Buffer Overflow & Rootkits Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Buffer Overflow & Rootkits - Assignment Example Another reason is the failure of individuals to update their existing protections that render them non-functional. Someone can design a program that can detect a rootkit. A rootkit describes stealthy software that makes it hard to detect the existence of certain programs in a computer. Therefore, to detect one, someone needs to use an alternative and trusted operating system. Designing programs constituting such operating systems would make it possible to detect rootkits. Other ways include signature scanning, difference scanning, behavioural-based methods and memory dump analysis. The behavioural-based approach depends on the fact that rootkits behave in a way different from other programmes (Pleeger, 2012). In signature scanning, an antivirus will detect any stealthy measures that a rootkit might adopt to unload itself or prevent its detection. The difference-based scanning method compares trusted original data from the computer with defective data returning from the API (Application programming interface), a programme building tool. Memory dumping involves dumping of virtual memory, which can then be forensically analysed to capture an active rootkit with a tool called a debugger. It prevents the rootkit from taking any measures to hide itself. However, the overall detection of a rootkit depends on its

Disabled People Basic Human Rights Social Work Essay

Disabled People Basic Human Rights Social Work Essay Uusitalo 1985 asserted that a commonly discussed point about state welfare is its ability to redistribute wealth. However, there are other commentators who do not agree with this assertion and feel that State Welfare (SW) has failed to redistribute wealth and create equality (Miller, 1994; Clegg, 2010; Osborne 2010; Grice, 2009). SW was instituted to, in a way, give basic human rights such as the right to education, health, social services, housing and social security. It was therefore imperative that all individuals had access to it and were treated equally by the system. Thane (2010) asserts that although UK is perceived to be an accommodating society, inequity and prejudice has long existed in the country. Legislative Acts such as the Discrimination Act 1995, Equality Act 2010 and the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities legally give disabled people civil rights, yet disabled people remain at a disadvantage. Massie (2007) claims that disabled people of working age are still living below the relative poverty level. This is affirmed by disabled activists such as Mike Oliver, Colin Barnes and others (Barnes, 1981; Oliver and Barnes 1991). It is alleged that SW has not only failed to ensure disabled peoples basic human rights but it has also infringed and diminished some of these rights. This essay will examine the assertion, first by defining what State Welfare (SW) is. Second, it will briefly discuss the theory and history of SW in the United Kingdom and critically examine how SW has enabled disabled people to exercise their rights, especially in recent times, through Independent Living, Direct Payments and Basic Income. Third, it will examine the Human Rights Act 1998 and the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the light of Human Rights principles. Fourth, it will explore how SW has infringed on the rights of individuals relative to education, housing, employment, health and social security. Last but in no means the least; it will highlight the role of professionals in perpetuating dependency, and discuss the role of the Disabled Peoples movement in challenging SW provision and developing alternative policies and services to remove disabling barriers. It will conclude by drawing the arguments together relative to the question. Definition of Welfare Academicians, historians and social commentators have all attempted to define State Welfare (SW). Lowe (1993) however, purports that there is no formal definition of the term State Welfare. Wedderburn (1965) defines SW as a government obligation of some level which alters demand and supply to ensure fair income distribution. Lowe (2005) has also defined SW as not just a case of providing an isolated human service but a community where the state embraces accountability for the well-being of everybody. The Cambridge dictionary (2011) has described it as a form of tax collection that allows the state to provide basic human rights such as health, social security etcetera to those who require it. Briggs (1961) contextualizes SW by arguing that the state uses its sovereignty to manipulate demand and supply for labour in three ways. The first is to make sure people receive a basic income regardless of the price of their labour or amount of their assets. The second is to minimise uncertainty by meeting peoples basic needs to alleviate social deprivation and the third is to give people access to good quality services regardless of their social standing. While Marshall (1950) purports that welfare rights and social citizenship are closely connected, rendering SW worthless without welfare rights. Esping-Anderson (1990) also points out that social citizenship is made up of the essential notion of SW. Theories of State Welfare State Welfare (SW) does not exist on its own, like any other system it is underpinned by various theories. OBrien and Penna (1998) explain that theories are not intellectual concepts taken out of this world but ideas which give guidance and explains behaviour. SW in United Kingdom (UK) is underpinned by four main theories and they are as follow: Liberalism Liberalism takes the view that individuals should support themselves with the state interfering only when they are not able to do so. Gray (1989), a proponent of pluralist liberalism, maintains that there are different kinds of liberals. Firstly, there are those who take individualism to the extreme and rely on themselves alone, with the state intervening only when it comes to their freedom. Secondly, there are those who although are dedicated to their freedom, do not mind communal plans for socio-political progression. Finally, there are those who also see any state interference as evil. Liberals are said to have created the basics of SW (Clegg, 2011). Marxism Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their work during the 19th Century. Marxism concerns itself with materialism. Marx and Engels argued that the antagonism among social classes lead to social change, which finally culminates into capitalism: the common evil predominant in todays socio-economic structures. They see capitalism as evil because they hold the opinion that it promotes oppression where the working class are exploited by the ruling class bourgeoisie (Avineri, 1968 pg 3). The tradition of Marxism does not promote the view of SW as fundamentally the Marxist does not view welfare as the way forward for changing inequalities. (Esping-Anderson, 1998). Neo-Liberalism Neo-liberalism is an ideology that sustains an ethical and rational stand for capitalism. It associates itself with economics, social behaviour and social interactions (Thorsen and Lie, 2009). The Neo-liberalists promote the idea of cutting down state debts, reducing state support, changing tax legislation to widen the tax network, getting rid of pegged exchange rates, globalising markets to trade by limiting economic policies that restrict trading among countries, promoting privatisation, private ownership and supporting deregulation. Plant (2010) asserts that Neo-liberalism has produced an open market where the state has ultimate power. Conservatism Conservatism is a belief in organisations and traditions that have developed over the years and have shown to be on-going and stable. The term was devised after the 1833 Reform Act by the Tory Party when they changed their name to Conservative Party. The term has origins in Edmund Burkes 1790 thinking on the French Revolution (Thompson, 2011). The ideology was based on preserving tradition such as the royal family, the church and social classes. Welfare is not paramount on the Conservative agenda as they believe in work, family and patriotism. History of Welfare Whelan (2007) states that welfare for the disadvantaged goes a long way back in British history, with individuals and charities such as churches running schools to educate children and charities meeting the housing needs of the working class. The idea behind these benevolent acts was to relieve the social conditions that industrialisation had created (Head, 2009). Poor Laws were one of the first legislations instituted in 1598 to assist the poor and the disabled in the UK by the Elizabethan government (Slack, 1990). The Victorian government continued to uphold these laws, but in the 1900s life became difficult for the working class such that it compelled the liberal government to introduce various reforms from 1906 to 1914. Some historians claim, that state welfare (SW) developed from the 1601 Poor laws (Thane and Whiteside, 2009). Lowe (1993) asserts that the term SW was created in the 1930s, having first been used derogatorily in Germany to describe the Weimar Republic (Lowe, 1993; Gough, 2005). Weimer was a central city southwest of Germany and the first to be associated with SW (Harsch, 1999). In the UK in 1940, during the leadership of Winston Churchill, the conservative government became concerned about the Second World War returnee soldiers and their reliance on the state to earn meaningful living. In view of this, Sir William Beveridge was tasked with examining the already established National insurance schemes. He produced a report which was to establish SW. The key message in his report was the five giant evils which were namely: Want (representing poverty); Disease (health), Ignorance (lack of education); Idleness (unemployment) and Squalor (housing) (Timmins, 2001). The Beveridge report, 1942, brought changes to education that was laudable, such as promoting education for all (Batterson, 1999). This subsequently led to the enactment of The 1944 Education Act which was based on the Education Act 1870 that offered free education to all children in the country. Through the 1944 Education Act, the government intended to give children an equal chance in education by creating three types of schools: secondary modern, grammar and technical schools. Children were select into various school based on the individual ability (Batterson, 1999). Beveridges report was influential and caused the government to start dealing with poverty and instituted constructive measures that resulted in introduction of universal benefits like The 1945 Family Allowance Act (Pleuger, No Date). This act allowed all families in Britain to receive weekly allowances for their children who were under 16 years, regardless of their financial or social status. Subsequently, other systems were introduced such as the National Insurance system that allowed contributing claimants to claim cash benefits from it. The National Assistance Act was next introduced in 1948 and it provided assistance to anybody who needed help or was not covered by other benefits. That same year the National Health Service (NHS) was also introduced and it provided universal health services. Mandated by the 1946 National Health Service Act, NHS operated on the following values: free care, free for all with clinical needs and not based on the ability to pay (BBC, 1998). However, th is situation changed in 1951 when NHS started charging for dental treatment and prescriptions. Beveridges report also touched on housing issues. There was shortage of houses after the World War II causing people to live in squalor, but between 1950 and 1955 the government tackled this problem by financing local authorities to build council houses for low income families (Burnett, 1987) The housing shortages compelled the government to take measures to alleviate severity by nationalising utility companies as part of the programme to control living expenses. Thirty years after Beveridges From Cradle to Grave report, SW became a permanent part of British society. The economy however took a turn for the worse with high inflation and unemployment. People were ever more reliant on SW and there were calls for a change. (Devine, 2006) Political power changed hands and Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979. Mrs Thatcher was of the persuasion that individuals should take care of themselves instead of paying high taxes to support public services like the NHS. Hills (1998), maintains that the Thatcher government emphasised on four things: denationalizing, targeting, disparity and cutting public expenditure. Thatcherism as it was called introduced some far-reaching ideas that produced means testing, selective welfare and privatisation of public services (Glendinning, 1991 ; Hills, 1998). The Right to Buy scheme, for instance, encouraged council tenants to buy their homes. All these policies reinforced belief in self-reliance rather than on state hand outs. By 1997 Britain wanted a fresh pair of eyes after 18 years under the conservative government. Labour reinvented itself as New Labour with Tony Blair as Prime Minister. He introduced New Labour, announcing the discovery of the Third Way (Walker, 1998). New Labour believed that the route out of poverty was through work and therefore constructed SW on jobs for the able and protection for those who were unable. Hills (1998, pg23) poses the question: is New Labour any different? The answer is yes and no as New Labour was seen to have combined conservative ideas of cutting public spending married with a New Labour priority on education. New Labour presented a slightly modified SW as compared to the previous government, the Conservative. They did not however escape criticism, which led to their defeat in 2010. A Coalition government has been formed and the conservatives and liberal democrats have put their heads together to lead Britain. Their aim is to reduce the state fiscal deficit by cutting public expenditure yet again. The theme for SW reform is making work pay (Turner, 2011). Disability Alliance (2010) has indicated that their organisation is worried about what the coalition reforms mean to disabled people. This is similar to the 1980s, where disabled people faced cuts in welfare benefits, restricted access to work and access to unemployment benefit taken away completely (Glendinning, 1991; Hills, 1998). The Coalition government refers to this change as a move to a big society primarily aim to relinquish some of its responsibilities and to give individuals and communities control of services (Sutton, 2011). Reformist Frank Field supports this goal, maintaining that similar arrangements were in place during the 1800s (Sutton, 2011). Human Rights The right to health care, education, housing, income maintenance and social services are all fundamental human rights found in state welfare (SW). The United Nations define human rights as an individual constitutional right that should be enjoyed regardless of whom you are and where you are in this world. Each and every one is allowed to have access to these rights without prejudice (United Nations Human Rights, 2011). Amnesty International (2011) define human rights as rudimentary privileges which should be enjoyed by everybody irrespective of whom they are, where they come from, which skin colour they are, and irrespective of their gender, faith, linguistic background or standing. The British Institute of Human Rights (2006) posits that the fundamental human rights are fairness, equality, dignity and respect. The term human rights was recently coined, but the concept has roots in medieval times. Ishay (2004) asserts that development of the human rights concept has many accounts. Some accounts have said Kings ruled their subjects in such degrading ways because they felt they had the God-given rights to do so. This led people to develop man rights to combat the God given rights. Others indicate that the Quran, the Bible and eastern world teachings have all contributed to the development of human rights (Ishay, 2004). Subrahmanyam (2011) also purports that political struggles such as Liberalism, Marxism, Socialism, etc. have all contributed to creation of human rights. After the genocide committed by Adolf Hitler and his government during World War II, the United Nations General Assembly created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to prevent that kind of abuse from ever happening again. The UDHR document has become the backbone of many treaties and human rights laws all over the world (Bailey, 2011). Gleeson (2011) asserts that this document was used by the Council of Europe to implement the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in 1953 to safeguard human rights and basic liberties in Europe. The European Court of Human Rights was also implemented by this convention and anybody who feels their rights have been abused can take their case to this court. Britain joined the convention 1951 even though it was not until 2nd October 2000 before the convention became part of the laws in UK (Jepson, 2004). Another recent treaty is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which was signed by UK in 2008. State Welfare enabling Disabled People to exercise their Rights There have been many policies and laws for disabled people since the establishment of state welfare (SW) in 1945 which have enabled disabled people to exercise their rights. Bracking (1993) states that disabled peoples lives have been transformed since 1939, when disabled people started to speak for themselves. Thornes et al (2000) maintain that there have been four areas of care for disabled people since the establishment of SW. The provision of residential homes, National Health Service (NHS) care, educational services and income maintenance. There have also been several laws that have assisted disabled people in exercising their rights. The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, for instance, was an important law which came to empower disabled people. Through this legislation councils gained authority to provide care, homes and support to people in the community. It also gave disabled people the same rights to leisure and academic services (BBC News, 2010). The Seebohm Report (1968) recommendations also led to the enactment of the Local Authority Act 1970 which gave local authorities the right to set up community care. The Education Act 1944 recommended that disabled children should school alongside their non-disabled peers (Barnes, 1991). The Warnock Report influenced the 1981 Education Act by recommending that disabled children be educated with their non-disabled peers. The Special Educational Needs Act 2001 gave disabled children, parents and carers the right to be educated in mainstream schools if reasonable adjustment could be made. The Employment Act 1994 made working easier for disabled people even though the quota system did help employers to discriminate against disabled people (Barnes, 1991). The 1948 National Assistance Act gave assistance and support to people in need and replaced the Poor Law. It also gave local authorities the duty to provide community care services for the sick, disabled, the aged and other people. The 1946 National Health Service provided advice, treatment and care to the nation free of charge (BBC News, 1998). The NHS and Community Care Act 1990 promoted community care which has benefited many disabled people. The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996, gave local social services the power to make cash payments, but were not effected until 2003, when it became mandatory to offer it to eligible people after assessment. This allows individuals to buy and manage their own care provision. Disabled people also have available to them the Access to Personal Files Act 1987, which gives them the freedom to access any notes or reports about them held by organisations. Access to Health Records 1986, part of the Data Protection Act, gives individuals the right to health records. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which has been replaced in many respects by the Equality Act 2010, safeguards disabled people from being discriminated against in education, employment, access to goods and services, buying and renting. The Equality Duty 2006 demands that public bodies provide services that promote equality. Social security benefits have also become substantial from the humble Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits and the War Injuries Disabilities Pension to Disability Living Allowance and Carers Allowance which supports extra cost incurred as a result of a persons impairment. Long term sickness assistance like Income Related Employment and Support Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance and Attendance Allowance are in place to support disabled people. Further support can be acquired through Working Tax Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit, Housing and Council Tax Benefit (DirectGov, 2011). Self-directed care schemes like Direct Payments, Personal Budgets and Independent Living schemes also allow disabled people to access opportunities like their non-disabled peers (Barnes and Mercer 2006). Bracking (1993) affirms that Independent Living gives claimants the freedom to live on their own. Furthermore, it allows disabled people to make and be part of decision making processes. Disabled people are able to select and organise services for themselves and not rely on their local authority or other organisations to provide them. The Mobility and Blue Badge Scheme allows disabled people to buy or lease a car and give help with parking. Barnes (2004) purports that independent living can change the value of disabled peoples life. State Welfare has diminished Rights British Institute of Human Rights (2006) states that human rights are not simply concerned with legislation but impacts on services provided by the state like residential care, academic institutions, hospitals and support workers in disabled peoples home. Barnes and Oliver (1991) postulate that SW cradle to grave promise of safeguarding its participants has not worked or else there would not be a demand for a disability discrimination law. The state has therefore not only been unsuccessful in securing disabled peoples fundamental rights, it has impinged and limited some of them. The Socialist (2010) highlights a recent case in which a disabled womans UN convention Rights and human rights have been ignored by being asked to wear incontinence pads instead of using a commode at night because of the cost of employing a carer. If the local authority wins this case it will have big implications for disabled people across the nation. Federation of Disabled People (2011) purports that the Education Secretary, Michael Grove, was recently informed that not dialoguing over the idea of cutting school building schemes resulted in not considering equality concerns. Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE) (No Date) propound that inclusive education is part of the international human rights law. Disabled people have been fighting for inclusive education since SW began and the 1944 Education Act was enacted Although it was stipulated in the Act that disabled children should be educated alongside their peers it never materialised. The Warnock Report in 1978 found that one in five children would need special educational support at one point or another during their school life. The report therefore recommended unit are created on school premises to accommodate such needs (Warnock Report, 1978).These recommendations influenced the 1981 Education Act which also asked for children to be statemented before being placed i n special schools. It furthermore, gave parents the right to appeal against their children special needs assessments. The 1981 Education Act also failed to establish inclusion, integration and accessibility breeching disabled peoples right to access educational institutions at any given time. Rieser and Mason (1992) indicated that not much had been changed by the 1990s. Disabled children were still being educated with the medical view instead of a curriculum. This led to many completing their schooling without proper qualification (House of Commons, 1999). This breeched their right to obtain official recognition for a course they have completed. The 1993 Education Act tried to give parents more rights to appeal against decisions by the Local Education Authority (LEA) to send their child to special needs school. The Act also extended LEAs time frames for assessing children with disability and encouraged inclusive education. Part of the subsequent 1996 Education Act identified and modified certain sections in the law allowing parents to choose if their children were to attend main stream schools. The enactment of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 brought disabled children close to inclusion. LEA were now under duty to provide mainstream education for children if that was the wish of their parents but this should not be to the detriment of non-disabled students (Vaughan, No Date). Disability and Equality Duty 2006 gave public services the duty to improve equality in all their services delivery. The most recent Equality Act 2010 also demands that all those providing services like education to provide fair and equal services to people. The conceptualisation of moving towards an all inclusion option for education for people with disability has made in roads with the introduction of the Education Act (Virvan 1992). Policies and Green papers such as Excellence for All Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs, 1997 and the advancement of technology have not been able to address significantly the challenges that face disabled people in education. Johnson and Cohen (1984) suggest that challenges in the classroom, communication levels and total social inclusion are still not fully addressed leaving disabled peoples right to effective education breached. The Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey 2009 indicates that UK presently has 1.3 million disabled people ready and free to work. 50% of people with disability at employable age are actually employed as equated to 80% of people without disabilities. It is also noted that the type of disability also influences the figures significantly. For example, only 20% per cent of people with mental health difficulties are in work. About 23% have not got any educational credentials in comparison to nine per cent of people without disabilities. Non-disabled people get roughly  £12.30 in equation to  £11.08 that disabled people get (Shaw Trust 2011). These figures evidence the disadvantages disabled people face in employment. Lindbeck (1996) states that Keynesian idea of full employment and Beveridge universal state welfare (SW) system stem from the same roots. In Britain for instance, the governments committed to providing employment, universal state welfare and well-being to its citizens but disabled people had less chances of being in work than their non-disabled peers in the 1970s. These figures improved in the 1980s because a lot of non-disabled people were out of work. By the 1990s things had become worse with 21% against 7% of non-disabled people were out of work. Fagin and Little (1984) assertion that people have dignity, sense of belonging and responsibility in working hold true. Most disabled people however, are stuck on state benefits because of unemployment and under employment situations. Where is their right to respect for their private and family life, home and correspondence if they cannot be involved in community life? Barnes (1992) propounds that reasons given about difficulties that disabled people face in employment is out-dated and no longer acceptable. Although the 1944 Employment Act was designed to give disabled people opportunities in paid work the quota system undermined it. The Disability Discrimination Act and Equality Act 2010 were all designed to combat employer attitude and discrimination but there remain barriers like medical screening, age, education, experience, transportation, appearance and environmental factors that need to be addressed to allow the disabled person to participate actively in employment. Berry (2010) advocates that the idea of state welfare (SW) was to eradicate divisions amongst people, but seems like the impact of the SW has made these divisions even more noticeable. He further asserts that the property division among property holders and renters is emphatic than ever. Equality Human Rights Commission EQHRC (2011) state that there are certain rights a person has in relation to housing and home ownership. One of them are to have and delight in the possession of property, but clearly owning your own home is something that most disabled people do not have the power to acquire. Derbyshire Coalition of Disabled People (DCODP) (1986) state every person has the authority to dwell in a home in any average place but critics have said this is not possible because there is lack of houses in UK more so accessible homes. Although the 1970 Chronically Sick and Disabled Person Act requires local authorities to provide the housing needs of disabled people, most councils have sold their properties and have little stock left (BCODP, 1987). Some Local authorities have to work with other organisations to meet the housing needs of disabled people. Accommodation and supported housing are usually few and farther away from town centres, thus isolating disabled people and breaching their right to independent living. Disabled people also usually have to go through a medical assessment to get into social housing. This practice has been slammed by disabled commentators advocating that it is discriminatory (BCODP, 1987). The Housing Act 1988 did not include disabled people in purchasing council flats and houses in the 1980s. Peck (2011) submits that a lot of people with disabilities cannot get assistance to enable them avert being homeless. Those who do get housed sometimes face houses with adaptations that are not up to standard (Heywood, 2001). State welfare (SW) amongst other things was to provide financial assistance that will relieve poverty and create social protection for all citizens. However, disabled people do not seem to have experienced this relief. Carvel (2005) asserts that three in ten disabled people who are employable are poor and this gap is widening regardless of what the state is doing to combat societal handicap. Smith (2008) advocates that the charity Leonard Cheshire Disabilitys recent report reveals three million disabled people in UK in 2008 lived in relative poverty. Palmer (No Date) states that about a third of people with disability falling between ages 25 and 65 onwards live in poor families, half of Non-disabled peoples figure. Disabled people are poor because they often do not work. Statistics indicated that about 60% of disabled people are not employable in contrast to 15% of non-disabled people (Palmer, No Date). A large percentage of disabled people are willing to work but cannot find employment. Disabled people often do not have the credentials required for working. 75% of people who are of employable age and on benefits are either ill or have a disability. The 1988 disability survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics confirms this deprivation. The survey recognised that most disabled people rely on social security benefits, but the 1988 benefit reforms did not consider these findings and cut social security spending which in turn affected disabled people. DisabledGo (2010) advocate that Equality Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is apprehensive about the governments Work Capability Assessment test and the impact it is having on Employment Support Allowance claimants. Cooper (2010) asserts that the 2011 housing benefit reforms will make a lot of people homeless. The governments plan to cut public spending and relieve itself of some its responsibilities will undermine schemes and programmes that support disabled people. This will inevitably corrode disabled peoples right. The National Health Service posits that disabled people have intolerable challenges accessing their services (Department of Health, 1999) The National Health Services core value is to provide health care for all in UK but it is apparent this not the case. Wide spread discrimination has been reported by various organisations and the media. Brindle (2008) and Triggle (2007) submits that an official inquiry has found that NHS discriminates against people with learning difficulties. They further alleges that the main shortcoming of the NHS is the lack of knowledge in learning disability issues. Disability News Service (2009) state a recent report by Every Disabled Child Matters indicates that disabled children are being let down by the NHS despite having the resources to support them. Aspis (2006) alleges that disabled peoples right to life is in today threatened, as medical staffs are allowed to make life and death decisions about disabled people without making clinical references. He further alleges that scientific experimentations like gene manipulation and pre-natal screening could wipe out disabled people in the not too distant future. F

A Joyous Death :: Essays Papers

A Joyous Death 1. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Kate Chopin suggests that in certain situations, the death of a loved one may be a blessing. Such situations may include an abusive relationship, or an unhappy marriage, as this story suggests. In Chopin’s story although the circumstances might lead the reader to believe that Louise’s husband’s death would cause her great pain, ironically, when she hears the news, she feels a great sense of relief. This suggests that death may not always cause grief. 2. Louise’s characteristics add to the theme of this story in several ways. One of her characteristics is her youth. This characteristic is important because it is symbolic of a fresh, new start at her life of freedom due to the death of her husband. She has her whole life to live by herself. She will be free to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it. 3. Another characteristic of Louise, which also adds to the irony of this story, is her passion for living. She mentions that she will weep again when she is present at her husband’s funeral, but she is able to look past that grim moment and look forward to â€Å"the years to come that would belong to her absolutely.† Just when she is beginning to savor the sweet sense of freedom, her husband shows up at their house alive. When she sees him, she dies, not from the â€Å"joy that kills,† but because she is heart-broken and shocked at the reality. She dies because she realizes that since he’s not dead, she will not be free. The drastic halt is too much for her to handle. [Nice observation] 4. There are a few symbols in the story, which are symbolic of Louise’s life of freedom. The spring day symbolizes a new beginning of her life in which she is free. Spring is the time when living things propagate and are reborn. Likewise, Louise believes she will become productive, energized and reborn. Louise has her whole life of freedom to look forward to. 5. A second symbol is the open window in her bedroom. The window suggests that there is no material object standing in the way of her new life.

Communications and Media the use of social media Essay

What SouthWest Airlines (SWA) has done is to consolidate customers and fans for the better performance of its operation in light of competition it is facing. This is a clear case where social media is being used as a channel that supports community building, customer collaboration and sharing ideas and market trends that propel the performance of a company. This strategy should be adopted in an ideal education situation so that university systems could look for ways of engaging and motivating learners to be more proactive. Still on SWA, the Company actively engaged fans on Facebook through posting different items and argumentative debates just to gather opinions on what customers expect from them. This is what Dani and Singer (2008) term as ‘discrete approach to marketing and feasibility study on what people expect’ (p. 192). American University of Sharjah needs to integrate a number of social media tools into the learning process to reflect the success SWA has enjoyed w ithin the shortest period of time it has been on business. Beginning with how SWA has integrated Facebook within its platform, it is important to note that what American University of Sharjah should strive to achieve is to have social networking. To contextualize this point, when using Facebook to engage customers, the case (Southern Airlines by Adam Saffer) reports that by posting a video from Air Zealand there were 58 comments and 95 likes. These comments according to the author helped the Company strategize on the best approaches to deal with the demands of its client. Contextualizing this case, research by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI 2007) has shown that at least 87 percent of students in universities have social media accounts and as such, Facebook account for about 90 percent. This statistics shows that social networking websites have become integral parts of students’ live at American University of Sharjah. It is from this perspective that the university should try as much as possible to engage students in dec ision making process by posting agendas and policies for debate. That is, facebook should be integrated as part of learning process. From the case, it has been noted that SWA communicated with Facebook fans in response to the questions and issues they were having. When there was a query or a problem from their fans, they could respond to the question on time and publicly. This is particularly to the issue that Lala Palelei asked on November 2nd 2009. It is from this approach that it is recommended for American University of Sharjah to actively engage with students through Facebook. As a matter of fact, Alexander Astin proposed a developmental theory that sought to engage with learners (Geyer et al. 2009). In his theory, he proposed that social interaction with learners help them grow psychologically and physically. Just like what SWA did, responding to the issues students are asking should be evidence-based. That is, answers should be well researched so that engagement includes effo rts students invest in their educational activities and such empirically connected to the objectives of the university. Just like SWA, American University of Sharjah is active on Twitter. It is important to note that adoption of official Twitter account is one factor, making it outpace empirical understanding of the use of such technology and the available theories regarding why it (the Twitter account) may alter a number of organizational process is another. It is from this observation that the university should make twitter account serve the purpose SWA’s twitter account is doing. The case reads, ‘of the social tools, SWA has found Twitter to be its primary means of interacting with its public.’ There are inherent reasons as to why the Company finds Twitter to be a source of interaction. Citing a case, it is reported that Jessica Turner had an interesting post concerning newest service location which was geared towards attracting debates on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This post attracted attention of its followers to an extent that the SWA managed to understand dynamic s of the market through what is termed as ‘two-way communication between SWA and its publics.’ Basically, this is the recommendation the University needs—a two-way communication between students, teaching staff and the public. This recommendation is evidence-based. Scholars such as Daly (2010) have studied the relationship between social practices and new technologies and found greater utility in the concept of affordance and unity because by positively engaging others through social media forums explain why organizations using same technology are likely to engage in disparate or similar work practices and communication. On 14th December 2014 the University through its official Facebook account posted the 12th NGN10 Competition where engineering students from the university were invited to contribute on the best way to make the lightest tower crane. While this approach is similar to what Christi Day did about his Twitter post on ‘Grab your bag. It’s on’ it is recommended that for effective interaction, the university should integrate marketing campaign when making such posts so that a conversation is generated between interested parties and students. Flickr and You Tube are other two social media SWA has used to capitalize on the needs of its customers and fans. On Flickr the information provided is that organizations such as the University can use social media to counter unrealistic claims and complaints aimed at tarnishing its image. This is in regard to complain made by Scooteriscracy. However, to maintain transparency and avoid circumstances as the one SWA found itself in, the line between personal business and professional posting should be distinct. It is recommended that the University should be careful in its posting. Nuts about Southwest as the name of SWA’s You Tube should be used as a benchmark in helping American University of Sharjah note that the use of social media also encompasses permitting every employer to self-publish as long as such publication conforms to specific regulations of the institution. It is apparent that the manner in which the University uses You Tube does not allow people, including stude nts to communicate or share their views and opinions across faculties or organizational boundaries. To conceptualize this recommendation, Brzozowski et al. (2009) conducted a research on the benefits of institutional engagements of leaners on social media. After interviewing 425 undergraduate students from the Midwestern institution, is was found that when learners are allowed to share, post or participate in education forums posted through social media there is a positive correlation between student engagement in the affairs of school and success of the school in policy drafting and implementation. In fact it is through this recommendation that SWA has managed to achieve its objective—great customer service (being ranked as the airline with the least cases of complaints per passenger since it started monitoring the data in 1987). It is important to mention, just like Fuller and Valacich (2008) does that the usage of social media in American University of Sharjah should be about providing meta-knowledge. That is, making the institution understand the type of people in its environ and what they may do so that good relationships and rapport is maintained. Just like what SWA is doing through blogging, the University could let students and employees create profiles pages on different social media where such pages have corporate directories information, photos as well as summary of content that individuals have contributed. It is from such initiatives that people will learn more about the interests, backgrounds and activities of students, workers. It is apparent that what SWA has succeeded in is creativity which as not only placed it as one of the fasted growing companies but also made it become effective. This will be achieved if the University allows participation by all in social media activities. Finally, Ameri can University of Sharjah has a reputation to keep and for the usage of social media, maintenance of confidentiality, transparency and respect to the property should note be overshadowed by the quest to adopt the recommendation provided. References Brzo zowski, M., Sandholm, T., & Hogg, T. (2009). Effects of feedback and peer pressure on contributions to enterprise social media. Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Supporting Group Work (pp. 61–70). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/1531674.1531684 Daly, E. M., Geyer, W., & Millen, D. R. (2010). The network effects of recommending social connections. Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on Recommender Systems (pp. 301–304). New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/1864708.1864772 Dani s, C., & Singer, D. (2008). A wiki instance in the enterprise: Opportunities, concerns and reality. Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 495–504). New York: ACM. doi:0.1145/1460563.1460642 Fuller, R. M., & Valacich, J. S. (2008). Media, tasks, and communication processes: A theory of media synchronicity. MIS Quarterly, 32, 575–600. Geyer, W., Millen, D. R., Dugan, C., & Brownholtz, B. (2009). People sensemaking and relationship building on an enterprise social networking site. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press. doi:10.1109/HICSS.2009.343 Higher Education Research Institute (2007) College freshmen and online social networking sites.Available at: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/PDFs/pubs/briefs/brief- 091107SocialNetworking.pdf (last accessed 17th December 2014). Source document

Mini Motor Homes Manufactured Essay

This case is about Mini Motor Homes Manufactured by Jim Ballenger in Kalamazoo, Michigan. According to the case, Jim Ballenger has a problem to make a decision to change his current inventory system to JIT system. From the current inventory system, Jim has spent a lot of cost on his inventory system. This is because mostly of the component used in manufactured are bought from other vendor and his company actually only manufactured very few of it component. Because of this, the transportation and inventory cost contribute to a relatively large portion of its component part of expenses. Jim Ballenger was very aware on the cost that may arise once the JIT system adopted. The cost that he may be aware to arise is the cost of management standpoint, the shipment of the component and the rate of the component purchased. Besides that, he also has inquiry about the component purchased will be arrived on time or not or the duration taken of delivering the component. This is because, if the component are not suitable to use, his team has to replace it and it will entail expensive rush order for the replacement component or the downtime for the entire plant. Jim Ballenger also concern about his relationship with his suppliers. He thought that his supplier may difficult become one part of his team. Since the supplier will expect to have special effort on their quality control or delivery flexibility on behalf of one of its almost miniscule discount. Jim Ballenger has been rent a public warehouse near his plant to keep his inventory that cost $500,000 to $1,000,000, which he paid more than 1. 5% per month from the borrowed funds to buy it. Since he starts to producing the different model, and using so many different appliances, the cost of the safety stock increased day by day. The JIT presume table has drawn with two considerations. Since the major component, chassis can be purchased at one time basis from the local supplier and out of stock situation is hardly happen, thus this component has excluded from using JIT system. The two considerations will be (1) Ballenger’s inventory carrying costs of are assumed to be 20% per year on the average investment in inventory on hand comprising acquisition and transportation costs, (2) those components that can obtain from closer sources, one week of the safety stock is sustain, if the component is further form the stock, two weeks to one month of safety stock should be available.