Do school vouchers improve the quality of education Research Paper

Do school vouchers improve the quality of education - Research Paper Example . Non-voucher education systems compel guardians who take their children to private schools to double taxation, since they still contribute to public schools funding. Generally, school vouchers are put in place to offset the cost incurred by families who choose to enroll their children to private schools that best fit their needs in a bid to improve their performance and quality of education (Altidor, 2005, p.15). School vouchers were first introduced with the aim of improving the quality of both the elementary and secondary school education with regards to Milton Friedman’s proposition in the 1950s. Parents and guardians seeking to provide high quality education for their children have contributed greatly to renewed interests in school vouchers. School voucher proposals seek to support households that choose to enroll their children in private schools through vouchers from the government to cover private school tuition costs either partly or fully. Arguments in support of the school voucher programs claim that through this program, households with are able to encourage educational systems competition that would go a long way in enhancing the quality of education that is being offered among the competing schools.Arguments in support of the school voucher place emphasis of aspects that suggests that students from low-income households who are enrolled in private schools have a higher probability of achieving higher performance levels on standardized tests unlike those in public schools.

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior Essay Example for Free

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior Essay â€Å"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior†, is an article written by the 48-year-old lawyer and mother Amy Chua. The article is published in The Wall Street Journal on January 8th in 2011. In the article Amy Chua focuses on how the western parents up bring their children versus how the Chinese parents up bring their children. The receivers of the article are the western parents because she wants them to lean from the Chinese parents. Though the whole article Amy is subjective but because of her education she also seems reliable. By using the appeal form logos she refers to studies that compares the Chinese children and the western children ´s academic skills, where the result is that it ´s the Chinese children who are the wisest. The Chinese parents spend ten times more on academic activities with their children than the western parents. A fact which Amy does not mention in the article is that the Chinese children aren ´t free to spend much time with their friends and that can affect them negatively. Through the whole article Amy argues for that the way Chinese parents up bring their children is better than the western parents – therefor the title which also arouses much attention because the article was published in a newspaper which is only published in Western countries. The main statement is that the Chinese parents demand a lot more of their children when it comes to logical skills. For example Amy Chua says â€Å"Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe that their child can get them.[1]† followed by another statement â€Å"By contrast, I don’t think most Westerners have the same view of children being permanently indented to their parents.[2]† Indirectly Amy Chua says that the western parents are over-fond. Amy means that the western parents do not believe in thei r children. She emphasizes that the western parents should use more punishment and in general there should be more discipline. According the Chinese parents is the second best just not good enough. For example Amy Chua says â€Å"If a Chinese child gets a B – which would never happen[3]†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which shows that only straight as is good enough and everything under A would be a disaster. The Chinese parent’s reaction is a complete contrast to how the western people would react. The western parents would support their children even though they get very low grades. Seen from Amy Chua ´s perspective are the western children lazy and not good enough. It ´s like Amy thinks that she and the rest of the Chinese parents have found the perfect formula to up bring children. A very important value for the western parents is that their children also must spend time with their friends and have fun. Amy points out that nothing is fun until you ´re good at it. But if the child does not like to play the certain instrument and wants to join a football team or something likely that would neither be okay because it is the parents who decide what fun is for the child. If Amy Chua ´s children had been asked – Amy already had made the decision for them. The Chinese children does not have the same kind of freedom as any other child because their tiger mothers already have set straight lines for their life. The children are not allowed to take care of their own lives. The social qualities are being sat lowest on the list of values. The social qualities should in a modern society be more important than being good at playing the piano. In many ways it can seem right that logical skills are important now and in the future but if Amy and the rest of the Chinese parents do not accept their children ´s individuality something is completely wrong. It ´s kind of like that the Chinese children only keep improve their skills because they wants to make their parents happy which put a stop to their own happiness and goals in life. Amy Chua tries to understand the western way of upbringing but through the whole article she is pro the so-called â€Å"tiger mother technique†. Amy wants the western parents to learn something from the Chinese parents because then we could have a lot more genius people based on the result in Asia. Amy is so focused on good results and success that she forgets the social values and happiness – she overlooks her own mistakes. Her children have might never been to a birthday party after school or in the cinema with their friends – they have not experienced the social spirit which lead to loss of social values like friendship, love and free choices. There are a lot of ways and hundreds of different methods to up bring children and none of them are better than other because it ´s a very individual thing from family to family. Some people would perhaps find Amy Chua ´s formula interesting and some would say that it is a disaster. Medias, friends, family, magazines or whatever influences on how a certain mother and father decides to up bring their child/children and there will always be mistakes – for example: the western children are too lazy and Chinese children have lack of social skills – but that does not make one of them better than the other one.

Information Technology On Nursing Practices Health And Social Care Essay

Information Technology On Nursing Practices Health And Social Care Essay Methodology -Survey based instrument was used to gather the responses from the nurses working in leading hospitals having more 300 beds in Tiruchirappalli district. 70 respondents participated in this survey. Findings Chi-square test revealed that demographic characteristics of nurses and usage of information technology are independent The results of factor analysis demonstrated that softwares, data bases, file tranfer and input devices are significant in explaining confidence level among nurses and factors like computer access, perception about information technology, connectivity, and shortage of computers are significant in creating barriers in usage of information technolgy. The extent to which nurses access and use information technology and the purposes for which nurses use information technolgy are also highlighted. Limitations- This study is limited to only hospitals and the results. The results may not be applicable to other business organizations. Keywords Information Technology, Nursing, Hospital INTRODUCTION The impact of information technology on nursing has been a subject of discourse and dissertation for the latter half of the 20 (th) centuries and the early part of the 21(st). That this burgeoning technology has impacted the way nurses nurse can be without doubt. Whether this technology has and will have a negative or positive outcome on nursing practice is where the debate centres. This study was undertaken with an objective of analysing the debate that surrounds the issues of the impact of Information Technology (IT) on nursing practice. The study is also intended mainly to findout the extent and use of information technology on nursing practices. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Toofany, Swaleh (2006) examined the attitude of nurses to the use of information technology (IT) in health care in Great Britain. A system is being developed by the Department of Health that will allow nurses to retrieve the health records of patients from core computer storage. A nurse does not consider themselves as having central roles in IT management. Many commentators believe that technophobia among nurses continues despite the increasing need for them to employ IT in health care Porter-OGrady, Tim (1999) had undertaken a study on Technology Demands Quick-change Nursing Roles. The study mainly focused on how nursing managers must face the emerging technological changes in health care and what is the impact of technology on nursing care and role of the manager in relation to the changes. Simpson, Roy L (2006) in their study, focused on the significance of information technology (IT) to nursing. It is said that a new way of practicing evidence-based nursing will rely on IT. The mindset about the importance of IT is said to be the most challenging hindrance to IT ubiquity. The elements that are necessary to IT ubiquity in nursing are products, learning, access and need. Rollins, Gina (2007) reported on the growing number of nurses in the U.S. who are leaving hospitals to enter the clinical informatics field as electronic health records proliferate. A recent survey by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society found the top three job responsibilities for nurse informatics include systems implementation, systems development and liaison or communicator. Simpson, Roy L.(2002) in their study on The virtual reality revolution: technology changes nursing education discussed the benefits of virtual technology for the improvement of nursing education. The author also focussed on background on limited opportunities for nursing students to practice their skills; Advantages of using virtual reality technologies in improving the clinical skills of nursing students are also highlighted. Information on several nursing simulation tools were also presented in this study. Simpson, Roy L (2007) presents an analysis of how increasing the number of informatics-trained nurses can help in the continual growth of demand for nurses in the U.S. A paradigm of the supply-side economics was provided to compare the positive effect of stimulating supply than demand. The healthcare industry has reached the world of information technology (IT) so that nurses should then learn the language that it speaks, which is informatics. The author contends that the amount of effort, time and money can be saved if informatics-trained nurses are indeed pursued as a focus of development in the industry. Wallis, Alison (2007) in his study on Clinical data standards and nursing describes the benefits of information and communications technology programmes, often referred to as electronic health (e-health), to nurses in Great Britain. Among its contributions to patient care include its ability to offer ways of sharing patient information and the access it provides clinical data for benchmarking and audit. The benefits of data standards accrue to nurses at all levels, whether they work in direct patient care, in unit management or at health board level. Brommeyer, Mark (2005) explains the concept of e-health healthcare technology. The authoer also highlighted the advantages of adopting e-health; Information and communication technologies being used in most hospitals are also studied and Implications of using the technology are clearly furnished in his study. Hudson, Kathleen (2007), in his study Innovations in cardiac nursing and technology deals with several areas in which emerging technologies in cardiac nursing are most promising. The three options that exist for heart failure patients include destination therapy, bridge to transplant and bridge to recovery. A cost-effective risk predictor is the Electrocardiogram T-wave analysis using microvolt T-wave alternans. Cardiac performance can be reliably assessed by non-invasive ambulatory impedance cardiography. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The present study is undertaken to find out the following. To identify the extent to which nurse have access to and use information technology and information management systems. To identify the purposes for which nurses use information techonolgy and information mangement systems. To find the association between the demographic profile and the work related activities with using computer To identify the variables and their grouping into factors that influence level of confidence in the use of the following systems like input devices, software packages, data storages, and file transfer. To understand the barriers that prevents nurses from benefitng from information technology and information management system. 3.1 The Sampling Design A private hospital was chosen for conducting this study. The study has taken into account the various aspects of information technology and its impact on nursing practices. A sample of 70 nurses has been chosen from the populaton of 147 nurses working in same hospital using simple random sampling method. The tabulated description of demographic details of sample is presented in Table 1. Table 1. Frequency Distribution of sample demographics S.no Variables Number Frequency (%) 1 Gender Female 70 100 2 Age Below 30 55 79 30-40 15 21 3 Designation Staff Nurse 42 60 ANM 25 36 Surgical technician 2 3 Anesthesia technician 1 1 4 Shift timing Continuous shift worker 54 77 Day shift worker 7 10 Evening shift worker 4 6 Night shift worker 1 1 Morning and Evening shift worker 3 4 Evening and night shift worker 1 1 5 Qualifications Diploma 46 66 UG 12 17 PG 2 3 Other 10 14 6 Department General ward 43 61 Annexe ward 7 10 Operation Theatre 7 10 Dialysis Unit 4 6 ICU 9 13 3.2 Data Collection The data was collected from the nurses of the selected hospital through a questionaire which has 11 parts, namely; Demographic characteristics and background of IT Access and Use of computers Use of Information Technology Access to Internet and Intranet Knowledge of current Health I.T initiatives Job requirement for I.T Training and Education about Information technology Barriers to use of computers Technical support Management attitudes and support Security 3.3 Measurement Scale The questionaire consisted of a series of statements, where the nurses were requested to provide answers in the form of agreement or disagreement and good or poor and rarely or frequently and confident or not confident to express their perceptions towards information technology. A Likert scale was used. DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 Chi Square Analysis 4.1.1 Chi- Square Test of Significance (Age and Work related activities at Home computer) H0: There is no significant relation between age and Work related activities at Home computer. H1: There is significant relation between age and Work related activities at Home computer. 4.1.2 Chi- Square Test of Significance (Designation and Work related activities at Home computer) H0: There is no significant relation between designation and Work related activities at Home computer. H1: There is significant relation between designation and Work related activities at Home computer. 4.1.3 Chi- Square Test of Significance (Shift timings and Work related activities at Home computer) H0: There is no significant relation between shift timings and Work related activities at Home computer. H1: There is significant relation between shift timings and Work related activities at Home computer. 4.1.4 Chi- Square Test of Significance (Qualifications and Work related activities at Home computer) H0: There is no significant relation between qualifications and Work related activities at Home computer. H1: There is significant relation between qualifications and Work related activities at Home computer. 4.1.5 Chi- Square Test of Significance (Department and Work related activities at Home computer) H0: There is no significant relation between department and Work related activities at Home computer. H1: There is significant relation between department and Work related activities at Home computer. The values of chi-square statistics obtained from chi-squre distribution table for all 5 combinations are 14.07, 32.67, 49.80, 32.67 and 41.337 in that order and the calculated chi-square statistics values are 12.853, 25.408, 36.97, 26.34 and 34.14 in that order which lies in the acceptance region. Thus, the null hypothesis can not be rejected .So, it can be concluded that demomograhpic characteristcs of nurses are independent with regard to work related activities at home computer on the basis of statistical evidence at 5 % level of significance. Results of chi-square are presented in Table 3. Table 3: Results of Chi-squre Analysis S.no Variables Chi-square statistic 1 Age and Work related activities at Home computer. 12.853 2 Designation and Work related activities at Home computer. 25.408 3 Shift timings and Work related activities at Home computer. 36.97 4 Qualifications and Work related activities at Home computer. 26.34 5 Department and Work related activities at Home computer. 34.14 4.2 Factor Analysis 4.2.1 Key dimension: Level of confidence in using computers Data validity for factor analysis was calculated using KMO Measure of sampling adequacy. The minimum acceptable level is 0.5. Since calculated Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (0.859 ) is greater than 0.5, so it is appropriate to do factor analysis. Hence Bartletts test of sphericity value is 1144.756, it is also a kind of chi-square and it is significant. The results of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartletts test of sphericity are shown in table 5. Table 5: KMO and Bartletts Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .859 BartlettsTestof Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 1144.756 Df 153.000 Sig. .000 Table 6: Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigen values Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 9.288 51.599 51.599 9.288 51.599 51.599 2 1.926 10.698 62.298 1.926 10.698 62.298 3 1.468 8.154 70.452 1.468 8.154 70.452 4 1.254 6.965 77.416 1.254 6.965 77.416 5 .869 4.830 82.246 6 .728 4.044 86.290 7 .476 2.642 88.933 8 .353 1.960 90.893 9 .334 1.853 92.746 10 .264 1.465 94.211 11 .237 1.319 95.530 12 .225 1.250 96.780 13 .148 .820 97.600 14 .140 .778 98.379 15 .107 .596 98.975 16 .087 .481 99.455 17 .055 .308 99.763 18 .043 .237 100.000 The Principal Component Analysis was used for extraction method. The Table 6 reveals that 4 factors have been extracted out of 18 variables that exceed the Eigen value of one. The variables less than the Eigen value of one are not considered during extraction method. Table 7: Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % 6.626 36.812 36.812 2.707 15.038 51.850 2.660 14.777 66.627 1.942 10.790 77.416 The Table 7 shows that Factor 1, factor 2, factor 3 and factor 4 explain a variation of 36.812%, 15.038%, 14.777%, 10.790% respectively and together show the variance of 77.416%. Table 8: Rotated Component Matrix Component 1 2 3 4 Apple Mac OS .888 .125 .204 .106 SPSS .853 .212 .245 -.014 Reference tools .836 .199 .291 -.072 Spreadsheet .811 .219 .152 .065 Evidence based practice resources .810 .116 .399 -.020 Data projector .773 .226 .271 -.056 USB .766 .113 .446 .030 Presentation .684 .376 -.042 .272 Touchscreeen .645 .282 .131 .212 Wi ndows OS .590 .232 .150 .355 Email .294 .868 .223 -.018 Intranet .149 .842 .267 .030 Internet .497 .741 .052 -.112 Data base .195 .260 .882 .085 Cd/DVD ROM .399 .338 .754 .079 Word processing .352 .039 .700 .157 Keyboard .048 .045 .067 .920 Mouse .066 -.108 .118 .880 Table 9: Naming of Factors Factor 1 Software Packages Factor 2 File Transfer Factor 3 Data Storage Factor 4 Input devices Apple Mac OS Email Data base Keyboard SPSS Intranet CD/DVD ROM Mouse Reference tools Internet Word processing Spreadsheet Evidence based practice resources Data projector USB Presentation Touchscreeen Windows OS It is infered that factor 1 consists of ten variables of which Apple Mac OS , SPSS and Reference tools are found to be significant with a variation of 36.812%. Factor 2 consists of three variables of which email and intrant are significant with a variation of 15.038%. Factor 3 consists of three a variable of which database is significant with a variation of 14.777%. Factor 4 consists of two variables of which key board is significant with a variation of 10.790 %. Based on the results of factor loading (table 8), the factors are named which is given in table 9. 4.2.2 Key Dimension: Barriers to access of computers Data validity for factor analysis was calculated using KMO Measure of sampling adequacy. The minimum acceptable level is 0.5. Since calculated Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (0.685) is greater than 0.5, so it is appropriate to do factor analysis. Hence Bartletts test of sphericity value is 592.529, it is also a kind of chi-square and it is significant. The results of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartletts test of sphericity are shown in table 10. Table 10: KMO and Bartletts Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .685 Bartletts Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 592.529 Df 153.000 Sig. .000 Table 11: Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 6.105 33.916 33.916 6.105 33.916 33.916 2 1.759 9.774 43.689 1.759 9.774 43.689 3 1.581 8.785 52.475 1.581 8.785 52.475 4 1.517 8.430 60.905 1.517 8.430 60.905 5 1.150 6.390 67.294 1.150 6.390 67.294 6 .982 5.455 72.750 7 .828 4.599 77.348 8 .736 4.092 81.440 9 .642 3.568 85.008 10 .528 2.931 87.939 11 .458 2.544 90.482 12 .403 2.241 92.723 13 .327 1.815 94.538 14 .284 1.579 96.117 15 .246 1.365 97.482 16 .208 1.157 98.640 17 .158 .876 99.516 18 .087 .484 100.000 Table 11 reveals that 5 factors have been extracted out of 18 variables that exceed the Eigen value of one.The variables less than the Eigen value of one are not considered during extraction method. Table 12: Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % 3.715 20.641 20.641 3.282 18.235 38.876 2.084 11.578 50.454 1.822 10.121 60.575 1.210 6.720 67.294 The table 12 shows that factor 1, factor 2, factor 3 and factor 4 explain a variation of 20.641%, 18.235%, 11.578%, 10.121% and 6.720% respectively and together show the variance of 67.274%. Table 13: Rotated Component Matrix Component 1 2 3 4 5 Too many work demands .727 .023 .177 .150 .310 Confidence in use .726 .305 -.077 .074 -.285 IT knowledge .712 .086 -.087 .053 .063 Response time of computer .678 .191 .359 -.014 .141 Working in computer does not fit my work demand .675 .091 .491 .082 .137 Lack of IT support .622 .471 .019 .086 -.053 Attitudes of IT Department .368 .802 .051 .118 -.106 Discouragement by others .059 .758 .065 .102 .054 Patient and others are resentful of me at the computer -.074 .692 -.131 .030 .361 Concerns about health and safety .274 .678 .232 .016 -.088 Lack of encouragement by mgmt .380 .537 .267 .080 .267 Age -.057 -.049 .852 .040 .088 Senior staff take priority .322 .511 .600 .068 -.054 Not having Interest in using computer .466 .248 .530 .029 -.020 Location of computer I use .242 -.096 -.195 .813 .235 Unreliable connections -.136 .268 .316 .787 .091 Log on is too long .230 .212 .082 .670 -.465 Not enough computers .182 .139 .097 .092 .687 Factor 1 Computer Access Factor 2 Perception Factor 3 Usage of Computer Factor 4 Connectivity Factor 5 Not having enough computers Too many work demands Attitudes of IT Department Age Location of computer I use Not enough computers Confidence in use Discouragement by others Senior staff take priority Unreliable connections IT knowledge Patient and others are resentful of me at the computer Not having Interest in using computer Log on is too long Response time of computer Concerns about health and safety Working in computer does not fit my work demand Lack of encouragement by mgmt Lack of IT support Table 14: Naming of Factors It is also infered that Factor 1 consists of six variables of which variables like too much demand of work and confidence in used are found to be significant with a variation of 20.641%. Factor 2 consists of five variables of which variable namely Attitudes of IT deparment is significant with a variation of 18.235 %. Factor 3 consists of three variables of which variable namely age is significant with a variation of 11.578%. Factor 4 consists of three variables of which location of computers is significant with a variation of 10.121%. Factor 5 consists of one variable of which not enough computers is significant with a variation of 6.720 %. Based on the results of factor loading (Table 13), the factors are named which is given in table 14. CONCLUSIONS The conclusions derived in empirical analysis are summaried below. Most of the nurses are aware of Information Technology Practices prevailing in their workplace. There is a common consensus that Information Technology reduces the errors in handling the Patient/client data. Nurses use information technology for the purposes like professonal development, clinical care, patient care, administration, research and communication. Regarding the extent of access, majority of nurses disagree that they avoid using computers at their work. They have also realized the importance of using computers in their work. It is also found that use of information technology enables nurses in reducing errors in patient data and also helps in reducing duplication. There is also common agreemnt on the fact that Information technolgy made their job easier. Since the nurses are able to realize the importance of Information technolgy for their employer, they prefer that training on Information technology has to be provided to them by face-to-face. Many nurses didnt have their personal email id at their workplace and they are not financialy rewarded for the usage of Information technology. There is a lack of confidence in using of systems like Patient/client monitoring ,Diagnostic result access ,Financial management,Staff Management,Delivery and On-line professional journals etc., The demographic characteristics of nurses have a significant impact on the work related activities at their home. Factors like software packages, file transfer, data storage and input devices are significant in explaining the confidence level of nurses regarding the usage of computers. Factors like computer access, perception about Information technology, usage of computers, connectively, shortages of computers are significant in explaining the barriers to access of computers. Based on the findings, few suggestions have been made by researcher which is summarized below: This study should be made every year to evaluate the new practices that can bring in changes in the hospital. The hospital administrators should provide rewarding system for Using of IT in work. The hospitals should also try to remove the barriers for improving the computer access among nurses. The nurses may also be permitted to access the Internet and Intranet in their work place. The management should provide them the training on the basis of the knowledge of current health initiatives It is concluded that the latest development in the IT greatly influences the day today activities of the nurses. So the Hospital Management should take necessary steps to take initiatives for the nurses to access the technology. LIMITATIONS AND FUTHER RESEARCH The results obtained in this study could be subject to some limitations as mentioned below: The study is limited to a particlar hospital in a district. Since it is a service sector it was found to be difficult in meeting the respondents. The findings are based on the responses of 70 moderate sample sizes of nurses. Some avenues for further research are as follows: A further study may be undertaken on factors that influences Information technolgy adoption among nurses and The impact of information technolgy on patient safety A study regarding how information management addressess the nursing issues may also be focussed.

Windows versus Linux Essay examples -- Computer Technology Operating S

Windows vs. LINUX Both Windows and Linux come in many different forms. All the different forms of Windows come from Microsoft, the various distributions of Linux come from different companies (ex. Red Hat, SuSE, Linspire, Ubuntu, Mandriva, Knoppix, etc). Windows has two main lines: â€Å"Win9x†, which is consists of Windows 95, 98, 98SecondEdition and ME, and â€Å"NT class† which consists of Windows NT, 200 and XP. On a side note, Windows first had version 3.x which was made before Windows 95 by a couple of years. The various types of Linux are called distributions. All the Linux distributions released around the same time frame will use the same kernel, which are the guts of the OS. They will differ with the add-on software provided, install process, GUI, documentation, technical support, and price. Linux is a whole lot more customizable in a way that Windows cannot and is not. There are a lot of special purpose versions of Linux as well. If you were going for desktop use, Linux is free or very cheap, and Windows is expensive. For servers, again, Linux is very cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft only allows one computer per copy of Windows. On the other hand, once you purchase Linux you can run it on any number computers at no extra charge. As of January 2005, Windows XP Professional sold for about $200, and the â€Å"full† version of XP sold for around $300, and Windows Server 2003 with 10 client licenses was about $1,100. You can download Linux for free from each of the Linux vendors. In order to run Windows it has to be installed onto the hard disk first. Linux can run just from a CD. Normally Linux also runs off of the hard disk, but there a quite a few versions of Linux which run entirely from a CD without bei... ...d due to the security and cost concerns. There are virtually no viruses for Linux, while there are millions for Windows. In the end, Microsoft will fight the spread of Linux. When Thailand wanted to use Linux based computers available throughout the country, Microsoft then stepped in and made a deal with the Thai Information, Communication and Technology Ministry. You can buy Windows products along with Windows XP and Office XP already on the computer, ready to run and activated for the very low price of the equivalent to $37. When there is a company who is willing to go through these lengths to keep their competitors down in the gutter, there is no way that a non main-stream product can become successful when they are competing with a company such as Microsoft. In the end I think that you should choose which ever operating system fits your personal needs the best.

Anglo-Saxon Warriors and the Klephts of Greece: Their Indo-European Ori

Anglo-Saxon Warriors and the Klephts of Greece: Their Indo-European Origins Anglo-Saxon warrior bands share the same code of honor as the Greek resistance fighters called Klephts both nations having a common Indo-European heritage and concept of hero. Beginning in the fifth century Germanic invasions transformed the Celtic culture of the British Isles. Anglo-Saxon warrior bands conquered the native Celts and prevailed in England from the fifth until the eleventh century. Warfare, the idea of comitatus, and the Germanic heroic code comprised the Anglo-Saxon way of life. Their warrior clans were ruled by a heroic figure, a chieftain or king, and the heroic code valued bravery, boasting, and above all allegiance to their king. Loyalty to the king gave warriors a sense of honor, identity and belonging. In Germania Tacitus writes, They choose their kings for their noble birth, their leaders for their valour. The power even of the kings is not absolute or arbitrary. As for the leaders, it is their example rather than theirauthority that wins them special admiration(7.1). It was their leaders rather than their kings who were the heroic figures whom the warriors could admire and emulate. The Kings were usually "inferior in virtue and courage to the great heroes who serve them" (Oosten, 152). Nevertheless, the Anglo-Saxon heroic code valued allegiance to the king above all else, since he was viewed not only as a protector but also the provider of plenty (Chaney, 90). On the field of battle, that loyalty was transferred to their leader or hero. Tacitus explains that Anglo-Saxon warriors were expected to support their leaders in battle unto death or live a life of infamy. Tacitus, (6.22-3). Since they were forced to struggle co... ...hop. The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Hymnal. Brookline, Mass: Greek Orthodox Diocese of North and South America, 1977. Oosten, Jarich G. The War of the gods, The Social Code in Indo European Mythology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985. Runciman, Steven. The Great Church in Captivity, A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople From the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War of Independence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. Stover, Leon E. and Kraig, Bruce. Stonehenge, The Indo- European Heritage. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1978. Winn, Shan M. M. Heaven, Heroes, and Happiness, The Indo-European Roots of Western Ideology. New York: University Press of America, 1995. Zafiropoulos, Simoni, ed. Greece in Poetry, With Painting Drawings, Photographs, and Other Works of Art. New York: Harry N. Abrahms, Inc., 1993.

Tommys Day :: essays research papers

U.S., Kuwait ask why bombing went terribly wrong WASHINGTON-- A team of Kuwaiti and U.S. investigators sorted through evidence on Tuesday trying to learn how and why a U.S. Navy jet dropped a 500-pound bomb near observers at a training range, killing six of them. The F/A-18 Hornet was taking part in a twice-yearly training flight on Monday when the accident happened. The training flights have been a regularly scheduled part of the Persian Gulf area military experience for 10 years -- since a multinational force repelled an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and pledged to keep the tiny oil-rich nation safe in the aftermath. But on Monday, something went wrong. A Navy pilot practicing "close air support" for ground troops suddenly dropped live ordnance near an observation area, according to the U.S. Central Command. The blast killed five Americans and a New Zealander, 27-year-old acting Maj. John McNutt. The names of the five Americans killed have not been released. Five other Americans and two Kuwaitis were injured. Two of the injured have already been released, and some of the injured Americans were evacuated to a U.S. airbase in Germany. Central Command appointed an investigation board to arrive later this week in Kuwait, where U.S. and Kuwaiti officials were already trying to learn whether the error that led to the accident came about in the air -- the pilot's mistake -- or somewhere on the ground, either from faulty direction for air traffic controllers or a tragic miscommunication that put the observers in the line of fire. "We will work hard to take care of the families involved, and to find out how such an accident could occur," U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in a statement. 'It shouldn't happen' Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark pressed for answers into the death of her country's soldier. "We don't, in the normal course of events, expect to have people come home in body bags," she said. "It's a terrible tragedy and ... we are now looking for an urgent, detailed explanation as to how such a training exercise can go so terribly wrong," said New Zealand Defense Minister Mark Burton. "This was a live bomb basically dropped on observers. It shouldn't happen and we all need to know precisely what went wrong." Kuwaiti defense chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ali al-Muaman apologized for the incident, pledged a thorough investigation, and said that the accident would not stop further joint military exercises in the region. U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking in Florida, also offered condolences and led a moment of silence before a speech promoting his tax cut. Second Navy accident in a month

Environmental Ethics: Not Beneficial Anymore Essay

Environmental problems stemming from the human population, pollution, conservation of resources, and preservation of species are complex and difficult to resolve. Increasingly, it is understood that one difficulty of resolving them is due to the fact that they are fundamentally problems of ethics that possess broad descriptions and characteristics (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). Thus, one sometimes hears the accusation that some self-proclaimed environmental ethicists are not really environmental ethicist at all since their speculations on the rights of future generations to a healthy environment represent more than extensions of inter-human ethics (Cooper & James 2005 3). Environmental ethics has more often focused on public benefits and public harms. In such scenario, individual’s autonomy is quite often seen as a source of harms, and there has been a steadily increasing emphasis on the consequent need to limit individual’s autonomy (O’Neill 2002 4). Environmental ethics is a relatively new field of philosophical ethics concerned with describing the values carried by the non-human natural world or basically the natura flora and fauna itself, and prescribing an appropriate ethical response to ensure preservation or restoration of those ethical values (Light and Rolston, 2002 1). In a strict sense, environmental ethics is concerned with three areas of inquiry concerning our relationship with the environment: (a) meta-ethics involves clarification method for answering morality queries; (b) normative ethics concerns the determination of what moral principles are valid and how we ought to act; and lastly, (c) empirical ethics focuses on what facts are necessary and relevant to inform our moral questions (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). This often urgent concern arises especially in view of threats to nature posed largely by humans. These threats are both to other humans and to non-humans/nature, placing in jeopardy the communities of life on Earth (Light and Rolston, 2002 1). More broadly speaking, environmental ethics seek a reunification of humans with nature. Consequently, they draw upon more fields of inquiry than merely philosophy (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294; Light and Rolston, 2002 1). Environmental Ethics: Climatic Changes  Remarkably, the current definition of environmental ethics excludes problems of environmental justice within the very nature itself, the generations both present and future, and problems of intergenerational fairness from the discipline of environmental ethics (Light and Katz 1996 119). Climatic changes are vastly increasing its phase, particularly global warming and the changes that it brings. Environmental policies to correct such scenario are very much unorganized and lesser attention is placed into. Especially for those communities that do experience little part of the afflicting climatic change, the tendency is to act-out or save-face for play-safe mechanisms. The concept of environmental scope lies more on human-centered instead of climatic problems themselves; hence, the ethical scope produces lesser effect to correct the problems that occur in the environment. Climatic changes are vastly covering the conditions of our society but invisible to little acts are being made. Some think that environmental ethical policies should be evaluated solely on the basis of how they affect humans. This entails a human-centered environmental ethics; although, for example, the classical utilitarians include animal suffering in their ethical calculation, a variant utilitarianism, which enjoins us to maximize the surplus of human happiness over human unhappiness depicting an actual human-centered approach (Singer 1991 285). The primary problems of environmental ethics nowadays are the macroethical character that causes differentiation of definitions and broad statement, and the human-centered link that deviates from the deontological concepts (Warren 2000 74; Singer 1991 285; Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). In one example the ethical policy for preservation of endangered species, and protection of those animals near extinction are very much known already since the problems have been widely recognized ever since. On the irony, the controversies about global warming and the climatic changes have been occurring even before the recognition of animal endangerments; however, little attention has been given to this problem of climatic change. The only time the condition in climatic changes has been recognized is during the time of its severe progression wherein the signs and symptoms of climatic changes have been vastly evident. The rationale of human being’s recognition of the environmental problem is only due to the point wherein human civilizations are effected by the problem. Unfortunately, the ethical approach of mankind over these problems is not even problem-oriented, which is nature-oriented, but rather, to protect themselves from the natural devastations caused by the problems they have created. Summary and Conclusion Environmental ethics in the present generation concerns the benefit of human civilization instead of the benefit of environmental aspect. The duty of mankind is to conceal the intrinsic character of the environment instead of playing-safe from the moral requirements by conducting ethical policies that only concerns human-sake. The focus on environmental approach should be the prime center of the ethics itself, and the benefit of man should be prioritized secondly. Let us view one example, the policy of green environment, which entails tree planting to counter logging system, is one example of a play-safe act. Practically speaking, logging benefits humans; however, with lesser tree sources do not justify the approval of environmental centers to continue the logging process granted that such program has been initiated. Trees take time to grow; hence, it would be much better to stop the logging process and utilize other areas instead of nearly depleting the resource area. The ethical considerations involved in this practice needs to change to a more deontological concept. The present policies involved are no longer beneficial to the environment and humans attempt to address climatic problems, since the entire focus is not the problem itself but those that are afflicted. Environmental ethics should change towards the benefit of the environment itself and more on humanities duties over it.