Famine & Poverty and Famines Essay

The phenomenon of famine has been widely described and analyzed in socio-political literature. The topic has been considered a controversial one in terms of its definition and its definitive features. In a recent revision of the concept of famine, â€Å"Poverty and Famines,† Amartya Sen retains part of classical vision on famine offered by Malthus, distinguishing â€Å"regular starvation,† which is a â€Å"normal feature in many parts of the world,† from â€Å"violent  outbursts of famine,† a â€Å"particularly virulent form of [starvation] causing widespread death† (Sen, 38-39). USAID defines famine as â€Å"a catastrophic food crisis that results in widespread acute malnutrition and mass mortality† (USAID, 2002).   Proper definition of famine matters not only in terms of labeling an event after the fact, but also in terms of how humanitarian organizations and governments respond to crises as they are happening. Maxwell points out that this is in large part because of the emotional weight the term â€Å"famine† has come to carry (Maxwell, 49). Humanitarian workers spent a considerable amount of time arguing about whether or not to call the 2002-2003 crisis in Ethiopia, ostensibly affecting over 13 million people, a famine. Calling it a famine would have stepped up the international response, but it might also be perceived as â€Å"crying wolf,† which would have a detrimental effect on organizations’ abilities to obtain resources for emergency responses in the long run. Aid agencies want to avoid using the term â€Å"famine† too often because they worry about â€Å"compassion fatigue† or â€Å"donor fatigue† – essentially that donors will be less likely to support emergency efforts if there are too many emergencies. There are also political implications for using the term â€Å"famine,† as can be seen in the case of the 2005 crisis in Niger, which President Mamadou Tandja insisted was a fabrication of relief agencies to obtain more funding (Sengupta, 2005). Aid agencies likewise were reluctant to apply the term famine, and referred instead to â€Å"pockets of severe malnutrition,† in part because they didn’t want to alienate Tandja (Sengupta, 2005). The general discussion in literature indicates that number of deaths, scale, intensity and time frame were main considerations for when to call something a famine. There also is a consensus that lack of access to food had to be the main problem, to distinguish a famine from other types of humanitarian crises. For instance, the 1984/85 famine in Ethiopia was unanimously considered a famine. Iraq in the 1990s was not, mainly because â€Å"the time-frame was too long for a famine and many deaths were the result of a health crisis, not calorie-related† (IDS, 3). Ethiopia in 1999/2000 was probably a famine, but Malawi in 2002 â€Å"represented a famine-threat, rather than a true famine† because â€Å"too few people died† (IDS, 3). In the latter case, the mortality was estimated between 500 and 3,000, and estimates were complicated by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS; thus, it was difficult to attribute deaths specifically to hunger and hunger-related diseases. WORKS CITED Institute of Development Studies. Report on Operational Definition of Famine Workshop. Sussex, UK: Institute of Development Studies, March 14, 2003 Maxwell, D.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Why do famines persist? A brief review of Ethiopia 1999-2000.† IDS Bulletin, 33 (4), 48-54, 2002 Sen, A. Poverty and famines: An essay on entitlement and deprivation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981 Sengupta, K. â€Å"President Tandja: ‘The people of Niger look well fed, as you can see.† The Independent, August 10, 2005 United States Agency for International Development. USAID background paper: Famine. Washington, DC: USAID, 2002. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2002/02fs_famine.html

Job Descriptions Essay

1. How important is job analysis to the development of job descriptions and job specifications? Discuss. Job analysis is important to the development of job descriptions and specifications because it needs to be formed before the job description and specifications. 2. What recommendations are given for improving committee effectiveness? They are having competent members, having committee properly charged, selecting or electing a competent chairperson, and recognizing/rewarding committee accomplishments. 3. Name the steps in the personnel management process. How does each step relate to the other steps? They are staffing, human resource planning, and auditing human resources. Each step is responsible for the success or failure of the next step. 4. Distinguish between job description and job specification. Job description is a written statement of all the duties and responsibilities to be performed on a particular job and job specification is a written statement of the personal qualities an individual should possess to perform a particular job. 5. List the steps in human resource planning (HRP). They are determine strategic operations, establish the time standard for reaching objectives, review internal and external environmental factors that affect staffing needs, project human talents/skills needed for achieving strategic objectives, audit human resources in the organization, determine human resource needs in the short-run and long-run to meet projected needs, and plan a program of recruitment and selection to fulfill human resource needs. 6. Discuss the meaning of motivation and the 3 conditions which must exist for employees to become highly motivated. Motivation is the psychological process that gives behavior purposes and directions. The conditions are the employee must have the ability to do the work and the work environment must be satisfactory. 7. Define morale and discuss the relationship to employee performance and motivation. Morale is the state of mind of an individual or group in regard to confidence, cheerfulness, and discipline. It is believed that high productivity results from high morale and motivation. 8. Distinguish between morale and job satisfaction. What are some of the methods used to increase employee job satisfaction in the workplace? Job satisfaction refers to the state of mind an individual has about his or her work environment but morale is in regards to the confidence and discipline. 9. Motivation theories tend to be classified as either content theories, process theories, or reinforcement theories. Distinguish between the three classifications. Content theories are motivational theories that focus on the needs within individuals that cause them to act in a certain way. Process theories are motivational theories that concentrate on rewards that individuals will possibly receive if they behave or perform in a certain way and reinforcement theories are those that base motivation on consequences of past actions to influence future actions. 10. Define leadership. Leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives. 11. Distinguish between leaders and managers. Leaders are a part of management. They have followers whereas managers are effective leaders because they get things done through others. 12. Describe the following leadership styles: (a) autocratic; (b) democratic; (c) Laissez-Faire. An autocratic leader makes all the decisions for the group. A democratic leader encourages and allows the group members to participate in the decision-making process. A laissez-Faire leader allows followers in the group to make the decisions themselves. 13. What is the importance of communication to the management function of planning? To organizing? To implementing? To controlling? All managers plan for the purpose of attaining the objectives in the proper time period and in the most efficient and effective way. Sound organization requires placing qualified employees in the right jobs and balancing the output of work between human resources and physical ones. Control programs are essential if employees and departments affected understand the importance of control. 14. Name the steps in the communication process. Where do most of the communication problems occur in the process. Why? The communication process consists of idea origination, the message, channel selecting and encoding, transmission, receiving, decoding, and feedback. Most of the communication problems occur during transmission because it is very possible for messages to get lost. 15. Of the communication principles that are mentioned in this chapter, which do you think is of the greatest importance to a practicing manager? Justify why. 16. What are the 3 types of organizational change and when does change need to occur? They are technological, environmental, and internal. Change needs to occur when problems arise. 17. Name the most common reasons employees resist change. The most common reasons employees resist change are job security and income, uncertainty, personal inconvenience, loss of status and power, and change in personal relationships. 18. Define conflict and name 4 major types of conflict. Â  Conflict is a clash of opposing ideas and interests which lead to disagreement. The four types of conflict are interpersonal, intergroup, interdepartmental, and organizational. 19. What are the essential steps in the control process? Explain each. The steps in the control process include setting standards, appraising conformance to the standards, and taking appropriate corrective or remedial action if the standards are not met or are exceeded. Standards are based on the goals and objectives of the organization. Appraising conformance happens in two steps which are measuring performance and comparing performance to the standards. 20. List and briefly discuss the characteristics of effective control. The details of each control program should be tailored to fit the needs of individual organizations because every organization’s products and services are different from each other’s. The establishment of controls must have the complete support of top management because without it, it would be difficult to convince either managers or employees that controls are essential. Control programs must be cost-effective. Control activities should possess enough flexibility to adapt to change because when new standards are needed, it is better to modify the existing control program than to create an entirely new system. Control programs should provide information in a timely way. Objective information is the essence of sound control. 21. Define performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is a process that involves determining and communicating to employees how they are performing their jobs and establishing a plan for improvement. 22. List and clarify the traditional steps in the appraisal process. They are determine objectives of performance appraisal, establish job expectations, select appraisal method, decide who will rate the employee, appraise performance, discuss results with employee, and review appraisal with superior manager. 23. Identify 4 common rating errors which can occur in appraising employee performance. They are halo effect which is rating an employee excellent in one quality which influences the rater to give higher than deserved scores on other qualities, horn effect which is rating an employee unsatisfactory in one quality and lowering the rating on other qualities as a result, central tendency which is tending to grade employees average on all qualities, and strict rating which is rating lower than the normal or average. 24. Distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards are internal to the individual and stem from the work itself and extrinsic rewards are distributed by higher management and are not under the control of the employee. 25. Discuss the meaning of information overload. Information overload suggests that a manager has more information than they can digest. 26. Explain 4 things that make information useful. They are accurate information is valid and correct, timely information means that managers have facts, data, figures, and such available for review before they must make decisions so that it can be used to the organization’s advantage, complete information provides the manager all of the facts and information that relate to the decision-making situation, and relevant information refers to a manager’s having the kind of information he or she needs for the particular decision-making situation.

Brigham and Houston Essay

1. Whenever we are interested in buying a bond from the bond market, the bond’s issuer promises to pay back the principal (or par value) when the bond matures (Brigham and Houston, 2001). During this time, the issuer is obliged to pay interest in order to compensate the use of money. The interest payment is made on coupon rate which is fixed. There is an inverse relationship between the coupon rate and the bond prices, when: †¢ Interest rate increase, leads to rise in income, whereas the price of the bond declines. †¢ Interest rate decrease, leads to decline in income, whereas the price of the bond rises. Also we need to consider that the coupon rate is inversely related to duration because higher coupon rates lead to quicker recovery of the bond’s value, resulting in a shorter duration, relative to lower coupon rates. If coupon rate is greater than the market rate then it is favourable for issuer and if coupon rate is less than the market rate then it is favourable for purchaser (Brigham and Houston, 2001). The reason behind the variations in the coupon rates of various bonds is the market interest rate; company’s performance, time length, and credit worthiness of the issuer. So, all these factors have an implication on the bond yields. 2. Ratings of these bonds are determined on the basis of both qualitative and quantitative factors some of which are listed below: †¢ If a company uses conservative accounting policies, its reported earnings will be higher than if it uses less conservative procedures. †¢ Various ratios including the debt ratio and the Times Interest Earned (TIE) ratio also have some implications on these bond ratings. †¢ If company explores any new sites containing oil, gas, coal fields etc. †¢ Increase in the company’s sales & net profit increase both domestically and internationally also uplift the bond ratings and it showed that debt holder show the confidence on the company’s policy. Bond ratings might take a downward leap when: †¢ There is a signal of bankruptcy, internal mismanagement and financial distress in the firm (Helfert, 2001). †¢ When the company does not abide by the law, i. e. it breaches the laws, this may be related to environment, etc. †¢ When the product life cycle is going downwards and company can’t add more products in their product line. †¢ Negative bond covenants also hits the bond ratings of the company. †¢ Labour unrest or strikes may cause instability in the bonds ratings. †¢ Economic recession in the country. 3. We know that whenever the interest rate rises, bond prices tend to fall, and when rates fall, bond prices tend to rise (Helfert, 2001). This primarily occurs due to the economic condition of the country and also because of the market sentiments. If the price of the bond goes down it is less attractive (pays less interest) in comparison with current offerings and when the price of the bond goes up it is more attractive (pays more interest) in comparison with current offerings. This may also be described as when the coupon rate is greater than market rate then it is favourable for issuer and if coupon rate is lesser than market rate then it is favourable for the purchaser. Some bonds are sold below par value, which means (at discount) or greater than par value, which means (at premium). This mainly occurs due to the risk perceived for the debt of that particular organization. Market interest rate fluctuations usually effect the performance of the bonds in the secondary markets. Federal bank monetary and fiscal policy, inflation rate, recession in the economy, etc are the factors that may force organizations to sell the bonds at discount or at premium. One must also consider that sale of bonds on discount or at premium also has some impact on the yield and also the maturity of the bond, the shorter a bond’s maturity, the less its duration. Bonds with higher yields also have lower durations. Also the company’s performance reflects in bond valuations, i. e. its bond ratings, bond covenants and credit worthiness etc (Helfert, 2001). 4. The yield to maturity (YTM) is a reflection of the return on investment, that is earned at the current price, incase the bond is held by the issuer to its date of maturity and redeemed at par value. In other words, YTM is the discount rate that equates the present value of future inflows from the bond equal to its present price.

Statistic Case Study for Bottle Company

The case study that is being investigated is for a bottling company producing less soda than what is advertised. Customers have complained that the sodas in the bottles contain less than the advertised sixteen ounces. The employees at the company have measured the amount of soda contained in each bottle. There are thirty bottles that have been pulled from the shelves. The manager of the company would like to have a detailed report on the possible causes, if any, for the shortage in the amount of soda or if the claim is not supported explain how to mitigate the issue in the future.In order to statistically find a cause in the shortage a hypothesis testing is conducted by finding the mean, median, and standard deviation for ounces in the bottles. Constructing a 95 percent interval will establish the mean of the population since the mean of the population is not known. There are thirty soda bottles being pulled for investigation. The mean will be calculated by averaging the amount of ou nces in each bottle and dividing the total by the number of bottles.The data below shows the ounces in each of the thirty bottles that were pulled. The mean among the sample bottles is 14. 87. The calculation to find the mean is to add all the ounces per bottle. The total is 446. 1 divided by the random sample of 30. The average ounces in the bottles are less than 16 ounces. The median for the soda bottles is 14. 8. The median is imputed by dividing the random number of 30 by 2 which equals 15. Arrange the ounces from smallest to largest, and select the number that falls on 15.This will provide the median for the thirty bottles. The standard deviation for the ounces in the bottles is 0. 55. The standard deviation must be known in order to compute the confidence interval. To find the standard deviation, calculate the individual ounces minus the mean of the ounces and square the total (X-M)2. After the total is calculated, divide by the random count 30 minus 1 (n-1). In order to compu te the confidence interval of 95 percent; the mean, standard deviation, and identifying the value must calculated.A confidence interval gives an estimated range of values which is likely to include an unknown population parameter, the estimated range being calculated from a given set of sample data (Easton & McColl, n. d. ). The confidence interval of 95 percent can be found using a normal distribution calculator. The Z distribution is used in this case study because there are thirty bottles. The Z value is greater than or equal to thirty within the sample size. The Z value of 95 percent is 1. 96. This represents the area on the normal distribution chart between the cutoff points.The cutoff points on the chart are between -1. 96 and 1. 96. The lower and upper limit will be given to locate the interval using the standard normal confidence interval. Calculate to find the interval by imputing Z. 025 equals 1. 96 stores the answer, in this case, using the Aleks calculator. Enter the mea n 14. 87 +/- 1. 96 times 0. 55 divided by square root of 30. The lower limit is 14. 67 and the upper limit is 15. 07. This interval proves the soda in the bottles did not contain sixteen ounces.In Easton and McColl (n.  d) article summarized setting up and testing hypothesis is an essential part of statistical inference. In order to formulate such a test, usually some theory has been put forward, either because it is believed to be true or because it is to be used as a basis for argument, but has not been proved. To verify the claim that the bottles contain less than sixteen ounces of soda a hypothesis test will be performed. To find the null hypothesis that represents the claim to be true or to be used as a basis of argument until it is proven. The null hypothesis is H0 greater than or equal to sixteen ounces.The alternative hypothesis is H1 less than sixteen ounces. The type of test used is one tailed testing. If using a significance level of . 05, a one-tailed test allots the e ntire alpha to testing the statistical significance in the one direction of interest. This means that . 05 is in one tail of the distribution test statistic. When using a one-tailed test, it is testing for the possibility of the relationship in one direction and completely disregarding the possibility of a relationship in the other direction (â€Å"UCLA: Statistical Consulting Group,† 2007).The value of the test is calculated by the mean 1 minus mean 2. Therefore, 14. 87 – 16 equals -1. 13 divided by standard deviation 0. 55 divided by square root of random sample 30 equals . 375. The P value is calculated by using the formula P (Z < equal to . 375). The P value is 0. 646. The P value is greater than the significance level of test which is . 05. The answer is the mean of 0. 5 < 0. 646. The conclusion of the test for the null hypothesis is not rejected. This suggests the alternative hypothesis must be true that the soda in the bottles is less than sixteen ounces.The typ e of error used in the hypothesis is type I error. There are several causes determining the reason for fewer ounces in the bottles. The air in the lines could prevent the soda from filling bottles, machine may need to be reset to fill 16 ounces to the exact measure, or machine may not be calibrated properly. Issuing a daily calibration of the machinery is a way to avoid the deficit in the future. Statistically the issue could stem from the unknown population of how many customers complained. There could possibly be a million sodas produced with only ten customer complaints.Therefore, pulling more bottles from the shelves and testing the ounces could show a different alternative hypothesis and may prevent a deficit in the future. Other speculations that determine sodas from not being filled to the top are to keep the soda from overfilling so it is not filled to the top line. It has to have a bit of air in the bottle so there can be room for the liquid. Less soda is in the bottles to expand if it gets heated otherwise the bottle could break. In conclusion, the customers are correct there is less than 16 ounces of soda in the bottle.

Genres Of Literature Essay

Genres of literature are important to learn about. The two main categories separating the different genres of literature are fiction and nonfiction. There are several genres of literature that fall under the nonfiction category. Nonfiction sits in direct opposition to fiction. Examples from both the fiction and nonfiction genres of literature are explained in detail below. This detailed genres of literature list is a great resource to share with any scholars. Types of Nonfiction: Narrative Nonfiction is information based on fact that is presented in a format which tells a story. Essays are a short literary composition that reflects the author’s outlook or point. A short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative. A Biography is a written account of another person’s life. An Autobiography gives the history of a person’s life, written or told by that person. Often written in Narrative form of their person’s life. Speech is the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one’s thoughts and emotions by speech, sounds, and gesture. Generally delivered in the form of an address or discourse. Finally there is the general genre of Nonfiction. This is Informational text dealing with an actual, real-life subject. This genre of literature offers opinions or conjectures on facts and reality. This includes biographies, history, essays, speech, and narrative nonfiction. Nonfiction opposes fiction and is distinguished from those fiction genres of literature like poetry and drama which is the next section we will discuss. Genres of Fiction: Drama is the genre of literature that’s subject for compositions is dramatic art in the way it is represented. This genre is stories composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical  performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and action. Poetry is verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an emotional response from the reader. The art of poetry is rhythmical in composition, written or spoken. This genre of literature is for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts. Fantasy is the forming of mental images with strange or other worldly settings or characters; fiction which invites suspension of reality. Humor is the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical. Fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to entertain. This genre of literature can actually be seen and contained within all genres. A Fable is a story about supernatural or extraordinary people Usually in the form of narration that demonstrates a useful truth. In Fables, animals often speak as humans that are legendary and supernatural tales. Fairy Tales or wonder tales are a kind of folktale or fable. Sometimes the stories are about fairies or other magical creatures, usually for children. Science Fiction is a story based on impact of potential science, either actual or imagined. Science fiction is one of the genres of literature that is set in the future or on other planets. Short Story is fiction of such briefness that is not able to support any subplots. Realistic Fiction is a story that can actually happen and is true to real life. Folklore are songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a person of â€Å"folk† that was handed down by word of mouth. Folklore is a genre of literature that is widely held, but false and based on unsubstantiated beliefs. Historical Fiction is a story with fictional characters and events in a historical setting. Horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by literature that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the characters and the reader. A Tall Tale is a humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering heroes who do the impossible with an here of nonchalance. Legend is a story that sometimes of a national or folk hero. Legend is based on fact but also includes imaginative material. Mystery is a genre of fiction that deals with the solution of a crime or the unraveling of secrets. Anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown. Mythology is a type of legend or traditional narrative. This is often based in part on  historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods. A body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person. Fiction in Verse is full-length novels with plot, subplots, themes, with major and minor characters. Fiction of verse is one of the genres of literature in which the narrative is usually presented in blank verse form. The genre of Fiction can be defined as narrative literary works whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. In fiction something is  feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story. Basic Parts of Essay Introductory Paragraph The introductory paragraph accomplishes three purposes: it captures the reader’s interest, it suggests the importance of the essay’s topic, and it ends with a thesis sentence. Often, the thesis sentence states a claim that consists of two or more related points. For example, a thesis might read: A college essay has an introductory paragraph, several body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. You are telling the reader what you think are the most important points which need to be addressed in your essay. For this reason, you need to relate the introduction directly to the question or topic. A strong thesis is essential to a good essay, as each paragraph of your essay should be related back to your thesis or else deleted. Thus, the thesis establishes the key foundation for your essay. A strong thesis not only states an idea, but also uses solid examples to back it up. A weak thesis might be: Wikipedia is a powerful resource in many ways. As an alternative, a strong thesis for the same topic would be: Wikipedia is a powerful resource because it allows users with knowledge in a specific area toshare  their knowledge, because it allows users to quickly find information about a vast array of topics, and because studies have confirmed that it is as accurate as any other encyclopedia. Then, you could separate your body paragraphs into three sections: one explaining the open-source nature of the project, one explaining the variety and depth of information, and a final one using studies to confirm that Wikipedia is indeed as accurate as other encyclopedias. Tips Often, writing an introductory paragraph is the most difficult part of writing an essay. Facing a blank page can be daunting. Here are some suggestions for getting started. First, determine the context in which you want to place your topic. In other words, identify an overarching category in which you would place your topic, and then introduce your topic as a case-in-point. For example, if you are writing about dogs, you may begin by speaking about friends, dogs being an example of a very good friend. Alternatively, you can begin with a sentence on selective breeding, dogs being an example of extensive selective breeding. You can also begin with a sentence on means of protection, dogs being an example of a good way to stay safe. The context is the starting  point for your introductory paragraph. The topic or thesis sentence is the ending point. Once the starting point and ending point are determined, it will be much easier to connect these points with the narrative of the opening paragraph. A good thesis statement, for example, if you are writing about dogs being very good friends, you could put: A dog is an example of a very good friend because X, Y, and Z. Here, X, Y, and Z would be the topics explained in your body paragraphs. In the format of one such instance, X would be the topic of the second paragraph, Y would be the topic of the third paragraph,  and Z would be the topic of the fourth paragraph, followed by a conclusion, in which you would summarize the thesis statement. Example As we travel through our lives, we will identify many people as friends. In truth, most of these individuals are simply acquaintances. They will enter and depart from our existences as matters of mutual convenience. True friends will be there for you always. There is no friend truer than a dog. Identifying a context can help shape the topic or thesis. Here, the writer decided to write about dogs. Then, the writer selected friends as the context, dogs being good examples of friends. This shaped the topic and narrowed the focus to dogs as friends. This would make writing the remainder of the essay much easier because it allows the writer to focus on aspects of dogs that make them good friends. Body Paragraphs Each body paragraph begins with a topic sentence. If the thesis contains multiple points or assertions, each body paragraph should support or justify them, preferably in the order the assertions originally stated in the thesis. Thus, the topic sentence for the first body paragraph will refer to the first point in the thesis sentence and the topic sentence for the second body paragraph will refer to the second point in the thesis sentence. Generally, if the thesis sentence contains three related points, there should be three body paragraphs, though you should base the number of paragraphs on the number of supporting points needed. If the core topic of the essay is the format of college essays, the thesis sentence might read: A college essay has an introductory paragraph, several body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. The topic sentence for the first body paragraph might read: The first paragraph of an essay is the introductory paragraph. Sequentially, the topic sentence for the second body paragraph might read: The introductory paragraph is followed by several body paragraphs. And the topic sentence for the third body paragraph might read: The college essay’s final paragraph is its concluding paragraph. Everybody paragraphs uses specific details, such as anecdotes, comparisons and contrasts, definitions, examples, expert opinions, explanations, facts, and statistics to support and develop the claim that its topic sentence makes. Tips When writing an essay for a class assignment, make sure to follow your teacher or professor’s  suggestions. Most teachers will reward creativity and thoughtful organization over dogmatic adherence to a prescribed structure. Many will not. If you are not sure how your teacher will respond to a specific structure, ask. Organizing your essay around the thesis sentence should begin with arranging the supporting elements to justify the assertion put forth in the thesis sentence. Not all thesis sentences will, or should, lay out each of the points you will cover in your essay. In the example introductory paragraph on dogs, the thesis sentence reads, â€Å"There is no friend truer than a dog. † Here, it is the task of the body paragraphs to justify or prove the truth of this assertion, as the writer did not specify what points they would cover. The writer may next ask what characteristics dogs have that make them true friends. Each characteristic may be the topic of a body paragraph. Loyalty, companionship, protection, and assistance are all terms that the writer could apply to dogs as friends. Note that if the writer puts dogs in a different context, for example, working dogs, the thesis might be different, and they would be focusing on other aspects of dogs. It is often effective to end a body paragraph with a sentence that rationalizes its presence in the essay. Ending a body paragraph without some sense of closure may cause the thought to sound incomplete. Each body paragraph is something like a miniature essay in that they each need an introductory sentence that sounds important and interesting, and that they each need a good closing sentence in order to produce a smooth transition between one point and the next. Body paragraphs can be long or short. It depends on the idea you want to develop in your paragraph. Depending on the specific  style of the essay, you may be able use very short paragraphs to signal a change of subject or to explain how the rest of the essay is organized. Do not spend too long on any one point. Providing extensive background may interest some readers, but others would find it tiresome. Keep in mind that the main importance of an essay is to provide basic background on a subject and, hopefully, to spark enough interest to induce further reading. Example A true friend will be there for you whenever you need them. Any dog owner will say that there is nobody that will stick with you through thick and thin as much as a dog. My own dog can barely contain her joy when I come home from a hard day. Regardless of my mood, and my attitude towards her, she is always happy when I am home, and that is usually enough to make me feel better about everything. True friends will help you when you are in need. Whether it is to protect their owner against some sort of threat or to help a blind person walk across the street, dogs are the most reliable companion a person could have. Few villains would attack a person walking a dog at night, and statistics show that homes with dogs are among the least likely to be broken into. The above example is a bit free-flowing and the writer intended it to be persuasive. The second paragraph combines various attributes of dogs including protection and companionship. Here is when doing a little research can also help. Imagine how much more effective the last statement would be if the writer cited some specific statistics and backed them up with a reliable reference. Concluding Paragraph The concluding paragraph usually restates the thesis and leaves the reader something about the topic to think about. If appropriate, it may also issue a call to act, inviting the reader to take a specific  course of action with regard to the points that the essay presented. Aristotle suggested that speakers and, by extension, writers should tell their audience what they are going to say, say it, and then tell them what they have said. The three-part essay model, consisting of an introductory paragraph, several body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph, follows this strategy. Tips As with all writing, it is important to know your audience. All writing is persuasive, and if you write with your audience in mind, it will make your argument much more persuasive to that particular audience. When writing for a class assignment, the audience is your teacher. Depending on the assignment, the point of the essay may have nothing to do with the assigned topic. In most class assignments, the purpose is to persuade your teacher that you have a good grasp of grammar and spelling, that you can organize your thoughts in a comprehensive manner, and, perhaps, that you are capable of following instructions and adhering to some dogmatic formula the teacher regards as an essay. It is much easier to persuade your teacher that you have these capabilities if you can make your essay interesting to read at the same time. Place yourself in your teacher’s position and try to imagine reading one formulaic essay after another. If you want yours to stand out, capture your teacher’s attention and make your essay interesting, funny, or compelling. Example It is no accident that many people consider their dogs as part of their family. Just like every other member, dogs contribute to the happiness and well-being of the home, making the burdens of caring for them well worth the effort. Dogs deserve love and respect every bit as much as they love and respect us. After all, what more can a friend be? In the above example, focus shifted slightly and talked about dogs as members of the family. Many would suggest it departs from the logical organization of the rest of the essay, and some teachers may consider it unrelated and take points away. However, contrary to the common wisdom of â€Å"tell them what you are going to say, say it, and then tell them what you have said,† you may find it more interesting and persuasive to shift away from it as the writer did here, and then in the end, return to the core point of the essay. This gives additional effect to what an audience would otherwise consider a very boring conclusion.

Education System India Essay

Education is a co-current state level subjects and under the Indian Constitution education is made a Fundamental Right and Directive Principles of State Policy further needed free education and other facilities to children. There is no discrimination among the people on the basis of religion, caste or creed/faith etc. However, the minorities are given right to run their own educational institutions with financial aid from Government and they are free to introduce their religion, language in their institution. Education is compulsory and free upto primary standard. Indian education system has a wide structure and the educational institutions can introduce the education or learning pattern as below VA years in pre-nursery schools, in the primary schools upto V class or so. Education is further upgraded upto 10+2 system where the examinations are conducted by the Board at 10 and 12. Thereafter, students are free to choose the courses of their own at any stage, i.e. primary, secondary, s enior secondary level. Schools are of different levels. Local Boards run the schools upto Primary, V standard, both in mother tongue and English medium. Thereafter the schools may upgrade themselves upto X known as Secondary schools. They can also be upgraded upto 12, called Senior Secondary schools. The education is a co-current (state level) subject and the Central Government cannot interfere in their functioning. As such schools are pre- primary, pre-nursery, then primary, secondary and senior secondary run both by the private bodies as well as by Government. Indian schools are not as well organised as they are expected. Private/Public school charge high fee and have control on their institution. They only need the registration by the Centre/State Government or their Bodies and Management. While the Education Department has a loose control over these Private/ Public Schools government has its own schools where the normal fee is charged and the students belong with poor section of society. Overall the condition of government schools is pathetic. At state level School Education has its own organisational set up. Under this democratic set up Education Deptt is supported by the Minister of Education who has a Secretary of Education to supervise the Department with the help of Director Education who belongs to I.A.S. cadre of service. The Department is further divided into districts Deputy, Joint Directors to look after the working of schools. Under the educational system Central Board Secondary Education (C.B.S.E) is set up to maintain, the quality in Education and provide minimum qualification of the teaching staff and other necessary requirement for the school and conduct the Exams 10 and 12 standard. It has a control over both Public Private and Government Schools. After the exam; issues certificates of 10th and 12th class/standard this student who passed the Examination. C B.S.E. has its office in New Delhi. Under the Education system to keep the hi standard of Education and to maintain to quality Education an independent body is set up known N.C.E.R.T. that is National Council of Educatio n Research and Training with its Headquarters at N Delhi. This institution published textbooks for t school on all subjects and has a panel of specialists its list. The books are to be taught at schools in t country. It also conducts the competitive examination at all India level for the talent search from primary lei upto graduation and provides stipend or sponsors to that highly talented students. Teachers are the backbone of the educational system in India. Government has set up a permanent body for the selection of the teachers known as N.C.T. i.e. National Council of Teachers Education. It conducts the training and selection of the teachers and provides certificate/degree for the teachers which are an essential qualification for the teachers who seek the employment in teaching schools known as B.Ed, or Shastri education. MIEPA in set up by the Government to look after the administration and planning of education in the country the body is known as National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. It looks ail the work of the educational /teaching/administration under the ministry of HRD an autonomous body. Kendriya Vidyalay Organisation (KVO) was set up under the Education Ministry, Government of India, New Delhi. It established 10+2 system in schools all over the country for the Government employees who use to effect posted or transferred in the country. It is good for the Central Government employees and schools are run on the medium of English from primary to twelfth standard. State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) are set up in all the states to look after the training and research work on the lines of NCERT which is at all India level. Its refresher courses, even modifies the curriculum of the schools and textbooks arc written for the secondary level standard in the state. It also arranges seminars, discusses and refresher courses for the teaching staff. There are a number of educational institutions at the District level. A Distt. Officer/ Inspector of schools looks after the educational institutions in his/her district. He/She also coordinates the different activities upto the Commissioner, State level in each district. Under this scheme, a college (Inter) 10+2 on the Government expenses is to be spent in each District and other schools are under his observation. Besides, a training centre for Primary teachers, or other refresher courses also opened in the district. The recruitment institute for the teachers, examination centers and the Boards offices are also on the line, such as Minorities schools. Local educational institutions play an important role in the area of education. As our country is poor and cannot afford the heavy expenses of Educational institutions, local education body’s arc allowed opening their schools and Government recognizes these institutions at par with the Government institutions. Minority institutions have their own schools with their own expenses or Government grants in-aid. But they fill the gap and help the Government to reduce its burden.

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage - Essay Example When a state refuses or bans same-sex marriage, it is being discriminatory and is in violation of the 14th Amendment, which requires each state to provide equality in law for all of its people (Urbina). This includes marriage regardless of the genders of those in the couple. California’s Proposition 8, a proposition that denies gay couples the right to marry, goes against the protection of equal rights that the 14th Amendment offers to all American citizens. Likewise, the 1st Amendment is also in violation when gay couples are denied marriage, as the amendment speaks for the separation of church and state (â€Å"Religion’s Role†). According to Geoffrey Stone, numerous polls have revealed that there is a strong correlation between the passing of Proposition 8 and particular religious beliefs. In passing Proposition 8, religion should not have been taken into consideration or allowed influence over opinions. The most logical and obvious reason that people oppose sa me-sex marriage is because of religious beliefs and biblical arguments, which really are not enough to prove why gay marriages should not be allowed.

The Parmalat Scandal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Parmalat Scandal - Research Paper Example Parmalat employees tried to obstruct justice by shredding documents and spoiling computers. Tanzi and two members of his family were arrested. Zini of Zini legal firm was the mastermind behind the fraudulent activities while Fausto Tonna is played a key role. Parmalet’s outside counsel and ten members of its management pleaded guilty to criminal charges, but were lucky to get sentences not exceeding thirty months. While claims against Deloitte&Touche LLP and Grant&Thornton LLP were allowed to continue, a suit against Bank of America was dismissed (Markham 375). Italian prosecutors sought to cast the net wider. They indicted Deloitte &Touche, Grant & Thornton and their employees. They accused Citigroup and Morgan Stanley Deutche Bank with aiding and abetting the fraud since they were the company’s investment banks. Citigroup filed a countersuit in New Jersey claiming they were also a victim of Parmalet’s fraud (Markham 375).The scandal was an embarrassment to the Italy political establishment that had received $120 million in political contributions from Tanzi. The Parmalat scandal forced the Italian government to take measures to restore investor confidence. It passed laws that should have been passed long ago to prevent frauds such as the Parmalat scandal. However, as history has shown, there will always be a lot to be done. It takes an economic collapse or a big scandal to force legislators to seal loopholes and increase regulation (Mallin 86). The measures the Italian government took to prevent fraud were long overdue. Publicly traded companies should have been required to rotate their lead auditor’s after a brief period. The government set it at two years that should be ideal. The new laws extend the time of engagement from three years to six but limit the number of times they can be contracted (Mallin 86). The extension ensures continuity that is crucial to an auditing firm’s success. In addition, mandatory rotation

Television and Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Television and Children - Essay Example This was agreed on by a number of agencies including the US Surgeon General, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, the American Psychology Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and many other scientific and public health agencies and organizations. Kunkel reports on three major conclusions of a National Television Violence Study which was carried out. The first was that the incidence of violence is indeed very high. According to the study 60% of approximately 10,000 programs sampled in the study contained violent material. The researchers identified an average of 6,000 violent interactions in a single week on 23 channels. The study also pointed out that the way in which violence is presented on television increases the harmful risk to children. The reasons suggested for this were that the harm caused by the violence on television is not portrayed realistically. The way violence is presented understates how much harm these acts in reality cause the victim. It also shows violence performed by role model who show no remorse and suffer no repercussions for their aggressive behavior. The third conclusion of the study was also worrisome. The portrayal of violence has remained consistent over the past years. This stability indicates that efforts are not effective to change the portrayal of violence on television. The potential for violence on television to lead to aggressive behavior in children is not the only negative effect of television viewing in young children. Children can develop a fear of the world around them when they are exposed to violent and scary happenings on television. These images can be seen by children on regular television shows or even on the news. When children cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy they can become affected

Information gatekeepers on the Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Information gatekeepers on the Internet - Essay Example In order for companies to attain competitive advantage, the virtual market should be untapped so as to reach so the many internet users (Baye, Morgan, 2001). Electronic commerce is defined as the buying and selling of goods, services or information through computer networks using the internet. E -commerce offers new ways of doing business that no company can ignore. Electronic commerce has brought with it several benefits, and it is also extremely convenient. Some of the benefits of e-commerce include; shortened remittance time, companies have managed to easily promote their product, both consumers and the companies have saved on the cost; it has enhanced the provision of timely information. E-commerce has also ensured a consistent flow of information; better customer relationship, it has enhanced the customization of products, and it has also brought with it the convenience of doing business (Baye, Morgan, 2001). There are different policies that can be embraced in the development o f an e-commerce site, they include; the informational or communicational strategy, and the online or transactional strategy. In the informational strategy, uses the web to support but not to replace the company’s business activities. In this strategy, the company does not just limit itself to marketing on the web. Instead, the company also considers other traditional media to advertise and market their goods and services, so as to achieve the intended goal. The informational strategy has been used in e-commerce today.

Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Journalism - Essay Example The reason behind the easy usage of twitter accounts to spread messages fast if the features that it has incorporated in enhancing the sharing of information. This aids in fast spreading of information across the globe within seconds. For instance, from the reading, Twitter has played a very fundamental role in enhancing the communication of critical messages. Such messages include information about terror attacks (Hermida 672-673). The reading gives some insight on the importance of people to embrace the use of twitter as a social media communication platform. Twitter has a major impact on the journalism practice in everyday life. The social media communication platform has had quite and influence how in the reporting and distribution of information globally in the news houses. The use of Twitter affect how other news organizations have to respond to breaking news in order to have a significant input to the public. In addition, the journalists’ scope is evolving daily to because of the new communication platform to that is making great impacts in the communication industry (680). The article is about the impact that citizen journalism has from case studies done in China. In china, the mainstream media is in strict control and there is the intensification of social conflicts. These happen amid the worsening sentiments among the nationals in the country. The reading is very realistic about the current society where citizen and mainstream journalism communication have taken root. For instance, it cuts across the citizen communication and its impact in the societies that are non-democratic both politically and socially. The reading gives insight on what is happening in most societies in the world in terms of communication practices. It is evident from the case stud citizen communication has a great influence in mainstream journalism in enhancing the online flowing of information. The establishment of

Wireshark Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wireshark - Assignment Example The switch maps the acquired MAC address to the port where the data packets came in from and stores it in the CAM ( content Addressable Memory). Content Addressable Memory is a table of port mapping, and MAC addresses used to identify connected networking peripheral devices. ARP table is a protocol used for mapping an IP address to a MAC address that has been recognized in the local network. An ARP table is created or updated when a Host x is attempting to transport a packet addressed to another host y with a known IP address. Host x looks in the ARP table to find the MAC address of Host y by comparing it to its IP address. When Host x does not find a MAC address of Host y, Host x constructs an ARP request. The ARP request will contain the IP address of Host x. The packet is sent to Ethernet broadcast address where all devices in the network will receive it. Since Host x has sent both it MAC and IP addresses, all the host receiving the ARP request will add the entry into their ARP tables. Since Host y only has an IP address, it will create an ARP reply that contains its MAC and IP address and send it to Hst x that requested for it. Host x can now send its original packet to Host y since its MAC address is also now available. (e) Domain name system is widely available and used to resolve names of websites in a network. Recursive DNS is the process through which the DNS server on the local machine makes queries to other DNS servers on behave of the user of the local machine which made the original request. In essence, the local DNS server becomes a DNS client. This usually happens when the DNS server on the local machine is not able to find the IP address of every website due to the high number of websites and creation of new sites each

Write a paper on the environment and the damages that humans have done Research

Write a on the environment and the damages that humans have done to it - Research Paper Example Human activities lead to different impacts on various components of the ecosystem such as land, biodiversity, and aquatic, terrestrial, marine and the atmosphere. Humans are inherently selfish and want the best for themselves without caring about the impacts of their activities to other members of the ecosystem. Global warming is the most critical problem facing the globe today. Global warming is described as the rise in the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and the oceans. This increase was noted to have started in the 19th century and is anticipated to continue rising. Goudie (22) notes that since the beginning of the 20th century, global temperatures have risen by about 0.8o C with approximately two thirds of this increase happening since 1980. Global warming is attributed to increased concentration of greenhouse gases which include carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. However, carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases lead to global warming by trapping infrared radiations emitted from the earth’s surface in the lower atmosphere thereby causing the temperatures to become warmer. These gases, however, allow radiations from the sun to get to the earth surface but absorb them as they absorb short wave radiations when re-emitted coming fr om the land. Greenhouse gases are important to maintain warm temperatures with the earth surface, but increased concentration of these gases can lead to devastating impacts on the environment, as explained by Goudie (22). Human activities are the most significant causes of increased carbon dioxide levels. Goudie (23) observes that since industrial revolution, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased significantly. He notes that carbon dioxide and methane concentration has risen by 36 and 148 percent respectively from 1750 levels. Burning of fossil fuels is attributed for more than

Public Cultural Event Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Public Cultural Event - Research Paper Example I cannot call Dubai a developing country because as soon as you arrive at the airport, the terminal is exactly like the ones you will find back in the States. Honestly, it is even better than back home. I was new here, but they were used to seeing 'aliens' like me all the time, which is why I was not given a second glance. For me, these Arabs were strangely beautiful to look at, with their gleaming white 'gowns' and turban-like headgear. I was truly in a modern desert with crystal clear glass for a terminal roof. I was greeted by a man who touched my nose with his, which honestly speaking, greatly alarmed me at first, but apparently that is how everyone here greets one another as it is a part of their culture. As I had arrived just days before the Dubai Shopping Festival officially began, the airport was lit with banners showing the symbol of the festival; a red and green shopping bag with a family drawn on it. Names, dates and venues of various shows were also advertised with bright pictures on these banners; Dubai was certainly proud of its famous cultural festival and wasted no space to inform visitors of what fun they would be experiencing in the upcoming days. I was driven to a hotel that really matches the likes of those back in States, the hotel I was to stay at could have really given The Trump Towers a run round the windmill. On the way to the hotel, I kept clicking away at the skyscrapers looming above; Dubai can easily be called New York 2.0 or maybe even 3.0. All along the road the streets were brightened with streetlights linked with trails of red, green and white lighting; the official colors of this festival. Seeing them gave me butterflies, making me realize how badly I was anticipating the famous Dubai Shopping Festival. Yes, this festival that everyone kept talking about back home was the only reason I was here. A festival of color, lights and people from all around the world, it truly is a cultural phenomenon. As a travel enthusiast this was a must see for me and I had been planning to visit since it first began. At the hotel I was greeted by the manager himself, who was so pleased at having a western national lodge at his hotel; they really respect the West and its inhabitants in this city. The view from my room was something I could have only dreamed off; the whole city was lit up. Dubai, during this festival, really looked like something out of an episode of Star Trek minus the floating cars. This hotel was really growing on to me and I was already thinking about apartment shopping, which would be no problem at all thanks to the amazing deals and bargains this festival offers to shoppers throughout its month long fiesta. The Dubai Shopping Festival kicks off with a stunning display of fireworks, illuminating the night sky and the city with hundreds of breathtaking colors and designs and leaving all the watchers awe-struck. These spectacular fireworks brighten up the city every night throughout the duration of the fes tival, but are especially electrifying on the opening and closing nights of the

East Asia paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

East Asia paper 2 - Essay Example With such economic disparity, China’s development continued to fall as Western culture continued to take its peak. Aside from these, its centralized government began to crumble as rampant corruption erupted. Decentralization in power, warfare, rebellions, overpopulation, as well as the continuing economic downscale continued to pour over China’s arms. Rebellions continued its sprout, starting with the White Lotus Sect that placed an end to the golden age of the Qing dynasty and lasted for almost nine years. Named after the White lotus Buddhist sectarianism, White lotus revolution sparked the Chinese movement to overthrow the Qing dynasty. Starting as tax protesters, this sect was able to gain support from ordinary people against serious concerns in the government. By 1840, the Opium War, armed invasion of France and Britain against China, also broke out. This war was rooted from the dispute against opium trade, as the Chinese Emperor banned opium for its harmful effects in its citizens and derogatory impact on Chinese culture. Such conflict of premise contrasted Britain’s view on opium as a profitable commodity for commercial trade. The Opium War and the series of â€Å"unequal treaties† (or unreasonable treaties which demanded China to give up territories, pay indemnities, and open trading ports) beneficial to Britain further contributed to the downfall of China. The sudden turn of events converted China into a semi-feudal and semi-colonized country. Aside from the aforementioned wars, China also suffered from the Boxer Rebellion, a rebellion of the Chinese patriots (who used acts of violence such as murder, robbery, vandalism, and arson) as a means in opposing the forces of foreign traders and troops.

Research project -- Using balanced scorecaed in human resource Essay

Research project -- Using balanced scorecaed in human resource management - Essay Example With the support of just a single sheet of paper, the administrative authorities can achieve both the basic financial goals and the most significant non-financial drivers for the success.  The main purpose of Balanced Scorecard is to assist the managers in using their elusive resources effectively. Executive authorities apply Balanced Scorecards to analyze and measure the performance of the employees proficiently. The managers use Balanced Scorecards as an additional aid along with other financial measures. This paper is initiated by the fact that numerous organizations are falling short in aligning their corporate strategy with their visions. In this paper, the strategic use of Balanced Scorecard is discussed which is considered as one of the important component of modern human resource management. The main purpose of the paper is to identify how a balanced scorecard can help the mangers to integrate a well-defined strategy and the vision. Balanced Scorecard is a measuring and strategic management tool that is used to bring all the organizational activities and employees’ performance with respect to its vision and strategies (Harvard Business Review, 1992 & 1993). It identifies a small number of financial and non-financial measures along with attached targets to them, so that they are assessed to verify whether or not the contemporary performance would meet the expected standards or goals. The Balanced Scorecard, developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David P. Norton, can be effectively and productively used in communications as well as to evaluate goals and performance of over all organization. According to David Norton, almost 60% of large US companies are using those Balanced Scorecard that merge financial and non-financial measures. Kaplan and Norton (1996) wrote their book The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action that â€Å"The

Case study Analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis - Case Study Example In order to achieve this, the board members should be freely elected by the shareholders on the basis of their experience and competencies. 2.Tim Harrington’s efforts to manage the board of directors and investors are worthless given that he has no influence over them. In the first place, he does not want any interference from them which puts him in a difficult corner. He may not be able to influence their decisions since there is a division that already exist the two. Tim is hard headed since he thinks that he can make decisions without the input of the members of the board which is quite impossible. The management should have reviewed the business strategy to see if it can turn around the fortunes of the company by venturing into another lucrative form of business. Tim’s view of â€Å"better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission shows that he has pride. He thinks he is above the situation in all respects in the company. He thinks that he cannot seek for permission from the board to implement certain decisions which is not supposed to be the case. 3. The venture capital decision is favourable to the people who belong to the group since it reflects their interests. Being the major shareholders in the company, selling the company is a viable strategy that can prevent loses in the long run since the financial crisis witnessed is unpredictable. In most cases, the factors obtaining on the ground in the real economic situation are beyond the control of many organizations. When there have been signs of bad things to come, it would be wise to dispose the company while there is still time. This can help to salvage the money invested in the company. ________________________________________________________________ The board of directors in a public company should be composed of independent people who have interests of the company and the other shareholders at heart. People with direct interests in

Mandatory Drug Testing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Mandatory Drug Testing - Assignment Example The experience of recent years shows that drug spread causes numerous problems for present-day life penetrating into almost every sphere of human activity, starting from school and high educational establishments through job and finding its direct aftereffect in drug misuse in prisons, which in addition very often appear to be an immediate result of personal involvement into drug use or indirect distribution of different substances. One way or another, drugs as pervasive evil touches and destroys people’s life day by day endangering the prosperity of their future as minimum and their physical being and psychological health as maximum. The main reason for this lies in inappropriate control or lack of control in such an essential question as drug use by people of various occupations whether they are teachers, students, employees or inmates. In this regard, mandatory drug testing must be accepted and applied universally in the places that have displayed their engagement into drug consumption. There is a strong belief that any kind of tests related to questions of drug use and applied for clarifying of a situation within the issue may be extremely stressful for persons under test. Moreover, they are able to have a negative impact on the reputation of such persons. As a matter of fact, there are particular disadvantages of mandatory drug testing, which can be found in errors and faults of the procedure itself. The question is that any tests and researches are supposed to have some drawbacks, this is the fact. Still, except people’s intentional misrepresentation of absolute data in the matter of drug use or misuse, there even cannot be evident large errors of mechanic origin, since modern equipment is engineered according to the latest scientific discoveries. This is the particular slightness of the opinion.  

Greek Mythology and Medea Essay Example for Free

Greek Mythology and Medea Essay Medea is a Greek tragedy which was written in 431 BC by the Greek philosopher Euripides. The story of Medea is one filled with anger, jealousy, and death. The main character, Medea, has to overcome the personal heartache of seeing her husband, Jason, marry another woman. The ensuing struggle she has with this notion is the focus of this play. In a very important scene, Medea hatches her plan to murder the princess, who is Jasons new bride, as well as Jason himself. She says that first, she will pretend to beg for Jasons forgiveness, and then she will have him bring the children back to the palace. At the palace, the children will present gifts to the princess from Medea. The gifts of a veil and bridal robe were covered with a poison that is designed to melt the skin from her body, as well as anyone who touched her. When the children give the gifts to the princess, she cannot resist putting them on immediately. After she put them on, the gifts begin to work as Medea had hoped. The skin begins to melt from her body and her hair begins to fall out. She also bursts into flames. Upon seeing this, a servant goes to fetch the king and Jason, and when he saw his daughter, King Creon collapses helplessly on the body, and as a result died from the same poisons. Jason returns to the place where Medea is staying and insists to see his children. But he is too late, as Medea has killed them as well. Her reasoning was that she hates Jason more than she loves her children. The sheer cruelty of this scene illustrates Euripides point that a clever woman with enough time to hatch a plan is a very dangerous woman indeed. It also proves that hell hat no fury like a woman scorned. Euripides was aiming to show, in my opinion, that when a woman is wronged in a manner such as this one, the man who has scorned her had better think twice about turning his back on the woman, especially if she is a clever one, as was Medea.

“To Peacekeep Or Not To Peacekeep” By James Ash Essay Example for Free

â€Å"To Peacekeep Or Not To Peacekeep† By James Ash Essay In â€Å"To Peacekeep Or Not To Peacekeep† James Ash argues that if we consider both the pragmatic and ethical view we can see how peace keeping is the best role for Canadians to take. However, although Ash describes peacekeeping as essential to Canada’s identity, if we look critically at this essay you will find that Ash’s argument is flawed in numerous ways. Ash provides a subjective view in favor of peacekeeping without giving a fair representation to the disadvantages of peacekeeping. Specifically if one looks at Ash’s appeal to motive and false dilemma then one can assess if Ash’s arguments are considered credible and sound. Ash begins his essay by introducing the concept of peacekeeping through the ethical and pragmatic view. Ash describes the benefits that are associated with Canada assuming the role of peacekeeper. Ash explains different scenarios of how peace keeping can help with war. With taking on a role of peace keeping we will be saving numerous soldiers and helping parts around the world out of the hell they have been living. Ash concludes his essay with encouraging readers to get on board with a peace keeping Canada and to really benefit from what our taxes are paying for. Ash demonstrates continuously how peacekeeping is the best role for the Canadian Armed forces because peacekeeping is philanthropic and earns Canada an identity internationally. Ash attempts to convey to the reader that peacekeeping is necessary for Canadians because according to Ash â€Å"The only ethical role for a peacetime army is to try to prevent war† (349). Readers are engaged because if they disagree they are afraid that they will be morally wrong for doing so. Ash flatters with language that intimates with the readers that peacekeeping prevents war. Ash states that â€Å"it saves more lives† (349) which creates a positive subliminal association in the readers’ mind for Canada assuming a role of peacekeeping. Ash argues that â€Å"if it serves as a small sign that the world will not stand by forever and let butchers and â€Å"ethnic cleansers† have their way, then peacekeeping should be supported by even the most hardnosed pragmatist† (349). Ash’s statement makes readers feel important when they envision themselves putting a stop to such terrible acts that make this world a â€Å"living hell† (349). Ash tells readers that peacekeeping will make this world a much more bearable place to be in. Ash mentions â€Å"Peacekeeping allows Canada to be the best at something, to be famous, to earn awards† (349). With readers’ interest piqued and their egos boosted, Ash woos readers that â€Å"Peacekeeping is becoming a symbol of Canada at a time when the country desperately needs one† (349). However, Ash should keep in mind while Canada may greatly benefit from peacekeeping Ash is not willing to give any disadvantages or negative aspects to peacekeeping. By only providing the readers with what they want to hear you don’t get to hear the overall argument and this may blind us from seeing both points of view. Ash begins his essay in support for peace keeping missions by outlining what he believes are the practical reasons. For example Ash states that â€Å"A few body bags being flown home because small-arms fire can penetrate Canada’s ancient armoured personnel carriers, or because our helicopters are too decrepit to evacuate Canadian wounded, is probably the only incentive that will actually get Canada’s military the tools it needs to do the job† (349) Later in the essay he states â€Å"it saves more than it costs, if it brings even temporary relief to parts of the world that have become living hells: (349). Although Ash provides meaningful evidence in support of his claim, when one looks more objectively one begins to question what the above quotations suggest; Ash’s appeal to motive or more specifically his appeal to pity. These examples may be overbearing for the reader and the words may distract them from the truth of the essay. Ash continuously argues how peacekeeping will no longer makes us an â€Å"American puppet†, he believes this will only set us up to be a part of the real world. Ash states that â€Å"either we fight alongside the US or against them† (348). He also argues that we need to set an example for the US, and peace keeping will do so. With Ash’s convincing words one may question his strong motto by looking more carefully one may begin to doubt his claim and see that Ash’s false of dilemma. These examples suggest that these fallacies distract you from the overall truth of this essay. Ash’s essay describes the numerous benefits that are associated with peacekeeping. Although Ash makes several credible points the overall essay is incredible due to numerous fallacies that justify the subjective nature of the essay rendering it impossible to be objective.

Issues Of Deviance And Social Control Sociology Essay

Issues Of Deviance And Social Control Sociology Essay Deviance is a term used by society to define behaviors that differ from the everyday social norm, this means that majority of people in a society must agree or conform to a certain action or behavior. In 1906, William Sumner came up with the concept to categorize norm into three different groups: folkways, mores, and laws. He defines folkway as the simple day-to-day norm which was based on customs, traditions and mannerisms. If one were not to follow the way of folkway norm it would probably cause others to believe that they are strange or abnormal but would not cause fury. Typical folkway norms include style of dressing, character, physical distance or closeness with others, and eating patterns. Moving on, mores are norms which reflect wide-ranging social ethics. Interracial marriage, having an illegitimate child, and abusing drugs and alcohol would violate the mores laws and would cause a havoc and produce more serious social denunciation. Being in an interracial marriage may make one seem racially impure, bearing an illegitimate child can threaten social definition of a marriage, and abusing or being addicted to drugs and alcohol shows victory of hedonism over prudence. Those who dont comply with mores norm may seem sinful, and set themselves up as a potential threat to society. Furthermore, the laws norm is the strongest custom out of the other two norms. This is because it is backed up by codified social approval. Those who infringe this norm are punished in ways ranging from a fine to imprisonment. Although one may break laws and regulations, it wouldnt necessarily label the offender as deviant. With this said, deviance and crime can respectively fall into one category. Consider this, if certain individual decides to burglarize or vandalize someones property, or even causing harm to another being, it considered both deviant and a crime. Also, there are many other deviant acts that are not considered criminal, such as being over or underweight, being physi cally or mentally handicapped, being in an interracial marriage, and having an illegitimate child. To restate a prior point, these can be considered deviant because although it is not considered a crime, it violates the norm accepted by society. With that said, we can consider crime and deviance as overlapping categorizes with its own individual magnitudes. Attitude, behavior, and condition are the ABCs of deviance. People may be labeled deviant based on their attitudes or belief system which includes religion, political views and beliefs in the supernatural. Having a mental sickness can also fall into the deviant category. The B in the deviant ABCs stands for behavior which people are the most familiar with. Deviant behavior can happen intentionally or unintentionally, for example, one might unintentionally violate a dress-code, or a couple may intentionally engage in bizarre sexual activities, or one may commit murder. Lastly, the C stands for condition. Those who are considered d eviant because of their condition probably acquired it from birth such as being born un-wealthy, being a person of color in a mainly Caucasian dominated community, being born physically handicapped, or being height deviant. In this case, the individual has done nothing wrong or taken any negative actions to be labeled deviant; this also makes it almost impossible to change their deviant status. Although some actions that an individual chooses to take will be universally labeled as deviant behavior, others are judged strictly based on social customs. Heckerts idea of positive deviance would primarily refer to engaging in less selfish actions and more devotion toward the society. Heckert has defined many different ways in which positive deviance is evitable such as altruism, pacifism, cooperation, temperance and many more. Altruism is one of the most cherished form of positive deviance because it brings out the loyalty. All the martyrs fall under this category as they sacrificed themselves for their nation and they can never be forgotten. Those who spread the sign of peace throughout the societies also fall under positive deviance such as Gandhi. Positive deviance is clearly evident in every community where certain individuals or groups are more successful than other when everyone has received same resources but the approaches were different. Positive deviance is how successfully a person, a group or a community move forward to a better future and creates an example for other. Societies require positive deviance so they could move on with the rest of the world. Example of positive deviance could be to move forward and stop child labor in developing countries and putting them in a school for education. Labeling theory which is also known as social reaction theory suggests that deviance is not an inherit to act instead its the people who obtain labels from how other view their tendency or behavior. Its the society that makes the criminals by keep being either unfair or by false accusations. Suppose a person does commit a crime under very difficult circumstances and later on gets the label of a criminal will have negative effect on his personality and this person will be always considered as a criminal. If the society has choose to consider a person dangerous for reasons such as past criminal record or the color of his/her skin than perhaps it wont be any harder next time for this person to commit crime. Our societies also look for auxiliary traits within a position or career. For example, a doctor is consider as an white male, upper middle class and more. On other hand, black people were more attached to criminal activities and those who turned out to be doctors were hard to believe by the society because they were never seen in that form. Basically , an individuals past action create or shape his/her future and this lacks the fairness in sense this person could have adopted better human traits. Students who study deviance should not make an assumption if the person is actually a criminal or broken rule because the process of labeling may not be infallible. According to the conflict perspective, deviance is a social creation and the power structure in any society defines what to be consider normal and what is not. So basically there is no such thing as human nature, hence deviance is the creation of the social structure rather than something build into our nature. On the other hand, functional deviance approach believes that its the majority members of the society who defines what is normal and what is not. Both approaches look at the society as a whole rather than on individual level. Conflict theory mainly defines societies made up of powerful or powerless. Powerful has no right to be in power but manipulates other convince public about their legitimacy. This can be related to Durkheims state of anomie. Anomie is the result of collective conscious being collapsed. In this situation, people tend to look away from fundamental social expectations and solely focus on their self-interest. The long term collapse of order and harmony in both approaches are harmful to the society. In conclusion, Human norms refer to the set behavioral standards on which human are supposed to act. Deviance is a study that helps understand the reason behind violation of human norms. There is not one particular answer that is enough to justify human norms violation, hence many sociological scholars have presented different set of theories that can help us understand deviance with broad perspectives. Some of the scholars that have played tremendous part in understanding deviance are Erikson, Hackerts and lastly the father of Sociology Emile Durkheim. Deviance will be present no matter how perfect the society is, as Durkheim explained about the society of saints which is perfect but the identification of deviance level would be so high that even smallest error can be regarded as a strong disapproval from the society.

Constructing Social Knowledge Graph from Twitter Data

Constructing Social Knowledge Graph from Twitter Data   Yue Han Loke 1.1 Introduction The current era of technology allows its users to post and share their thoughts, images, and content via networks through different forms of applications and websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. With the emerging of social media in our daily lives and it is becoming a norm for the current generation to share data, researchers are starting to perform studies on the data that could be collected from social media [1] [2].The context of this research will be solely dedicated to Twitter data due to its publicly available wealth of data and its public Stream API. Twitters tweets can be used to discover new knowledge, such as recommendations, and relationships for data analysis. Tweets in general are short microblogs consisting of maximum 140 characters that can consists of normal sentences to hashtags and tags with @, other short abbreviation of words (gtg, 2night), and different form of a word (yup, nope). Observing how tweets are posted shows the noisy and short lexical natu re of these texts. This presents a challenge to the flexibility of Twitter data analysis. On the other hand, the availability of existing research conducted on entity extraction and entity linking has decreased the gap between entities extracted and the relationships that could be discovered. Since 2014, the introduction of the Named Entity rEcognition and Linking (NEEL) Challenge [3] has proved the significance of automated entity extraction, entity linking and classification appearing in different event streams of English tweets in the research and commercial communities to design and develop systems that could solve the challenging nature in tweets and to mine semantics from them. 1.2 Project Aim The focus of this research aims to construct a social knowledge graph (Knowledge Base) from Twitter data. A knowledge graph is a technique to analyse social media networks using the method of mapping and measurement for both relationships and information flows among group, organizations, and other connected entities in social networks [4]. A few tasks are required to successfully create a knowledge graph based on Twitter data A method to aid in the construction of knowledge graph is by extracting named entitiessuch as persons, organizations, locations, or brands from the tweets [5]. In the domain of this research, the named entity to be referenced in the tweet is defined as a proper noun or acronym if it is found in the NEEL Taxonomy in the Appendix A of [3], and is linked to an English DBpedia [6] referent and a NIL referent. The second component in creating a social knowledge graph is to utilize those extracted entities and link them to their respective entities in a knowledge base. For example, Tweet: The ITEE department is organizing a pizza gettogether at UQ. #awesome ITEE refers to an organization and UQ refers to an organization as well. The annotation for this is [ITEE, organization, NIL1], where NIL1 refers to the unique NIL referent describing the real-world entity ITEE that does not have the equivalent entry in DBpedia and [UQ, Organization, dbp:University_of_Queensland] which represents the RDF triple (subject, predicate, object). 1.3 Project Goals Firstly, getting the Twitter tweets. This can be achieved by crawling Twitter data using Public Stream API[1] available in the Twitter developer website. The Public Stream API allows extraction of Twitter data in real time. Next, entity extraction and typing with the aid of a specifically chosen information extraction pipeline called TwitIE[2] open-source and specific to social media and has been tested most extensively on microblog sentences. This pipeline receives the tweets as input and recognises the entities in the same tweet. The third task is to link those entities mined from tweets to the entities in the available knowledge base. The knowledge base that has been selected for the context of this project is DBpedia. If there is a referent in DBpedia, the entity extracted will be linked to that referent. Thus, the entity type is retrieved based on the category received from the knowledge base. In the event of the unavailability of a referent, a NIL identifier is given as shown in section 1.2. The selection of an entity linking system with the appropriate entity disambiguation and candidate entity generation that receives the extracted entities from the same Tweet and produce a list with all the candidate entities in the knowledge base. The task is to accurately link the correct entity extracted to one of the candidates. The social knowledge graph is an entity-entity graph combining two extracted sources of entities. The first is the analysis of the co-occurrence of those entities in same tweet or same sentence. Besides that, the existing relationships or categories extracted from DBpedia. Thus, the project aims to combine the extraction of co-occurrence of extracted entities and the extracted relationships to create a social knowledge graph to unlock new knowledge from the fusion of the two data sources. Named Entity Recognition (NER), Information Extraction (IE) are generally well researched in the domain of longer text such as newswire. However, overall, microblogs are possibly the hardest kind of content to process. For Twitter, some methods have been proposed by the research community such as [7] that uses a pipeline approach to perform the first tokenisation and POS tagging and topic models were used to find named entities. [8] propose a gradient-descent graph-based method for doing joint text normalisation and recognition, reaching 83.6% F1 measure. Besides that, entity linking in knowledge graphs have been studied in [9] using graph-based method by collectively gather the referent entities of all named entities in the same document and by modelling and exploiting the global interdependence between Entity Linking decisions. However, the combination of NER, and Entity Linking in Twitter tweets is still a new area of research since the NEEL challenge was first established in 2013 . Based on the evaluation conducted in [10] on the NEEL challenge, lexical similarity mention detection strategy that exploit the popularity of the entities and apply a distance similarity functions to rank entities efficiently, and n-gram [11] features are used. Besides that, Conditional Random Forest (CRF) [12] is another mentioned entity extraction strategy. In the entity detection context, graph distances and various ranking features were used. 2.1. Twitter crawling [13] defined the public Twitter Streaming API provides the ability of collecting a sample of user tweets. Using the statuses/filter API provides a constant stream of public Tweets. Multiple optional parameters may be specified such as language and locations. Applying the method CreateStreamingConnection,a POST request to the API has the capability of returning the public statuses as a stream. The rate limit of the Streaming API allows each application to submit up to 5,000 Twitter. [13] Based on the documentation, Twitter currently allows the public to retrieve at most a 1% sample of their data posted on Twitter at a specific time. Twitter will begin to return the sample data to the user when the number of tweets reaches 1% of all tweets on Twitter. According to [14] research comparing Twitter Streaming API and Twitter Firehouse, the final results of the Streaming API depends strongly on the coverage and the type of analysis that the researcher wishes to perform. For example, the researchers found that if given a set of parameters and the number of tweets matching them increases, the coverage of the Streaming API is reduced. Thus, if the research is concerning a filtered content, the Twitter Firehose would be a better choice with regards to its drawback of restrictive cost. However, since our project requires random sampling of Twitter data without filters except for English language, Twitter Streaming API would be an appropriate choice since it is freely available. 2.2. Entity Extraction [15] suggested an open-source pipeline, called TwitIE which is solely dedicated for social media components in GATE [16]. TwitIE consists for 7 parts: tweet import, language identification, tokenisation, gazetteer, sentence splitter, normalisation, part-of-speech tagging, and named entity recogniser. Twitter data is delivered from the Twitter Streaming API in JSON format. TwitIE included a new Format_Twitter plugin in the most recent GATE codebase which converts the tweets in JSON format automatically into GATE documents. This converter is automatically associated with documents names that end in .json, if not text/x-json-twitter should be specified. The TwitIE system uses TextCat a language processing and identification algorithm for its language identification. It has the capability to provide reliable tweet language identification for tweets written in English using the English POS tagger and named entity recogniser. Tokenisation oversees different characters, class sequence and rules. Since the TwitIE system is dealing with microblogs, it treats abbreviations and URLs as one token each by following the Ritters tokenisation scheme. Hashtags and user mentions are considered as two tokens and is covered by a separate annotation hashtags. Normalisation in TwitIE system is divided into two task: the identification of orthographic errors and correction of the errors found. The TwitIE Normaliser is designed specific to social media. TwitIE reuses the ANNIE gazetteer lists which contain lists such as cities, organisations, days of the week, etc. TwiTie uses the adapted version of the Stanford Part-of speech tagger which is tweets tagged with Penn TreeBank(PTB) tagset trained. The results of using the combination of normalisation, gazetteer name lookup, and POS tagger, the performance was increased to 86.93%. It was further increased to 90.54% token accuracy when the PTB tagset was used. Named entity recognition in TwitIE has a +30% absolute precision and +20% abso lute performance increase as compare to ANNIE, mainly respect to date, Organizations and Person. [7] proposed an innovative approach to distant supervision using topic models that pulls large amount of entities gathered from Freebase, and large amount of unlabelled data. Using those entities gathered, the approach combines information about an entitys context across its mentions. T-NER POS Tagging system called T-POS has added new tags for Twitter specific phenomenal retweets such as usernames, urls and hashtags. The system uses clustering to group together distributionally similar words for lexical variations and OOV words. T-POS utilizes the Brown Clusters and Conditional Random Fields. The combination of both features results in the ability to model strong dependencies between adjacent POS tags and make use of highly correlated features. The results of the T-POS are shown on a 4-fold cross validation over 800 tweets. It is proved that T-POS outperforms the Standford tagger, obtaining a 26% reduction in error. Besides that, when trained on 102K tokens, there is an error reduct ion of 41%. The system includes shallow parsing which can identify non-recursive phrases such as noun, verb and prepositional phrases in text. T-NERs shallow parsing component called T-CHUNK, obtained a better performance at shallow parsing of tweets as compared against the off the shelf OpenNLP chunker. As reported, a 22% reduction in error. Another component of the T-NER is the capitalization classifier, T-CAP, which analyse a tweet to predict capitalization. Named entity recognition in T-NER is divided into two components: Named Entity Segmentation using T-SEG, and classifying named entities by applying LabeledLDA. T-SEG uses IOB encoding on sequence-labelling task to represent segmentations. Furthermore, Conditional Random Fields is used for learning and inference. Contextual, dictionary and orthographic features: a set of type lists is included in the in-house dictionaries gathered from Freebase. Additionally, outputs of T-POS, T-CHUNK and T-CAP, and the Brown clusters are used to generate features. The outcome of the T-SEG as stated in the research paper, Compared with the state-of-the-art news-trained Stanford Named Entity Recognizer. T-SEG obtains a 52% increase in F1 score. To address the issues of lack of context in tweets to identify the types of entities they contain and excessive distinctive named entity types present in tweets, the research paper presented and assessed a distantly supervised approach based on LabeledLD. This approach utilizes modelling of every entity as a combination of types. This allows information about an entitys distribution over types to be shared across mentions, naturally handling ambiguous entity strings whose mentions could refer to different types. Based on the empirical experiments conducted, there is a 25% increase in F1 score over the co-training approach to Named Entity Classification suggested by Collins and Singer (1999) when applie d to Twitter. [17] proposed a Twitter adapted version of Kanopy called Kanopy4Tweets that uses the approach of interlinking text documents with a knowledge base by using the relations between concepts and their neighbouring graph structure. The system consists of four parts: Name Entity Recogniser (NER), Named Entity Linking (NEL), Named Entity Disambiguation(NED) and Nil Resources Clustering(NRC). The NER of Kanopy4Tweets uses a TwitIE a Twitter information extraction pipeline mentioned above. For the Named Entity Linking. For NEL, a DBpedia index is build using a selection of datasets to search for suitable DBpedia resource candidates for each extracted entity. The datasets are store in a single binary file using HDT RDF format. This format has compact structures due to its binary representation of RDF data. It allows for faster search functionality without the need of decompression. The datasets can be quickly browse and scan through for a specific object, subject or predicate at glance. For e ach named entity found by NER component, a list of resource candidates retrieved from DBpedia can be obtain using the top-down strategy. One of the challenges found is the large volume of found resource candidates impacts negatively on the processing time for disambiguation process. However, this problem can be resolved by reducing the number of candidates using a ranking method. The proposed ranking method ranks the candidates according to the document score assigned by the indexing engine and selects the top-x elements. The NED takes an input of a list of named entities which are candidate DBpedia resources after the previous NEL process. The best candidate resource for each named entity is selected as output. A relatedness score is calculated based on the number of paths between the resources weighted by the exclusivity of the edges of these paths which is applied to candidates with respect to the candidate resources of all other entities. The input named entities are jointly dis ambiguated and linked to the candidate resources with the highest combined relatedness. NRC is a stage whereby if there are no resource in the knowledge base that can be linked to a named entity extracted. Using the Monge-Elkan similarity measure, the first NIL element is assign into a new cluster, then the next element is used to differentiate from the previous ones. An element is added to a cluster when the similarity between an element and the present clusters is above a fixed threshold, the element is added to that particular cluster, whereas a new cluster is formed if there are no current cluster with a similarity above the threshold is found. 2.3. Entity Extraction and Entity Linking [18]proposed a lexicon-based joint Entity Extraction and Entity Linking approach, where n-grams from tweets are mapped to DBpedia entities. A pre-processing stage cleans and classifies the part-of-speech tags, and normalises the initial tweets converting alphabetic, numeric, and symbolic Unicode characters to ASCII equivalents. Tokenisation is performed on non-characters except special characters joining compound words. The resulting list of tokens is fed into a shingle filter to construct token n-grams from the token stream. In the candidate mapping component, a gazetteer is used to map each token that is compiled from DBpedia redirect labels, disambiguation labels and entities labels that is linked to their own DBpedia entities. All labels are lowercase indexed and linked by exact matches only to the list of candidate entities in the form of tokens. The researcher used a method of prioritizing longer tokens than shorter ones to remove possible overlaps of tokens. For each entity ca ndidate, it considers both local and context-related features via a pipeline of analysis scorers. Examples of local features included are string distance between the candidate labels and the n-gram, the origin of the label, its DBpedia type, the candidates link graph popularity, the level of uncertainty of the token, and the surface form that matches best. On the other hand, the relation between a candidate entity and other candidates with a given context is accessed by the context-related features. Examples of mentioned context-related features are direct links to other context candidates in the DBpedia link graph, co-occurrence of other tokens surface forms in the corresponding Wikipedia article of the candidate under consideration, co-references in Wikipedia article, and further graph based feature of the link graph induced by all candidates of the context graph which includes graph distance measurements, connected component analysis, or centrality and density observations. Besid es that, the candidates are sorted per their confidence score based on how an entity describes a mention. If the confidence score is lower than the threshold chosen, a NIL referent is annotated. [19] proposed a lexical based and n-grams features to look up resources in DBpedia. The role of the entity type was assigned by a Conditional Random Forest (CRF) classifier, that is specifically trained using DBpedia related feature (local features), word embedding (contextual features), temporal popularity knowledge of an entity extracted from Wikipedia page view data, string similarity measures to measure the similarity between the title of the entity and the mention (string distance), and linguistic features, with additional pruning stage to increase the precision of Entity Linking. The whole process of the system is split into five stages: pre-processing, mention candidate generation, mention detection and disambiguation (candidate selection), NIL detection and entity mention typing prediction. In the pre-processing stage, tweet tokenisation and part-of-speech tags were used based on ARK Twitter Part-of-Speech Tagger, together with the tweet timestamps extracted from tweet ID. Th e researchers used an in-house mention-entity dictionary of acronyms. This dictionary computes the n-grams (n [20] research paper proposed an entity linking technique to link named entity mentions appearing in Web text with their corresponding entities in a knowledge base. The solution mentioned is by employing a knowledge base. Due to the vast knowledge shared among communities and the development of information extraction techniques, the existence of automated large scale knowledge bases has been ensured. Thus, this rich information about the worlds entities, their relationships, and their semantic classes which are all possibly populated into a knowledge base, the method of relation extraction techniques is vital to obtain those web data that promotes discovery of useful relationships between entities extracted from text and their extracted relation. Once possible way is to map those entities extracted and associated them to a knowledge base before it could be populated into a knowledge base. The goal of entity linking is to map ever textual entity mention m à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‹â€  M to its corres ponding entry e à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‹â€  E in the knowledge base. In some cases, when the entity mentioned in text does not have its corresponding entity record in the given knowledge base, a NIL referent is given to indicate a special label of un-linkable. It is mentioned in the paper that named entity recognition and entity linking o be jointly perform for both processes to strengthen one another. A method proposed in this paper is candidate entity generation. The objective of the entity linking system is to filter out irrelevant entities in the knowledge base that for each entity extracted. A list of candidates which might be the possible entities that the extracted entity is referring to is retrieved. The paper suggested three techniques to handle this goal such as name based dictionary techniques entity pages, redirect pages, disambiguation pages, bold phrases from the first paragraphs, and hyperlinks in Wikipedia articles. Another method proposed is the surface form expansion from the local document that consists of heuristics based methods and supervised learning methods, and methods based on search engine. In the context of candidate entity ranking method, five categories of methods are advised. The supervised ranking methods, unsupervised ranking methods, independent ranking methods, collective ranking methods and collaborative ranking methods. Lastly, the research paper mentioned ways to evaluate entity linking systems using precision, recall, F1-measure and accuracy. Despite all these methods used in the three main approaches is proposed to handle entity linking system, the paper clarified that it is still unclear which are the best techniques and systems. This is since different entity linking system react or perform differently according to datasets and domains. [21] proposed a new versatile algorithm based on multiple addictive regression trees called S-MART (Structured Multiple Additive Regression Trees) which emphasized on non-linear tree-based models and structured learning. The framework is a generalized Multiple Addictive Regression Trees (MART) but is adapted for structured learning. This proposed algorithm was tested on entity linking primarily focused on tweet entity linking. The evaluation of the algorithm is based on both IE and IR situations. It is shown that non-linear performs better than linear during IE. However, for the IR setting, the results are similar except for LambdaRank, a neural network based model. The adoption of polynomial kernel further improves the performance of entity linking by non-LINEAR SSVM. The paper proved that entity linking of tweets perform better using tree-based non-linear models rather than the alternative linear and non-linear methods in IE and IR driven evaluations. Based on the experiments condu cted, the S-MART framework outperforms the current up-to-date entity linking systems. 2.4. Entity Linking and Knowledge Base Based on [22], an approach to free text relation extraction was proposed. The system was trained to extract the entities from the text from existing large scale knowledge base in a cooperatively manner. Furthermore, it utilizes the learning of low-dimensional embedding of words, entities and relationships from a knowledge base with regards to score functions. Built upon the norm of employing weakly labelled text mention data but with a modified version which extract triples from the existing knowledge bases. Thus, by generalizing from knowledge base, it can learn the plausibility of new triples (h, r, t); h is the left-hand side entity (or head), the right-hand side entity (or tail) and r the relationship linking them, even though this specific triple does not exist. By using all knowledge base triples rather than training only on (mention, relationship), the precision on relation extraction was proved to be significantly improved. [1] presented a novel system for named entity linking over microblog posts by leveraging the linked nature of DBpedia as knowledge base and using graph centrality scoring as disambiguation methods to overcome polysemy and synonymy problems. The motivation for the authors to create this method is because linked entities tend to appear in the same tweets because tweets are topic specific and together with the assumption since tweets are topic specific, related entities tend to appear in the same tweet. Since the system is tackling noisy tweets acronyms handling and Hashtags in the process of entity linking were integrated. The system was compared with TAGME, a state-of-the-art system for named entity linking designed for short text. The results shown that it outperformed TAGME in Precision, Recall and F1 metrics with 68.3%, 70.8% and 69.5%. [23] presented an automated method to populate a Web-scale probabilistic knowledge base called Knowledge Vault (KV) that uses the combination of extractions from the Web such as text documents (TXT), HTML trees (DOM), Html tables (TBL), and Human Annotated pages (ANO). By using RDF triples (subject, predicate, object) with association to a confidence score that represents the probability that KV believes the triple is correct. In addition, all 4 extractors are merged together to form one system called FUSED-EX by constructing a feature vector for each extracted triple. Next, a binary classifier is applied to compute the formula. The advantages of using this fusion extractor is that it can learn the relative reliabilities of each system as well as creating a model of the reliabilities. The benefits of combining multiple extractors include 7% higher confidence triples and a high AUC score (the higher probability that a classifier will choose a randomly chosen positive instance to be ra nked) of 0.927. To overcome the unreliability of facts extracted from the Web, prior knowledge is used. In the domain of this paper, Freebase is used to fit the existing models. Two ways were proposed in the paper which are Path ranking algorithm with AUC scores of 0.884 and the Neural network model with a AUC score of 0.882. A fusion of both methods stated was conducted to increase performance with an increased AUC score of 0.911. With the evidence of the benefits of fusion quantitatively, the authors of the paper proposed another fusion of the prior methods and the extractors to gain additional performance boost. The result of the fusion is a generation of 271M high confidence facts with 33% new facts that are unavailable in Freebase. [24]proposed TremenRank, a graph based model to tackle the target entity disambiguation challenge, task of identifying target entities of the same domain. The motivation of this system is due to the challenges and unreliability of current methods that relies on knowledge resources, the shortness of the context which a target word occurs, and the large scale of the document collected. To overcome these challenges, first TremenRank was built upon the notion of collectively identity target entities in short texts. This reduces memory storage because the graph is constructed locally and is continuously scale-up linearly as per the number of target entities. This graph was created locally via inverted index technology. There are two types of indexes used: the document-to-word index and the word-to-document index. Next, the collection of documents (the shorts texts) are modelled as a multi-layer directed graph that holds various trust scores via propagation. This trust score provided an in dication of the possibility of a true mention in a short text. A series of experiments was conducted on TremenRank and the model is more superior than the current advanced methods with a difference of 24.8% increase in accuracy and 15.2% increase in F1. [25]introduced a probabilistic fusion system called SIGMAKB that integrates strong, high precision knowledge base and weaker, and nosier knowledge bases into a single monolithic knowledge base. The system uses the Consensus Maximization Fusion algorithm to validate, aggregate, and ensemble knowledge extracted from web-scale knowledge bases such as YAGO and NELL and 69 Knowledge Base Population. The algorithm combines multiple supervised classifiers (high-quality and clean KBs), motivated by distant supervision and unsupervised classifiers (noisy KBs) Using this algorithm, a probabilistic interpretation of the results from complementary and conflicting data values can be shown in a singular response to its user. Thus, using a consensus maximization component, the supervised and unsupervised data collected from the method stated above produces a final combined probability for each triple. The standardization of string named entities and alignment of different ontologies is done in the pre-processing stage. Project plan Semester 1 Task Start End Duration(days) Milestone Research: 23/03/2017 Twitter Call 27/02/2017 02/03/2017 4 Entity Recognition 27/02/2017 02/03/2017 4 Entity Extraction 02/03/2017 02/03/2017 7 Entity Linking 09/03/2017 16/03/2017 7 Knowledge Base Fusion 16/03/2017 23/03/2017 7 Proposal 27/02/2017 30/03/2017 30 30/03/2017 Crawling Twitter data using Public Stream API 31/03/2017 15/04/2017 15 15/04/2017 Collect Twitter data for training purp