Monday, December 30, 2019

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939

On August 23, 1939, representatives from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (also called the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact), a mutual promise made by the two leaders  guaranteeing that neither would attack the other. With the imminence  of World War II becoming ever clearer, signing the pact guaranteed Germany protection against the necessity of fighting a two-front war. The Soviet Union  was awarded land in return, including parts of Poland and the Baltic States, as part of a secret addendum. The pact was broken when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union less than two years later, on June 22, 1941. Why Did Hitler Want the Pact? Germanys role in a two-front war in World War I had split its forces, weakening and undermining their offensive strength. As he prepared for war in 1939, German dictator Adolf Hitler was determined not to repeat the same mistakes. While hed hoped to acquire Poland without force (as he had annexed Austria the year before), the necessity to diminish the possibility of a two-front war as a consequence of the invasion was clear. Thus, negotiation for Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was born. The Two Sides Meet On August 14, 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop contacted the Soviets to arrange a deal. Ribbentrop met with the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov in Moscow, and together they arranged two pacts: the economic agreement and the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The Economic Agreement The first pact was an economic trade agreement, which Ribbentrop and Molotov signed on August 19, 1939. The agreement, which proved instrumental in helping Germany bypass the British blockade during the early years of World War II, committed the Soviet Union to provide food products and raw materials to Germany in exchange for products such as German machinery for the Soviet Union. The Non-Aggression Pact On August 23, 1939—four days after the economic agreement was signed and a little over a week before the beginning of World War II—Ribbentrop and Molotov signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Publicly, this agreement stated that Germany and the Soviet Union would not attack each other and that any problem that might arise between the two countries was to be handled amicably. The pact, which was supposed to have lasted 10 years, lasted less than two. Terms of the pact included the provision that if Germany attacked Poland, the Soviet Union would not come to its aid. Thus, if Germany went to war against the West (especially France and Great Britain) over Poland, the Soviets were guaranteeing that they would not enter the war. This would block the opening of a second front for Germany. In addition to the agreement, Ribbentrop and Molotov added a secret protocol to the pact—a secret addendum whose existence was denied by the Soviets until 1989. To the Chancellor of the German Reich, Herr A. Hitler,I thank you for your letter. I hope that the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact will mark a decisive turn for the better in the political relations between our two countries.J. Stalin* The Secret Protocol The secret protocol held an agreement between the Nazis and the Soviets that greatly affected Eastern Europe. In exchange for the Soviets pledging to decline engagement in the imminent war, Germany gave the Soviets the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), leaving Poland to be divided between the two along the Narew, Vistula, and San rivers. The territory restructuring provided the Soviet Union a level of protection from a Western invasion via an inland buffer. It would need that buffer in 1941. Pact Unfolds, Then Unravels When Nazis attacked Poland on the morning of September 1, 1939, the Soviets stood by and watched. Two days later, World War II began with the British declaration of war on Germany. Soviets rolled into eastern Poland on September 17 to occupy their sphere of influence as designated in the secret protocol. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact effectively barred the Soviet Union from joining the fight against Germany, thus affording Germany success in its attempt to safeguard its borders from a two-front war. The Nazis and the Soviets kept the terms of the pact and the protocol until Germanys surprise attack and invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Comparison Of Heuristic Algorithms Of Renewable Energy...

Comparison of Heuristic Algorithms of Renewable Energy Resources for Loss Reduction in Distribution Network Abstract-This paper suggests four heuristic algorithms for optimal loss reduction of power distribution network equipped with renewable energy resources. These algorithms are Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA), Bat Algorithm (BA), Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) and Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA). Placing renewable energy resources such as wind turbine (WT) and photovoltaic panels (PV) in certain locations in the power network with special sizes might share in reducing the power loss , and consequently, improving the voltage profile. In the present research, the heuristic algorithms are utilized to find the optimal†¦show more content†¦O-PLF can be varied by simulation methods and analytical probabilistic methods. Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) has been applied and introduced in [2,3,4]. The MCS method analyzed the optimal probabilistic load flow under the uncertainty of load in medium power systems. In [4] a technique combines Monte Carlo simulation techniques a nd multi-linearized power flow equations has been proposed, taken into account the natural behavior of power production for renewable generation. The proposed method in [4] has implemented providing accurate results but with a considerable time consumption. In order to decrease the operation time, the analytical probabilistic methods are anticipated. The main benefit of the analytical methods is to avoid the massive calculation time, and to ensure the simplicity to integrate more assumptions and complex mathematical techniques [5, 6]. Cumulants mechanism combined with the Gram-Charlier extension is offered to fix O-PLF in many manuscripts [7-9]. The unscented transformation (UT) method is applied in order to study the optimal probabilistic load flow analysis under the uncertainty of wind farms [5]. The modifications of Point Estimated Method (PEM) are utilized to solve O-PLF in power network equipped with wind turbines (WTs) and photovoltaic (PV) systems [12]. Also, 3-PEM is used for PV source with Electric Vehicles (EVs) application [13]. Meta-heuristic optimization techniques haveShow MoreRelatedHybrid Electric Vehicles ( Phevs )3014 Words   |  13 PagesAbstract-Increased the numbers of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) can have a significant impact on distribution system performance, such as reduction in power quality and efficiency, increase in power losses and voltage variations, as well as an adverse impact on the customers’ energy price. This paper proposed approach evaluates the effect of integrating a large number of PHEV on power system operation as well as appropriate operation of PHEVs can improv e the voltage profile in the networkRead MoreEffective Inventory Control and Management: a Case Study of Ikea15878 Words   |  64 Pages Inventory control  can be explained as following ways also: ââ€" ª In economics, it can be elaborated as the  inventory control problem, that’s main objective is to decrease the overhead cost without declining the sales graph. ââ€" ª In the field of  loss prevention, systems designed to introduce technical barriers to  shoplifting 1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATION IKEA  is a privately owned home products company in the international market that deals in designing and selling of  ready-to-assembleRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesto Text Topics Chapter 1 Modern Project Management Chapter 8 Scheduling resources and cost 1.2 Project defined 1.3 Project management defined 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 2.1 The project life cycle (.2.3) App. G.1 The project manager App. G.7 Political and social environments F.1 Integration of project management processes [3.1] 6.5.2 Setting a schedule baseline [8.1.4] 6.5.3.1 Setting a resource schedule 6.5.2.4 Resource leveling 7.2 Setting a cost and time baseline schedule (1.3.5) [8.1.3] 6Read MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesthe Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics in 1996. His research is broadly concerned with accounting, control, and organizational process. He has also written on international comparisons and field research in accounting and is currently exploring the application of practice theory to management accounting research. Jane Baxter, Ph.D. FCPA, is Associate Professor in the Discipline of Accounting within the University of Sydney, Austra lia

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Smokey Mountain Nightmare Free Essays

Allysa Broeker Smokey Mountain Nightmare Gazing at the stars outside the sun roof of my husband’s silver sports car seemed to be the only way to control the excitement building inside me. My imagination ran wildly thru visions of scenic mountains draped in clouds of fog. The grey rocky cliffs surrounded by colorful spring flowers almost parallel the beauty of the cool crystal water flowing over a fall like the most rapid of rain spraying a chilly mist on all who behold. We will write a custom essay sample on Smokey Mountain Nightmare or any similar topic only for you Order Now With my head full of fantasy and soul full of adventure, the possibility of this dream come true becoming a life changing nightmare seemed all but impossible. Hey, we are in Tennessee†, my husband said as he lightly shook my shoulder until I acknowledged him with opening my grayish green eyes. â€Å"Good morning beautiful, only a half an hour away from the vacation you have always wanted us to take. † Instantly the widest smile you could ever imagine covered my face. I was so happy to be there rolling up an over these bright green hills into the mountains that harbor the cabin we would soon occupy. â€Å"I love you so much. † â€Å"I cannot even begin to explain how much this means to me Adam†. I said as we past the sign displaying a two mile away conformation that was truly needed do to the navigation becoming obsolete when we began winding thru the one lane roads. â€Å"Beautiful,† I said as we pulled up to the cabin. † †Absolutely beautiful, even more so then I imagined†, said Adam as the slightest drops of rain began to fall from one of the few clouds that floated above. â€Å"I wonder what the weather is forecasted to be this week†. I asked as we walked hand in hand with my romantic husband into the two story cabin and on to making my dream come true. As the hardwood door closed behind us, a simultaneous crash of thunder followed. The sky began to darken as the subtle rains quickly became rapid. â€Å"There was no mention of any thunderstorm warnings†, Adam yelled from the across the room. The furious rains pelting the metal cabin roof seemed to intensify with every second. The lights flickered twice then went out as the purple strobes from the lightning filled every room transforming beautiful red roses, various clay sculptures, and other once delightful objects into terrifying creature like shadows. My heart pounded as the power of the storm intensified replacing my anticipation for it to blow over with only the realization of danger. â€Å"Adam, we are surrounded by a creek right†, I asked with a concern shaken voice. Using a local radio application I had just downloaded I heard, â€Å"The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for the following counties in east Tennessee†. The first mentioned county confirmed my fears while removing all hope of salvaging this vacation, as well as, adding a very real danger to our life. We have to leave now† there is a fast rising creek all around this place and I could never live with something happening to you†, screamed Adam! The once crystal waters were now muddy and full of various types of debris and risen undeniably higher than the banks that once restrained the devastation unleashed when mother nature joins the team. Adam and I raced to the car, sloshing thru a puddle that had no beginning an d seemed to have no end. Drenched with rain and overwhelmed with confusion, I could only stare out the window as we drove to safety. The beautiful mountains and all that attributes to them were now a smeared collage of unrecognizable vegetation and retreating animals that sensed the devastation that would soon follow. â€Å"We have about a mile until we are completely out of danger†, â€Å"I think we can at least catch our breath†, Adam said. Still staring out the window but only in a daze, I could not stop trembling. My dream vacation caused lots of fear and it is never fun living a dream with nothing but beauty to behold, only to be awakened as nightmares unfold. How to cite Smokey Mountain Nightmare, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Good Eduction free essay sample

In my view questions about education always raise normative issues and therefore always require value judgements, i. e. , judgements about what we consider to be desirable. In plural democracies like ours we should not expect that there will only be one answer to the question as to what constitutes good education. It rather is a sign of a healthy democracy that there are ongoing discussions about the purpose and direction of such a crucial common endeavour as education. After all, education is not simply a private good; it is also – and in my view first and foremost – a public good and therefore a matter of public concern. Education, in its widest sense, is about how we welcome ‘newcomers’1 into our worlds. It therefore raises important questions about how we (re)present our worlds to newcomers – something which involves selection, choice and judgement. One reason why I consider it important to pay attention to the question as to what constitutes good education has to do with recent tendencies in policy, research and practice that seem to suggest that this question no longer matters or, to be more precise, that seem to suggest that this question can be resolved without engaging in discussions about value and purpose. One of these tendencies is the rise of an international ‘league-table industry’ which is increasingly influencing education policy at national and local level. Studies such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and, most notoriously, OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), generate a never-ending stream of comparative data that are supposed to tell us which educational systems are better and which are best. Although there is nothing against attempts to make such judgements, the problem with league-tables is that they give the impression that the data can speak for themselves. As a result, the deeper question whether such studies indeed measure what we value or create a situation in which we are valuing what is or can be measured, is easily forgotten. Whether a high score on TIMMS, PIRLS or PISA does indeed indicate good education is an entirely open question that crucially depends on what we expect from education. And even if we were to accept the validity of such measures, there are always further questions about the material and immaterial costs involved in achieving a high score, both for individual students and for the educational system as a whole. 1 I use the term ‘newcomers’ to refer to anyone who is new in a particular situation. The category of ‘newcomer’ therefore includes children, immigrants, but also those who are new in relation to a particular trade or profession, such as student hairdressers, student teachers, and so on. Elsewhere I have made a case for seeing the idea of ‘coming into the world’ as a fundamental education category. see Biesta 2006). 1 A second tendency that has contributed to the marginalisation of questions about good education can be found in calls for turning education into an evidence-based profession based on research knowledge about ‘what works. ’2 Again, I do think that to a certain extent it can be use ful to examine the effectiveness of particular educational practices and procedures, as long as one bears in mind that in the social domain there are at most probabilistic relationships between actions and consequences and never deterministic relationships between causes and effects. After all, if teaching is going to have any impact on students, it is not because of some kind of mysterious force that teachers exert upon their students, but because of the fact that students interpret and make sense of what they are being taught. The links between teaching and learning are, in other words, achieved through processes of interpretation and such links are by definition ‘weak. ’ 3 But the most important point here is that ‘effectiveness’ in itself is never a ufficient reason for adopting a particular approach or procedure. There is, after all, both effective and ineffective brain washing, just as there is effective and ineffective torturing. ‘Effectiveness,’ to put it differently, is an instrumental value – a value that says something about the ways in which certain ends can be achieved, but which does not say anything about the desirability of the ends in themselves. To address the latter question we need normative judgem ents about what we consider educationally desirable. To call for effective schools, effective teaching, effective assessment, and so on, is therefore meaningless until one specifies what it is one aims to achieve and why what one aims to achieve is desirable or good. With regard to educational effectiveness we therefore always need to ask: â€Å"Effective for what? † – and also â€Å"Effective for whom? †4 These are some of the reasons why I consider it important to put the question of good education back on the agenda of educators, researchers and policy makers. But my ambition with this lecture is not only to make a case for considering the goodness of education – and in what follows I will say more about the ways in which I think that this question might be addressed. I also want to make a case for the importance of education or, to be more precise, for the need to use the language of education when we discuss educational matters. Putting it this way may sound odd, so let me try to explain why I not only want to make a case for good education but also for good education. The Problem with ‘Learning’ The simplest way to present my case for an educational language is to contrast it with the language I think we should not be using when discussing educational matters – and this is the language of learning. I am not suggesting that the word ‘learning’ has no place in education. But I do wish to argue that ‘learning’ and ‘education’ are two radically different concepts and that we shouldn’t conflate them. This is not simply a matter of the proper use of language. The concepts we have available in a particular domain of human action such as education in a very fundamental sense structure what we can say, think, and do and therefore also impact upon what cannot be said, thought and done. This is why language matters, also in education. 2 3 For a detailed analysis see Biesta (2007a). For more on this see Vanderstraeten Biesta (2006); Biesta (in press[a]). 4 See Bogotch, Miron Biesta (2007). 2 My concerns about the notion of learning – or, to be more precise, about the conflation of learning and education – should be understood against the background of the remarkable rise of the concept of learning within educational discussions over the past two or three decades; a phenomenon to which I have referred as the rise of the ‘new language of learning’ (see Biesta 2004a; 2006). This rise can, for example, be found in the redefinition of teaching as the facilitation of learning or the provision of learning opportunities or learning experiences. It can be found in the use of the word ‘learner’ instead of ‘pupil’ or ‘student’ or of the phrase ‘adult learner’ instead of just ‘adult’. And it is manifest in the transformation of the field of adult education into that of lifelong learning. It is also worth noting that the word ‘education’ no longer appears in the name of the two UK government departments that deal with educational matters (they are now known as The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills), unlike in Scotland where there is at least still a Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. What perhaps also fits in with this picture is the case of Watercliffe Meadow, an institution that was formed as a merge between three former primary schools in Sheffield and that decided to refer to itself as â€Å"a place of learning† rather than a school. 5 The rise of the ‘new language of learning’ can be seen as the expression of a more general trend to which I have referred – with a deliberately ugly term – as the ‘learnification’ of education (see Biesta 2009). By this I mean the translation of everything there is to say about education in terms of learning and learners. A focus on learning is, of course, not entirely problematic. Although not a new insight, the idea that learning is not determined by teaching but depends on the activities of students can help teachers to rethink what they might do best to support their students. There are even emancipatory opportunities in the new language of learning to the extent to which it can empower individuals to take control of their own educational agendas. Yet there are also problems with the rise of the new language of learning and, more specifically, with the concept of ‘learning’ itself. One problem with the word ‘learning’ is that it is basically an individualistic concept. It refers to what people do as individuals. This stands in stark contrast to the concept of education which generally denotes a relationship. Whereas one can educate someone and someone can be educated by someone else, one cannot ‘learn’ someone. This already reveals one problem with the language of learning: it makes it difficult to articulate the fact that education is about relationships, and more specifically about relationships between teachers and students. The language of learning makes it difficult to acknowledge the relational character of education and also makes it difficult to raise questions about the particular role and responsibility of the educator in such relationships. This is one reason why the words ‘education’ and ‘learning’ are not the same and are not interchangeable. This does not mean, of course, that they have nothing to do with each other. One could say that the general aim of educational activities is that people will learn from them. But that doesn’t make education into learning; it simply says that learning is the intended outcome of educational processes and practices. All this also doesn’t mean that people cannot learn without or outside of education. It simply highlights the fact that when we talk about education we refer 5 See http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Watercliffe_Meadow [accessed 26 February 2009] 3 to a specific setting in which learning takes place; a setting, moreover, with a specific set of relationships, roles and responsibilities. A second problem with the word ‘learning’ is that it is basically (but see hereafter) a process term. This means that it is open if not empty with regard to content. Yet in educational situations the aim is never simply that learning will occur; the interest is always in the learning of something and this, in turn, is connected to particular reasons for wanting the student to learn something. In education there is, therefore, always the double question of the learning ‘of what’ and the learning ‘for what. The problem with the language of learning is that it makes questions about content and purpose much more difficult to ask – yet education, unlike learning, is always structured by purpose and content. This is the second reason why education and learning are not the same and why the language of learning is actually quite unhelpful in discussing educational matters. An example of the emptiness of the language of learning can be found in the Scott ish Standard for Chartered Teacher which, unlike the Standard for Full Registration, is rather permeated by a language of learning. In the document one of the four ‘professional values and personal commitments’ is described as ‘effectiveness in promoting learning in the classroom,’ which is further broken down into the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to (1) ‘effect further progress in pupils learning and development’: (2) ‘create and sustain a positive climate for learning’; and (3) ‘use strategies which increase pupils learning’ (see GTCS 2002). Very little, if anything, is said about what students should learn and for what they should learn. Even less is said about what would be required from Chartered Teachers in terms of their ability to make informed value judgements about the content and direction of their teaching and wider educational endeavours. 6 When we look more closely at the language used, a phrase such as â€Å"increasing pupils’ learning† is actually rather incomprehensible in my view. Before I draw my conclusions about the language of learning and move to a discussion about the question of the goodness of education, there is one more peculiarity of the word ‘learning’ that I wish to address briefly. Although there are ongoing discussions within the educational literature about definitions of learning, it is generally accepted that learning can at least be defined as â€Å"any change that is not the result of maturation† or, in a slightly more precise definition, as â€Å"any more or less durable change that is not the result of maturation. † In addition to this, many definitions specify the kinds of change that are considered to be important, such as changes in skilfulness, in cognition, in mastery and so on. One important point here is that ‘learning’ refers to those changes that are the result of engagement ith our environments, which means that in this regard we can say that all learning is by definition experiential learning, i. e. , learning from experience and experiencing. An important implication of this line of thinking is that when we use the word ‘learning’ – such as in sentences like â€Å"Mary has learned how to ride a bicycle† or â€Å"Mary has 6 There is a similar problem with regard to the notion of effectiveness which is also used as something that is good in itself, rather than that it is positioned as an instrumental value. This can, for example, be seen in the following two statements: â€Å"the Chartered Teacher should regularly and systematically demonstrate and evaluate his or her effectiveness as a teacher;† and â€Å"the Chartered Teacher should demonstrate the capacity to contribute to the professional development of colleagues and to make a fuller contribution to the educational effectiveness of the school and the wider professional community than could be expected of teachers near the outset of their career† (see GTCS 2002). 4 earned the first law of thermodynamics† – we are not so much describing something as that we are making a judgement about changes that have taken place. The point here is that when we look at Mary more carefully we will probably be able to find numerous changes going on all the time. The reason for identifying some of the changes as ‘learning’ and others just as ‘changes’ is because we value these changes and because we have reason to believe that these changes are the result of engagement with the environment, not just effects of maturation. Which isn’t to suggest that this distinction is easy to make and that the difference is always clear-cut. ) This implies that the use of the word ‘learning’ always implies a value judgement. ‘Learning,’ in other words, is not a descriptive term – it is not a noun – but it is an evaluative term. The upshot of this is that we can only use the word learning retrospectively, i. e. , after some change has happened. Whether any current activity will actually result in learning – that is, whether it will actually result in more or less durable changes that we find valuable – is not something we can know when we are engaged in he activity. Whether you will learn anything from listening to this lecture is, in other words, a question that can only be answered in the future – and sometimes it can take a very long time before we can conclude that we have learned something from a particular experience or event, which is an important argument against an exclusive focus on short-time result in education. This implies that the word ‘learning’ does not refer to an activity – and we can summarise this by saying that ‘learning’ is also not a verb. If we want to be clear and precise in the language we use to talk about education, we shouldn’t therefore refer to the activities of our students as ‘learning’ but rather use such words as ‘studying,’ ‘rehearsing,’ ‘working,’ ‘making an effort,’ etcetera. And for the same reason we shouldn’t refer to our students as ‘learners’ but should either refer to them with terms that specify the particular relationship they are in – which is what the word ‘pupil’ does – or with terms that specify the activities they are engaged in – which is what words like ‘student’ or ‘worker’ do. The Dutch progressive educator Kees Boeke referred to the students in his school as ‘workers’ and referred to the school that he established and which still exists in Bilthoven as a ‘workplace. ’) For all these reasons I therefore wish to a rgue that the language of learning is rather unhelpful for discussion of educational matters as it tends to obscure the relational dimensions of education – the fact that education is always about teachers and students in relationship – and also because it makes it more difficult to raise questions about content and purpose. I have also argued that when we use the word ‘learning’ we are actually involved in a judgement about change, a judgement we can only make after the event. For that reason using the word ‘learning’ to describe the activities of students is as imprecise as it is to refer to students as ‘learners. ’ This is also the reason why we cannot ask from students that they take responsibility for their own learning – they can only take responsibility for their studying, their activities, their efforts, etcetera, and it is this that teachers should demand from students. All this also means that learning can not be the object of any strategy. Despite the many teaching and learning strategies that are being developed in schools, colleges and universities, and despite the fact that many of such institutions make individuals responsible for ‘teaching learning,’ it is only teaching – and related aspects such as curriculum and assessment – that can be the object of a strategy and thus can be the responsibility of individuals whose task it is to take care of what, with a simple word, we might perhaps best refer to as ‘education. 5 If this suffices as an indication of why we need education – that is, why we need an educational language with proper educational concepts – I now wish to turn to questions about what constitutes good education. Good Education My ambition with raising the question of good education is not to specify what good education, a good school, a good college or a good university should look like. As I said in my introduction, we shouldn’t expect that in plural democracies like ours there will only be one answer to this question. Yet it is of crucial importance that there is an ongoing discussion about the content, purpose and direction of education first and foremost because education is – and should be – a matter of public concern. I do not only think that it is important to have a plurality of opinions about what constitutes good education. I also believe that it is important to have a plurality of actual educational practices. Here I am partly biased as a result of my upbringing in the Netherlands, a country which over the past century has developed and has managed to maintain an interesting level of plurality within a state-funded system of compulsory education. Although there are some advantages of educational standardisation – and the main advantage, one that we have to take very seriously from a social justice angle, is that it can bring about an equality of provision – I also believe that there are many disadvantages to the MacDonaldisation (or perhaps we should now call this the ‘Starbuckisation’) of education. One disadvantage of standardisation is that it takes away opportunities for educational professionals to make their own judgements about what is necessary and desirable in the always particular situations they work in. My experience in England has been that the scope for professional judgement and professional action in education has systematically been eroded as a result of a massive top-down standardisation of education, combined with narrow-minded forms of inspection based on low trust. 7 At this point I can only say that I have encountered a significantly different culture within Scottish education, and here I particularly want to single out the idea of the Chartered Teacher as the expression of a belief in the power of education and as a serious investment in and commitment to the development of professionality and a high trust culture in education. A second disadvantage of educational standardisation is that it takes away any opportunity for a plurality of opinions about good education. This is often done through the construction of a quasi-consensus around an alleged common sense notion of what good education is. One popular version of such a quasi-consensus is the idea that in order to remain competitive within the global knowledge economy schools need to produce a highly-skilled workforce; hence the most important task for schools is that of raising standards in English, science and mathematics. While this story may sound appealing – and many policy makers at national and supra-national level (such as the OECD) seem to believe it – it is based on questionable assumptions, for example because it assumes that in the knowledge economy we will all have complex jobs that require a high level of education, whereas in reality those jobs are only available for a happy few and the bulk of jobs in many post-industrial societies is to be found in the low-skilled and low-paid service industry (and here we can, again, refer to MacDonalds, Starbucks, call-centres, and the like). Yet the problem with such 7 For more on this see Biesta (2004b). 6 constructions about what good education is, is not only that they are based upon questionable assumptions. The problem of stories that express a quasi-consensus about good education is also that they suggest that there is no alternative. It is, however, not too difficult to see that instead of economic competitiveness, we could also argue that as a society we should give priority to care – care for the elderly, care for the environment – or to democracy and peaceful co-existence. Such priorities suggest a complete different set of educational arrangements and articulate radically different views about what good education might look like. My contribution to the discussion about what constitutes good education is not about suggesting alternative futures for education. Although this is important as well, I wish to confine myself in this lecture to a more modest task, viz. that of presenting a framework that might be helpful in asking more precise questions about what good education is or might be. My main point in suggesting this framework is to emphasise that educational processes and practices serve a number of different functions and purposes. This not only means that the answer to the question as to what constitutes good education is likely to be different in relation to the different functions. By distinguishing between the different functions it also becomes possible to explore the extent to which emphasising one function might interfere with the quality of education in relation to one of the other functions. The framework can help, in other words, to think about costs and trade-offs of particular educational arrangements. Although the everyday use of the word ‘education’ often gives the impression that it refers to a single reality, ‘education’ is actually a composite concept. This becomes clear when we ask what education is for. In answering this question I wish to suggest that education serves (at least) three different functions. One important function of education has to do with qualification, that is, with the ways in which education contributes to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and dispositions that qualify us for doing something – a ‘doing’ which can range from the very specific (such as the training for a particular job) to the very general (such as in the case of liberal education). The qualification function is without doubt one of the major functions of organised education and is an important rationale for having state-funded education in the first place. The argument, as I have mentioned, is often an economic one, i. . , that people need knowledge and skills in order to become employable. But the acquisition of knowledge and skills is also important for other aspects of people’s lives. Here we can think, for example, of political literacy – the knowledge and skills needed to exercise one’s citizenship rights – or cultural literacy – the kno wledge and skills considered to be necessary for functioning in society more generally. 8 A second function of education has to do with the ways in which, through education, individuals become part of existing socio-cultural, political and moral ‘orders. This is the socialisation function of education. Schools partly engage in socialisation deliberately, for example, in the form of values education, character education, religious education or citizenship education, or, and this is more explicit at the level of colleges and universities, in relation to professional socialisation. Socialisation also happens in less visible ways, as has been made clear in the literature on the hidden curriculum and the role of education in the reproduction of social inequality. It is, in What kind of knowledge and skills we need to function in society is, of course, a complicated matter. I do not have the space to go into this here, but see Biesta (2002). 8 7 other words, both an important function and an important ‘effect’ of (engaging in) education. Whereas some would argue that education should only focus on qualification – this is often seen as the justification of the ‘traditional’ school as place for the transmission and acquisition of knowledge – and whereas others defend that education has an important role to play in the socialisation of children and young people, there is a third function of education which is different from both qualification and socialisation. This function has to do with the ways in which education contributes to the individuation – or, as I prefer to call it for a number of philosophical reasons, the subjectification – of children and young people. The individuation or subjectification function might perhaps best be understood as the opposite of the socialisation function. It is not about the insertion of ‘newcomers’ into existing orders, but about ways of being that hint at independence from such orders; ways of being in which the individual is not simply a ‘specimen’ of a more encompassing order. It is, to put a big and complex concept against it, about the ways in which education makes a contribution to human freedom. 9 Whether all education actually does contribution to individuation is debatable. Some would argue that this is not necessarily the case and that the actual influence of education can – and should – be confined to qualification and socialisation. Others would argue, however, that education always impacts on individuals and their ‘modes’ and ‘ways’ of being and that, in this sense, education always has an individuating ‘effect. ’ What matters more, however and here e need to shift the focus of the discussion from questions about the functions of education to questions about the aims and ends of education – is the ‘quality’ of individuation, i. e. , the question what forms of subjectivity are made possible in and through particular educational arrangements. It is in relation to this that so me would argue – and actually have argued – that any education worthy of its name should always allow for forms of individuation and subjectification that allow those being educated to become more autonomous and independent in their thinking and acting. The distinction between the three functions of education, that is, between three areas in which education operates and has ‘effects,’ can be helpful when we engage in discussions about what constitutes good education because it can make us aware of the fact that the question about good education is a ‘composite’ question: it consists of (at least) three different questions. An answer to the question what constitutes good education should therefore always specify its views about qualification, socialisation and individuation – even in the unlikely case that one would wish to argue that only one of them matters. To say that the question of what constitutes good education is a composite question, is not to suggest that the three dimensions of education can and should be seen as entirely separate. The contrary is the case. When we engage in qualification, we always also impact on socialisation and on individuation. Similarly, when we engage in socialisation, we always do so in relation to particular content – and hence link up with the qualification function – and will have an impact on individuation. And when we engage in education that puts individuation first, we will 9 I wish to emphasise that the idea of ‘freedom’ can be articulated in a range of different ways, from egocentric, self-obsessed freedom to do anything one wants to responsible, relational and ‘difficult’ freedom – to use a phrase form the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. 8 usually still do so in relation to particular curricular content and this will always also have socialising effects. The three functions of education an therefore best be represented in the form of a Venn-diagram, i. e. , as three overlapping areas, and the more interesting and important questions are actually about the intersections between the areas rather than the individual areas per se. The distinction between the three functions of education is not only important when we engage in discussions about the aims and purposes of education and the shape and form of good education; it can also be a helpful framework for analysing existing educational practices and policies. With regard to this I just want to make one brief observation which is that in many recent discussions about the shape and form of education, particularly at the level of education policy, the discussion is shifting more and more towards the socialisation function of education. Increasingly discussions about the aims and ends of education try to describe the kind of person that should be ‘produced’ through education, rather than that the focus is on the things that should be learned as a result of engagement with education. A ‘good’ example of this can be found in the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence which, although it refers to itself as a document about Curriculum, actually specifies the intended outcomes of education in terms of personal qualities – and many of you in this room will be familiar with the four ‘capacities’ that frame the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence: successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, effective contributors. 0 Although I generally welcome attempts to introduce new languages into the educational discussion as they allow us to see and do things differently, I do think that the shift towards socialisation such as expressed in the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence is worrying for two reasons. One is that by emphasising what students should be or become, questions about what they should know and be able to do become secondary. The danger here is, in other words, that we forget to pay sufficient attention to the qualifi cation function of education and thus might forget that in many cases and for many individuals knowledge is still power. The other reason why I think that the shift towards socialisation, towards the ‘production’ of a particular kind of individual, is worrying, is that it gets us too far away from the individuation or subjectification function of education. It puts the emphasis too much on ‘moulding’ individuals according to particular templates and provides too little opportunity for ways of being that question and challenge such templates. In my own research I have explored this issue particularly in relation to citizenship 11 . Here I have argued that the idea of responsible citizenship puts the emphasis too much on a-political forms of citizenship that are mainly confined to doing ‘good deeds’ in the community, and provides too little opportunity for the acquisition of political literacy, the promotion of political activism and the development of political agency. Good education in the domain of citizenship should therefore not be about the production of ‘obedient citizens’ through effective socialisation, but should also operate in the domain of individuation and 10 The National Curriculum for England and Wales has recently adopted a similar language to articulate the aims of education for ‘key stage 3 and 4’. It is interesting to see, however, that they have included three of the four Scottish capacities – viz. , successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens – but not that of effective contributors. See http://curriculum. qca. org. uk/key-stages-3-and-4/aims/index. aspx [accessed 1 March 2009] 11 See, e. g. , Biesta Lawy (2006); Biesta (2007b); Biesta (2008); Biesta (in press[b]). subjectification by promoting forms of political agency that both contribute to and are able to question the existing social, cultural and political order. From this angle it is perhaps significant that the word ‘critical’ does not appear in any of the four capacities of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. This brings me to my concluding remarks. Conclusions In this lecture I have tried to make a case for good education. I have not done this by specifying what I think a good school, college or university should look like. What I have done instead is first of all to argue for the importance of the question of good education itself. I have argued, in other words, that in our discussions and deliberations about education we should acknowledge openly and explicitly that we are dealing with normative questions, and hence with questions that require value judgements. These are questions, in other words, that can not be resolved simply by having more information, more data, more knowledge or more research. Secondly I have argued that in order to address the question of good education properly we need to make sure that we have a vocabulary that is appropriate for what we are discussing. It is here that I have argued for the importance of an educational vocabulary rather than a vocabulary of learning. Thirdly, I have introduced a distinction between different functions and purposes of education that might help us to ask more precise questions and have more focused discussions about what good education might look like. I see the importance of making the distinction between the three functions of education first and foremost in that it can help us to find a balance in our educational endeavours rather than to end up in one of the possible extremes. Just as an exclusive focus on qualification is problematic – and I think that the damaging effects of such a focus are continuing to influence the lives of many students and teachers around the world – I also think that an exclusive focus on socialisation is problematic – and perhaps we are beginning to see some of the problems of such an approach as well. In all cases it belongs to my definition of good education that there is also sufficient attention to opportunities for individuation and subjectification so that education can continue to contribute to what the philosopher Michel Foucault has so aptly described as â€Å"the undefined work of freedom. † Finally: for me the question of good education does not stand on its own. I do believe that we are living in a time in which the question of goodness is one that we should ask about all our collective human endeavours. This is first of all important in the economic sphere, which is why I would argue that we urgently need to shift the discussion from questions about profitable banking to questions about good banking. It is also important in the domain of politics and democracy, which means that there is also a need to engage with questions about what constitutes good politics and good democracy. The particular answers we give to these questions are perhaps slightly less important than our commitment to seeing these questions for what they are – viz. ormative questions – and our commitment to a continued engagement with these questions, both in generating answers to the question as to what might constitute good education and by continuing to raise critical questions about such answers as well. Good education should at least enable and empower everyone to engage in such crucial deliberations about the shape, form and direction of our collective endeavours. Thank you. 10 References Biesta , G. J. J. (2002). How general can Bildung be? Reflections on the future of a modern educational ideal. British Journal of Philosophy of Education 36(3), 377-390. Biesta, G. J. J. (2004a). Against learning. Reclaiming a language for education in an age of learning. Nordisk Pedagogik 23, 70-82. Biesta, G. J. J. (2004b). Education, accountability and the ethical demand. Can the democratic potential of accountability be regained? Educational Theory 54 (3), 233250. Biesta, G. J. J. (2006). Beyond Learning: Democratic Education for a Human Future. Boulder, Co: Paradigm Publishers. Biesta, G. J. J. (2007a). Why ‘what works’ won’t work. Evidence-based practice and the democratic deficit of educational research. Educational Theory 57(1), 1-22. Biesta, G. J. J. (2007b). Education and the democratic person: Towards a political understanding of democratic education. Teachers College Record 109(3), 740-769. Biesta, G. J. J. (2008). What kind of citizen? What kind of democracy? Citizenship education and the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. Scottish Educational Review 40(2), 38-52. Biesta, G. J. J. (2009). Good Education in an Age of Measurement. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability 21(1), 33-46. Biesta, G. J. J. (in press[a]). On the weakness of education. In D. Kerdeman et al. (eds), Philosophy of Education 2009. Biesta, G. J. J. (in press[b]). What kind of citizenship for European Higher Education? Beyond the competent active citizen. European Educational Research Journal 8(2). Biesta, G. J. J. Lawy, R. S. (2006). From teaching citizenship to learning democracy. Overcoming individualism in research, policy and practice. Cambridge Journal of Education 36(1), 63-79. Bogotch, I. , Miron, L Biesta, G. (2007). â€Å"Effective for What; Effective for Whom? † Two Questions SESI Should Not Ignore. In T. Townsend (ed), International Handbook of School Effectiveness and School Improvement (93-110). Dordrecht/Boston: Springer. GTCS (General Teaching Council for Scotland) (2000). The standard for chartered teacher. Vanderstraeten, R. Biesta, G. J. J. (2006). How is education possible? A pragmatist account of communication and the social organisation of education. British Journal of Educational Studies 54(2), 160-174. 11 Biography Gert Biesta (1957) is Professor of Education at the Stirling Institute of Education and Visiting Professor for Education and Democratic Citizenship at Orebro and Malardalen University, Sweden. He is editor-in-chief of Studies in Philosophy and Education, an international journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. Before joining Stirling in December 2007 he worked at the University of Exeter (from 1999) and before that at several Universities in the Netherlands. He has a degree in Education from Leiden University, a degree in Philosophy from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a PhD in Education from Leiden University (1992). From 1995-1997 he was a Spencer Post Doctoral Fellow with the National Academy of Education, USA. A major focus of his research is the relationship between education and democracy. His theoretical work focuses on different ways of understanding democracy, democratisation and democratic education, with particular attention to questions about educational communication both at the micro-level of classroom interaction and the macro-level of intercultural communication. He has also written about the philosophy and methodology of educational research, and the relationships between educational research, educational policy and educational practice. His empirical research focuses on democratic learning of young people and adults, with a particular emphasis on democratic learning in everyday settings. He has a research interest in vocational education and lifelong learning, democratic conceptions of the learning society, learning theories and theories of education, the professional learning of teachers, and the civic role of Higher Education. He has published widely in many national and international journals. Recent books include Derrida Education (Routledge 2001; co-edited with Denise Egea-Kuehne); Pragmatism and Educational Research (Rowman Littlefield, 2003; co-authored with Nicholas C. Burbules); Beyond learning. Democratic education for a human future (Paradigm Publishers, 2006; a Swedish translation, Bortom larandet: Demokratisk utbildning for en mansklig framtid, was published by Studentlitteratur in 2006; a Danish translation will appear in 2009); Improving learning cultures in Further Education (Routledge; co-authored ith David James); an English and a German version of George Herbert Mead’s Lectures on Philosophy of Education (coedited with Daniel Trohler; Verlag Julius Klinkhardt 2008; Paradigm Publishers 2008); Education, democracy and the moral life (Springer 2009; co-edited with Michael Katz ande Susan Verducci); Derrida, Deconstruction and the politics of pedagogy (Peter Lang 2009; co-authored wit h Michael A. Peters); Rethinking contexts for teaching and learning. Communities, activities and networks (Routledge 2009; coedited with Richard Edwards and Mary Thorpe). In 2008 his book Beyond Learning won the American Educational Studies Association Critics Choice Book Award. Contact details: The Stirling Institute of Education, University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK e-mail: gert. [emailprotected] ac. uk website: www. gertbiesta. com 12 The Stirling Institute of Education University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA www. ioe. stir. ac. uk Scottish Charity Number SC 011159

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Experiment on the effectiveness of imagery as a learning strategy. Ess

Experiment on the effectiveness of imagery as a learning strategy. ABSTRACT The present study investigated whether imagery enhance recall. The relevant literature on free recall with instructions to form images was examined, that implied that recall is facilitated in high frequency word but can be influenced by different forms of instructions. To this end, 72 degree students were presented with two lists each of 30 words to be learned at two different levels ( moderate imageability and high imageability) followed by three instructions (control, single, and linked); the time allowed for image formation was 5 sec. with 1 sec. gap after every third word. Recall conducted after the completion of distraction task after each list of words and then evaluated. Each subject participated in both experimental conditions. The results indicate that imagery do enhance recall, particularly high imageability words were significantly better recalled then moderate imageability words and no-significant differences were reported between the two conditions and instructions. INTRODUCTION Memory is a complex multiple systems for storing and retrieving information that are acquired through senses (Baddeley, 1999). To research memory several different factors are taken into consideration (Eysenck events (stimuli such as words or text), participants (vary in age, experience and specific disorders), encoding (varies as a function of task instructions) and retrieval (e.g. free recall) (Jenkins, 1979 Paivio, Yulle Morris 1972) have been carried out to look for the evidence that link imagery and free recall, thus inconsistency prevailed. This could be a result of image; a mental representation of a visible object stored in memory or imagination (Richardson, 1999) or to other covarying variable such as semantic similarity ( Morris 1972) or perhaps a lexical complexity (Kintsch, 1972). To investigate these inconsistencies in the linking images and free recall Morris and Stevens (1974) conducted three slightly different experiments. The first two experiments investigated how imagery helps memory. They used 72 high imageability nouns (Paivio et all., 1968) divided into three lists of words with two orders (forward single and control conditions did not differ whereas linking imagery differed from other conditions. In the third experiment they investigated if the recall in single images is really no better than a no-instruction control group. Only 30 high imageability nouns were used (Paivio et all., 1968) in three random orders, with the same design as in the first study but in three trials and instructions with or without imagery. Words were presented in equal intervals (5sec) followed by the three minutes recall and collect recall sheets. No significant differences were observed between conditions or improvement in all trials. The aim of the present study give an a ccount of replicating the findings of Morris and Stevens (1974) by using different word list and length along with the slightly different instructions to find if imagery as a study strategy aids free recall of words when words are imaged independently of one another. In addition, moderate imageabillity nouns were used along with high imageability nouns to extend Morris and Stevens (1974) studies by testing the benefits of imagery limited to words highly imageable. The hypotheses The use of imagery as a study aid will increase word recall and there will be a difference in recall for high imageability as opposed to the moderate imageability words in all three instruction conditions. METHODS Design The 2 factor mixed ANOVA design was used. The two independent variables were two factors. Factor one was imageability of words with two manipulated levels (moderate /high) and it was a within groups factor. The second factor was a study instructions with three manipulated levels (control, single and triple imagery) and it was a between group factor. The dependent variables were the number of words correctly recalled. To eliminate primacy effect and to allow for practice, the first six items were excluded. Participants An opportunity sample of seventy two psychology students from the University of Bolton took

Monday, November 25, 2019

Psychiatrist in a Can essays

Psychiatrist in a Can essays You are feeling distressed, nothing is working out. All of your friends tell you to go see a shrink, so you do. You go there and the psychiatrist is supposed to be listening to you and helping you to examine and conclude what your problems are, instead all u get out of him is the occasional, UH huh, and how does this make u fell? or the nagging questions. Finally, after hours of therapy of you are sitting there telling your shrink about how your mother killed your favorite puppy dog by running it over with the mini-van, And you think that maybe that is the root of all of your problems. And your shrink asks you, what other words would you use to describe what your mother did to that puppy...preferably a eleven letter word, and the first thing that comes to your mind is slaughtered. Just great, your high priced shrink is not even listening to your problems; he is doodling and doing crossword puzzles In todays world we are conditioned to think that people need to go to a psychiatrist to solve their problems. Problems that include overeating, smoking, and being a work alcoholic, the list goes on and on. Instead of going to high priced, over-educated psychiatrists, I have the cheaper, less time consuming solution to all of your lifes problems. I have developed a comprehensive program that does everything a high priced professional can do, for less. Its called the AL GORE HOME TEST TO DETERMINE YOUR STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH. This program uses a set of 3 objectives that you can use to measure your progress. Lets take a look at those: Objective 1 is to determine if you are crazy. Objective 2 is alternative treatments. And finally, Objective 3: Reinstatement into the world. First to determine if you are crazy, you must conduct some sort of evaluation. The more common traditional way to determine if you have lost it is to go to a psychiatrist, sit on a couch and pay bouco bucks to a man, or woman, who...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Oceans and Tides Paper (Earth Science) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Oceans and Tides Paper (Earth Science) - Essay Example What are surface ocean currents? In simple words rotation of the earth on its own axis causes winds that form gyres or circles on the surface of oceans. These gyres are found to move in clockwise circular patterns in the Northern Hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. This is phenomena is better known as surface ocean currents. These currents flow continuously but have varied intensity and in different proportions. There is no need to mention this that the concentration of these surface ocean currents depend on the depth or depletion of the sea bed. All these factors can actually increase and decrease the speed of these currents. These surface ocean currents can influence weather conditions. These are quite significant for navigators who make use of these currents to steer through their way. What are waves, their characteristics and wave erosion? Wave is actually a disturbance that is produced by some other body. A water wave that is created by a moving boat is its best example. One of its features is the wavelength which happens to be distance between two waves, the second characteristic is frequency which can be measured by the number of crests or troughs passing through a single point at one time and the third is amplitude which is the displacement of a wave. Wave erosion is also no different from other forms of erosion like soil erosion and coastal erosion. When waves hit on the banks, it carries a part of the soil with it from there. This is called wave erosion in short and can be avoided only by planting more trees as the roots of these trees can save the soil from eroding away. What is shoreline erosion? Besides wave erosion, shoreline erosion is another of its kind that is primarily caused due to movement of currents and waves. Apart from these two factors this erosion can also be caused by a change in sea level. In general when these waves hit unguarded shores they wash off the sediments of the shoreline and this is called shoreline erosion. Any kind of soil erosion causes land misuse as it degrades on regular basis. Land is very important for animals and humans both which are very much obvious. This in turn becomes a reason for overpopulation and scarcity of usable tracts of land for cultivation and other important activities that are a prerequisite for human civilization. A few things that can control this type of erosion are planting tree that can absorb moisture, then building septic tanks and proper drainage system can also take care of this erosion. What are tides? Now the most important of all the questions is what are tides? Tides are a natural occurrence that are caused by the gravitational forces of the both the moon and the sun. Since the earth is rotating on its own, hence the position of the moon keeps on changing. This change in placing causes the height of the tides to rise and fall accordingly. That is the closer the moon the higher the tides will be due to a strong gravitational pull. This is t he reason behind the tides getting high and low in a day as well as in a month. In addition to this another fact needs to be added that is the moon takes a little longer than 24 hours (around 50 minutes more) to come to same point with the earth. So this discussion shows that oceans and tides are equally important to us. This could again be explained in the context that because of the presence of this current in the water bodies, today the world can think of generating electricity. This tidal energy thus produced will be

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Aquisitions and Payments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Aquisitions and Payments - Essay Example ing the entire useful life of assets, the management would be paying fewer taxes under double- declining method of depreciation during initial years of useful life. This is because double- declining method uses double the rate of straight line method. Depreciation would be higher in initial years as compared to straight line method. Carrying value of in later years would be lower as compared to straight line method and hence lower depreciation would be charge to income statement resulting into higher income and thus higher taxes during later years of useful life. The position is exactly reversed when management decide to use straight line method of depreciation. However, when using double- declining method and paying fewer taxes in initial years of useful life of asset, the company will have to make provisions for deferred taxation. The cash flow statements of Pier 1 Imports show an entry under the head changes in cash from ‘Sales of receivables in exchange of beneficial interest in securitized receivables’. . That means that Pier 1 had to resort to Securitization laws to take hold of assets covered for receivables that became bad and unrecoverable. The company is generating cash by way of making sales of those assets or beneficial interests held in place of bad recoverable under the provisions of the law. This indicates that there were recoveries that turned bad and Pier 1 had to resort to take possession of some beneficial interests to make good some of the bad debts. â€Å"Securitization is the process of pooling and repackaging of homogeneous illiquid financial assets into marketable securities that can be sold to investors.† (Lakshmi Mohandass). This shows that securitization is undertaken only of those financial assets which become illiquid or bad to recover. The amount shown under the above stated head ‘Sales of receivables in exchange of beneficial interest in securitized receivables’ is quite significant. In 2007 changes in cash flow from such

Monday, November 18, 2019

BCEN Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

BCEN - Assignment Example The markets are dwindling, leaving us almost stranded. With the above in mind, I think it is wise we sell off the chemicals department, to safeguard the hardware depot. A personal valuation of the company puts it at roughly $500,000, which I think would be a good sales price for the business. Please look into this matter and consider taking the best decision. The best way for a company to plan for unpredictable crises is to ensure that there is a crises management tactic put in place to deal with any unexpected occurrence. This may involve having an efficient communication plan. The best strategy to combat an online rumor is to come up with a fast and comprehensive rebuttal. A quick and consistent crisis response plan is essential for a company in responding to crises. Prioritizing stakeholders involves complete mapping to show the manner in which the stakeholders interlink, and the influence they hold on each other (Seeger, Sellnow & Ulmer

Friday, November 15, 2019

What Is Meant By The Age Of Enlightenment Criminology Essay

What Is Meant By The Age Of Enlightenment Criminology Essay John Howard- was a county squire, social activist, and sheriff of Bedfordshire. He had great influence in improving sanitary conditions and securing humane treatment in prisons throughout Europe. He was responsible for persuading the House of Commons to enact a set of penal reform acts. Along with others, Howard drafted the Penitentiary Act of 1779, which called for the creation of houses of hard labor where people convicted of crimes that would otherwise have earned them a sentence of transportation would be imprisoned for up to 2 years. Prisoners were to be confined in solitary cells at night but were to labor silently in common rooms during the day. The twofold purpose of the penitentiary was to punish and to reform offenders through solitary confinement between intervals of work, the inculcation of good habits, and religious instruction so that inmates could reflect on their moral duties. 4 principles Secure and sanitary structure Systematic inspection Abolition of fees Reformatory regimen New penal institution should be a place not merely y o f industry but also of contrition and penance All these influences created a major change in the practice of the penal system. Penal codes were rewritten to emphasize adaption of punishment to the offender. Correctional practices moved away from inflicting pain to the body towards methods that would set eh individual on a path of honesty and right living. Conclusively, a penitentiary was developed where criminals could be secluded from the enticements of society, think about their crimes, and therefore be rehabilitated. The end result of the Enlightment era was that prisoners were tortured less but forced to suffer longer, more psychologically tormenting, stays of imprisonment. 4. Discuss the concept of crime as a moral disease. What is meant by this? What are the implications? How did this affect the idea of imprisonment and prison? Morality is a set of principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. Crime as a moral disease means that crime happens because of a choice based on bad values by the offender. In other words it could be described as a disease of the mind. Crime is the result of your surroundings and values that make you choose to do what you do. Criminals were viewed as the victims of social disorder. It came about during the age of the penitentiary in the 19th century America. While alcohol was one of the biggest social problems, psychic disorder, opium addictions and general public and moral disorder offenses started to become increasingly common. Crimes of violence, property offenses (theft and burglary) were increasing. (Bloomberg Lucken) Crime was additionally attached to social factors. Four reformers during this time gave their ideas: Gresham Powers claimed that the causes of crime can be found in the rapid growth of wealth, population size, immigration and commerce and manufacturing (Bloomberg Lucken). Edward Livingston claimed that crime was product of intemperance, laziness, ignorance, irreligion and poverty (Bloomberg Lucken). John Griscom found crime to be in the context of bad parenting and that parents allow children to do what they want without restraints and limits (Bloomberg Lucken). Lastly, Thomas Eddy claimed that crime could be traced to excessive passions like lust, greed or violence. These passions overpower the qualities of reason and rationality. (Bloomberg Lucken) Each one of these reformers suggested various reasons as to why crime was existing using social factors like the community and attitudes of those communities and upbringings as the causes. The many assertions of what the causes of crime basically implicated three different foundations: broken family, intemperance and a general bad environment: (Bloomberg Lucken). Therefore, when you put all three of these sources together, the crimes that occurred during this time period held that a tainted community filled with temptation and evil promoted morally weak surroundings which contributed to morally weak people who cant resist the social evils. In the mid 1800s society was in decline. (Bloomberg Lucken) Things were not going good around this time. As a result, when you have a broken family and you live in a bad environment, people do not know right from wrong. The morality of the environment you live in mixed with temptations will make someone steal or burglarize a home. The morality of what is inherently good and bad was never instilled so the morality of the person is weak. Therefore, these offenders behaviors are seen as a moral disease. The cure for moral disease was a moral science. This concept affected the idea of imprisonment and prison because it was presumed that scientific advancement that treat physical disorders could be employed to treat evil. Dr. Benjamin Rush was a famous physician at the time and believed crime as an infectious disease. Rush along with other doctors medicalized pretty much all behaviors. He taught that disease was a habit of wrong action and habits that cause harm are diseases. Crime can ultimately be cured and the injection against evils and crime first need strong discipline and the shutting down of any establishments of bad character. Any influences that can corrupt the mind need to be removed in order for one to get better (Bloomberg Lucken). As a result, Rush suggested the idea of a House of repentance. Imprisonment and prisons took on the The House of repentance which helped the prisoner meditate on their crimes, experience remorse, and undertake rehabilitation. These ideas turne d into the Pennsylvania System and later led to a penitentiary in hopes to create a repentant facility with solitary confinement. Prison basically became a place to think about what you have done day in and day out and ask forgiveness for your evil acts of crime. American Penology: A history of Control (Enlarged Second Edition), Bloomberg, Thomas Lucken, Karol 6. What is the medical model of penology? What was its approach? How did this translate into real world applications? Did it work- why or why not? Prisons in our society have gone through many transformations and modifications. When one design does not work we change it for a new one in hopes of better outcomes. Our prison systems have shifted their focus from punishment to rehabilitation then from reentry and reintegration back to incarceration. Along the way, the demands of the criminal justice system changed and prison models were developed to help crime rates diminish. In 1929, the idea to have institutions that target rehabilitation as its main goal was introduced. Prisons were to convert into something similar to a mental hospital that would rehabilitate and assess the offender for readiness to go back into. Therefore, in the 1950s the medical model started to become widespread regarding this idea. The medical model is the model of corrections based on the belief that criminal behavior is caused by social, psychological, or biological defects that require treatment. Crime was seen as a moral disease and viewed criminals as victims of social disorder. This model was the first genuine effort to apply medical strategies that aimed directly at scientifically classifying, treating, and rehabilitating criminal offenders. The offenders in this model were dealt with on an individual basis to establish the cause or causes of their criminal behavior. The approach this model took was to figure out why a person committed their crime and what could be done to fix it. The individual treatment was based on what the science of penology decided was needed. Prisons and jails were the ones diagnosing the causes of crime (drug abuse, alcohol abuse, etc). They were also the ones recommending programs and procedures to cure the illnesses. Many of the programs applied by the model: home confinement, halfway houses, pre-release centers, parole, mandatory release and work programs. Additionally, the new penology procedures included: psychotherapy, shock therapy, behavior modification, counseling and group therapy. The offenders criminal history, personality and their unique needs were taken into account to figure out how to fix their illness. Furthermore, the medical model of corrections was designed and aimed to treat criminals illnesses with expectations that when they are released, the offender is cured and will not recidivate. The applicable programs and procedures of the medical model had an admirable goal of helping offenders find solutions to what caused them to commit crimes and apply them. Unfortunately, the model was unsuccessful and it came to an end. One reason the model did not work was because of budget problems. Many states adopted the medical model but only in name. Even when the model was at its highest point, most states didnt assign any more than five percent of the budget towards rehabilitation. The medical model was also said to be forced and encouraging dishonesty. The participation of the model was all mandatory instead of voluntary. Offenders had to take their medications and treatments whether they wanted to or not. As a result, the inmates knew what to do if they wanted to get out of prison or jail. They knew if they displayed good behavior and did the treatments and therapies needed, they would be released. Dishonesty amongst the inmates seemed to be seen as encouraged because of this. 7. What accounts for the growth of prisons in the U.S.? Give at least 3 explanations along with specific examples. Are these valid explanations- why/why not? There are many things that account for the growth of prisons in the U.S. Three things in particular are the new penal policies that happened in the get-tough era, inequality of poor, disadvantaged men and recidivism and violations of probation and parole. In 2009, three are 2,429,299 people in federal, state, and local prisons and jails which is the highest incarceration rate in the world (http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics ). One reason is the get-tough-on-crime laws that boosted an increase in prisons. The laws include mandatory sentencing, three strikes, truth-in-sentencing and more that result in longer and harsher penalties. So why would this be a reason for prison growth? Well the aggressive policing in minor crimes like shoplifting, drug possession or other minor offenses traps people in the three-strikes-laws for repeat offenders. The three-strike laws establish mandatory twenty-five years imprisonment which mandates longer sentences for repeat offenders. Another example is the mandatory minimum sentences from 1986 that are basically fixed sentences to those convicted of a crime, regardless of culpability or other mitigating factors. Mandatory minimums were used to catch drug distributions and most people in a mandatory sentence are low-level drug offenses. If caught on drug possession charged you are going away for a minimum of fifteen years no questions or arguments. This is valid because accordi ng to the Drug Policy Alliance, more than 80 percent of the increase in the federal prison population from 1985 to 1995 was because of drug convictions (http://www.civilrights.org/publications/justice-on-trial/sentencing.html). Additionally, the three-strike laws are also non-violent repeat offenders. As a result, prisons are constantly trying to make room for all these non-violent offenders and releasing violent felons because these laws say that minor offenses must be tough and the offender must serve their time in prison rather than rehabilitation. The reason for these laws was to stop violent criminals, but the opposite is taking place and minor offenses by offenders are sent to prison longer than those who commit violent acts. Mandatory minimum sentencing and the three-strike laws were very hard mostly on drug offenses. The War on Drugs was brought to stop the selling, manufacturing and importing of illegal drugs. The two sentencing types led to the increase of drug offenders to fill the prison systems. The Number of people arrested in 2011 in the U.S. on nonviolent drug charges: 1.53 million (http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics ). A second reason for the growth of prisons in the U.S is due to the inequality of poor, disadvantaged men. According to Punishment and Inequality in America by Bruce Weston says that unemployment, family instability, and neighborhood disorder combine to produce especially high rates of violence among young black men. Poverty Poverty cycles create prisoners. Entire demographic groups which are categorized as living at or below the poverty level in most studies reflect an individual from that generational group going to prison or jail. During the past 25 years, there has been a widening gap in America between the haves and have nots. Once a person has been jailed or incarcerated, they are categorized by most employers as third class citizens, which limits their opportunities to climb out of a cycle of poverty years after their release. The cultural group impacted the most is African-Americans. A third reason is recidivism and technical violations of probation and parole. There are so many people out on probation and parole that parole and probation violations increases which makes them go back into prison. Serious technical violation like the repeated failure to report, violent crime a pattern of misbehavior can land a person on probation or parole back in in prison. As we know, there are not many rehabilitation programs that help the offenders reintegrate back into society. Therefore, when prisoners are released back into society they just recidivate and end up back in prison. This causes a growth of prisons in the U.S. There are two specific statistical examples to show the rates of recidivism: Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 states in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime. (http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tptid=17 ) Released prisoners with the highest re-arrest rates were robbers (70.2%), burglars (74.0%), larcenists (74.6%), motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), those in prison for possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%), and those in prison for possessing, using, or selling illegal weapons (70.2%). (http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tptid=17 ) This argument is valid because these statistics plus many more show how offenders are cycling in and out of the criminal justice system. Not only do we have new offenders but now old offenders who cannot cycle out of the system.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Intuitions :: Philosophy Judgement Papers

Intuitions This paper examines two attempts to justify the way in which intuitions about specific cases are used as evidence for and against philosophical theories. According to the concept model, intuitions about cases are trustworthy applications of one’s typically tacit grasp of certain concepts. We argue that regardless of whether externalist or internalist accounts of conceptual content are correct, the concept model flounders. The second justification rests on the less familiar belief model, which has it that intuitions in philosophy derive from one’s (often tacit) beliefs. Although more promising than the concept model, the belief model fails to justify traditional philosophical use of intuitions because it is not clear a priori that the beliefs at issue are true. The latter model may, however, legitimize a less a prioristic approach to intuitions. If anything unifies different philosophical methodologies it's some sort of reliance on intuitions. It's remarkable, therefore, how rarely we attempt to justify their employment in philosophy. The intuitions philosophers care about are typically judgements about whether specific (hypothetical or actual) cases are cases of a certain kind. Some philosophical topic such as reference, knowledge or personal identity is under investigation. A theory is proposed and is then tested against our intuitions about specific cases that bear on the topic. In general, if our intuitions contradict what a theory implies about whether, say, S refers to x, or knows that p, or is identical to T, this counts against the theory. If on the other hand, our intuitions match what a theory tells us about particular cases, this usually counts in favor of the theory. All procedures of this sort rest on a principle like I: I Intuitions about specific cases can be used as evidence for and against philosophical theories. This paper is about whether I can be justified. We examine two models, the Concepts Model (CM) and the Belief Model (BM). In our view, neither of them provides a solid foundation for I as it is traditionally applied in philosophy. CM CM has four components: 1. A concept, C, determines what it takes for something to fall under that concept (what it takes for something to be a C). 2. Someone who possesses or grasps a concept, C, doesn't always know explicitly what it takes to be a C because some (maybe most) concepts are understood by us in part tacitly. 3. Intuitions about whether specific cases fall under C are reliably guided by, or generally "match" one's understanding, tacit or otherwise, of C.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Charles Dickens: A Biography

Charles Dickens one of the greatest authors of all time. Dickens wrote on the people of the Industrial Revolution and on truth and realism. Dickens wrote about every aspect of life and included all classes of society. Dickens used experiences from his own life and turned them into creativity for his novels and other writings. Charles Dickens was one of the greatest authors of English Literature because he wrote on the issues and problems that concerned the lives of the people around him. Charles Dickens was born in February 1812 in Portsmouth, England to a middle social class that influenced much of his work later in life (Smiley1). Charles Dickens used his imagination and his creations to make up things and put them in stories. Dickens envisioned people and the world in the city as a physical place. He saw human activity as a focus of interest and setting for a story (Nelson 28-29). Dickens literary career began by writing for Monthly Magazine and London Evening Chronicles when he wrote the Sketches of Boz (Gissing 7). Dickens also wrote Parliamentary debates and feature articles based on his experience and observations in the Parliament (Smiley 1). In his work Dickens largely reflected the political economic and social aspects of the society comprising of the poor, peasants, workers, landlords, the rich, and the state. Dickens wrote in the 19th century England that was characterized by oppressed poor masses with few rights. The society at this time had an oppressive bureaucracy whose machinations made the life for the poor almost unbearably, and Dickens provided information reflecting injustices of the system and the resulting exploitation of the poor. Through Dickens’ series of stories like Sketches of Boz and Pickwick Papers published on the Morning of Chronicles he made known the suffering of the poor using a quick wit and significant intuitiveness about their lives (Smiley 4). Dickens wrote fourteen novels in three years with eight of them having 875 pages (Nelson 25-29). Dickens concentrated on performing one of the most profound 19th century social commentaries denouncing poverty and social stratification using works such as Oliver Twist and Hard Times. Through his social commentaries Dickens brought up strong cases of poverty, crime, misfortunes of being poor, class stratifications, bleak economic systems, treatments of the poor, and condemnation of inconsiderable public institutions. In bringing out the snobbery of the aristocracy and the oppressive of the poor, Dickens used satire that served well to bring out indignities. Dickens used fancy and realism with a satirical overriding style that formed his style. Dickens used irony, which formed a significant part of bringing to light his arguments and showing his anger at oppression (Smiley 8). Dickens’ works were presented in weekly and monthly installments. They were affordable, accessible, and regular for all making his commentary more profound. Dickens in the 19th century was a writer who used novels, essays, and short stories to bring to light social injustices against the poor. Through his writings, he also reflected on the extent and impact of poverty on the society in the time period. Through his reflections Dickens presented powerful social and political views criticizing the rich and the state and arguing out the cause of the poor. Dickens political message was on the pressure, liberty, improvement and equality expressed as part of social reform and criticism. Dickens pointed out the flaws of greed for money and criticized the neglect of the poor such as through the book Oliver Twist that show the life of a poor boy, who from his birth suffers misfortunes and misery at the hands of the people only willing to use the poor as an means to end riches. In his political expression, Dickens shows his outrage at the leadership for allowing degradation and criticizes the Poor Laws that dedicated public charity (Smiley 14). In Oliver Twist, Dickens offers a biting social commentary focusing on victimization and abandonment (Smiley 14). In his illustrations he uses the concept of the workhouses found in all cities, where the poor are left to half starve (Dickens 6a). The focuses of the book Oliver Twist were showing the oppression of the poor and abuse of the poor children as perpetrated by the state. Dickens highly disapproved of how the state treats the poor and orphaned children, which he brings to light through institutional abuse. In Oliver Twist Dickens shows institutional failure and abuse by referring to the Parish running the warehouse in which Oliver was born and that approves he will be taken to an orphanage with very poor conditions with little food or hygiene and where children were taken for offending against the poor laws (Dickens 7a). Dickens disapproved of the work house policy such as Oliver was taken to when he turned 12, where the poor underwent emotional and physical abuse, and where children were liable to punishment even with out enough reason (Brennan and Norton pg. 504). Nevertheless, Dickens’ most profound political commentary was his disapproval of the new Poor Law of 1834 that came into effect to relieve the society of the burden of taking care of the poor and made poverty almost a crime (Fletcher 1). The law established the workhouse to house the poor seeking public assistance, although in there people suffered humiliation, stigma, emotional branding, and deprivation of both psychological and physical needs (Brennan and Norton pg. 504). The state imposed a deliberate inadequacy in the workhouses that made many option out to suffer on the streets to face public aid (Fletcher 3). In additional to institutional criticism, Dickens denounces that the goodness of the workhouses in instilling the value of working and denounces the Christian virtue of he middle class bureaucrats that subjected the poor to cruelty in the name of charity (Dickens 18 a). Dickens shows that the system has made the poor commodities for proving labor for the rich, the powerful and the state, and shows how the system has led to crime and prostitution as the poor try to escape the oppression (Fletcher 1). Unfortunately, the class of people that suffered most from the enactment of the Poor Laws and Workhouses were the children, the old, and the sick that were unable to fend for themselves on the streets (Fletcher 4). In addition to political sentiments, Dickens offers socialist ideologies by providing insight into social reforms, such as in the story â€Å"A Christmas Carol† that tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge a misery old man who sees Christmas as an excuse for the poor to expect handouts and for the people to miss work. Through the character Scrooge, Dickens brings home the opinion that the rich in the Victorian 19th century society concentrated more on attaining and retaining wealth, characteristics of capitalism instead of helping the poor (Pike). In qualifying this opinion, Scrooge considers it sufficient to pay taxes and considered the poor as idle and lazy therefore should not be given charity. Dickens shows that society should recognize the plight of the poor and contribute towards treating them more humanely. Scrooge embodies the prosperous English classes that see the poor as nothing and who think their responsibility towards helping others end with paying taxes (Book Rag Book Notes). Using the story of Scrooge, Dickens calls welfare from the poor showing that being unchairitable may lead to misfortune such as befell Marley a dead partner of Scrooge and as will happen to Scrooge if he does not change. Dickens’ socialist view such as in the book are however not through collectivism of resources, but through the rich coming in to help the poor, thus his ocialist ideals are that of charity and social responsibility of the rich towards the poor. Charles Dickens was one of the greatest authors of English Literature because he wrote on the issues and problems that concerned the lives of the people around him. Dickens achieved worldwide popularity for his novels, rich storytelling and memorable characters. He created scenes and descriptions of places that have longed delighted readers. Dickens was a keen observer of life and had a great understanding of humanity, especially of young people.Works Cited http://www.bookrags.com/notes/xmas/TOP1

Friday, November 8, 2019

A Psychedelic Future Professor Ramos Blog

A Psychedelic Future Psychedelic drugs have been around and used across the world for many years for medical use, religious ceremonies, as well as recreational use. Restrictions started with the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 limiting use and research of psychedelic drugs along with many others. There’s many forms of Psychedelics, some of the most notable ones are LSD, Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms), Ketamine, MDMA, and DMT. Despite research suggesting otherwise these are all schedule one drugs deemed having no possible medical use by the DEA(Drug Enforcement Administration). In recent years perceptions have been slowly changing and with mental health becoming a growing issue in our society, psychedelics are starting to gain consideration as legitimate medicines for various illnesses. The negative stigma around most psychedelics has been greatly perpetuated by the fact most are considered schedule one drugs, because of that those who may seek help in forms of psychedelic drugs can be potentially discriminated against by employers, universities, and even health care providers(Marks). Seeking help should never be shunned upon, and with medicines such as antidepressants still being largely ineffective, there needs to be change in the idea and reputation around psychedelic drugs. Doctors should not be afraid of condemnation and malpractice for prescribing a medicine that could possibly help someone cope with their mental illnesses. Also researchers should not have their credibility taken into question just by conducting experiments on psychedelic drugs and have a negative connotation to the label â€Å"Psychedelic researcher†. Things need to change, according to Mason Marks â€Å" The cost of doing nothing is high. Suicide, drug overdose, economic losses, and the emotional suffering of patients and those around them, take a heavy toll on society. With few traditional psychiatric drugs in the development pipeline, psychedelics could be one of the best options for improving mental health. However, to realize their potential, the stigma associated with their use must be reduced.† Ignorance is not acceptable when it comes to treating those that could potentially benefit from psychedelics, research needs to be furthered and with positive results people could greatly improve their quality of living. Would it be nice to have a more vivid less pessimistic outlook on life? Drugs such as LSD and Psilocybin have been said to give mystical or life altering experiences capable of leaving a lasting effect on the human mind. In a population study on psychedelics and mental health, conducted by Michael Lerner and Dr. Michael Lyvers it was found that, â€Å"Lifetime LSD use was significantly associated with a lower rate of outpatient mental health treatment and psychiatric medication prescription.†   Its not just the treatment of mental illnesses in which psychedelics can be a positive force, its also the prevention of said illnesses and helping to preserve mental health in the United States and around the world going forward. Mental wellness is an unfortunate afterthought in our society today and with drugs such as medical marijuana finally being looked at as having reasonable medical uses at the state level there’s no reason psychedelics cannot have a similar route to leg alization. Hurdles are still in the way, despite some states recognizing marijuana as a recreational drug as well as medicinal its still considered a Schedule one substance by the DEA. Depression is a terrible feeling, having gone through short periods of time in that state of mind I can only imagine the lonely, sad feelings of those who suffer chronically. There are few reliable medications to treat depression and with many seemingly having as many side effects as benefits. Medications such as Cymbalta that have side effects like nausea, drowsiness, difficulty sleeping, diarrhea, as well as others. Psilocybin however has had positive effects while being one of the safer drugs with more deaths from eating the wrong mushrooms and the actions while under the influence. In a trial by Professor Charles Grob, the Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center twelve patients were administered psilocybin. He found in modest doses in some cases there was a significant decrease in depression sometimes lasting several months. And although some of the results have been short lived it’s shown in a controlled environment that i t is a safe, potentially therapeutic drug only being held back by federal regulations. Many psychedelics are thought to be fairly safe with MDMA and ibogaine needing further research. LSD, ketamine, and psilocybin have low toxicity levels and do not have history of dependence and other risk factors(Marks 99). So although some may point out dangers of psychedelics most of the claims are perpetuated by negative stigma and lack of progressive research on the matter of psychedelics. Being afraid of the unknown is normal, however if there is possible benefits for those who suffer of depression or terminally ill cancer patients its unjust to at least explore the possibilities. Saying psychedelics are too dangerous is unacceptable if you accept alcohol and tobacco as safe substances. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) tobacco accounts for 480,00 deaths in the United States each year and 88,000 for excessive alcohol consumption. Both are legal and have no medicinal benefits and are widely accepted. I’m not speaking to condemn alcohol or tobacco yet just to put in perspective the sad reality of our countries perception. The misunderstood nature in which psychedelics are seen is unfortunate but is a perception that can be changed through research and raising awareness. By going through a similar route of medical marijuana it should seek legalization at the state level for medicinal purposes for trials and further research. Starting at the state level it can have an effect similar to how Colorado jump started legalization of other states such as California, Oregon, and Washington. If positive results yield then can lead towards the rescheduling of psychedelics and perhaps being legalized for recreation in the future. What if psychedelics are the future of mental health medicine? Wouldn’t you want to help lead the psychedelic revolution? Annotated Bibliography Krebs, Teri S. and Pà ¥l-Ørjan Johansen. Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study. Plos ONE, vol. 8, no. 8, Aug. 2013, pp. 1-9. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063972.   http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=aphAN=90070294site=ehost-live This article shows finding from a population study that shows no significant correlation between psychedelic use and mental health problems. The article also shows that Psychedelic use actually shows positive effects on mental health. I will be citing the study information to bolster my argument and provide potential benefits of psychedelic use. This is a academic journal based on the study results. Lerner, Michael and Michael Lyvers. Values and Beliefs of Psychedelic Drug Users: A Cross-Cultural Study. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 38, no. 2, June 2006, pp. 143-147. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=aphAN=21640708site=ehost-live. This is a cross cultural study between Australia and Israel on the enduring effects of psychedelic drugs by comparing users of psychedelics to those of non psychedelic drugs as well as social drinkers. Findings showed that empathy and coping ability was higher in both drug users but findings could be correlated to said persons personality to begin with. Information found can be used to show the differences between the users of different substances. This is from the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. Marks, Mason. Psychedelic Medicine for Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders: Overcoming Social and Legal Obstacles. New York University Journal of Legislation Public Policy, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 69-140. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=pohAN=129689802site=ehost-live The issue of mental health is discussed and how many traditional medicines have remain unchanged. Here is detailed how psychedelics are criminalized and how marijuana legalization could potentially provide a roadmap towards a similar goal. It is discussed how to possibly legalize the use of psychedelics giving me a logical basis to for a plan for legalization. This is from the New York Journal of Legislation Public policy. Pixler, Lyndsay. Psychedelic Movement: Healing Trauma through Mdma (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine)-Assisted Authentic Movement Psychotherapy. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 49, no. 2, July 2017, pp. 121-135. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=128140584site=ehost-live This article goes about the use of MDMA and the potential benefits it can have on those with (PTSD). Also tells how dance and movement therapy can have great effects if paired with Psychedelic therapy. The information on potential medical applications of MDMA granting credibility to the argument of psychedelics having medical use. This an academic article in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Skocylas, Rachel. The Resurrection of Psychedelic Psychiatry and Its Role in Addiction Treatment. UBC Medical Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, Fall2016, pp. 38-39. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=117888943site=ehost-live. This paper looks at the renewed interest in psychedelics for treatments for addiction and mental health. Also it looks at some of the barriers between furthering research on the psychedelic substances. The outline of the restrictions as well as the overview on its effects on mental health will help support my claims and arguments. This is an academic article from the UBC medical journal.