Scopist

Scopist Scopist Scopist By Maeve Maddox I received an email from a reader who is a scopist. The reader suspected that the title might be unfamiliar to me and kindly explained it: scopist/notereader for a court reporter. I was grateful because I’d never heard the word scopist before. Naturally I wanted to know more, so I looked the word up in the OED; it wasn’t there. Then I looked in Merriam-Webster Unabridged, but it wasn’t there either. Since it is a court-related occupation, I looked it up in a legal glossary and on a legal job site. Still nothing. Finally, a general Web search brought me to a definition in Wikipedia: A scopist edits the transcripts of official proceedings, created by court reporters. The word is recorded in the Ngram Viewer database, so I don’t understand why it isn’t in the OED; since the 1980s the word has been climbing in frequency of use. My only acquaintance with court transcripts is from my research into the life and career of Joan of Arc. The scribes at Joan’s trial copied down the proceedings, proofed them for omissions and errors, and then put the transcript in its final form. In Joan’s case the transcripts were falsified afterwards, but that was in the bad old Middle Ages. Apparently today’s court reporters aren’t expected to do the entire job themselves, probably because the courts are busier, and reporters don’t have time to correct their own work. More from Wikipedia: Scopists receive the rough copies of transcripts [typed by the court reporters], check the transcript for missing words or mistakes, edit grammar and punctuation, ensure that proper names and technical or scientific terms are spelled correctly, and format the transcript properly before delivering the transcript back to the court reporter. According to the job description, Scopists need excellent grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and research skills, as well as good knowledge of legal terminology, medical terminology, and transcript production. They are typically voracious readers, gatherers of eclectic knowledge, and adept users of technology. The job of scopist sounds like a perfect fit for a language lover. As for the question asked by the scopist who introduced me to the word, see â€Å"Hyphenating Prefixes.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†Yay, Hooray, Woo-hoo and Other AcclamationsParticular vs. Specific

4th Grade Lesson Plan for Expanded Notation

4th Grade Lesson Plan for Expanded Notation Students will create, read, and decompose large numbers. Class 4th Grade Duration One or two class periods, 45 minutes each Materials: paper or large note cards numbered 0 - 10 (enough for the whole class)chalkboard, whiteboard, or overhead projector Key Vocabulary place value, ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, expanded notation (or expanded form) Objectives Students will demonstrate their understanding of place value to create and read large numbers. Standards Met 4.NBT.2 Read and write multi-digit whole numbers using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form. Lesson Introduction Ask a few volunteer students to come to the board and write down the largest number that they can think of and read aloud. Many students will want to put endless numerals on the board, but being able to read the number aloud is a more difficult task! Step-by Step Procedure: Give each student a sheet of paper or large note card with a numeral between 0 - 10.Call two students up to the front of the class. Any two students will work as long as they are not both holding a 0 card.Have them show their numerals to the class. For example, one student is holding a 1 and the other is holding a 7. Ask the class, â€Å"What number do they make when they stand next to each other?† Depending on where they are standing, the new number is 17 or 71. Have students tell you what the numbers mean. For example, with 17, the 7 means 7 ones, and the 1 is really 10.Repeat this process with several other students until you are confident that at least half of the class has mastered the two-digit numbers.Move on to three digit numbers by inviting three students to come to the front of the class. Let’s say that their number is 429. As in the above examples, ask the following questions:What does the 9 mean?What does the 2 mean?What does the 4 mean?As students answer t hese questions, write the numbers down: 9 20 400 429. Tell them that this is called â€Å"expanded notation† or expanded form. The term â€Å"expanded† should make sense to many students because we are taking a number and expanding it into its parts. After doing a few examples at the front of the class, have the students begin writing the expanded notation down as you invite students up to the board. With enough examples on their paper, when it comes to more complex problems, they will be able to use their notes as a reference.Continue adding students to the front of the class until you are working on four-digit numbers, then five-digit, then six. As you move into the thousands, you may want to become the comma that separates thousands and the hundreds, or you can assign the comma to a student. (The student that is always wanting to participate is a good one to assign this to - the comma will be called upon often!) Homework/Assessment You can give your students a choice of assignments  - both are equally long and equally difficult, though in different ways: Have students write 987,654 in expanded notation OR the largest number that they are able to.Have them write 20,006 in expanded notation (Be sure to go over this one in class the next day.) Evaluation Write the following numbers on the board and have students write them in expanded notation:1,78630,551516

Analyse the extent to which the rules of standing and the grounds of Essay

Analyse the extent to which the rules of standing and the grounds of judicial review have struck the right balance between helpi - Essay Example The law of standing  comprises  rules that determine, whether the remedy seeker is a bonafide person or is he legally empower to initiate legal proceeding against the defendant. We have noticed that in private matters, it is very difficult for the victims to seek justice due to lack of legal resources and the hefty cost involves in initiating legal course of action against the party at fault. Hence, visible hurdles for the litigants in the matter of public interest are there2. Public interest litigation may be common in the developed countries, but it seldom seen in the developing countries due to cost incurs on public interest litigation. Enforcement of public right most often requires due role of public bodies in administrating and implementing such functions e.g. health, safety, security or the environment. There is a difference between the public interest litigation and the private interest litigation. In the UK legal system, there is a body of common law and the statutes whi ch revolves around the exceptions with regard to the rule of standing that lacks the protection of public right3. In the mentioned legal system, judicial review is exercised under RSC, order 53 to ensure judicial control over administrative action. The matter of each and every judicial review is a decision that made by some authorized person or persons is/are called decision maker/makers. They have the right to take the decision or refuse to take the decision4. It is (Judicial review) by all standards different from an appeal. The clear distinction is that appeal can be filed in the appellate jurisdiction by the petitioner provided the judgment of the subordinate court did not touch upon the legal or technical aspects of the case whereas the judicial review is connected with the legal aspect of the decision only or the specified act5. Judicial Review Judicial review has the strong relationship with the powerful executives in terms of accountability. It is the constitutional obligati ons of the judiciary to control the misuse of power of the executives. Of course, executives do not like the judicial review against the backdrop of unbridled discretionary powers they are being enjoyed. On the other hand, judiciary encourages the law abiders and the rules comply with executives to carry out their jobs without any fear or favour. In the presence of strong judiciary, the executives should not comply with the illegal orders of their superiors6. In the English legal system, everybody is accountable to his or her deeds. It is the essence of the cited legal system that the actions or the decisions of the executives are subject to judicial review by judges in order to ensure that their actions or decisions are in accordance with law. Further, the judges have the authority to examine the suggested changes in the legislative structure whether they are in line with the constitutional requirement. Judicial review is utmost important keeping in mind the â€Å"power corrupts a nd absolute power corrupts absolutely â€Å". From the aforementioned contents, it is clear that the basic responsibility to address the legal lacunas in the decisions of

BAE And EADS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

BAE And EADS - Essay Example On the flip side, the deal would lead to political among other complexities. This report will give an analysis of the issues surrounding the proposal for merger of the two companies. Strategy and motivation analysis Invesco criticized the proposed deal citing poor terms, state interference and lack of strategic underlying principle. The problems that BAE has raised includes the share buyback programme , possible deviation from its generous dividend payout as well as the doubts imposed by inviting Germany and French stakeholders in the deal. The sharp cut in the defense spending by the U.S. is a big blow for EADS and BAE, but BAE is likely to suffer most because it is deeply exposed to the U.S. defense market. Furthermore, BAE is experiencing a serious reduction in the demand for the equipment it supplies for the US military, which are currently preparing to pull out from Afghanistan. Additionally, the firm is likely to suffer a big blow following the down-turn of the demand for the E urofighter Typhoon fighter jet (Ranscombe, 2012). Figure 1: EADS DPS trend since 2007. As shown from figure 1 above, recently EADS has paid exceedingly high rate of dividends, which could be seen as a major motivation for BAE shareholders to enter the proposed merger (Le Figaro 2001). Stock market response analyses based on share movement and synergy multiples During the trading following the announcement on 12 September, the shares of BAE jumped by 10% to 336.1 pence ($5.41), as shown in figure 3 below. However, the shares of EADS plummeted by more than 10% following the announcement (shown in figure 2). Later, on 13 September, the shares of BAE fell back to just 2% above the level before the rumors emerged that the two companies were planning to merge (Norton-Taylor, 2012). Figure2: EADS share movement shortly before and shortly after the announcement Source: Thomson Reuters via FT Markets Data Figure 3: EADS share movement shortly before and shortly after the announcement Source: http://markets.ft.com When the reports hit news lines that there was a potential merger between the two companies, initially, the investors burst into a euphoria that affected the movement of the prices of the shares of the two companies. However, after uncertainty took shape, BAE’s shares drafted following a strong post-announcement rally, while the shares at EADS were moving lower (Petroff, 2012). On 12th September following the announcement, the shares of BAE were trading 1 percent lower at 338.90 pence, which was in line the decline in the wider market. As seen from figure 2 and 3 above, the investors’ reaction was swift, especially on Thursday when the shares of EADS fell by about 10 percent to â‚ ¬25.15, while those for BAE gained significantly on Wednesday following the news that the deal is simmering, going up to 337.10 pence in London. Synergy analysis The investors will have to ask themselves several questions in order to establish whether the merger is a good idea, including: (1) why is such a huge merger is the best means of solving the problems the individual companies are facing and also open opportunities for them? (2) Is BAE, which is a top US military contractor, the best company to help EAP achieve

The Paradigm Debate Essay Example for Free

The Paradigm Debate Essay The heart of the debate between the quantitative and qualitative paradigms in research is based on the authenticity and correctness of the data gathered from each approach. I believe that the central debate is based on which paradigm best portrays what is real, what is scientific and what is valid. The endless debate of these two approaches will stay if not for the most part of the 21st century but a few more decades from now, since there has been slow development in the field of research methods (Mahoney Goertz, 2006). The quantitative approach says that the rigors of science, the objectivity of the scientific approach and the use of statistics will generate the true picture of the problem as what the research had entailed to investigate. On the other hand, the qualitative approach says that human life cannot be thought of as variables, experiments or even number because it takes out the essence of the social interaction, the emotional and mental processes involved in the experience or the behavior. In the past, the distinction between what data or variables lend itself better to quantitative approach and which data should be examined using the qualitative approach was clear (Tashakkori Teddlie, 2003). But at the moment, the rising awareness of the qualitative approach as a valid research method and the quantitative approach becoming more cognizant of the less objective variables are in a battle to which approach will yield the most valid and truest result. In the past the quantitative approach was the only way to do research, the introduction of anthropology and ethnographic researches have widened the research methodology of various disciplines (Salomon, 1991).   With it was the start of the unending debate over which approach was most beneficial to the research. The idea however is a far cry from the present state of mixed methods approach, recognizing that each approach had its own merits, a different breed of research approach now utilizes the two paradigms and calls it mixed methods approach. As a student of psychology, I am inclined to favor the qualitative approach as it is more able to provide a deeper understanding and meaning of the variables being studied, it would make more sense to me to explore how bipolar construe friendships which can never be captured by the use of a quantitative friendship scale which offers less insight to the experiences and dynamics of friendships. However, the scientific part of me wants to believe in the wisdom of objectivity and science, I have been trained under the old school experimental and behavioral psychology which gave much importance to experimentation and control of variables. This would mean that my orientation towards research is that of the quantitative fervor. Choosing which side to favor is like asking me to choose between the devil and the deep blue see, each approach presents a different understanding of the variables under study and I am often reminded of the nature and nurture debate which predominated the developmental psychology field. Therefore, I would rather say that I support the quantitative approach because it has been around far enough to at least become more refined to provide better measures and control for the study of variables   which in the past have been questioned with regards to the validity and reliability of the results of the study (Adcock Collier, 2001). Moreover, the quantitative approach is the form mostly accepted by the scientific community and therefore is more established and more credible, although it does not mean that all quantitative researches are excellently written but that some may have sacrificed the integrity of the conduct of the research due to budget constraints or a poorly designed research method (Mahoney Goertz, 2006). The quantitative approach has reached an almost cult like following and dissenters have naturally went to support the qualitative approach but whichever it is, I am convinced for now that the quantitative paradigm has more sense and purpose than qualitative approaches (Mahoney Goertz, 2006). References Adcock, R. Collier, D. (2001). Measurement validity: A shared standard for qualitative and quantitative research. American Political Science Review 95; 3: 529-546. Mahoney, J. Goertz, G.(2006). A tale of two cultures: Contrasting quantitative and qualitative research. Political Analysis 14: 227-249. Salomon, G. (1991). Transcending the qualitative-quantitative debate: The analytic and systemic approaches to educational research. Educational Researcher, 20, 10-18. Tashakkori, A. Teddlie, C. (2003). Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social Behavioral Research. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.

Examination of Macbeths Character :: essays research papers

Power can be taken, but not given: An Examination of Macbeth's Character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Character develops itself in the stream of life. Individuals in society each contain unique character traits that are constantly evolving. In William Shakespeare?s Macbeth, Macbeth undergoes many tremendous changes in his character. Macbeth?s character changes throughout the play because of the murders of King Duncan, Banquo and Macduff?s family. First, Macbeth?s murder of King Duncan changes him by triggering his ambition, revealing his fear and revealing his regret. For example, in his first appearance on stage, the Macbeth described as brave and noble has his ambition triggered: First Witch. All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! Second Witch. All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter! Banquo. Good sir, why do you start [?] (Shakespeare I.iii.48-51) Clearly, Macbeth?s sudden movement at the news that he will be king shows how his ambition is triggered. Macbeth is so excited that he starts, and Banquo notices this. In addition, Macbeth?s soliloquy in scene seven reveals his fears about killing Duncan: Macbeth. But in these cases We still have judgement here, that we but teach Bloody instruction, which being taught, return To plague the inventor. (I.vii.7-10) Evidently, Macbeth is afraid of killing King Duncan because he believes if he performs an act of evil, then it will come back to haunt him. This is the first time in the play where Macbeth shows any sign of fear. Furthermore, the murder of King Duncan reveals a deep sense of regret within Macbeth: ?To know my deed, ?twere best not know myself. / Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou could?st!? (II.ii.73-75). Already, Macbeth is regretting killing King Duncan, and this drastically changes his character (before committing the murder he was confident due to Lady Macbeth?s persuasions). Thus, Macbeth?s murder of King Duncan changes him by triggering his ambition, revealing his fear and revealing his regret. Second, the murder of Banquo changes Macbeth by causing psychological harm, creating unease within Macbeth, and making Macbeth determined to continue with his plan of evil. For example, at the feast Macbeth hosts, he sees the ghost of Banquo: Macbeth. The table?s full. Lennox. Here is a place reserv?d, sir. Macbeth. Where? Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is?t that moves your Highness? Macbeth. Which of you have done this? Lords. What, my good lord? Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it: never shake Thy gory locks at me.

The working student

The Working Student â€Å"All work and no play. † This saying refers to a lot of students that work and go to school. This is a very hard conundrum for students. Problems like when they can hang out with their friends, keeping their schedules cooperating, and missing key opportunities because they have school or work arise. There are many difficulties being a working student. One major problem for students is they want to hang out with their friends or play that new video game but they have work or school.Another example is a friend wants hem to go bowling but they cannot because they haft to study for a test. On the other hand a friend may want them to go see a movie after school but they cannot because they have work. Working students do not normally have free time. Students also haft to manage a balancing act with their work and school schedules. They haft to make shore they don't have work when they have a class. For less organized students this can be quite a task. So if they have a seven o'clock class they haft to make shore they don't have work at seven o'clock.Balancing schedules can be quite a here. The working student may also lose golden opportunities in both school and work. They might not get to Join that club because it meets at the time they haft to be at work. On the other hand they might lose a chance at that over time they need for that pay raise. The working student often loses opportunities like these. Students with Jobs face many difficulties. Whether It Is balancing schedules, having no free time, or losing that golden opportunity. These problems don't even hold a candle to all the problems the working student faces.

Child Abuse

 Essay

Many children suffer child abuse everyday at the hands of adults and it is often their own parents who are the ones to do this. They are beaten, kicked, thrown into walls, or burned with cigarettes. They have their heads held under the water of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing or scalding showers until they pass out. A child could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested and beaten so bad that they are unable to move. Some suffer from neglect in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and still go unnoticed by outsiders such as child protective services or perhaps even their pediatricians. It is not unheard of that children die every day in the U.S. alone from one form of child abuse or another. It is a sickening practice that has no set standard of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states have different methods and agencies to help prevent abuse in the home, some work quite well while others bomb – a dangerous gamble when it comes to the life or mental state of a child. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The precise number of deaths each year is not known because of the extent of most fatality investigations that could be suspected as child abuse but are seen as open and shut death cases. A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged child maltreatment practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are living with abuse rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are being taken to protect our nation’s children? All states have a Child Protective Services (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to respond adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate. All fifty states have child abuse reporting laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be made by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen may report suspected abuse as state laws provide for reports to be made to the CPS agency or its equivalent, or to a law enforcement agency. In most states, investigations are conducted by CPS personnel, although law enforcement officers may also be involved.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The basic concern of child welfare workers is for the safety of the child. Assessment of the risks involved in leaving a child with its family must be made quickly because children cannot be removed from their families arbitrarily. Once a child has been removed, the goal of child welfare agencies is to return the child to the family. Ideally, caseworkers develop a plan to provide parents with the education of the care that children need, free from abuse or neglect.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨This plan is not always carried out to its full intention. No state has the financial resources to provide all the services to the children and families who need them. A problem is that in state after state, CPS workers have excessive caseloads, are paid low salaries, and lack adequate training for the sensitive work involved in investigating abuse reports, and participating in decisions to remove children from their families then placing them in foster care. The turnover rate among child welfare workers is exceptionally high. A report done by the United States Department of Health and Human Services showed the rate of 30 percent to be the norm, annually.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Whatever the reason – inadequate funding, unavailable services for children and families, high turnover rates, lack of training, overwhelming numbers of reports – questions are being raised about the CPS system. The system is based on the assumption that removal from a troubled family, followed by a return to the family when that can be done safely, is best for the child. A different approach to the problems created by child abuse involves Family Preservation Services (FPS). Removal of the risk, rather than the child, is the goal of Family Preservation Services. FPS programs seek to modify the home environment or behavior of other family members so that it is at least as safe for the child to remain in the household as to be removed. Family preservation is based on the assumption that out of home care hurts children, and on the recognition that most families referred to Child Protective Service can and want to learn new ways of coping with stress. Rather than breaking families apart in order to treat them, intensive family preservation services seek to protect children and heal families by keeping them whole.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Specifically, FPS provides intensive services in the home to all the members of a troubled family for a relatively short time – four to six weeks. Professional staffs are usually assigned two, but no more than four, families at a time. Caseworkers are available to families twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A worker can stay as long as necessary to stabilize the household, whether that means six, ten, or twelve hours. Ten states have initiated FPS programs by legislation including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Homebuilders, an FPS program based in Tacoma, Washington, provides the longest running assessment of the effectiveness of family preservation services. From 1981 to 1994, Homebuilders saw 3,497 children. Evaluation data indicted that three months after completing the program, an average of 94 percent of the families had avoided out of home placement. Twelve-month follow up data showed that placement had been averted in 88 percent of the cases. Furthermore, the cost for Homebuilders’ family services was only $3000 per case while the costs for an average foster family home placement in the state was $7586.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨There is a down side to the Family Preservation Service, though. The track record of FPS seems impressive, but a closer look at another side reveals it’s not doing such a great job. According to the Clarke Foundation, there has never been a case of parental abuse or neglect causing serious injury or the death of a child while receiving family preservation services. But since the FPS provides services for a relatively short period of just a few weeks, there is no way of accurately predicting if after that short amount of observation that the parents are suddenly fit to care for a child. A worker only stays in the house for a maximum of twelve hours – that is not long enough to assess whether the child is in danger and the true nature of the parents. Of course no one is going to kill or seriously injure a child in front of a human services official. No studies are available that show whether the abuse reoccurred after the Family Preservation Service’s four to six weeks with the family was finished. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The Division of Family Services takes another approach to preventing child abuse. The staff is divided into units, working a variety of shif ts and functions to best provide the services needed by the children and families. The response unit is responsible for receiving all reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. They determine the nature of the allegations and the appropriate response time for initiating investigation of the allegations. Once abuse or neglect is found or significant risk of its occurrence is identified, cases are transferred to the treatment unit. Workers in these units are responsible for assessing family needs and connecting the family with appropriate resources and services to address those identified areas. They are also responsible for monitoring the family’s success at utilizing the available services, and communicating with various service providers to assess the ongoing safety of the children and the progress of the family. They close cases when significant progress has been achieved to eliminate or minimize the ongoing risk of abuse to the children. The Statewide Unification Unit is responsible for providing intensive reunification services for children who can potentially return home within six months. Staff work closely with the children, their natural family, and the care provider to facilitate smooth transitions and successful reunification. When the goal of returning children to their natural families is no longer appropriate, the social workers write Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, which, once approved by Family Court, allow children to become free for adoption. They develop long term foster care plans for those children whose parental rights have been terminated, but for whom adoption or returning them to the home is not an appropriate goal. They are also responsible for providing assistance throughout the adoption process to support successful adoptive placements.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨It has been shown that through most personal accounts, that parents never really learn to take care of their children without usin g abuse. Because of this, it seems quite logical to make the main focus on protecting the child, then if returning them to their family is assessed as being completely logical, that is the way to go. I propose that a system of â€Å"three strikes-your out† be implemented. With this, the parent will lose rights to the child for a short time while they go through training and counseling. If they are deemed not insane, then they may care for the child again with the warning of what will happen to them. They will have a sort of parole officer that will check up on the family annually. On the second offense, there will be further counseling, jail time, and other means of reform. If they are granted custody again, they will be checked on frequently and unscheduled. If they can not handle the child without abuse from there, the child will be put up for adoption. There are very long waiting lists for parents who would love to adopt a child and will provide a loving family that should be utilized. The state would let the new parents take care of the child financially, but would pay for counseling of that child and training for the rest of the family on how to love on the abused. If in later years, the parent has redeemed him/herself, then they will be allowed to visit and take the child on trips and be allowed to be a friend. After the child has reached the age of eight-teen the will be allowed to decide who they would like to stay with.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨No system for child protection is going to be full-proof. There are steps that can be taken to improve them. Any system is only as good as the people who implement it. Representative Kaye Steinmetz of Missouri is proposing legislation to require additional training for Child Protective Services workers, establish a state team to assist with investigations of difficult cases, and provide for statewide protocols to ensure proper investigations. Representative Debbie Stabenow of Michigan advocates early identification of parents at risk of becoming abusers. Michigan Perinatal Coaching project is an example of this. Developed by the state’s Children’s Trust Fund, the project matches parent volunteers with parents of newborns. Through the child’s first year, the volunteer provides support to the parents, whether that involves advice about discipline or other areas that new parents may find difficult. A similar program called Family Skill-Builder is offered in the state of Massachusetts. It offers an in home case management series for families who are at risk of abusing and neglecting their children. It’s designed to prevent child abuse and neglect and to help families function independently.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Deborah Daro, director of research for the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, has several suggestions for legislators to consider. She maintains that states need to provide more services for victims of abuse, especially therapeutic, remedial and support services. She says, â€Å"States also need to look at the quality of foster care. Foster care ought to be more than just giving a child a place to live.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The goal in preventing child abuse should be permanency and stability for the child, whether that means a return to the family or, in some cases, termination of parental rights and adoption. The sooner that can be achieved the better. This can be accomplished by setting up time tables for review of foster care cases, and by establishing specific criteria for permanency planning and termination of parental rights. Another key in preventing child abuse is evaluating each situation case by case. Placing a child in foster care may be the best decision for that particular case, while intensive family preservation services might be best for another. The best answer may lie in a combination of the ideas of different organizations. Individual attention to each case would personalize a plan to get each family on the road to a good, stable, and loving family life in less time.

25 Synonyms for Story

25 Synonyms for Story 25 Synonyms for â€Å"Story† 25 Synonyms for â€Å"Story† By Mark Nichol So, you’re writing a story? What kind of story? No, don’t unreel the plot for me. Provide some context for the narrative style by telling me what your model is for your tale. This is not about genre, though there may be some overlap; it’s all about the form. Choose from one or more of these words denoting the storytelling technique: 1. Account: a retelling of an event or series of events, sometimes with a connotation of bias or at least subjectivity 2. Anecdote: a short, entertaining story, often involving the person telling it 3. Allegory: a story that expresses ideas about human nature through the actions of stock characters undergoing challenges 4. Annals: historical records of events, generally without subjective annotation 5. Bedtime story: a story read or recited to children before they go to sleep, or anything resembling one at face value or ironically 6. Bildungsroman (German: â€Å"education novel†): a novel that charts the lead character’s psychological development 7. Chronicle (see annals) 8. Exemplum: an anecdote or similar story intended to provide a moral or argue a point 9. Fable: a story with supernatural or imaginary elements (such as anthropomorphic animals), often to make an observation about human nature 10. Fairy tale: a story with improbable elements including magic, often incorporating such formulas as a quest, a granting of three wishes, and triumph over evil forces 11. Folktale: a tale originally passed down orally featuring vague, universal story elements 12. Legend: a story significant to a culture and originally passed down as if it had actually occurred 13. Myth: a putatively factual account from the distant past that figuratively explains a cultural phenomenon 14. Narrative: a relation of factual or fictitious events 15. Novel: a long, complicated story featuring an assortment of characters experiencing a series of events 16. Novelette: a short novel 17. Novella (see novelette) 18. Parable: a short tale that a religious or moral principle 19: Record: (see annals) 20: Roman a clef (French, â€Å"novel with a key†): a story with thinly disguised versions of actual characters and events 21: Short story: a tale shorter than a novel, featuring relatively few characters and focusing less on plot than on mood 22: Short short story: an especially brief story 23: Tall tale: a story intended to entertain through the introduction of exaggerated elements 24: Urban legend/urban myth: a moralistic or sensational story presented and widely perceived as fact 25: Yarn: a story that is adventurous or humorous or both, and perhaps is a tall tale (see â€Å"tall tale,† above) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:5 Uses of Infinitives26 Feel-Good Words30 Words for Small Amounts

The Prince and the Discourses on Livy Essays

The Prince and the Discourses on Livy Essays The Prince and the Discourses on Livy Paper The Prince and the Discourses on Livy Paper Essay Topic: The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli was at his time and continues to be now days one of the most influential and revolutionary authors known throughout the centuries. His writings, distinct from other renaissance authors of the epoch, make emphasis on his personal views and his opinions on the political matters taking place in Florence, Italy. Further discussed in the text are two of Machiavelli’s most renowned works, The Prince and the Discourses on Livy. Both books comprehend Machiavelli’s understandings of politics and explicit analysis on the various methods of governments with respect to principalities and republics. Machiavelli had many intentions in mind when he was first writing The Prince, among which where to understand, instruct and influence the minds of rulers at the time. More precisely, Machiavelli meant to influence the mind of one ruler in particular, the ruler of Florence Lorenzo de’ Medici to whom the book is dedicated. Machiavelli’s purpose throughout the book intended to help Lorenzo de’ Medici achieve eminence as a prince and guide him on how to properly rule Florence. The fist chapter of The Prince opens up by describing how many kinds of governments there are, in what manner they are given rise to and how they are later on acquired by states. Curiously, it is indeed, the first sentence of Chapter I which contains, what is perhaps, the most important discovery in Machiavelli’s entire writings from the Prince___ â€Å"ALL states and governments that have had, and have at present, dominion over men, have been and are either republics or principalities. Being introduced the topic on governments, Machiavelli proceeds to make an acquaintance on principalities and restrains himself to talk only about this one type of government___ â€Å"I Will not discuss here the subject of republics, having treated of them at length elsewhere, but will confine myself only to principalities. † Machiavelli argues that principalities can be either hereditary, new or mixed. Hereditary principalities are the kinds of principalities â€Å"where the governmen t has been for a long time in the family of the prince. The prince, in the line to succeed, is the natural heir to a perfect constitution on which to base his rule upon and for which people are accustomed. He explains that in order for the natural prince to continue with the good reign, is it merely enough that he accommodates himself to the order of things previously established by his predecessors and occasionally need to adapt institutions to the current events. Machiavelli argues that ereditary principalities are maintained with much less effort and difficulty than new or mixed principalities in reason that hereditary principalities, having made a fair beginning, have had the time to perfect its constitution and laws to assure security and bring content to all of those who live under its rule. Whereas in mixed and new principalities that rulers, having made a new start, may easily run out of time before having perfected its constitution and thus end up by destroying the state. In addition, Machiavelli argues that the natural prince was also liable of inheriting the affection of the people who had at other periods in time become familiar with he’s family. Thus, to the disadvantage of new coming ruler’s, the natural prince had on his behalf a natural disposition of the subjects in the hereditary state to love the ruling family. Finally, Machiavelli concludes his chapter on hereditary principalities by saying that â€Å"for each change and alteration always prepares the way and facilitates the next. In simple english, that in hereditary states the rule from prince to prince is facilitated by bringing on a change at different times giving people an opportunity to come familiarize at their own pace, while new or mixed principalities are obliged to enforce change in a flash. Machiavelli has overtime become a common adjective to immorality for he deeply believes that the main objective to politics is by all means to remain in power. Machiavelli thi nks of the virtue of the prince as the virtue of courage, strength and most importantly manhood. He argues that it if the natural prince possesses such extreme sagacity, he will always maintain himself in the state unless deprived by a superior force. Nonetheless, if the natural prince has reasons enough to irritate his subjects and causes himself to be hated, people will willingly trade him for another ruler in the hopes that the new ruler will be better than the present one. Machiavelli says that once the prince is replaced, the state is no longer to be considered a hereditary principality but be classified as a mixed principality. As Machiavelli had at first noted, new and mixed principalities are indeed much more difficult to maintain. For it is in new and mixed principalities that difficulties start to present themselves. Machiavelli states that mutations to form mixed principalities, in which men change their rulers gladly in the belief that they will better themselves by the change, arise from a natural difficulty. Unfortunately for the people, problems for Machiavelli do not stop here, for he argues that it is â€Å"an infinite number of other wrongs that follow in the train of new conquests. When the new prince takes over another prince’s domain, he finds himself in a delicate situation with regard to the people who put him in power and with those whom he injured by seizing that principality. He explains that the new prince has â€Å"for enemies all those whom he has injured by seizing that principality; and at the same time he cannot preserve as friends even those who have aided him in obtainin g possession, because he cannot satisfy their expectations, nor can he employ strong measures against them, being under obligations to them. Concluded then that, no matter how strong the new prince may be for he will always need the goodwill of the inhabitants if he wishes to enter into firm possession of the country. So far seen in the Prince, Machiavelli confined himself to talk only about one type of government, principalities. Yet, in the Discourses on Livy, he moves on to put forth what he had set aside in The Prince, republics. It is then, that he’s writings take a new direction leading the way to six forms of government not mentioned before. Whence, giving a whole new purpose to his second book which is to further explain and describe each type of government there are and particularly which will have the more benefits for any republic. It is important to note, beforehand, that the Discourses on Livy are considered to be Machiavelli’s concise commentaries on the history from the Foundation of Rome by Titus Livy. Hence, most of the discussions on governments in the Discourses on Livy will pertain to some extend the form of government in the Roman Republic. Reason for this is that Machiavelli thought of Rome as more than just the capital of the republic but rather pondered it as a source of inspiration and forth more his role model to a perfect government___ â€Å"Having proposed to myself to treat of the kind of government established at Rome, and of the events that led to its perfection. † At first, Machiavelli distinguishes three kinds of governments, the monarchical, the aristocratic, and the democratic. Nevertheless, after having read other authors, he makes account for six kinds of governments, three of which he classified as very bad, and the other three of which he classified as good. From Machiavelli’s conception that the three bad ones result from the degradation of the first three is the emergence of Machiavelli’s cycle of governments in which the monarchy becomes a tyranny, the aristocracy degenerates into oligarchy and finally the popular government or democracy lapses into licentiousness. Machiavelli argues that â€Å"chance has given birth to these different kinds of governments amongst men† for at the beginning of times there were no states nor governments but just free men and women wandering around. As the human race increased, the necessity for uniting themselves made itself felt. This necessity of which Machiavelli speaks is nothing more and nothing less than fear, fear for survival and desire for protection and self-defense. Thence, putting themselves into accordance, men agreed to choose the wisest and most just from amongst themselves and place him at their head with the promise to obey___monarchy. Sovereignty was to be hereditary and non-elective. Yet, short after, children began to naturally degenerate from their fathers giving up to extraordinary vices, libertinage, and violence. Consequently, the prince soon drew upon himself the general hatred of his people. It is then, that Machiavelli alleges that the prince as â€Å"An object of hatred, he naturally felt fear; fear in turn dictated to him precautions and wrongs, and thus tyranny quickly developed itself. † Growing discontent from the prince’s outrages and excesses caused armed masses of powerful leaders to oblige the prince to surrender the throne and further constituted by themselves the new government___aristocracy. The aristocratic rulers indisposed to remain content with the civil equality of fortune surrendered to cupidity and ambition. Once again, experienced the same fate as with the first tyrant, people resolved to place themselves at command___oligarchy. Short after, the generation of people that had at first established it passed on and the government ran again into that kind of license which inflicts injury upon the common public. Having overthrown the oligarchy a popular government was therefore resolved___democracy. Machiavelli concludes that these six types of governments are defective for the good are too short lived and no precautions can prevent either one from degenerating into its opposite kind. Because each individual in power consulted his own passions and thousands of acts of injustice were daily committed, the republic found itself in a position of constant disorders, conspiracies, and plots against its sovereigns. Fortunately, sagacious legislators, knowing the vices of each of these systems of government, decided to captivate something from them all and gave emergence to a type of government in which power was equally dispersed in three categories. The three categories where composed of the king, the nobles, and the people and each one had it’s correspondingly portion of authority and duties. Machiavelli argues that the republic depends solely on these three powers to maintain itself strong, stable and solid. For it is within this system that authority can be successively passed from the kings to the nobles and from nobles to the people. For a fact, he never got to provide a theory that justifies a form of government as the best form of government. However, we can induce from his writings that he thought of this type form as the most appropriate___ â€Å"organized the government of Sparta in such manner that, in giving to the king, the nobles, and the people each their portion of authority and duties, he created a government which maintained itself for over eight hundred years in the most perfect tranquility. Machiavelli reasoned that it is only when these three powers are combined under the same constitution that they are able to watch and keep each other in check. Consequently, with only one of the three elements of which we have spoken been omitted from it charges, the republic will most likely find itself vulnerable to disaster. Nonetheless, if the republic finds itself able to compe nsate for which ever element is missing, it will attain a perfect combination of powers and thus render the creation of the perfect constitution. Machiavelli was born during the times of Italy’s renaissance, during which Florence was at the scene of its most intense political conflicts. Conversely to other scholars at the time, Machiavelli did not obtain his knowledge through any particular education but through many years of experience. As testimony of the repeated rise and fall of various governments, Machiavelli was able to understand the dynamics of politics and power. He sought to describe political life as it really was, in order that politics should be regarded in the views on politics alone. Though Machiavelli wrote 500 years ago, his political world has much in common with the modern political world. Machiavelli was, indeed, far ahead of his time when he said that sharing power is absolutely necessary to the maintenance of the state and thus, governments should strive for the division of authority. In spite of its antiquity, Machiavelli’s first organization of the state is possibly today’s point of departure to many forms of government. In his analysis of the Roman republic, Machiavelli distinguishes three powers, the king, the nobles, and the people. Similarly, our government is also separated into the executive, the legislative, and the judicial power. Machiavelli’s insights on power, control and leadership are steeped in the realism of historical events thus, provide valuable guidance to the present leaders in the field of politics.

Jean Roberge - vice president of ABS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Jean Roberge - vice president of ABS - Essay Example The project tends to bring all 3 sub-units (which were previously 3 different businesses) on to one platform so that resources can be shared profitably especially in accounting and human resource management department. Even in marketing department, if the plan of marketing from all three entities is in line with each other due to the presence of an integrated management system, it will prove less costly and more effective. The project will cost $50 million, which Mr. Roberge plan to spread over the period of 24 months. The major targets of ABS from incorporation of this new system are to ensure consistent and reliable data retrieval, harmonization of accounting and financial process, improving process efficiency in HR management and to create an integrated market vision for the new ABS entity. The challenges as identified by Mr. Roberge include the fact that there is a huge amount of information that needs to be sorted out and placed rightly to be accessed when required and this too must be done without a single error. The existing systems and soft wares cannot be considered obsolete for no reason. Instead, the best option is to make as little as possible change to the soft wares in use already. This will help in keeping the system understandable for the users. Also, it is a huge project which will have a direct impact over the way IT department of ABS works. It will have an impact over the future of IT department in ABS. Another great challenge is that Mr. Roberge needs to hire a competent project manager. Case 1: Question 1: There are few other issues which at this point seem that Mr. Roberge has not considered. The biggest issue is reaction of ABS employees to this huge change. It has been mentioned in the case study that IT department staff is already a little uneasy about it as such a system can lead towards downsizing of their department. Such an automated system might result in lower number of jobs in IT department. This thus has an impact over performan ce of staff especially in the IT department. On the same line, the reaction of employees from other departments will also be important. Marketing department for example might not be very comfortable with such an integrated system. They are not used to discussing their micro plans with a huge audience. An important aspect that is thus being overlooked at this stage in my opinion is change management. Case Study 2: Question 1: In my opinion there are a few key points in the presentation which include the following: First of all, the presentation must have included the scope, budget, requirement and justification of having such a huge system in place. This is something which Mr. Roberge’s own presentation to the committee had in detail. The issues which he found a little untouched in his own presentation and was impressed when he saw added to consultant’s presentation are a detailed break up of the additional resources ABS will require for implementation of such a huge sy stem. When ERP is incorporated in any huge corporate of public culture, there is a lot of staff requirement, capital resource requirement and hardware and soft ware requirements to be taken care of by the parent company. Though Mr. Roberge has done thorough cost analysis, the requirement of staff was brought up by the consultant. Other important point that was highlighted in the presentation of the consultant was that change management must be a well planned process. The consultant has been a part of essentially many such ERP incorporations and from his experience he has pointed out that firms see highest turn over rate during the time when such huge changes are taking place. He pointed out that change management should be a well planned process and employees from every tier must be involved so that

Social Engineering (ethical hacking ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Engineering (ethical hacking ) - Essay Example However, while the internet has been a blessing to humankind, along with its bounties and huge number of facilities, it has brought a few risks as well. Studies (Erickson, pp. 49-56) have indicated that stealing of valuable information, corruption, and vanishing of computer systems are some of the major risks associated with the utilization of internet. Although in the past, it was an understanding that information locked in a file cabinet is more vulnerable than the existence of that information in electronic mode. However, things have changed now, and people are again relying on file cabinets to keep their records due to huge amount of issues related to information systems security on the internet. In this regard, internet has resulted in commencement of various beneficial things such as electronic commerce, e-mail, e-advertisement, and e-education; however, along with such technological advancements, there is one major issue among the various IS security related issues; hacking (McClure & Shah, pp. 20-26). In other words, a huge number of issues and threats exist in the world of information systems; however, hacking is one of the major issues that have been deteriorating the security of information security systems, which will be the focus of this report in detail. Analysis of different sources (Harris & Ness, pp. 49-63) has indicated that until today, the computer industry is using the term of hacking or hacker for dual purposes. In the beginning, hacker would be an individual who was interested in learning new things about the computer systems, and was keen to discover new capabilities of the computer networks unlike usual users of the computers who were interested in learning only standard usage of the computers. In other words, enthusiastic programmers were hackers, and as the time passed, skillful programmers continued to