Contradictions of War in the Things They Carried/Real Life

Alison Schiffner Contradictions of war 10/20/12 To most people war is a way that we settle disputes with other nations, but they don’t fully understand the intricate details that go along with it. Its not just about the guns, gernades and tanks, it brings out different aspects of soldiers personalities and I think should be more focused on the hardships that individual and groups of soldiers endure. The horrific situations that soldiers undergo can cause different types of actions that they would take because war is contradictory.Soldiers experience unimaginable stress that can make them appear weak or strong. Which is the biggest contradiction that war presents; war makes you strong and war makes you weak. There are numerous examples which can easily be found in the book The things they carried by Tim O’brien. Two stories that demonstrate it best are â€Å"the man I killed† and â€Å"speaking of courage. † Looking back through history also farther promote s the idea, like when America created the atomic bomb, and started a draft.Tim O’brian was a soldier in the **** he was young and didn’t want to go to war, but he had to. During his term he killed a young vietnemese soldier, even though that’s what he was sent there to do, his kind heart couldn’t forgive himself for doing something so terrible. His gut mistrict to throw the grenade gave him strength, because throwing something at someone with the intent to kill someone is something that majority of people will not be able to follow through with.This burst of courage gave him the strength to save his life. But after he killed him and the adrenalin thinned out in his veins he became weak. This is displayed by the dialogue, which on his part was entirely absent. Kiowa spent six hours telling him he did the right thing and they needed to move out, but Tim sat there staring at the body unresponsive. It shows that the sight of a dead body alone was too much for him to handle. To his platoon he appeared inadequit.Individual soldiers are exceptional demonstrations of the contradiction, looking back at history and the military power as a whole also establishes the inconsistency just as well. America produced the strongest fire power that the world has ever seen when creating the atomic bomb which its sheer power was enough to wipe out a whole city in one blow. The strength that America obtained from the bomb was not seen until after the use, but even during the production fear of American had been greatly increasing. Though our Amunition was top notch.

Research Evaluation Tables Essay

Through this study, Henri intended to determine whether dynamism in performance measurement systems was appropriate for any change an organization underwent, or if there were circumstances where revision to the performance measurement systems were not needed.  Henri also intended to determine if the link between dynamic performance measurement systems and the performance of an organization were contingent on a level of internal or external change. The third goal of this study was to add additional data on this subject to the scant body of research available on the dynamism of performance measurement systems. | Research Methods| Henri used quantitative/confirmatory analysis in this study. Henri used a mail survey to gather data. The survey used seven point Likery-type scales to assess changes to the performance measurement systems, to determine innovativeness and learning orientation of the organization and organizational performance. All of the tools used in the questionnaire were validated in advance. | Audience| Henri focused this study on two main audiences. The first was to provide information to manager, executives, and professionals charged with running organizations. Henri also intended to add additional research for managerial accounting literature. | Research Evaluation| The researchers in this study used Likert Scale questions to assess performance measurement at the organization. Likert Scales are frequently used when a researcher wants to measure attitudes about a certain topic (Plano Clark & Criswell, 2010). The researchers also demonstrated the validity of the study by having experts in the field test the instrument in three different groups and provide feedback (Plano Clark & Criswell, 2010). One problem with this study was the response rate was only 24 percent which increases the risks of bias in the study (Bowling, 2005). This study is written to cover the topic of how performance measurement should change, and when, which is a practical topics for managers to review. The overall conclusion of this study found organizations willing to periodically review performance measures have better overall organizational performance. This information would be beneficial to my agency because we use performance measures to make decisions in the organization. Evaluating performance measures to ensure they are still applicable to our work will allow us to adjust performance measures to increase overall organizational performance. McCoy and Kinyua completed a cross-sectional study reviewing General Find disbursements over a 12-month period. McCoy and Kinyua chose to look at funding instead of expenditures because they determined it was more accurate and completed. The researchers looked at the population of the countries, the income levels, government funding and also funding sources to identify countries in need of disbursements from the Global Fund more than others. The data was all collected from spreadsheets that were found on the Global Fund website. The date was prepared and present in text, tables and charts. | Audience| This study was intended for executives and decision makers linked to the Global Fund, government officials, donors and health care professionals in the countries receiving money from the Global Fund. | Research Evaluation| This study took the information from public documents located on the Global Fund website. The complete information could be analyzed and because it was factual information and not interview data there were fewer opportunities for bias in the data (Plano Clark & Criswell, 2010). The esearchers in this study followed the process of quantitative data analysis (Plano Clark & Criswell, 2010). A significant problem with this study and the recommendations are the external factors in each country which guide leaders in how they decide to spend funds obtained. Each country is different and many of the countries served have had documented corruption problems which could influence the reliabilit y of the information. This information and process used is useful for the policy makers the study was intended for, but for practical management it is not specific in making recommendations for changes. This process could be used in more practical ways if the planning led to gathering data specific to the situation. The process of determining how to disburse funds depending on need could be useful in my organization. We have a fund to provide financial assistance to patients that are not able to pay for services. Looking at this study, it is important that we develop some methods to determine need based on other funding sources to more objectively determine funding.

Overcoming My Anxiety in Public Speaking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Overcoming My Anxiety in Public Speaking - Essay Example As expected in my profession, I am required to present the children’s condition including the approach and methodology applied in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Armed with my evaluation papers and a few bulleted note cards outlining my whole presentation—which I rehearsed over and over until the last minute—I still felt as if a full bucket of nervousness was drenching my whole body. The situation catapulted me to my primary and secondary years and once again I am again a high school student before the analytical eye of my professor and the mocking glare of my classmates; as if every eye is staring at the flaws in my face, counting every drop of sweat, listening to the quivering of my voice, watching the trembling of my hands, and making a mental note of every mistake that would come out of my mouth. But I had to shake off the imaginary time warp and forced myself to get a rock-hard grip on the present. I strived to produce a genuine smile as I a cknowledged the audience and proceeded to my presentation. The discussion went pretty well although there were few verbal lapses which I believe is forgivable enough. It’s a total relief that it’s over and done with. There will be succeeding occasions when I would have to speak again but I know that it wouldn’t be as hard as it had in the previous times. I may not be the best speaker and not everyone may appreciate my speech but never again will I dread the opportunity to impart the knowledge which I believe is of benefit to the listeners.

MANAGING BUSINESS OPERATIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

MANAGING BUSINESS OPERATIONS - Essay Example Public stakeholders who consist of area residents, local entrepreneurs, and foreigners touring the area in question are some of the many stakeholders drawn in with issues affecting the Olympic Games. Other major stakeholders include the government, sports and tourism organizations, volunteer organizations, and the Organizing committee for the Olympic Games. Officials from each host city strive to host the best games possible, envisioning the longevity of positive impacts. Mega sporting events such as the Olympics, Paralympics and the FIFA World Cup have significant potential to leave a social, economic and infrastructure legacy for the host community and country (Coward, & Konstantinidis, 25). In fact, the events are often marketed on this basis. The potential legacies are recognized in the charters of both the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympics Committee (Dickson, Edwards, Darcy, Benson, & Blackman, 34). Operational management was a huge part of prepar ing for the Olympics (Nick 4). All characteristics of project management including performance time and costs were to be analyzed and properly executed. It is important for a logistics person to keep in mind having time to plan, good communications, careful tracking and control, meeting the deadline and meeting goals (Richard 12). Risk management was also a big part of the management issues. Risks can stem from the area of security, public health, technology, economics or natural ecology (Chopra, Deshmukh, Mieghem, Zemel & Anupindi, 55). In the run up to the Olympics, ensuring readiness for games involved strategic pre emption through stress testing and scenario planning (Seguin, & O’Reilly 12). UPS Operations Strategies Operations strategies provide an overall direction that serves the framework for carrying out all actions in an organization. It shapes up the long term capabilities of any type of operations and contributes to the overall strategy by bringing together market requirements and operations resources. It is an instrument which helps in defining the processes of producing goods or services offered to customer (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano 108). UPS Values include integrity, teamwork, service, quality and efficiency, safety, sustainability, and innovation (Deepa 8). The company aims at growing worldwide business by offering excellence and value in all that they do and by meeting all the logistics needs of their customers. The company maintains strong finances and broad employee ownership; this leads to a long-term competitive return to the share owners. UPS aims at Inspiring by offering chances to individuals and business partners to do their best, for personal development and success (Greg 3). They lead by example as a caring, responsible and sustainable organization developing the society they serve. UPS Enterprise Strategy UPS strategy is based on Creation of value for customers (Lambert , Miriam &Â  Susan 3) - This is through demonstrating h ow the power of logistics can create a competitive advantage for our customers. By offering products and services, that expands customers’ access to global markets. It can also be done through configuring a broad portfolio of solutions for targeted industries. And finally, by offering industry-leading technology that simplifies and improves customers' business processes (Jesse &Â  Ronald 7). The Company also wants to continually transform to strengthen its leadership position. UPS aims at delivering an exceptional customer

International business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

International business - Essay Example Within this block are countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China, which have distinguished themselves as some of the promising and alternative markets to the developed economies (O’Neill, 2001). Emerging markets are characterized by a growing fraction of middle-income consumers, demand for goods, services, technological advancements, and discoveries. However, entry into such markets cannot be an overnight decision, as it requires planning, strategic understanding of the market dynamics and cultural differences. Issues related with intellectual property rights, taxation, employee salary packages and other market jurisdiction factors must be considered before initiating entry into the business. Brazil has distinguished itself as a major member within the BRICs block with its dynamic and promising market structure and dynamics. The country has a strong currency against other international currencies like the dollar, aptly controls its inflation rate and has an expanding middl e class population. With a steadily increasing population and a stabilized GDP, Brazil is an economy worth considering among the BRICs members. In this report, an advisory description of the Brazilian market and economy will be provided for a company that is seeking entry into the market (Cui, 2005). The factors to consider and the key areas to develop before entry into the market will be described in detail, providing an understanding of this market structure as compared to a developed economy like the United Kingdom. A Danish owned production company seeks to establish an autonomous production subsidiary unit in this country and this paper will highlight how the company can establish a strong company despite the market challenges. Brazil has cut a niche for itself among the emerging economies and as a member of the BRIC economies by developing into a country with greater purchasing power. However, as present in all emerging economies, entry into the Brazilian market is never smoot h sailing and foreign organizations must develop proper strategies to succeed. A number of issues exist in this market and economy that every new entrant must encounter and address to succeed. The government regulatory measures and programs however make new entrants into this market undergo tough challenges including high taxation and bureaucratic setting (Teixeria & Grande, 2011). Factors to consider before entry Danish business environment differs significantly from the Brazilian economy in terms of tax regimes, bureaucratic procedures and other government related factors. As such, a multinational with operations in a different country must be in a position to evaluate both the internal and external factors, which may affect the successful operation of the business. A poor understanding or underestimation of these factors has contributed to the failure of a number of multinationals across the world. A number of internal and external factors exist that are specific to Brazil as an emerging economy. In evaluating the external factors that may affect the success of Danish based multinational

Sociolinguistic Experiment and language learning strategies Assignment

Sociolinguistic Experiment and language learning strategies - Assignment Example This essay discusses that the study would be effected through the use of self-reporting questionnaires that test the frequency of use of language learning strategies. These strategies range from metacognitive to cognitive, social, affective, compensation and memory strategies. The use of these strategies among the subjects can be measured using Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. The inventory, which was devised by Rebecca Oxford, is a 50-item questionnaire that identifies the learning strategies used by international students. The inventory consists of 50 statements, beneath which is a scale of five items ranging from â€Å"never true† and always true for me† (Oxford 299). The results would indicate that metacognitive strategies are the most used language learning strategies among international students. It can be assumed that they are well informed about English learning processes and the range of strategies that they can adapt to meet their goals .  This essay discusses that the study would be effected through the use of self-reporting questionnaires that test the frequency of use of language learning strategies. These strategies range from metacognitive to cognitive, social, affective, compensation and memory strategies. The use of these strategies among the subjects can be measured using Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. The inventory, which was devised by Rebecca Oxford, is a 50-item questionnaire that identifies the learning strategies used by international students.

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Report - Essay Example At the same time, dispersed fields created huge problems of optimal grazing resulting in weak cattle stock. Indeed, the overall disinclination to invest in land improvement had made medieval agriculture inefficient and low yielding. Clark believes that exogenous decline in interest rates were mainly due to lower cost of capital which during the medieval period was very high which discouraged improvements in cultivation techniques. The high interest rates, high investment cost of improvement due to reasons like dispersed holding, diseases cattle etc. had adversely impacted the yield. In late 18th and 19th century, emphasis was put on improvement techniques that resulted in higher yield and lower interest rates that made agriculture more attractive. They also used mineral manures to improve arability and fertility of soil that greatly contributed to improved productivity. Underground drainages were developed for better harvest. Thus, investment for improving the land arability hugely contributed to the reducing interest

Financial Case Report Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Report - Case Study Example All-inclusive Connector, a U.S. firm situated in Ohio, was evaluated to have a developing offer; it offered a comparative exhibit of institutionalized items and modified outline administrations (International Monetary Fund, 2009). The determination of the situation ought to consider natures turf in which the venture works. Likewise, the cases ought to be sensible and fitting for the choice to be made. Running different situations with diverse qualities is an essential demonstrative instrument in evaluating the anxiety set on the money related articulations. The proclaimed changes in each variable as they affect financials can give critical viewpoint. At the point when running various conditions, it is paramount to run a series that incorporates both skeptical and hopeful cases. Cooperation among variables is imperative and must be portrayed. As an illustration, Strong Tier multiple times may wish to run a situation that reflects a 5% drop in specialists remuneration premiums coupled with weakening in earlier mischance years laborers payment saves for the approaching year. Going through the balance sheets we realize that the total liabilities has been increasing from $1,588, $1,723 and $1,863 for the three consecutive years respectively affecting both liquidity and efficiency as well gross profit margin of the company. Strong Tier multiple times needs to take strong emphasis on how liabilities can be of minimal at the end of each financial year Organizations whose essential objective is to seek after part of the overall industry do not toll well, and their center is on their objectives, not their clients advantage. The reasons that a piece of the overall industry technique falls low; the organizations do not characterize the business anyhow and expect that all purchasers are potential customers. In addition, frequently markdown intensely gets clients who do not esteem what they offer and lose the edge on all

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 14

Economics - Essay Example pends on government regulations and zoning authorities which may mark land as being in industrial, commercial or residential zones which may reduce the varieties in which land could be used. For example, prime property sites in the middle of a bustling city may be zoned for parks or public recreational areas and no matter how much developers want to use that land for create high rise apartments or offices, the land remains free of buildings (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). In fact, even when demand changes to seek more industrial land in or around a city or more residential sites, government policy may be slow to react to the demand which could significantly increase the price of land currently zoned to be industrial or residential. The problem of zoning or rezoning is only multiplied when we consider how existing buildings no rezoned land may create problems for developers especially if the buildings are in congested areas or have significant historical or cultural importance (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). At the same time, there is no cost of production associated with land itself. This is because the primary determinant of what value can be derived from land comes from the best use land can be put to. However, owning a piece of land in a certain area gives the landowners the power of monopoly since they are the single owners of the site. New production of land with the same specifications in the same space is impossible therefore they can charge monopoly prices if they so desire (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). The monopoly ownership makes land an appreciating asset of course things such as an oil spill near a beach can significantly decrease the value of beachfront property but there is little chance of new land being created in significant numbers. This also encourages land hoarding as speculative ownership of land may lead to profits when properly zoned land becomes scarce in a given region (Cem.ac.uk, 2008). In this manner, speculators and those who are hoarding land may be quick to offer the

Windows File Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Windows File Systems - Essay Example This file system was developed to improve on the features that lacked in the FAT 32 file system. The file system was incorporated with features that would allow for enhancing the stability of the versions of Microsoft windows. FAT is another file system that is used by different versions of Microsoft windows. These file systems compares in that, they can be used with the latest versions of Microsoft windows, which are beyond windows 95A, 3X and 7.1 window versions, which can not apply the earlier file systems of FAT 16 (Mendel, 38). Another comparison is in the fact that these file systems allows for the formatting of hard drives with a size beyond 2GB as a single partition. Further, a comparison of these file system is in the fact that they help in avoiding the loss of hard disk space, in form of slack. A feature that these file systems possess in common is that they are all compatible with the windows XP version of Microsoft windows (Carrier, 22). However, there is a contrast among theses file systems. To start with, while the FAT file system can be used with all versions of the Microsoft windows, it is not the case for the FAT 32 and the NFTS file systems. FAT 32-file system is limited to few versions of these windows such as windows95, windows 98, windows XP, and windows 2000. On the other hand, NFTS file system is limited to application with some versions of Microsoft windows such as windows XP, windows 2000 and windows 4NT, while applied with service pack 4 (Mendel, 54). Another contrast as depicted by theses file systems is that, the NFTS file system is more powerful as compared to the other two file systems, and contains with it features that enables it to host active directory, while at the same time possessing security features that are domain based (Carrier, 36). Another contrast is that, while NFTS file system allows for the creation of limited access accounts, which limits the files and the folders that some indivi duals can access in a

Symbol of Shame Essay Example for Free

Symbol of Shame Essay Symbolism in literature is the hidden meaning in a piece of work. It is used to represent moral and/ or religious values and beliefs. As time goes on in the world, society and what makes up society changes. In today’s sense, pride is based on the individualism that one has developed. The diversity in today’s society allows for many different beliefs and social concepts. Looking back to the early years when Puritanism was an ongoing religion with many followers, tradition along with strict biblical standards were everything; but now many things have changed. The reality of change is seen in the book, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorn whereby as society changes so to does the perception of all symbolism. The metaphorical meaning of the scarlet letter changes from this symbol of shame to a powerful symbol of identity to Hester; the transformation shows the changes Hester experiences in her life. These changes bring Hester power, power to stand for who she is, power to overcome the humiliation and pain. She then finds herself able, able of becoming herself, to become a representation of an individual with a strong sense of self-empowerment. The symbolism behind the scarlet letter changes throughout the novel. Initially the letter symbolizes the sin of adultery, the crime, the punishment, the humiliation that Hester has to endure because of the strict beliefs of the puritan society. This uncivil punishment causes Hester this â€Å"dreadful agony in feeling a human eye upon the token; the spot never grew callous; it seemed, on the contrary, to grow more sensitive with daily torture. (Hawthorne, 74) At the beginning of the novel the A causes Hester much â€Å"dreadful agony† and â€Å"torture. It causes her torture to live with this permanent mark of sin on her. The A is the symbol of her pure â€Å"agony† and suffering. A change of heart comes; Hester alters its meaning through the hard work she does in the town. Society begins to recognize that the scarlet letter has now begun to represent not sin, but holiness and righteousness instead of the unforgiving sin and â€Å"dreadful agony. † Some people now began to think that the letter stands for Able since Hester is such an able, individualistic and, powerful woman. This change in the A is caused by the perception that people have: this change enables Hester to stand up for herself to be an â€Å"Able† woman. It has the effect of the cross on a nun’s bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril, had she fallen among thieves, it would have kept her safe (135). The A is now a representation for sacredness and holiness. For Hawthorne to go from saying that the letter represents sin to representing holiness is a large step but is capable because of the strength and individual power Hester has gained thought the novel. For Hester the letter was meant for punishment but brought Hester sacredness, it brought Hester power, redemption and glory. The puritan society in the book Scarlet Letter is portrayed as a place of unchanging tradition and strict rules based upon religion. Those who went against society were punished strictly and looked down upon by the towns’ people. As time went on, those strict punishments turned into a source of identity to those who committed these cases of sin. The changes over taking the society are changing the metaphorical meaning of the scarlet letter, the â€Å"letter [first] was a representation of stigma in which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, [but then] became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (206). The transformation of the scarlet letter from this â€Å"scornfulness and bitterness† to this sense of something to be sorrowed over something, to awe over, shows the metaphorical transformation of Hester. From at first Hester being this representation of sin and Hester seeing the letter as a symbol of unjust humiliation; to where Hester takes control of her own identity, and in doing so becomes an example for others to follow by. She is not the example of sin that was once set upon her, but now an example of redemption and self-empowerment. The power of individualism allowed for Hester to become her own representation of self- power and control. The transformation of the scarlet letter from this repulsion of sin to this case of respect metaphorically represents Hester’s own changes from her embarrassment and anger to her sense of redemption. The scarlet letter has a metaphorical representation of Hester’s actual self. The reality of change is seen in the book whereby as society changes so to does the perception of all symbolism. These changes allow for Hester to become herself, it enables Hester to have this sense of pride instead of embarrassment and agony. The metaphorical meaning of the scarlet letter changes from this symbol of shame to a powerful symbol of identity to Hester; the transformation shows the changes Hester experiences in her life. Along with time comes change, not always in a good sense but it’s what one makes of the situation to where it becomes good or bad. Hester first is in agony and feels as if she is getting tortured, but then becomes determined; she finds that in order to get free of this pain she must become powerful. She is not the example of sin that once caused her pain, but now she is an example of redemption and self-empowerment. You can always find something good in life no matter the situation, you just have to make change, look at the positive and turn anything negative into redemption. Look past at what you’ve done and strive yourself to become better.

P2 Cycle in WDM Networks

P2 Cycle in WDM Networks P2-CYCLE IN WDM NETWORKS M.DILEEP Smt K .APARNA Abstract The Failure Independent Path Protection (FIPP) p cycle is efficient scheme. If failure occurs in pre configured cycle it is protection is reconfigured between those two nodes. In this paper we use Parasitic Protection Links (PPL). PPL’s are p-cycles with have attached links. PPL’s are used to protect the not only failure nodes but it connected to PPL to cycle. P2 cycle is known as p cycle with parasitic protection links. We address The P2 cycle in mesh networks can be analysed by using single link failure. We further propose two P2-cycle based heuristic algorithms, Strict Routing Protection (SRP) and Flexible Routing Protection (FRP), to address the dynamic traffic case. In the dynamic case, both SRP and FRP outperform FIPP p-cycle schemes in terms of blocking probability in most scenarios considered. In general, the P2-cycle protection scheme outperforms the p-cycle based in terms of capacity efficiencies which being slightly slower in terms of traffic recovery speed. Key words: Parasitic Protection Links (PPL), Strict Routing Protection (SRP), Flexible Routing Protection (FRP). I. INTRODUCTION Network survivability, defined as the Continuous operations of network are performed in case failure occurred in the network [3]. In generally optical networks carry information in terabytes. A failure in network causes lot of loss of data. Ring based networks can easily come due to their structure and fast recovery management. In ring based it takes 50-60ms but it gives capacity redundancy high. As mesh based networks emerged, more capacity efficient protection schemes were proposed which allow backup capacity sharing. These schemes are into three categories: link-based, segment-based and path-based [29]. Link-based protection schemes produce the fast traffic recovery speed but suffer from the worst resource efficiency . Best resource efficiency is achieved by path based protection scheme. Shared Backup Path Protection (SBPP) is one of the path protection schemes. it is high capacity. upon a network failure. It takes long time o recover from traffic. Segment based protection schemes lie between the link-based and path-based schemes, and offer a better combination of bandwidth efficiency and recovery time. Path-based protection schemes usually achieve the best resource efficiency. Among them, a path protection scheme, namely, Shared Backup Path Protection (SBPP), was shown to be the most capacity efficient protection scheme [8]. However, it suffers from long traffic recovery time upon a network failure. Segment based protection schemes lie between the link-based and path-based schemes, and offer a better combination of bandwidth efficiency and recovery time . The pre-configured protection cycle is known as p-cycle, combines the good qualities of mesh and ring based protection schemes and achieves the recovery speed of ring- based with the capacity efficiency of mesh protection. P-cycle has been proven theoretically to be the most efficient pre-configured protection scheme in terms of capacity efficiency and recovery speed . II. Dynamic Traffic Scenarios In dynamic traffic without the prior knowledge of arrival time of future requests. Due to the pre-configuration property of traditional p-cycles, it is extremely difficult to re- provision all the protection cycles whenever a new session arrives in order to minimize overall cost. Each provisioning takes large computation cost and complex network reconfiguration. Therefore, most of the work in the literature assume that established p-cycles should not vary with time or traffic. The authors in proposed three different routing algorithms along with link-based p-cycle protection scheme to deal with dynamic traffic. The results indicate that the proposed p-cycle based design performs better than SBPP in dense networks but worse in sparse networks. Protected Working Capacity Envelopes (PWCE) is another method to address dynamic traffic scenarios. It divides the entire network into two partitions: working and protection. Both static and dynamic traffic can be accommodated as long as the tot al traffic do not exceed the limit of working envelopes. Although some decent results have been shown in the literature, p-cycles still have such intrinsic weakness in dealing with dynamic traffic. If an incoming session whose end nodes do not lie on any cycle, it cannot be protected and a new cycle has to be constructed to protect this session, or the existing cycles must be reconfigured. An example shown in Figure 4.2 illustrates such weakness and also reveals the advantage of P2-cycles. In Fig. 4.2(a), session1 has been provisioned and protected by cycle C1(ECBFE). As session 2 arrives, the primary path of session 2 is provisioned as P2(ABCD). Under FIPP p-cycle scheme, cycle C1 cannot protect it and thus a new cycle C2(ABCDEFA) is constructed to protect it as shown in Fig.4.2(b). However, instead of building a new cycle, using P2-cycle approach we can add two PPLs (A,F) and (D,E) to connect the end nodes of P2 such that C1 can also provide a protection segment (AFED) for P2 as shown in Fig.4.2(c). Therefore, both sessions are protected by a P2-cycle with much less cost. Fig 1: P2-cycle deals With Dynamic Traffic III. Problem Statement In dynamic traffic scenarios, a WDM mesh network is given with network resources, such as the maximum number of wavelengths and the cost on each span. Each traffic request arrives to the network in a dynamic fashion such that it needs to be considered individually based on the current network status. The network status consists of the detailed working and available wavelengths on each span as well as all the accepted sessions and P2-cycles provisioned in the network. Given a network modelled as an undirected graph G = (V;E) where each undirected span e2E has a cost ce, the current network which includes the currently used and available wave- lengths on each span e, each accepted session l and their protection P2-cycles. Provision incoming unicast sessions against any single-link failure with the minimum overall blocking probability by using P2-cycle scheme. The assumptions required in this dynamic traffic case are the same as that in the static case. We design two heuristics to address the dynamic traffic case. In the first method, named Strict Routing Protection (SRP), the primary and protection path for each incoming session are computed separately. The primary path is firstly provisioned using Dijkstras shortest routing algorithm. Based on the primary path, either an existing P2-cycle or a new cycle is found to protect it. In the second method, named Flexible Routing Protection (FRP), the primary and protection paths of an incoming session are constructed jointly. The existing P2-cycles will be preferred to being used first. If no existing one is able to protect the session, a new cycle will be formed. We allow spare capacity sharing between different sessions to increase the capacity efficiency. A. Strict Routing Protection (SRP): The motivation of SRP is to always choose the shortest path to route the primary traffic in order to leave more spare capacity for protection, since the capacity used for primary path cannot be shared among different sessions. And then we check whether any available P2 cycle can be exploited to protect this newly established session. Once being set up, the cycle for a P2-cycle cannot be changed. The protection links that are added to PPL’s are one hop away from end nodes. The detail of the algorithm SRP described in following steps: 1. As a new session dl(sl; tl) arrives, establish the primary path fl between sl and tl under current network status by using Dijkstras algorithm. If it fails, the session is blocked; 2. Sort all the existing P2-cycles, cp â‚ ¬ C, in the increasing order of (dl; cp), which is One hop indicates that there exists a span in the network that connects a node to the cycle. If (dl; cp) = infinite 1 for all cp â‚ ¬ C, then no existing cycle is able to protect this new session. Thus, a new cycle needs to be constructed to protect dl. 3. For each existing protection cycle, cp, we construct a temporary graph G0, consisting of only the cycle spans of cp and all the spans connecting the source and destination nodes of l to the cycle . All the spans used by fl should be removed to ensure that its protection path is link-disjoint. Then, all the sessions protected by cp are checked and if an existing session in D can share the same cp with the new session l, we should make sure that either their primary paths or their protection paths are link-disjoint. we remove the protection paths of all the sessions in D whose primary paths are not link-disjoint with fl. If a protection path can still be found in the remaining G0 this protection path will be ql for l. Accordingly, the protection cycle is also determined, which should be updated if some PPLs are also used. 4. If every existing cp fails to protect dl, a new cycle will be constructed to protect it. We first attempt to find two diverse paths to form a cycle that is link-disjoint to fl. If such cycle cannot be found, then we find a path, ql, link-disjoint to fl and the cycle is formed by combining ql with fl. B. Flexible Routing Protection (FRP): Different from SRP, the flexible routing protection scheme considers primary and protection paths jointly for each arriving session. Instead of determining the primary path in advance, we examine each existing P2-cycle and find each potential protection path along the cycle that can connect the source and destination. For each potential protection path, we try to discover a primary path for it. If it succeeds, the session is accepted. Otherwise, a new cycle is constructed to protect the session. Flexible Routing Protection (FRP) Scheme Algorithm FRP is explained in following steps: Given a new session dl(sl; tl), all the available P2-cycles cp â‚ ¬ C are sorted in the increasing order of (dl; cp). For each available cp, list all the possible protection paths for dl. If the end nodes sl and tl are on the cycle, there are two possible segments along the cycle. If sl or(and) tl is not on the cycle, the path will be composed of parasitic links connecting sl or tl to the cycle and an on-cycle segment. We assume the average node degree in a given network is denoted by  µ. Each cycle can provide two on cycle segments between any pair of on-cycle nodes. Each end node, sl or tl, can be connected to the cycle by at most  µ PPLs given the node degree  µ. Hence, the average number of candidate protection paths provided by any P2-cycle For each candidate ql, run Dijkstras algorithm to find a primary path fl in G that is not only link-disjoint to ql but also link-disjoint with other primary paths protected by the same cycle if their protection paths are not link-disjoint. If it succeeds, we store the combination in a temporary set T, which is initialized as ;. After checking all the existing P2-cycles, we check set T and find the combination with minimum cost of fl. We recover the spans removed from G and update the network status. If no existing P2-cycle can be used to protect session dl, we use Bhandaris algorithm to find two link-disjoint paths between si and ti to form a new P2-cycle. If it fails, the session is blocked. Otherwise, the session is accepted and one of the paths (usually the shorter one) is used as the primary path fl, and the network is updated. IV. Results for Dynamic Traffic Based on two P2-cycle protection algorithms, SRP and FRP, proposed for provisioning dynamic requests, we conduct a simulation study to compare the performance of these algorithms under dynamic traffic. The networks used in the simulations are NSFNET, COST239 and USNET, in which USNET network, shown in Fig. 2 has 24 nodes and 43 edges and the average node degree is 3.58. Fig.2 USNET(24 nodes, 43 edges) In each simulation run, 1000 randomly generated unicast requests are loaded to the network sequentially and the reject ratio is recorded. The arrival of traffic follows Poisson distribution with  ¸ requests per second and the duration of an accepted connection is exponentially distributed with a mean of  ¹. The traffic load measured in Erlangs is ÃŽ »Ã‚ µ Each connection requires an entire wavelength to transmit the traffic. The maximum capacity on each network link is set to 16 wavelengths. Figures 3,4,and 5 show the blocking probability of dynamic traffic using SRP, FRP and FIPP p-cycle in NSFNET, USNET and COST239 networks, respectively. Each point in the figures is the average value of 200 simulation runs for each traffic load. For FIPP p-cycle scheme, the primary path of each arriving connection is provisioned first by using Dijkstras algorithm, and then protected by a p-cycle. Fig 3(a):Comparison of blocking probability in NSFNET(W=16) Fig 3(b):Comparison of blocking probability in COST239(W=16) Fig 3(c):Comparison of blocking probability in USNET(W=16) The results show that both SRP and FRP achieve lower blocking probability than FIPP under most of the network scenarios. In NSFNET, SRP achieves better performance than the other two schemes. In USNET, FRP outperforms SRP and FIPP under every scenarios. In COST239, however, SRP and FIPP achieves the same session blocking ratio, which is better than FRP, when the traffic load is relatively low. As the traffic load increases where the network is very saturated, FRP turns to perform better than SRP and FIPP. Based on the results, SRP performs better than other two schemes in relatively small and sparse networks at a low level of traffic load. FRP achieves the best performance in larger and denser networks, especially when the network is very saturated. One of the reason that SRP performs better in small and sparse networks, such as, NSF, is that to provision a session always using the shortest path will save some capacity for protection in a long run. Hence, more capacity can be used for protection such that more cycles can be established. in a network with high nodal degree, a cycle is more likely to reach a large group of nodes compared with a sparse network. In this case, FRP has a higher chance to protect a given session by using existing P2-cycles when network load is very high and the network is over saturated. Fig 4(a).Comparison of NOR in NSFNET(W=16) Fig 4(b).Comparison of NOR in cost239(W=16) Fig 4(c).Comparison of NOR in USNET(W=16) We also studied the average NOR of each accepted connection as in dynamic traffic scenarios and the results are shown in Figures 4(a),4(b) and 4(c). As expected, FIPP achieves the best solution with exact two node reconfigurations for each connection. Meanwhile, SRP also performs better than FRP in three networks. This reveals that connections protected by FRP use more PPLs than those used by SRP, which follows from the basic concept on which the two algorithms are based. It is worth noting that the average NOR achieved by SRP is almost stable below 2.4 in NSF and USNET and 2.7 in COST239. This indicates that most of the connections only need two no reconfigurations upon a network failure, especially in NSF and USNET. FRP has larger average NOR because it iterates every existing p-cycle in the network to protect each session and choose the one with minimum cost but not the one with minimum NOR. Shorter primary paths always results in longer protection paths such that more PPLs are us ed to protect each session. Therefore, based on the simulation results, SRP and FRP both achieves the lowest blocking probability than FIPP in most of the network scenarios considered and each scheme has advantage over the other in different network scenarios. SRP has better failure recovery performance than FRP. In dynamic traffic scenarios, the P2-cycle protection scheme is faster protection scheme provides an enhancement of capacity efficiency over the FIPP p-cycle with asmall change in the recovery time. VI. Extension The p2-cycles can be extended to link failures can be obtained. If one node can be failed then the data will be passed through alternative paths to reach to the destination. The p2 cycle can be defined as the original p-cycle The protection links that are added to PPL’s are one hop away from end nodes. For p2-cycles the network data can be efficiently transferred to destination which is one hop away from the nodes. V. Conclusions In this paper new p cycle protection is done in mesh based protection networks. By using the parasitic protection links (PPL), FIPP p-cycle can be extended through paths from end nodes which are one hop away from the failure nodes of p cycles. In dynamic traffic scenarios., in dynamic their are two algorithms are proposed Strict Routing Protection (SRP) and Flexible Routing Protection (FRP), to handle dynamic traffic demands in order to minimize the total number of blocked sessions. In dynamic traffic case the blocking probability less by using algorithms SRP and FRP comparing with FIPP p cycles. The numerical results shows the P2-cycle protection scheme is a more highly capacity efficient than the Failure Independent Path Protection p-cycle scheme in dynamic traffic case. the P2-cycle protection scheme is a more effective alternative of existent p-cycle-based and path-based protection schemes, Considering the factors of capacity efficiency and recovery speed References D. Zhou and S. Subramanian, â€Å"Survivability in optical networks,† IEEE Networks, 2012 P. Arijs, B. V. Caenegem, P. Demeester, and P. Lagasse, â€Å"Design of ring and mesh based WDM transport networks,† Optical Networks Magazine, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 27-41, 2011. S. Ramamurthy and B. Mukherjee, â€Å"Survivable WDM mesh networks. Part I-protection,† in Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, vol. 2, pp. 744-751, 2011. S.krishna â€Å"Survivable WDM mesh network,†, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 870-883, 2009. P. H. Ho and H. T. Mouftah, â€Å"shared protection for optical networks,† IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 97-103, February 2002. Bharat T. Doshi, Subrahmanyam Dravida, P. Harshavardhana, Oded Hauser, and Yufei Wang, â€Å"Optical Network Design and Restoration,† Bell Labs Technical Journal, JanuaryCMarch 1999 Caihui Ou, J. Zhang, H. Zhang, L. H. Sahasrabuddhe and B. Mukherjee, â€Å"New and Improved Ap-proaches for Shared-Path Protection in WDM Mesh Networks,† IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology, VOL. 22, NO. 5, MAY 2004 Dahai Xu, Y. Xiong and C. Qiao, â€Å"Novel algorithms for shared-segment protection,† IEEE Journal of Selected Areas on Communications, v21. p1320-1331, 2003 Janos Tapolcai and et al. â€Å"A New Shared Segment Protection Method for Survivable Networks with Guaranteed Recovery Time,† IEEE Transactions on Reliability, Vol. 57, pp. 272-282, 2008. W.D D. Stamat, â€Å" Next Generation networks,† in Proc. IEEE ICC’ 98, 1998, pp. 537-543

Preserving Indigenous Languages English Language Essay

Preserving Indigenous Languages English Language Essay Many times when you are asked to describe your heritage it may not include language. In the United States we assume every person born here just speaks English because it is the nationally recognized language. We expect to walk into the grocery store and be able to carry on a conversation with the cashier or ask an individual for help. This is not the case everywhere. Many places such as Oaxaca, Mexico have more than one recognized native language. Many native Indians cannot expect to walk into town and have the cashier at the store speak the same language as them. The issue of language preservation is increasing extensively by the years. Language plays a hefty roll in culture, it has an extensive background, factors working against and for the preservation, and whether we like to acknowledge it or not plays a significant role within our government. Many of us do not realize how important something as simple as language really is. In the world today there are currently between 6-10,000 different languages and this all depends on what is considered a dialect vs. a language (Vazquez). This does not include the unknown languages or the ones that are already lost. Oaxaca is a state of great linguistic diversity. There are 16 indigenous languages and 17 including Spanish that are recognized in Oaxaca (Vazquez). Those however are only the languages the government recognizes. The recognized indigenous languages of Oaxaca consist of; Nà ¡huatl (the languages of 1 million speakers throughout central Mexico),Zapoteca (spoken by 400,000 people and has 5 regional dialects), Mixteca (320,000 speakers and 29 dialects throughout Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla), Mazateca (spoken by 150,000 people in Oaxaca, Veracruz and Puebla), Chinanteco (6 dialectal variants and 77,000 speakers), Mixe (70,000 speakers and 4 dialects), Amuzgo (spoken in Oaxaca and Guerrero by approximately 20,000 people), Chatino (20,000 speakers and 3 dialec ts), Zoque (spoken in Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco by 20,000 speakers), Chicateco (14,000 speakers), Popolaca (has 12,000 speakers in Puebla and Oaxaca), Chontal (2 dialects and 10,000 speakers), Huave (10,000 speakers in southwest Oaxaca), Triqui (8,000 speakers throughout Oaxaca, Mexico City, Baja California, Sonora and the U.S), Chocho (3,000 speakers in Oaxaca), and Ixcateco (just 2,000 speakers in Oaxaca) (Languages used in Oaxaca, Mexico). As you can see there are a variety and dialects of indigenous languages in Oaxaca. There are many forces that work against the preservation of languages and even fewer forces that are working to preserve it. This creates a large issue for the indigenous peoples. Language shift or language death can be sudden or gradual due to colonization and globalization (Vazquez). Schooling is not an option in Oaxaca it is required however, there are very few forces to ensure education is received. When Children from villages and small towns attend school, they are taught in the nationally recognized language of Spanish. Many children who many have learned their native language are then forced to learn another language. Their parents cannot speak any language other than the native language, leaving the children as translators with the rest of the world. In Oaxaca, approximately 10-15% do not speak Spanish, 70% are bilingual, and only 15% speak only Spanish (Vazquez). The American idea encourages being bilingual in Mexico and this can have a negative effect. The act of being able to communicate with persons outside of your family is done through Spanish, not Triqui or Mixe, etcetera. Globalization teaches people that their native language is useless, it ha s no value to the outside world, this concept gets into the villages where the elders quit teaching their native language in order to adapt to a new world. This concept not only is the idea of globalization, but the loss of experience. Globalization goes as far as to include those migrants to American who came from small villages. Those migrants are individuals who have come for work however, they must adapt to American culture, a culture that frowns upon the different languages and its a culture that expects outsiders to adapt to it. These migrants spend a great deal of time in America to return with money to their villages taking with them learned American culture to teach, this then adapts into the small villages with endangered languages. Another contributing factor to the loss of language is the outside world delegitimizing language. Many languages are unknown or unwritten. The unwritten languages are ignored as if they do not exist because they cannot be written. Many native speakers are not literate therefore the verbal form of language is their only form of communication; they have no need for written language. According to Dr. Vazquez unwritten languages are ignored but people continue to draw from languages they have delegitimized, add an accent, legitimize it and create a written word. This act not only begins to tell villagers, your language does not exist but it then tells them that since we as higher people have changed this it can now be a written word however, it still gives no credit to the idea that it was a language to begin with. The article Vanishing Voices refers to language as an identity, the ability of a person to represent himself. If people are no longer able to represent themselves, they are no longer able to communicate and they then begin to lose a part of their humanity. This is all part of the process of losing language. While there are factors working against the preservation of language, there are people who are working towards preserving it. The first step in the preservation of language is to increase literacy. The more people can read and write the more they are going to want to read and write within their own language. The increase of literacy leads to documentation of the language not only in written form but in electronic form via computers; there are many different projects towards preserving these languages. In 1987 the Oaxaca Native Literacy Project was founded by H. Russell Bernard and Jesus Salinas Pedraza (Foundation For Endgangerd Lanugages). The project began before its foundation, in 1971 Salinas and Bernard began working on a project to document the Nyahnyu culture in Nyahnyu. They developed a writing system for Nyahnyu and Salinas wrote four books about the culture of the people of the Mezquital Valley. In 1989 the books were published in English. In 1987, building on their book collaboration, Salinas and Bernard conceived of the Oaxaca Native Literacy Center a place where Indian people from around the Americas could learn to read and write their own languages using microcomputers. Their idea was for Indians to write, print and publish their own works, in their own languages, on topics of their choice. They would write their own histories and record their knowledge for their children and for all our children as well. The center began operation in 1989 with support from the Nat ional Bureau of Indian Education and the Center for Advanced Studies in Anthropology in Mexico; from the Interamerican Indian Institute and from the Jessie Ball Du Pont Foundation. Salinas runs the center, along with Josefa Gonzalez Ventura, a Mixtec Indian from Oaxaca. Together they train other Indians to use computers, to write and to print books in Indian languages. In 1993 the project incorporated as a not-for-profit organization called CELIAC the Centro Editorial de Literatura Indigena, A.C. The A.C. stands for Association Civil, which means not-for-for-profit corporation. All five board members of CELIAC are native speakers of Mexican Indian languages. In January 1994, CELIAC moved into its own building in Oaxaca. The building houses up to 16 persons. There are toilet facilities for men and women, an ample kitchen, office space, meeting rooms, and computer work rooms. Indigenous authors spend time in residence at CELIAC and CELIAC is now a publishing house for indigenous lite rature, written in indigenous languages. CELIAC markets its books to scholars, libraries, and individuals. Proceeds from the sale of the books help keep the project going. Books are sold directly by CELIAC and all funds go directly to the project. So far, over 150 people speakers of a dozen languages (Mixtec, Chinantec, Aymara, Quichua, and others) from countries across Latin America (Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador) have spent from four weeks to six months in residence at CELIAC (Foundation For Endgangerd Lanugages). The project is major in documenting languages electronically as well as increasing the ability of native speakers to become literate in their own language. According to Gasper Rivera, To keep a language alive, writing it is fundamental, (Mixtec Revival: Mexican Indigenous Language on the Rise). Oaxaca also has a Mexican government-funded Academy of the Mixtec Language that teaches Mixtec speakers how to read and write their language. Pà ©rez Castro explains that a written script for Mixtec will help inhabitants from different villages communicate with one another, since the creation of a standardized vocabulary will smooth over linguistic variants in the rugged countryside where the language originated (Mixtec Revival: Mexican Indigenous Language on the Rise). [The practical benefits of a written language are obvious, says Domà ­nguez. From public health messages to family correspondence, the writing of our language is a historical necessity. (Mixtec Revival: Mexican Indigenous Language on the Rise)]. Although the project ignores the different dialects of the Mixtec language, it does help decrease the illiteracy rating of the population. Language seems as though it would be strictly a cultural problem. Although it is a cultural problem, it is also a political issue. Many Politics are centralized around developing the culture as well as the language in which it is portrayed. The government is involved because it decides which languages are recognized languages. This creates a problem because the languages that are recognized receive more preservation efforts, where the languages that are not recognized are left to go extinct without a second thought by the government. Governments need to recognize all spoken languages and create efforts towards preserving them. A look back to biblical times tells us that at one time there was only one language. While this may seem the ideal it is not the case today. Throughout the years we have relied on recorded history to teach us about our ancestors and about cultures of the past. Where there has been a lack of recorded history we have relied on artifacts. We use these artifacts as a way to tell us about the lives and cultures of the past. How much easier it would be to communicate history and preserve a culture if these artifacts were accompanied by the written word. Literacy is the primary culprit to lost languages. As literacy becomes far more widespread, so will language preservation. Education is the foundation on which language preservation will stand. To preserve a language there must be education and literacy. This not only leads to people having pride in their culture but will also create a gateway in which to study these cultures in the future. Cultures that have widespread literacy are far mor e likely to survive and be passed on from generation to generation. Foundations such as CELIAC have recognized this need and are addressing the challenges however, this is just one foundation. Many more will be needed to accomplish the literacy challenge on a wide scale. Although education and literacy cannot guarantee that all languages will be preserved, it will most certainly give the future generations a way to study those cultures and languages that are lost.

Nicholas Is Foreign Policy Essay -- essays research papers

Maintaining Order The Reign of Nicholas I has been marked with war. He grew up in a time when war was the accepted norm of Russia. As a child he saw his brother fight against the evil, which was Napoleon. With war being part of Nicholas everyday life he quickly became infatuated with it. â€Å"He always remained an army man, a junior officer at heart, devoted to his troops, to military exercises, to the parade ground, down to the last button on a soldiers uniform (Riasanovsky, 323)† Nicholas time growing up in Russia had an immense influence on him. He observed strategy’s like those of Prince Michael Kutuzov, and learned only with proper order can one fully achieve military dominance. Three major conflicts accurately describe how Nicholas I used his military. The Polish uprising illustrate his demand for proper order throughout Europe. The Crimean War displayed his love for the Christian faith, and what he would do to protect Orthodoxy. Lastly, the conflict between Greece and Turkey described how Nicholas I would act when a culmination of his ideas, conflicted with one another. Investigating how Nicholas I inherited the throne will give one an explanation on why he was so frightened by liberal thought. Nicholas I was basically forced to inherit the throne because, Constantine declared it was not in the best interest of Russia for him to succeed to the throne. On the day Nicholas I was to be inaugurated a peasant uprising manifested. This rebellion named the Decemberist’s put much more than a damper on Nicholas I afternoon. The revolt caused Nicholas I to never fully trust peasants throughout his reign. â€Å" No doubt it also contributed to the emperor’s mistrust of the gentry, and indeed of independence and initiative on the part of any subjects (Rias, 324).† From that day froward the Emperor would put down a law by the name of â€Å"Official Nationality (Rias, 324).† To fully comprehend how and why Nicholas I chose to run his foreign policy the way he did, one must delve into how his Empire was run at home. Nicholas I was influenced heavily by Christianity. Christianity drove him to believe that Official Nationality was the path towards Russian salvation, and only under this system could Russia maintain order. Official Nationality was a conservative system, which consisted of three principals; Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality. â€Å"Orthodoxy referred to the officia... ... a conflict that had both religious and revolutionary significance. This conflict between the Orthodox Greeks and the Turks eventually led to the aforementioned Crimean War. Nicholas I had a difficult decision on his hand because he would either have to side with the Orthodox Greeks or the Turks, which were the status quo at the time. One could see what Nicholas I valued more, religion or order. Nicholas I decided to side with the Greeks, making the Ottomans sign the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 (Rias.,330). Nicholas I rule reflected in a striking manner both his character and his principles. The new regime became preeminently one of militarism and bureaucracy. The entire machinery of government came to be permeated by the military spirit of direct orders, Absolute obedience, and precision. Nicholas I ideals are what kept him from fulfilling the expectation people had of him. His main goals were to conserve autocracy and religious certainty, which Alexander had manifested years before. Nicholas I policy abroad hurt his Empire tremendously. His ignorance towards the possibility of maintaining order without Orthodoxy led his country into complete dissaray, and eventually his death.

The Woods Essay -- Descriptive Essay Examples, Observation

I am sitting in the passenger side as my dad is driving, and we are on our way to my grandpa's land which is located about 25 minutes east of Dubuque. First thing we do when we get there is to finish putting on our coats, and then to grab our bows out of the back, then I close my door softly. Walking through the open field I have dead weeds and tall grass crunching under my boots, and at the end of the field we reach a barbed wire fence that we crawl under. Then we cross under a bunch of pine trees and go about 30 yards into the woods to where my tree stand sits. Then my dad tells me good luck and he heads down into the gully where his stand is located. So I then climb the 12 foot ladder and sit on the seat and put on my safety belt and get my arrow ready on the bow string. I survey the land and look for any movement, so I look to the left where there is another set of pine trees, then I look in front of me into the first set of pine trees don't see anything yet. Then I hear a sound of crunching leaves and immediately look to my right and sure enough there is a big doe getting ready to cross the fence 15 yards away. Â   Being out in the woods is meaningful to me because, of the excitement I get out of observing deer in their habitat and the challenges that are presented by the sport of hunting. Once that deer is close enough that I can see it my adrenaline starts to pump and my heart starts to beat a little faster. The excitement that comes with seeing a deer is great, but it is even better if the deer is in shooting range. I have been bow hunting for two years and am already hooked on it because of the anticipation of getting a shot off at a big buck, but watching the deer and how they react in their own habitat is ne... ... shared experience to talk about and to enjoy helping each other with our techniques. Â   To a beginner in this sport it may not seem as relaxing as I said it is because, I know that when a person starts at something it may get frustrating. As a person goes along and gets better at these activities, it gets to be more fun and more relaxing. Two years ago when I first started I really was bored the first couple of days because I didn't see any deer, and didn't really talk to my dad a whole lot. Then as the next week came I saw my first deer, and it was out of my shooting range but it still got my heart pumping, and ever since then I have been hooked on it. That also gave me the chance to tell my dad what it was like, and he said the same thing happened to him when he first started out, and now we make the best out of that time and talk together. Â  

Psychoanalytical and Feminist approaches to D. H. Lawrences Sons and L

Psychoanalytical and Feminist approaches to D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers Psychoanalytical and feminist approaches are two relatively recent critical responses towards literary texts. When applied to D. H. Lawrence's Son's and Lovers, both can be insightful yet problematic at the same time. The theories of psychoanalysis, primarily identified with Sigmund Freud, can be applied to imaginative literature and art in general, in order to study their manifest and latent content, in the same way as Freud studied dreams. Literature clearly lends itself to such a study, since, like dreams, the most significant meaning often lies below the conscious surface narrative of a text. Feminist approaches towards literature are concerned with the portrayal of female characters. Lawrence's representation of women in his work has been admired by many readers for it's insight, women among them, and has been strongly attacked by others for its prejudiced male perspective. Classic psychoanalytic criticism applied the theories either to the author, or his or her characters, which were seen as internalised images that have come from the author's unconscious. The high autobiographical content of Sons and Lovers lends itself to this type of study. Also, if works of art are taken to be disguised expressions of an infantile wish driven into the unconscious, as Freud suggests, then Sons and Lovers is doubly of interest. It is about the fundamental infantile wish that all boys have and repress, according to Freud, the wish of Oedipus to kill their father and marry their mother. Freud's theory of the Oedipus complex and of its frequent effect of psychical impotence, of which Paul is a classic victim, offers a valuable key to a coherent unde... ...the whole picture, since each perspective has its own priorities, and several need to be incorporated in order to fully realise all of the characters and understand the true workings of the novel. Works Cited and Consulted Finney, B. (1990). Penguin Critical Studies: Sons and Lovers. Middlesex: Penguin Group Kuttner, A. B. (1969). A Freudian Interpretation (1916). In Gmini Salgado (Ed.), D. H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers A Selection of Critical Essays 1969 1994. Hampshire: Macmillan Press. Lawrence, D. (1996). Sons and Lovers (1913). M. Daly (Ed.), London: Everyman Lucy, N. (1997). Postmodern Literary Theory: An Introduction Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Millett, K. (1996). Sexual Politics (1969). In Rick Rylance (Ed.), Sons and Lovers: New Casebooks. New York: St. Martin's Press. Pope, R. (1998). The English Studies Book. London: Routledge

Awarness and Attitude of Primary Teachers Towards Child Rights Education Essay

The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines basic rights of children covering multiple needs and issues. India endorsed it on December 11, 1992. Following are a few rights in the immediate purview of Smile Foundation as well as India. The right to Education: 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls. The right to Expression: Every child has a right to express himself freely in which ever way he likes. Majority of children however are exploited by their elders and not allowed to express. The right to Information: Every child has a right to know his basic rights and his position in the society. High incidence of illiteracy and ignorance among the deprived and underprivileged children prevents them from having access to information about them and their society. The right to Nutrition: More than 50% of India’s children are malnourished. While one in every five adolescent boys is malnourished, one in every two girls in India is undernourished. The right to Health & Care: 58% of India’s children below the age of 2 years are not fully vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not receive any form of vaccination. Over 60% of children in India are anemic. 95 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their fifth birthday. 70 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their first birthday. The right to protection from Abuse: There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about 3. 3 million between 15 and 18 years. They form 40% of the total population of commercial sex workers in India. 500,000 children are forced into this trade every year. The right to protection from Exploitation: 17 million children in India work as per official estimates. A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion and not by choice, mostly by parents, but with recruiter playing a crucial role in influencing decision. When working outside the family, children put in an average of 21 hours of labour per week. Poor and bonded families often â€Å"sell† their children to contractors who promise lucrative jobs in the cities and the children end up being employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work. Many run away and find a life on the streets. The right to protection from Neglect: Every child has a right to lead a well protected and secure life away from neglect. However, children working under exploitative and inhuman conditions get neglected badly. The right to Development: Every child has the right to development that lets the child explore her/his full potential. Unfavourable living conditions of underprivileged children prevents them from growing in a free and uninhibited way. The right to Recreation: Every child has a right to spend some time on recreational pursuits like sports, entertainment and hobbies to explore and develop. Majority of poor children in India do not get time to spend on recreational activities. The right to Name & Nationality: Every child has a right to identify himself with a nation. A vast majority of underprivileged children in India are treated like commodities and exported to other countries as labour or prostitutes. The right to Survival: Of the 12 million girls born in India, 3 million do not see their fifteenth birthday, and a million of them are unable to survive even their first birthday. Every sixth girl child’s death is due to gender discrimination. Child Rights in India: An Introduction India is a party to the UN  declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959. Accordingly, it adopted a National Policy on Children in 1974. The policy reaffirmed the constitutional provisions for adequate services to children, both before and after birth and through the period of growth to ensure their full physical, mental and social development. Accordingly, the government is taking action to review the national and state legislation and bring it in line with the provisions of the Convention. It has also developed appropriate monitoring procedures to assess progress in implementing the Convention-involving various stake holders in the society. India is also a signatory to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children. In pursuance of the commitment made at the World Summit, the Department of Women and Child Development under the Ministry of Human Resource Development has formulated a National Plan of Action for Children. Most of the recommendations of the World Summit Action Plan are reflected in India’s National Plan of Action- keeping in mind the needs, rights and aspirations of 300 million children in the country. The priority areas in the Plan are health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and environment. The Plan gives special consideration to children in difficult circumstances and aims at providing a framework, for actualization of the objectives of the Convention in the Indian context. Status of Children in India. Recent UNICEF (2005) report on the state of the world’s children under the title â€Å"Childhood Under Threat† , speaking about India, states that millions of Indian children are equally deprived of their rights to survival, health, nutrition, education and safe drinking water. It is reported that 63 per cent of them go to bed hungry and 53 per cent suffer from chronic malnutrition. The report says that 147 million children live in kuchcha houses, 77 million do not use drinking water from a tap, 85 million are not being immunized, 27 million are severely underweight and 33 million have never been to school. It estimates that 72 million children in India between five and 14 years do not have access to basic education. A girl child is the worst victim as she is often neglected and is discriminated against because of the preference for a boy child. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights In order to ensure child rights practices and in response to India’s commitment to UN declaration to this effect, the government of India set up a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The Commission is a statutory body notified under an Act of the Parliament on December 29, 2006. Besides the chairperson, it will have six members from the fields of child health, education, childcare and development, juvenile justice, children with disabilities, elimination of child labour, child psychology or sociology and laws relating to children. The Commission has the power to inquire into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of child’s rights and non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children among other things. Aimed at examining and reviewing the safeguards provided by the law to protect child rights, the Commission will recommend measures for their effective implementation. It will suggest amendments, if needed, and look into complaints or take suo motu notice of cases of violation of the constitutional and legal rights of children. The Commission is to ensure proper enforcement of child rights and effective implementation of laws and programmes relating to children- enquiring into complaints and take suo motu  cognizance of matters relating to deprivation of child rights; non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children and non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at their welfare and announcing relief for children and issuing remedial measures to the state governments. Convention on the Rights of the Child Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 Right to education From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search. The right to education is a universal entitlement to education, a right that is recognized as a human right. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights the right to education includes the right to free, compulsory primary education for all[1], an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all, in particular by the progressive introduction of free secondary education[2], as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education, ideally by the progressive introduction of free higher education. [3] The right to education also includes a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. In addition to these access to education provisions, the right to education encompasses the obligation to rule out discrimination at all levels of the educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve quality of education. [4] International legal basis The right to education is law in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 200 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. [5][6][7] The right to education has been reaffirmed in the 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. [8] In Europe, Article 2 of the first Protocol of 20 March 1952 to the European Convention on Human Rights states that the right to education is recognized as a human right and is understood to establish an entitlement to education. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to education includes the right to free, compulsory primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all in particular by the progressive introduction of free secondary education, as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education in particular by the progressive introduction of free higher education. The right to education also includes a responsibility to provide basic education for individuals who have not completed primary education. In addition to these access to education provisions, the right to education encompasses also the obligation to eliminate discrimination at all levels of the educational system, to set minimum standards and to improve quality. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has applied this norm for example in the Belgian linguistic case. [9] Article 10 of the European Social Charter guarantees the right to vocational education. [10] Definition Education narrowly refers to formal institutional instructions. Generally, international instruments use the term in this sense and the right to education, as protected by international human rights instruments, refers primarily to education in a narrow sense. The 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education defines education in Article 1(2) as: â€Å"all types and levels of education, (including) access to education, the standard and quality of education, and the conditions under which it is given. â€Å"[11] In a wider sense education may describe â€Å"all activities by which a human group transmits to its descendants a body of knowledge and skills and a moral code which enable the group to subsist†. [11] In this sense education refers to the transmission to a subsequent generation of those skills needed to perform tasks of daily living, and further passing on the social, cultural, spiritual and philosophical values of the particular community. The wider meaning of education has been recognised in Article 1(a) of UNESCO’s 1974 Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. [12] The article states that education implies: â€Å"the entire process of social life by means of which individuals and social groups learn to develop consciously within, and for the benefit of, the national and international communities, the whole of their personal capabilities, attitudes, aptitudes and knowledge. â€Å"[11] The European Court of Human Rights has defined education in a narrow sense as â€Å"teaching or instructions†¦ in particular to the transmission of knowledge and to intellectual development† and in a wider sense as â€Å"the whole process whereby, in any society, adults endeavour to transmit their beliefs, culture and other values to the young. â€Å"[11] Assessment of fulfilment The fulfilment of the right to education can be assessed using the 4 As framework, which asserts that for education to be a meaningful right it must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The 4 As framework was developed by the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Katarina Tomasevski, but is not necessarily the standard used in every international human rights instrument and hence not a generic guide to how the right to education is treated under national law. [13] The 4 As framework proposes that governments, as the prime duty-bearer, has to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education by making education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The framework also places duties on other stakeholders in the education process: the child, which as the privileged subject of the right to education has the duty to comply with compulsory education requirements, the parents as the ‘first educators’, and professional educators, namely teachers. [13] The 4 As have been further elaborated as follows:[14] * Availability – funded by governments, education is universal, free and compulsory. There should be proper infrastructure and facilities in place with adequate books and materials for students. Buildings should meet both safety and sanitation standards, such as having clean drinking water. Active recruitment, proper training and appropriate retention methods should ensure that enough qualified staff is available at each school. [15] * Accessibility – all children should have equal access to school services regardless of gender, race, religion, ethnicity or socio-economic status. Efforts should be made to ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups including children of refugees, the homeless or those with disabilities. There should be no forms of segregation or denial of access to any students. This includes ensuring that proper laws are in place against any child labour or exploitation to prevent children from obtaining primary or secondary education. Schools must be within a reasonable distance for children within the community, otherwise transportation should be provided to students, particularly those that might live in rural areas, to ensure ways to school are safe and convenient. Education should be affordable to all, with textbooks, supplies and uniforms provided to students at no additional costs. [16] * Acceptability – the quality of education provided should be free of discrimination, relevant and culturally appropriate for all students. Students should not be expected to conform to any specific religious or ideological views. Methods of teaching should be objective and unbiased and material available should reflect a wide array of ideas and beliefs. Health and safety should be emphasized within schools including the elimination of any forms of corporal punishment. Professionalism of staff and teachers should be maintained. [17] * Adaptability – educational programs should be flexible and able to adjust according to societal changes and the needs of the community. Observance of religious or cultural holidays should be respected by schools in order to accommodate students, along with providing adequate care to those students with disabilities. [18] A number of international NGOs and charities work to realise the right to education using a rights-based approach to development. [citation needed] Historical development. In Europe, before the Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, education was the responsibility of parents and the church. With the French and American Revolution education was established also as a public function. It was thought that the state, by assuming a more active role in the sphere of education, could help to make education available and accessible to all. Education had thus far been primarily available to the upper social classes and public education was perceived as a means of realising the egalitarian ideals underlining both revolutions. [19] However, neither the American Declaration of Independence (1776) nor the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) protected the right to education as the liberal concepts of human rights in the nineteenth century envisaged that parents retained the primary duty for providing education to their children. It was the states obligation to ensure that parents complied with this duty, and many states enacted legislation making school attendance compulsory. Furthermore child labour laws were enacted to limit the number of hours per day children could be employed, to ensure children would attend school. States also became involved in the legal regulation of curricula and established minimum educational standards. [20] In On Liberty John Stuart Mill wrote that an â€Å"education established and controlled by the State should only exist, if it exists at all, as one among many competing experiments, carried on for the purpose of example and stimulus to keep the others up to a certain standard of excellence. † Liberal thinkers of the nineteenth century pointed to the dangers to too much state involvement in the sphere of education, but relied on state intervention to reduce the dominance of the church, and to protect the right to education of children against their own parents. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, educational rights were included in domestic bills of rights. [21] The 1849 Paulskirchenverfassung, the constitution of the German Empire, strongly influenced subsequent European constitutions and devoted Article 152 to 158 of its bill of rights to education. The constitution recognised education as a function of the state, independent of the church. Remarkable at the time, the constitution proclaimed the right to free education for the poor, but the constitution did not explicitly require the state to set up educational institutions. Instead the constitution protected the rights of citizens to found and operate schools and to provide home education. The constitution also provided for freedom of science and teaching, and it guaranteed the right of everybody to choose a vocation and train for it. [22] The nineteenth century also saw the development of socialist theory, which held that the primary task of the state was to ensure the economic and social well-being of the community through government intervention and regulation. Socialist theory recognised that individuals had claims to basic welfare services against the state and education was viewed as one of these welfare entitlements. This was in contrast to liberal theory at the time, which regarded non-state actors as the prime providers of education. Socialist ideals were enshrined in the 1936 Soviet Constitution, which was the first constitution to recognise the right to education with a corresponding obligation of the state to provide such education. The constitution guaranteed free and compulsory education at all levels, a system of state scholarships and vocational training in state enterprises. Subsequently the right to education featured strongly in the constitutions of socialist states. [23] As a political goal, right to education was declared in F. D. Roosevelt’s 1944 speech on the Second Bill of Rights. Implementation. International law does not protect the right to pre-primary education and international documents generally omit references to education at this level. [24] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education, hence the right applies to all individuals, although children are understood as the main beneficiaries. [25] The rights to education are separated into three levels: * Primary (Elemental or Fundamental) Education. This shall be compulsory and free for any child regardless of their nationality, gender, place of birth, or any other discrimination. Upon ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights States must provide free primary education within two years. * Secondary (or Elementary, Technical and Professional in the UDHR) Education must be generally available and accessible. * Higher Education (at the University Level) should be provided according to capacity. That is, anyone who meets the necessary education standards should be able to go to university. Both secondary and higher education shall be made accessible â€Å"by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education†. [26] Compulsory education The realisation of the right to education on a national level may be achieved through compulsory education, or more specifically free compulsory primary education, as stated in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. [27][28] Action For Children (AFC) Action for Children (AFC) conceptualised by Wild Ganzen and supported by Net4Kids and Kids Rights aims at involving privileged citizens, civil society groups and various institutions including corporates in the development process. This programme supported by the Dutch Government promoted consortium (Wild Ganzen, Net4Kids and Kids Rights) has given a boost to the initiative. The programme is being implemented in three developing economies of the world namely Brazil, South Africa and India. Smile Foundation joined hands with the Consortium in April 2008 and since then has been executing the programme in India. The objective is to stimulate more fortunate mass to be a part of the development process and ensure sustainability of grassroots initiatives across India. Through AFC, Smile Foundation encourages people to ‘stand up and act’ to bring a change in the lives of underprivileged children and youth. Action For Children is based on the concept that development is a people’s issue and not just the government’s concern. With this premise, the Foundation has been striving to build a civil society that owes responsibility for societal development and participate whole-heartedly in transforming the lives of underprivileged children. Through AFC, Smile Foundation encourages individuals, civil society groups, corporate houses, professional associations, schools, colleges, youth wings to participate in the development process. The Action for Children programme sensitizes and involves the fortunate mass through: 1. Local Actions Local Action connotes organizing an event to raise funds for a child centric project. It can be organised by individuals, groups and institutions in their region. Local action aims at sensitization and consequent involvement of the privileged mass in raising funds for children through various activities 2. KidsXL KidsXL is a school exchange programme wherein children of privileged school and underprivileged school are brought together under one platform. Several interactive sessions and special activities are organized for the children. KidsXL aims at bringing the children from both the segments closer, thereby reducing social disparities. In the process, the children also learn to be sensitive and responsible towards the society 3. Media Advocacy The aim is to involve media in creating awareness among the people and advocating the cause before a wide audience. The Foundation sensitizes people through documentaries, Public Service Advertisements, news features, advocacy campaigns, rallies etc. 4. Corporate Social Responsibility CSR aims at sensitising and involving corporates in the development process. It gives the corporates an opportunity to give back to the society. It is based on a partnership model wherein corporates partner with Smile Foundation either to support the whole or a part of capital cost or running cost of a child centric project. The inherent objective of the programme is to ensure that the development activities become locally sustainable. For further information contact at afc. north@smilefoundationindia. org    Journal 1. Discipline for Life: Getting It Right with Children. (ED458959) Share Author(s):| Swift, Madelyn| Source:| N/A| | Pub Date:| 1999-00-00| Pub Type(s):| Books; Opinion Papers| Peer Reviewed:| | | Descriptors: Anger;  Child Rearing;  Children;  Cooperation;  Discipline;  Expectation;  Parent Child Relationship;  Parents;  Parents as Teachers;  Praise;  Problem Solving;  Self Esteem;  Teachers;  Timeout Abstract: Based on the view that how parents discipline their children in the early years plays a significant role in determining their child’s future behavior and relationships, this book offers advice for helping parents teach their children to accept responsibility for their own behavior, to form healthy relationships, develop sound and helpful communication, acquire correct principles to guide their lives, use problem solving, discover resourcefulness and negotiating skills, and deal with anger. Although addressed primarily to parents, the book is also directed to teachers and early childhood educators. The book is presented in six sections: (1) â€Å"The Journey Begins,† introducing the fundamental principles of discipline; (2) â€Å"Vision,† presenting a vision of parenting, including information on the current status of America’s children and suggestions for deciding what parents want to teach their children and how they can decide what lesson needs to be learned; (3) â€Å"Gaining Cooperation without Losing Your Mind!,† identifying barriers to cooperation and suggesting ways to use respectful language and teach children respect as a second language; (4) â€Å"Don’t Start What You Can’t Finish,† presenting tips on using various discipline strategies and the consequences of those strategies, problem-solving strategies, and dealing with temper tantrums; (5) â€Å"Building Self-Esteem,† discussing the importance of self-esteem, and presenting ways to help children develop important life beliefs paralleling the components of self-esteem (existence, accomplishment, and mistakes); and (6)†The Journey Continues,† reinforcing the view of parenting as a challenging process for everyone. (Contains 37 references. ) (KB) Journal 2. Knowledge, practice and attitude toward epilepsy among primary and secondary school teachers in South Gezira locality, Gezira State, Sudan Haydar E. Babikar and Islam M. Abbas1 Author information > Copyright and License information > Go to: Abstract Objective: The attitudes toward school pupils with epilepsy are influenced by the degree of school teachers’ knowledge of the disorder. Teachers usually do not receive any formal instructions on epilepsy during their training. This study aims to assess school teachers’ knowledge, attitude and practice when dealing with epilepsy in school children. Materials and Methods: This study was part of a series mandated by the Gezira Epilepsy Care Programme (GECP), to obtain baseline data for a community-adapted epilepsy education program. A pretested, semi-structured, 35-items questionnaire was the investigational tool. It was used to evaluate the knowledge of the basic facts about epilepsy among school teachers in this cross-sectional study. The questionnaire allowed teachers to express their opinions by means of free answers. The schools were chosen at random but not in a systematic equiprobability design. Two hundred teachers from public primary (100) and secondary (100) schools in the rural area of south Gezira Locality, Gezira State, Central Sudan, were recruited. Results: In this study, the majority of respondents had never been informed about epilepsy and therefore gave evasive answers to many questions. Few of the respondents considered epilepsy as contagious. None of participants objected to having epileptic children in their classes. Only 47 teachers (47%) in the primary schools had any knowledge of the initial procedures to help a child in seizure, presenting reasonable answers, compared to 64 (64%) teachers in the secondary schools. Recommendations: All school teachers should be given some kind of training in health services. The GECP should involve teachers in its current training programs for caregivers and lay association to help epileptic patients. INTRODUCTION Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide, with a prevalence rate of 2. 8-19. 5 per 1,000 of the general population, is more prevalent in early years of life. [1,2] It accounts for 1% of the global burden of disease and about 80% of this burden is in the developing world such as Sudan, where in some areas 80-90% of affected people receive no treatment at all. Epilepsy is currently recognized by many countries and concerned associations as a public health problem. Persons with epilepsy are at the risk of developing a variety of psychological problems including depression, anxiety and psychosis. [3,4] Sociocultural attitudes continue to have a negative impact on the management of epilepsy in many African countries. [5] The disorder is associated with superstition, discrimination and stigma in many of the countries. [6] Still deeply rooted in these communities the idea that the cause of these frightening attacks is possession by evil spirits. Widespread ignorance, fear and misunderstanding has contributed negatively to the management of epilepsy. Thus, many children who have seizures of any kind are first seen and treated by religious or traditional healers. [7,8] Epileptic children suffer untold social deprivations and discrimination in education, which may be more devastating than the disease itself. [9] Children with epilepsy have the same range of intelligence and abilities as the rest of the population. [10] Most children with epilepsy can and should attend normal schools, their activities there limited only by certain factors. However, the attitudes toward school pupils with epilepsy are influenced by the degree of school teachers’ knowledge of the disorder. [2] Teachers usually do not have any formal instructions on epilepsy during their training, so they should be correctly informed about the disorder and encouraged to have a positive and optimistic attitude toward the condition. Other children may be quite helpful if they are aware that the seizure is benign. They should be motivated to offer help and pass on information on epileptic care to their family and friends. [11] To date, there is little research on public attitudes toward epileptics in the Sudan. In order to ensure the proper management of epilepsy, it is important to have a clear understanding of community attitudes toward the disease. The aim of this study is to ascertain the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of school teachers both at primary and secondary levels, in central Sudan regarding the causes, manifestations and treatment options of epilepsy in school children. MATERIALS AND METHODS A pretested, semi-structured, 35-items questionnaire was the investigational tool. It involved questions mainly of the yes/no/do not know variety; however, it also allowed teachers to express their opinions by means of free answers. It was used to evaluate the knowledge of the basic facts about epilepsy among school teachers in this cross-sectional study. Two hundred teachers from 11 public primary (n=100) and 11 secondary (n=100) schools, in the rural area of south Gezira Locality, Gezira State, in central Sudan, were invited to participate in the study by answering the questionnaire. The 22 schools were chosen at random, but not in a systematic equiprobability design. The following criteria: Stay beside the seizing child to protect and turn the head to one side to permit the saliva flow; keep breathing normal, were considered correct first-aid procedures for attending the seizing child. Removal of the child’s shirt and nearby objects or taking him to hospital, were considered less important. Pulling the tongue out or putting a spoon into the mouth were considered harmful and useless procedures. To verify the statistical significance of the two groups of staff or between genders, Pearson ? 2 test was used. RESULTS This study was part of a series mandated by the Gezira Epilepsy Care Programme (GECP), to obtain baseline data for a community-adapted epilepsy education program. It was designed to assess primary and secondary public school teachers, knowledge, practice on epilepsy and their attitudes toward epileptic pupils in the school. Two hundred school teachers who were recruited, responded to the questionnaire. The data relating to teachers’ characteristics are presented in Table 1. Their mean age was 38. 5.