so with the aim of expressing some thought. Thus, the Gricean Maxims serve a purpose both when they are followed and when they are flouted.