Saturday, August 31, 2019

Patient Record Management System

CHAPTER I The Problem and Its Setting This chapter presents the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the assumptions made in accordance with the design of the project, the scope and delimitation, the significance of the study, the research design and methodology, and the definition of terms used in the study. Background of the Study There have been major progresses in the Information Technology for the past twenty (20) years especially in the field of Medicine.The vast development of technology is the evident in hospitals in other countries as they have developed and implemented different forms of Patient Record Management System making practitioners and health professionals’ work easier than the manual way of gathering patient’s record that the hospitals had before. In Philippines, only a few hospitals (Saint Lukes Medical Center, Makati Medical City and Asian Hospital and Medical Center) have implemented a fully Electronic Medical Record which includ es all inpatient and outpatient healthcare information.The goal of the hospital is to share information with all the national hospitals and public healthcare facilities and at present they can share data with one branch of the hospital. Some hospitals still use the manual method which is time and energy consuming but why it is that only few hospitals in the Philippines, being a newly industrialized country may have a factor on why implementing a PRMS is impossible. The possible reasons could be insufficient funds, lack of technical expertise and computer skills and the lack of data processing facilities.In addition, the resistance of medical practitioners and health professionals generally to change from manual to electronic documentation may be a problem. Most health administrators and information managers are used to the old system and have this fear that it may take time to change or at least modify some behaviour and attitudes. The reason for wanting to change to an electronic s ystem is important. Most health administrators and information managers expect to move from a paper to paperless environment. This is a major step to help health institutions and the environment at the same time.By having an electronic system, practitioners could improve the accuracy and quality of data recorded in a health record, enhance practitioners’ access to a patient’s record, enabling it to be shared at present and also for the future use, it could also improve the quality of care because of health information that a patient need can be immediately available all the time. At present, people rely on the information from what is electronically made since it can easily be viewed. In the modern world, communication is vital within our lifestyle.With the advent of information and communication provided within a medical institution, practitioners together with their patients within the vicinity of Baguio may use the information easily to increase good organization. P atient Record Management System may provide both useful information with the Doctor and Patient alike, providing and improving easy Doctor-Patient communication. In the advancement of technology, electronic medical records are now growing more popularity today. As stated in the definition on wikipedia. rg about Electronic Medical Records, these are a computerized medical record that is created in an organization that can deliver care such as hospital or physician’s office. Electronic medical records are intended to be a part of a local stand-alone health information system that allow storage, retrieval and modification of records (retrieved from: Wikipedia. com, November 2011. en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Electronic_health_record. Article form: http://www. providersedge. com/ehdocs/ehr _articles/Electronic_Patient_Records-EMRs_and_EHRs. pdf).These are medical records of patients that are encoded into the computer system of an organization for the information dissemination of medi cal practitioners in a particular organization such as hospitals, clinics and the like. In the global scenario, in an article by Steenhuysen J. (March 2009), the United States has less than 2 percent of U. S. hospitals that have completely accepted a fully functional electronic medical records. With U. S. President Barrack Obama has made electronic medical records a central piece of his plan to cut costs out of U.S. healthcare system that consistently ranks lower in quality measures than other rich countries. The U. S. President also allotted $19 billion to push into the increase the use of information technology in healthcare. The numbers of without electronic medical records are relatively high compared to those organizations that have adopted Electronic Medical Records. Starfield, B. (1991) postulates that Primary Care in the United States is critical to the provision of giving excellent medical care.From the research in the year 1996, the Institute of Medicine report defined pri mary care as the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians accountable for addressing most personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. These makes more people to receive primary care than in other clinics. These clinics have adopted the innovations of information technology giving more value to the primary care in other clinics.These clinics have adopted the innovations on information technology giving more value to the primary care of their patients. Thus obviously electronic medical records in the clinic are to be present for the ease of accessibility, storage, retrieval and modification of medical records. However, in a smaller scale of health care system. Where Everyone, being succeptible to disease needs to prioritize on prevention in odres to additional expenses on health care. This visiting the doctors clinic today is the most effecient and inexpensivr way to prevent diseases. Offering various diagnosis, vaccinations and maintenance drugs.With todays population, more patients visit the doctors clinic and health records management poses as the most time consuming activity. As keeping numerous pages on file cases and searching this file cases one by one when a patient arrives eats most of the time that could have spent treating another patient. With all of the mentioned cases which inpact the number of patients diagnosed per day. The researchers agreed to conduct a study for Dr. Nelia Bacay’s clinic at SLU hospital of the Sacred Heart, annex. The researchers will try to find ways and practices to lighten up workload and minimize time consumed by developing a system.Statement of the Problem The main objective of the study is to design a Patient Record Management System for Dr. Nelia Bacay in which seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What processes are involved within the practitioners’ medical records of their patients ? 2. What difficulties are encountered regarding the processes involved with the medical records? 3. What features regarding the medical records should be incorporated with the proposed Patient Record Management for Dr. Renato Manalo to their current system? Objective of the StudyThe main objective of the study is to design a Patient Records Management System for Dr. Nelia Bacay that shall lighten up workload and minimize time consumed on operation. The researchers intend to achieve the following: 1. To identify the current standard operating procedure in diagnosing patients. 2. To enumerate and discuss the most tiny consuming fact in the process. 3. To design a Patient Record Management that facilitates a quick and easy way to access and view patients profile. Significance of the Study This study is important in terms of advantages or benefits that would be gained by the following entities:To the Practitioners: The Practitioners will have the main importance of the study because of its increased number of patients and services rendered. More patients are inclined to avail of medical services. This also makes the communication between co-doctors of the same field. To the patients: The best advantage of having a Patient Record Management System is for them to have an ease to research about the Doctors’ profile and their accessibility through the use of PRMS. Just by a series of clicks and filling out necessary information, an appointment can be made.To the Researchers: The development of a PRMS makes the researchers to be more aware and knowledgeable of the future trend in information and technology specifically on Medical Informatics. Furthermore, by developing a system, programming skills of the researchers are improved. To future researchers: This study can be a reference and guide to other researchers who aim to develop a Patient Record Management System in the future that can be applied to other fields of interest such as hotels, restaurants, shops and alsp other fields of medical profession. Scope and Delimitation of the StudyIn improving the quality of services in an organization or establishment, we make look into other options such as hiring new personnel to increase work capacity, or procuring equipmentto lessen work and human error, or to create a more stable and reliable system may it be manual or computer oriented. In solving this matter, we could consider in the combination of the available options within our grasp. To further optimize the production in our establishment, the company could combine the options of having new equipment and creating a new system or updating the existing one.In putting these two options together, it will provide a more stable, reliable and efficient system to be used in daily transactions. Our project aims to proceed in updating the pre-existing system in the establishment. Changing the format from a manual type to a computer oriented information system. Reconfiguring the old system aims t hat customers and employees have a more convenient. With the project be finished, the company will have a smoother flow of work, lessened human error, improved time in finishing certain processes and as a total, a very significant increase in productivity and creating a reliable Patient Record System.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Virginia vs. Massachusetts

Shayma Hammad History 1301, Monday Wednesday 11:00-12:20 Dr. Snaples December 3rd, 2012 Debate Paper This essay explains and shows the differences between the Virginia colony and the Massachusetts colony. People all over Europe started coming down to the â€Å"new world† (America), they came to the new world for many reasons such as land, food, religion and much more. Before I start to contrast between the 2 colonies I’m going to give a general background on them. Massachusetts was established in 1620 and Virginia was established in 1607.Virginia’s colony was Jamestown and Massachusetts was Salem and Boston. Virginia was located in the southern colony, it also offered land. Tobacco was a profitable crop, so John Rolfe took seeds and planted them in Virginia; because of this Virginia became an economic purpose. Virginia settled by men so Virginia dies out and this caused women to immigrate. Virginia was not a religious country and people ran away from Virginia bec ause they were in debt and did not want to be a servant. The society in Virginia compared to Massachusetts are very different.Virginia economics were based on a cash crop industry. The London Company bought Virginia they believed that there were metals in America so they sent a group of settlers to Jamestown. In 1619 the House of Burgesses was formed, which made Virginia a strong democracy. Jamestown became the first English colony. Later on the colony began to collapse due to disease and starvation but they expanded their colony with the arrival of tobacco, slaves and servants. Massachusetts established religious purpose: Puritans and separatists.Since the puritans were really religious people in Massachusetts had to attend church, and some of the people were tied to a religion that they may not agree with. It is based on the Puritan worship and religion Satan and the Catholic Church was the worst for puritans. The Puritans established Harvard University they loved education. Relig ion was much less significant in Virginia unlike in Massachusetts. The puritans believed that science is religion because it explains God. They also believed that God does not like poor people and they did not like handicapped people.Massachusetts also brings family; unlike Virginia who brought only men at first. Massachusetts also didn’t spread out like Virginia did. Massachusetts was a self governing colony Virginia and Massachusetts did not provide freedom for their people. The puritans in Massachusetts expected their people to follow their beliefs and they were very strict on you, even though Virginia was not a religious colony you still did not have freedom because you were either going to be a servant or a slave. The life expectancy in Massachusetts was much better than Virginia because in Virginia a lot of people died and suffered from diseases and salvation.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Influence of South Africa Essay

It is reported that South Africa has become the third largest iron ore supplier for China through the competition with India, which will have a great influence on China’s mining machinery industry. According to Business Day Live’s report, the iron ore export to China from South Africa was 40.6 million tonnes in 2012, while Indian exports plunged nearly 55% to 33 million tonnes. It is evidently that South Africa managed to increase of its share of iron ore sales to China in the unstable economical situation. The large amount of iron ore’s import into China will inevitably have a great influence on the mining machinery industry no matter in China or in South Africa. DSMAC president Lu Hongbo, commended : â€Å"The increasing contact between China and South Africa is a great power for the two countries’ mining industry development. It is a win-win situation no matter for China or for South Africa.† Analysis of South Africa’s Exporting Iron ore to China On the one hand, it promotes Chinese mining industry’s prosperity. In 2012, due to the world economy slagging, the mining industry encounters the â€Å"cold winter† universally, no exception of China mining industry. However, the increasing importing of iron ore from South Africa is a stimulate in China mining machinery market. Because the preliminary step for iron ore’s utilization is crushing process, in which the crusher plays an important role. On the other hand, it is also a push for Chinese mining machinery’s export into South Africa. For example, DSMAC, a leading China feeding, crushing and screening equipment manufacturer and supplier has opened up Africa market and determined to extend in that area. Until now, DSMAC has the general contracting ability of 1000 to 30000 tpd sand and aggregate production line, including the project design, equipment configuration and installation experience. Early in 2010, DSMAC successfully undertook a large project of 10000 tpd artificial sand making line, which just needed three months and brought profit for customer within half an year. Besides South Africa, Australia remains far and away the biggest exporter of iron ore to China. Analysts believe 2013 will see Australia and South Africa further increase their share of the global iron ore market. It is obvious that this situation will propel the mining industry’s advancement.

The Rise of the European State and the Modern State Essay

The Rise of the European State and the Modern State - Essay Example According to Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson (2009), strong democracies have full fledged institutions that function to dispense the will of the people, effectively. Normally, strong democracies do not only boast of institutions that are fully functioning, but also institutions that discharge the will of the masses. These institutions may include public, nongovernmental and even private institutions, albeit emphasis is placed on public institutions. For this cause, institutions that make up the judiciary, the legislature and the executive are highly considered if they meet the threshold or not. For instance, an event that clearly epitomizes the democratic nature of strong judicial and legislative institutions in the US. Herein, although these institutions effectively and consistently discharge their duties as outlined in the US Constitutions, yet they did not arrogate themselves the authority to make marriage amendments without the involvement of the US citizens. Resultantly, to decide the fate of homosexual marriages in North Carolina, North Carolinians were extended the ultimate decision through voting, on May 8th, 2012. Thus, one can see that the strength of democratic institutions is not only hinged upon consistent and effective discharging of mandate, but also upon proximity of such initiatives to the will of the public. The will of the public is important herein since the legitimacy of these institutions and the government’s authority emanates from their closeness to public will.  ... Mostly, this weakness emanates from the absence of checks and balance and separation of powers. This absence denudates the effectiveness of these institutions by breeding external interference. In most cases, it is the head of the executive who does the interference. In weak states, important institutions such as electoral commissions and courts of law are unable to operate with autonomy, leading to spates of post-election violence and acts akin to crimes against humanity. Again, these states may be weak enough to be infiltrated by sectarian interests, instead of serving the interests of the majority or the people (Rotberg, 2003). States in the International Community That May Be Considered Just Too Weak To Continue Demanding Recognition One of the countries that aptly fit the class of weak states is Somalia. The weakness of Somalia is evidenced by its inability to provide public or social goods such as security, despite the fact that it has all the instruments of coercion (the priso n system, the police and the army). It is against this backdrop that large swathes of Somali land such as Jilib are still under the control of the Islamist organization, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahedeen (commonly known as al-Shabaab). The ineffectiveness of the country is also underscored by the facts that: the presence and operation of al-Shabaab form a parallel government to that of Transitional Somali Government; and that foreign terrorist cells such as al- Qaeda are sponsoring al-Shabaab’s presence and operations in Somalia. The latter is the case since terrorists are bent on destabilizing Somalia as a strategic point to expand to Africa. The same also exposes the vulnerability of the Somali government since it

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

NonUS Health Care System Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

NonUS Health Care System Analysis - Essay Example The year 1900 saw a symbolic opening of the new century's scientific internationalism with the awarding of the first Nobel prizes. From that point on the nations of the world have become enmeshed in a great variety of regional and global organizations established for every conceivable purpose. International health activities have grown steadily in breadth and complexity, as more and more actors are involved in a process that continues to accelerate. Official agreements between sovereign states in the field of health exist in many forms. Some are developed through membership in multilateral agencies. Others derive from bilateral cooperative contracts between pairs of countries, often developed and developing. Here we will describe the evolution and structure of some of these organizations from about 1900 to the present. Over the three decades from 1874 to 1903 biomedical science advanced far more than it had in the previous three millennia. The acceptance of Darwin's concept of evolution, the application of quantitative reasoning, and developments in chemistry and microscopy led to an unprecedented accumulation of new knowledge. This knowledge, combined with field-based research all over the world, revealed for the first time the means of transmission and causative agent of almost every infectious disease important to human and veterinary medicine. International bickering and the chaos of the worldwide economic depression, with resultant wavering support and a chronic shortage of funds, marked operations of the National Health Service (NHS) in the 1940s. Communication was carried out by (sea) mail, telegrams, and, where possible, by telephone or two-way radio. Obtaining timely information about disease outbreaks in remote areas was a continuing problem. The principles governing the work of the National Health Service were to inform national health authorities on matters of fact, to document them on methods of solving their technical problems and to afford them such direct assistance as they may require. The work of the NHS is divided into two major categories: central technical services and services to governments. The central services include epidemiological intelligence; work toward international agreements concerned with health aspects to travel and commerce; international standardization of vaccines and pharmaceuticals and the dissemination of knowledge through meetings and reports of expert committees, seminars, study groups, and publication of technical and similar literature on national health problems. Headquarters also coordinates the work of several hundred NHS collaborating centers, laboratories, and institutes throughout the country that provide expert consultation and services in many fields. An important contribution to national understanding is made by the NHS fellowship program, under which thousands of persons have gone for brief study tours abroad in fields such as public health administration; environmental health; nursing, maternal and child health; other health services;

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Project Planning and Management for Fire Company Essay

Project Planning and Management for Fire Company - Essay Example Formulation of the business strategies involves strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Various evaluation techniques include SWOT, STEEL PEST, and PISTEL. PISTEL helps in simple evaluation and is easy to use and understand. Fire is one of the most important facilities in our daily lives; it provides energy for transformation of goods to more usable and sellable products. It is also used for generation of electrical energy and other forms of energy that help in the manufacturer of goods and services. The great saying that fire is a useful servant but a bad master holds. Uncontrolled fire leads to destruction of property, loss of lives as well as causing major and minor injuries on the victims. To counter the negative effects of fire, various methods have been adapted by man, first is the insurance against the effects of fire. This insurance policy guarantees compensations if such losses occur. The insured person is compensated for loss of life, loss of property and any other loss that he may experience during the fire outbreak provided it is stipulated in the policy. Secondly, the company or individual may also install protective mechanism that helps suppressing the fire when it occurs. ... If the fire fighting company does not have enough facilities to fight with the fire, or if the staff are not well organized, or if other circumstance delay their response. Their services might be affected and this may lead cancellation of the contract and loses by the fire company. The fire firm must be well managed for it to be successful in its operations (Ash & Burn, 2002). The development of a strategic plan is very important in the overall success of the fire company. Careful evaluation need to be done by the firm to ensure that it offers very good services to its clients and also stimulate its employees to perform well. For the company to perform well, it must first develop it mission, vision and objectives clearly. The firm then must work towards fulfilling these goals. To archive these goals the firm must develop plans and policies which will aid it to archive the set goals. STRATEGY FORMULATION This is the first step is the formulation of the strategy, to formulate this strategy the following are necessary. Situation analysis This is the evaluation of the nature of the situation around the geographical area where the company wishes to establish the business. For the fire company the is need to evaluate if there are companies or individuals which need fire protection services, the events of previous fire outbreaks are also necessary as they help during the marketing stage of the service and fire fighting equipment. For example selling of fire fighting equipment and offering fire protection services in a town with numerous fire outbreaks is very profiting. The company management needs to carry out this situational analysis's in order to evaluate the feasibility of the project. The size of the market is also paramount during situational

Monday, August 26, 2019

Strategic Analysis and Choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Strategic Analysis and Choice - Essay Example The analysis includes political, economic, social and technological factors. Political factors affect the marketing and strategic growth plans of a business. Legislations and regulations of a country affect the plans of the business. This can be control of ingredients used, price changes and different views of the party in power compared to the former one. For e.g. in Pakistan, after the emergency was imposed on 3rd November 2007 the media was curbed and shut down until they signed a deal not to talk against the present government. Thus, GEO Pakistan a channel that is aired in Pakistan, Dubai, UK, USA and Canada. This organization is a multinational since it is aired in three continents around the world. The company uses all the latest technology in media like news room automation service, graphics system, automated play out system, media server systems, GEO firsts (interactive program) and training on international standards; and it is a market leader at home in Pakistan. It is huge since it employs the most people in Pakistan. The company is young. The company is family owned. The channel refused to abide by the regulations and has not been aired in Pakistan up till now. The channel was a leader in the market but now they have suffered huge losses due to the close down of the channel. Eventually, they had to abide by the regulations to avoid further losses and downsizing of employees. Now the channel will be aired soon. GEO is a good example of a company that tried to go against the industry norms and comply with the rules in order to differentiate but it all went wrong and they suffered. This was a risk and they had to pay for non compliance of industry norms. This example is a fitting example in this case because their strategic... This essay is a strategic analysis of how the companies respond to changes in their internal and external environments. Also that companies often plan to use such strategies to gain a competitive advantage over their various competitors since an edge over the others always helps them stand at the highest peak and successfully manage to balance and avoid falling disastrously. Often companies plan and forecast but the actual result is different from the forecasted one. Theories are often good to study and get a proper understanding of the situation but they do not necessarily fit in real life. Uncertainty is part of life and a proper analysis to take a decision is important for companies. Thus, businesses aim to grow and gain competitive advantages since expansion is an industry norm but then they have to face problems while operating in the internal and external environments and these businesses tend to use these strategies to their best advantage and even by manipulating these at tim es to fit their conditions and markets. This helps them grow and gain an edge over their competitors. Competitive advantages are essential to businesses for continuous growth in the existing and new markets in order to expand and turn into giants. Managers need to have a clear vision of the future of the company.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Behaviorists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Behaviorists - Essay Example According to Guthrie such change could be achieved if a person is determined to replace the old behavior with something new instead. This could be achieved employing his suggested methods to include the threshold means, exhaustion, and incompatible response approach. Guthrie’s idea of threshold adjustment states that behavior of a person can change if the stimulus is weak or could be tolerated. For instance, people who smoke may not be elicited to puff a cigarette if he can indulge reducing the number of sticks a day until eventually he would endure not to smoke. The threshold method is further reinforced through sidetracking. This is avoiding the cues that may compel undesirable behavior (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009) such as avoiding friends who smoke. Another helpful strategy is adopting the exhaustion mechanism which suggests repetition of the habit until the person feels the anguish of fatigue. An example would be to let the person smoke until he coughs or get sick. Such reac tion to smoking habit enables him to ultimately give up the habit. Equally important strategy is the use of incompatible response. Allowing the person to chew gum helps forge the link between the habit to smoke and the relief from smoking. Despite the proposed methods above, habits are hard to break. This is attributed to the familiar neural pathways involved.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Eco-terrorists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eco-terrorists - Essay Example As revealed, the organization who claimed responsibility for setting the SUVs on fire, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) indicated that these incidents â€Å"were intended to "take the profit motive" away from those responsible for pollution† (Tamaki, Chong and Lansberg par. 2). Support One element that confirms that the group who set fire on SUVs in California must be labeled as eco-terrorists is that members of the group who claimed responsibility actually were identified and labeled as â€Å"a loose association of militant environmentalists† (Tamaki, Chong and Lansberg par. 2). These groups of people are considered eco-terrorists because they wreak havoc on the lives of innocent people in the guise of protecting nature and the environment. The group like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), who were responsible for the SUV vandalism believes â€Å"that the human species is perpetrating a war on nature and that those who are connected to nature and belong to it have a ri ght to defend themselves† (FoxNews.com par 10). As such, as environmentally oriented, the members of the group are not merely terrorists but clearly fall under the eco-terrorist classification or category. Support Eco-terrorists sow terror on many people through acts similar to political terrorists such as arson, bombings, vandalism and harassment and destroy millions worth of properties. Again, the descriptions satisfied the element in the definition of the term as the members use arson against innocent victims through destruction of property (SUVs). The FBI estimates that the damages of the attacks of eco-terrorists amount to more than $100 million (FoxNews.com par 6). Likewise, as revealed in one of the featured stories in the official website of the FBI entitled â€Å"Violence in the Name of the Environment: The Case of the Calculating Eco-Terrorist† (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), â€Å"ELF has even boasted on its website that its members racked up some $ 55 million dollars in damages in 2003 through illegal anti-development and SUV dealership attacks† (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) par. 5). Support Eco-terrorists tend to target companies who they feel are doing damage to nature. This is evident in their attack against some SUV dealerships in California which they set on fire (Shpritz par 1). They consider SUVs as pollutants because of their poor fuel efficiency. Likewise, as revealed in the official FBI website, â€Å"The ELF advocates "monkeywrenching," a euphemism for acts of sabotage and property destruction against industries and other entities perceived to be damaging to the natural environment† (FBI par. 10). The members of the ELF were also reported to have engaged â€Å"in significant intelligence gathering against potential targets, including the review of industry/trade publications, photographic/video surveillance of potential targets, and posting details about potential targets on the internet† (FBI par. 11). As such, the targets were explicitly stated as organizations, both private and public, which were deemed to promote products and services that pose threats to the environment. These facts all support the conclusion that the group of people who set fire on SUVs in California should be labeled as â€Å"eco-terrorists† due to primary motive, group ideals, the targets for their violent actions and the damage inflicted, as a whole. Even if the group’s ideals were supposedly to protect the environment, their means

Friday, August 23, 2019

Role of stake holders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Role of stake holders - Essay Example The first stage was introduced by the philanthropy, then social activism that focused on the protection of the environment. Then again, enactments with respect to the rights of consumers were created that resultantly compelled the change of the corporate practices and humored them to engage in conducts that would make them more agreeable in social, legal and client fulfillment setups(Williams, Siegel and Wright, 2006). The phase that followed in the development of CSR, in the corporate world, rested with the retention of social role which was to be aligned with the profit-taking practices of organizations’ owners. It is important to note that over the years organizational stakeholders, both internal and external, have played a critical role when it comes to the development as well as implementation of CSR. Stakeholders may have a negative or positive influence in CSR. Therefore, in order to understand the role of stakeholders within CSR this paper will look at the influence that both secondary and primary stakeholders of Barclays’ Bank in the U.K have in relation to the bank’s CSR approach. As a way of undertaking stakeholder role, the paper will look at the stakeholder’s theory of CSR with an aim of understanding the role that stakeholders are supposed to play in the bank’s CSR strategy development and implementation. Finally, the paper will look at the role that different stakeholders of the bank play in its CSR. Barclay is a multinational bank that is British-owned. It provides financial and banking services to its clients. The organization’s headquarter is in London. It is an all-inclusive bank with operations in retail, investment and wholesale banking. The bank is also involved in wealth administration, home loan provision and offers Master card services. It has operations in excess of 50 nations and regions and has customers approximated at about 48 million customers.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Psychology and Helpful Forum Thread Essay Example for Free

Psychology and Helpful Forum Thread Essay I love kids they are very fun to work with . it is our duty to make sure they are happy and safe. Kids have there own choices and enjoy free flow and that is the time were you can observe your child n see their interest. children and young people from birth to 19 yrs1. 1 Explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth to 19 yrs development book on amazon. co. uk if you have problems accessing a book that contains developmental information ask your setting what titles they have to loan, if they would purchase or loan any resources for learners. Development chart thread on the forum1. 2 Explain the difference between sequence of development and rate of development and why the difference is importantAspects of development may include: physical communication intellectual / cognitive social, emotional and behavioural moral Helpful forum thread: rate and sequence of development Outcome 2 expects you to .. Understand the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how these affect practice2. 1 Explain how children young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors Helpful forum thread: how personal factors influence a childs development 2. 2 Explain how children ; young people’s development is influen children and young people from birth to 19 yrs1. 1 Explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth to 19 yrs development book on amazon. co. uk if you have problems accessing a book that contains developmental information ask your setting what titles they have to loan, if they would purchase or loan any resources for learners. Development chart thread on the forum1. 2 Explain the difference between sequence of development and rate of development and why the difference is importantAspects of development may include: physical communication intellectual / cognitive social, emotional and behavioural moral Helpful forum thread: rate and sequence of development Outcome 2 expects you to .. Understand the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how these affect practice2. 1 Explain how children ; young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors Helpful forum thread: how personal factors influence a childs development 2. 2 Explain how children young people’s development is influen

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The international space station Essay Example for Free

The international space station Essay Space explorations by the United States, and perhaps, by any other nation, are fueled by the desire for human exploration and scientific discovery (Griffin, 2007). The ultimate end could be the possibility of establishing a habitat in space. As ambitious that vision may be, the construction of an International Space Station is considered as a step towards that direction (Griffin, 2007). The international Space Station is a construction in space where astronauts and other experts could study the possibility of living and working in space. The building of the space station is seen by NASA as one of the steps towards making the United States a â€Å"spacefaring nation† (Griffin, 2007). Picture 4. The International Space Station (ISS), is considered as the â€Å"the most complex construction feat ever undertaken. † Photo retrieved from www. nasa. gov/ Current NASA Projects In accordance with Bush’s vision for space exploration, NASA is currently studying and developing lunar habitats that could be used in building an outpost on the Moon’s surface. This outpost is intended to serve as a base camp that could accommodate researchers and experts when necessary, but is stable enough to be left without supervision (NASA, 2007). NASA intends to use the outpost in its study of the moons natural resources. This study is a necessary step in the preparations for America’s ultimate goal of journeying to Mars (NASA, 2007). Below is a photo of a test structure of a lunar habitat, which is yet to be tested by NASA on the ground. Picture 5. Test structure of a lunar habitat. Photo retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/inflatable-lunar-hab. html Bush’s Space Mission Bush’s vision may be ambitious, as it pushes the American scientific community to the limits of its capability. It is also ambitious because it is very costly, not only in money, but also in other resources, such as manpower. Thus, debates on the topic usually revolve around the propriety of allotting portions of taxpayers’ money on space explorations when they could be used in funding other, more pressing, national concerns. Nevertheless, the utility of space explorations and studies being conducted for such purpose cannot be denied. Even in the present time, when space explorations can still be considered conservative, practical and invaluable uses of space technology have been discovered, such as â€Å"image processing used in medical scanners, foetal heart monitors and insulin pumps† (BBC News). Future discoveries of other uses of space explorations are anybody’s guess. The important thing to realize in this matter is that discovery of new and yet unexplored terrain, such as space, the Moon, and Mars should not be seen as a wasteful and futile occupation. Where the means allow such studies and explorations, such activities shall be pursued because precious finds may be waiting as a result. These ventures, however, must be kept in check such that important services such as welfare, health, and education of the populace would not be sacrificed because the latter are more pressing issues that need to be addressed. References 1969: Man takes first steps on the Moon. BBC News. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://news. bbc. co. uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2635000/2635845. stm Boeing. What is the Space Shuttle? Retrieved March 6, 2007, from www.boeing. com/hsfe_shuttle/what_is. html Bush unveils Moon and Mars plans. BBC News. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3395165. stm Camping on the Moon Will Be One Far Out Experience. (2007). Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. nasa. gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/inflatable-lunar-hab. html Griffin, M. (2007). Why Explore Space? National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. nasa. gov/ Hunt, K. (2007). Budget crunch will delay NASAs first manned moon flight. USA Today. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007- 03-01-moon-delay_N. htm Lane, E. (2004). Bush: Moon Return by 2015, Space shuttle to be retired. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. newsday. com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-bush-space- 0114,0,4190003. story? coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines The History of Moon Exploration. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. telescope. org/nuffield/pas/moon/moon7. html The Washington Post Writers Group. (2007). Going Back to Moon will be Uplifting Endeavor. The Kansas City Star. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www. kansascity. com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/16828980. htmÃ'Ž

Evaluation Of The Things They Carried English Literature Essay

Evaluation Of The Things They Carried English Literature Essay We had witnessed something essential, something brand-new and profound, a piece of the world so startling there was not yet a name for it. The quote from OBrien talks about an approach to exploring the American involvement in the conflict in Vietnam and it suggests that much has been carried out of this war, if not by official governmental standards the lives of those who were intimately involved in the battles of the conflict. There exists a national tension surrounding conversations about war in the United States. The anxiety of these conversations arises from discussing the lack of official closure of the war, the motivations for beginning the war, as well as the domestic social turmoil of the period. The remarkable disparity between the official government reports and the narratives and memoirs of soldiers who fought in the war as evidenced by the quotes also contributes to the tension. How do we tell the history of a conflict that is either unremarkable or a fracture in the soci o-cultural evolution of the United States? The Vietnam War itself became a field of competing discourses. The struggle to maintain the American myth, the inability of the conflict to fit into traditional war history, media coverage, and the personal narratives from returning soldiers and personnel contributed to social turmoil surrounding the place of the war in history. Personal narratives not only faced disregard by the official discourse of the war but veterans also struggled with the form in which they could communicate these strikingly different war stories. In his novels of the Vietnam War, in particular the short story collection The Things They Carried, Tim OBrien explores the experiences of soldiers in war who are themselves seeking to tell such a story. During the war and later in life reflecting on their experiences, the characters are themselves looking to tell the history of the conflict as well as their own histories. This story combines memory, fiction an personal narrative in an attempt to address some of the most complicated questions arising from their involvement in the war. OBriens writing promotes a new rhetoric of the relationship between truth, language, and knowledge specific to the historical context of the Vietnam War. OBriens postmodern notions of truth and history-telling provide a framework for encouraging communication about the Vietnam War and its stories. In order to contextualize OBriens rhetoric, it is necessary to briefly examine his own history of story telling as well as the critical responses to his work. Operating from the assumptions of postmodernism, OBriens rhetoric defines truth subjectively and examines the relationship between language and knowledge in conveying that subjective truth. Ultimately, OBrien addresses the problem of communication. He explores how we communicate our experiences to ourselves, through memory, language, and imagination and then how these experiences are communicated to others. OBrien concludes that because there is no Truth in an objective sense, language as a referent is not sufficient for communicating or understanding personal experience. This problem combined with the national tension surrounding talk of the Vietnam War complicates discussion of both personal and national histories of this war. Oà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢Brien ties these two problems together in a rhetoric that, firmly rooted in a postmodern theory, acknowledges the impossibility of relating the Truth of the war. He instead manipulates what Nietzsche calls the human will to truth, narrative structure, and language itself to produce a new discourse for addressing individual and social histories of the Vietnam War. It is a narrative discourse that makes apparent the limitations of the traditional binary of truth and fiction by continuously calling into question the interpretive strategies of the reader, the author, and the text itself. OBrien reverses the hierarchy by placing fiction over truth. Employing a postmodern reading of the text, it is possible to see that rather than simply exploring how he can invert these universals, OBrien is questioning the way we think about these terms. Rather than the Platonic assumption that there is Truth and Fiction and we must differentiate no matter which one we prioritize, OBrien is how we think about what constitutes fact (truth) and fiction. Reading from the assumptions of postmodernism can suggest that what OBrien really does is create a rhetoric that functions to demolish the traditional notions of what constitutes Truth and fiction. OBrien explores our traditional understanding of these terms and suggests not that one is better than the other, but that they do not exist in concrete reality. Through the distrust of humans desire to know any Truth, the fragmentation of his narrative structure, and the questioning of the ability of language to communicate, OBrien uses the Vietnam War (an historical event) to suggest that by rewriting the way we understand what we mean by truth and fiction we can reclaim discourse on the Vietnam War that would be traditionally marginalized. It may be that although we cannot agree on one Truth out the history of the war that we can at least engage a discourse about the individual and national struggles with Vietnam. In the final story in The Things They Carried, Tim OBrien writes, The about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head (230). In this final story OBrien writes about the purpose of storytelling. The project of The Things They Carried is ultimately communication but it is communication in a postmodern sense. Deconstructing the binary of truth and fiction, OBrien wants to communicate what he calls story truth, his blend of memory, imagination, and language. Reading through OBriens own framework for story truth, we can see that The Things They Carried presents a rhetoric for reading the Vietnam War through experience and outside of the official discourse of the war. Ultimately, the question becomes one of communication. How can we communicate histories or experience to ourselves and to others? Tim OBriens postmodern rhetoric suggests that since there is no Truth, language as a referent is no longer sufficient. Discourse, even historical discourse, must be communicated in terms of story truth that manipulates language, context, and narrative structure in order to convey always shifting subjective interpretations. The turbulent social history of the Vietnam War has resulted in the large disparity between the official discourse and the unofficial knowledge and experience of the conflict. OBrien combines the problem of communication with the historical turmoil of the Vietnam War period in The Things They Carried to address both circumstances . He produces a narrative that makes apparent the limitations of dividing truth from fiction by continuously calling into question interpretive strategies of both the writing itself and the reader. OBriens rhetoric argues that although communication of objective truth is impossible, we must focus on maintaining discourse with and about the people and events surrounding Vietnam War. Arguing that social as well as personal histories are written through discourse, OBrien suggests that the most important function of discourse is the act of listening. He argues that stories can save lives by giving voice to individual subjects whose histories can be heard as part of the discourse of the war.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Essay --

bizarre genetic disease that seems to accelerate ageing could hold the key to longer lives for children with progeria.Progeria is an extremely rare, fatal genetic condition which causes babies to age quickly. Progeria was first described in an academic journal by Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson in 1886 and also by Dr. Hasting Gilford in 1897 both man was from England (Nordqvist 1). After discovering the two people they later came up with a new name for Progeria called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS). Today in life there 53 cases of Progeria around the world and only 2 in the UK.1 in every 4 to 8 million babies are born with Progeria. Progeria effect all race equal boys and girls. As newborn, children with Progeria usually appear normal at birth. However, within a year their growth rate slows and they soon are much smaller and weigh less than other children they age. Then later they begin to accelerate aging and some signs of progeria may start. Growth failure, Loss of body, Loss of hair, Skin starts to look aged, Stiffness in the joint, Hip dislocation, Generalized atherosclerosis, and stroke are all symptoms that child with Progeria will have. Children who suffer from Progeria are genetically susceptible to premature, progressive heart disease (Davis 2). Progeria appears to occur without cause and it is not seen in siblings of affected children. Children with Progeria have a surprisingly appearance. 90% of children with Progeria have a mutation on the gene that encodes Lamin A, a protein that holds the nucleus of the cell together (Conley 4). Lamin A protein makes the nucleus stable it leads to the process of premature aging among Progeria patients. Experts do not believe that Progeria is hereditary. In about 1 in ev... ...yday because you they never know when they might lose them. Progeria is not usually passed down in family. Children with Progeria often suffer from symptoms typically seen in elderly people (Davis1). People inherit the disease only one copy of the LMNA gene is enough to cause the disease because it is an autosomal dominant gene. The Progeria Research Foundation was created in 1999. Progeria does have parallels with normal ageing; at least in one key aspect how out blood vessels deteriorate. Researchers found that a drug known as rapamyein slowed and even stopped the disease progression the cells. Progeria only affected newborn babies. Progeria is a very rare disease that no one knows where it comes from. Research today is still haven’t come up with a way to stop the cure for Progeria. Some research found a way to make Progeria patients live longer then the age 13.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Intercultural Communication Essay -- Papers Communicating Culture Essa

Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication is commonly explained as an interaction between people of 'different cultures whether defined in terms of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic differences.' Human communication consists of verbal and nonverbal messages (language and gestures) which are shaped by gender, social class or culture. Thus, what perimeters define the intercultural exchange and what primary messages do we need or try to convey? Our communication process or the way we attribute symbolic meanings to words and gestures, in order to express ourselves is shaped by the society in which we evolve. This shared use of codes within a given group of persons, also leads to a common philosophy of life, ideas or morals. Therefore, culture to a certain extent, shapes our thoughts in different fashions in spite of the fact that we have common biological or emotional needs and therefore, common responses to certain stimuli. In addition, various societies are now stratified in classes inside which, groups create and develop other codes. Each subgroup sustains its values and tradition through language and rites creating multicultural interactions. Hence, the human communication process cannot be held for homogenous, even inside the same society because factors like race, gender or social class will slightly modify this pattern. Last summer, I spent one month in Quito, Ecuador and one week on the island Anaconda in the Amazonian Forest. This was my first experience in Latin America and I have been able to see two very different part of the Ecuadorian culture. In Quito, people speak Spanish, live in the capital and are from mixed descent (Spanish- Indian) while Anaconda?s population is mainly Indian, speaks ... ...terlocutor?s, we will express ourselves differently. The fact that a common structure, for example college, is shared with someone helps to erase communication obstacles. Furthermore, criteria like manners are also defined according to classes and this shared meaning of codes often transcends cultural differences. However, words and the meaning they stand for are intrinsic to a language and this is always subjective. In spite of the arbitrary definition of a word in a given language, human feelings remain the common denominator of most exchanges. This is the basis on which messages can be exchanged and understood between people from different cultures, gender or race. In addition, tangible things or situations are easier to discuss with someone from a completely different culture. The message we convey become basic in this case, and generally express first needs.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Ebonics Essay examples -- Culture American Language Rap Ebonics Essays

Ebonics INTRODUCTION The main topic of this paper is the USA, and I have chosen to concentrate on a fairly new issue, the language know as Ebonics. There have always been changes in the English language. This is how the language came about and evolved from standard British English to American English. During the last few years, as the world has become more sensitive to the rights of minorities, women, animals, etc. a new form of changes has taken place. These changes have become known as Political Correctness. Ebonics is the political correct version of Afro-American English. I intend to show that – and comment on how – racialism and competition affects a society and how this, in the case of Ebonics, is actually happening in today's America. Nuuk February 1997 Ral Fleischer THE QUESTIONS ASKED I will attempt to answer the following questions about Ebonics; - what is Ebonics? - what are the underlying reasons behind Ebonics? - who is prospering from Ebonics? What is Ebonics? Most people outside of America have at most but a vague idea of what Ebonics is all about. Apart from being a buzzword in American media since December 1996 what are the fundamental concepts behind this expression? Where, how and when did it start, and who started it? What are the underlying reasons behind Ebonics? To fully understand Ebonics, some historical background is needed. One has to have some knowledge on how the English language has developed in America. Furthermore one has to be aware how the American society is loaded down with the influence of stereotypical thinking, racialism and competition. In his autobiography, the famous black spokesman, Minister Malcolm X, portrays the undisguised hostility that exists between white and black people in America. He illustrates this conflict with the following words: "†¦You cannot find one black man, I do not care who he is, who has not been personally damaged in some way by the devilish acts of the †¦ white man!. The greatest miracle †¦ in America is that the black †¦ has not grown violent †¦ they would have been justified by all moral criteria, and even by the democratic tradition" (The Autobiography of Malcolm X, page 371 & 349) Is Ebonics simply the democratic consequence, a black non-violent upraise against the "devilish acts of the white man" as as foreseen by Malcolm X? Who is pros... ...h standard of excellence for all its students. 2). Oakland Unified School District is providing its teachers and parents with the tools to address the diverse languages the children bring into the classroom. 3). The District's objective is to build on the language skills that African-American students bring to the classroom without devaluing students and their diversity. We have directly connected English language proficiency to student achievement. 4). The term "genetically-based" is synonymous with genesis. In the clause, "African Language Systems are genetically based and not a dialect of English," the term "genetically based" is used according to the standard dictionary definition of "has origins in." It is not used to refer to human biology. Hooked on Ebonics, p. 50 Ebonics: A Way to Close the Learning Gap?, p. A01 Among Linguists, Black English Gets Respect, p. A10 Race, Culture and Intelligence, p. 104 Two Nations, Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal, p.42 Ebonics: A Way to Close the Learning Gap?, p. A01 Synopsis of the adopted policy on standard American English Language development, appendix 1 Ebonics: A Way to Close the Learning Gap?, p. A01

Saturday, August 17, 2019

African American Essay

In the year of 1870, it was the re invention of slavery. America could not be built without economic. The south was still a negative place and they failed to accept blacks. After decades of discrimination, the voting rights act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that denied blacks to vote under the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment in 1870 gave African Americans the right to vote. The constitutional amendment passed after the civil war that it guaranteed blacks the right to vote. It affected not only freed slaves in the south but the blacks that were living in the north who was not allowed to vote(3). The amendment was favored by the Republican Party; since the votes of the slaves helped the party dominates national politics in the years after the war. During the same year, Hiram Rhodes Revels, who was a republican from Mississippi, became the first African American to sit in the United States congress when he was elected to the United States Senate. Millions of black men served in congress during reconstruction but more than 600 served in the states legislatures and many more held local offices(3). The Jim Crow laws were the era of struggle. The state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. In 1890, there was a â€Å"separate but equal† status for African Americans. Jim Crow laws followed the Black codes which restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans with no equality. During the reconstruction period, the federal law provided civil rights protection in the United States for the African Americans who had formally been slaves(1). In 1890, Louisiana required by law that blacks ride in separate railroad cars. The state of Louisiana passed a law that required separate accommodations for black and whites on railroads, including separate railway cars. Plessy attempted to sit in an all-white railroad car. After refusing to sit in the black railway carriage car, Plessy was arrested for violating in1890. Louisiana statute that provided for segregated â€Å"separate but equal† railroad accommodations. Those using facilities not designated for their race were criminally liable under the statute(4). Plessy was found guilty on the grounds that the law was a reasonable exercise of the state’s police powers based upon custom, usage, and tradition in the state. Plessy filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Louisiana against Ferguson, asserting that segregation stigmatized blacks and stamped them with a badge of inferiority in violation of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments(4). The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson was one of a combination of rulings passed by the U. S and the state Supreme Courts after reconstruction. Many of these decisions allowed and required Jim Crow segregation laws in southern states. At the highest level, the case was decided on May 18th in 1896, in favor of Ferguson and the state of Louisiana. The Supreme Court had given southern states all the permission they needed to let any remaining equality between the races fade away and be replaced by the Jim Crow laws standing(5). By the 1870s, many southern whites had resorted to intimidation and violence to keep blacks from voting and restore white supremacy in the region. Beginning in 1873, a series of Supreme Court decisions limited the scope of Reconstruction-era laws and federal support for the Reconstruction Amendments, particularly the 14th and 15th, which gave African Americans the status of citizenship and protection. The Compromise of 1877 occurred after the Presidential Election of 1876, when Congress formed the Electoral Commission to resolve disputed Democratic Electoral votes from the South. The republicans agreed to enact Federal legislation that would spur industrialization in the south. They agreed to withdraw federal soldiers from their remaining positions in the south(5). They did this to appoint democrats to positions in the south and to appoint a democrat to the president’s cabinet. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended the Reconstruction era. The Southern Democrats promised to protect but the political rights of blacks were not kept. The end of federal interference in southern affairs led to widespread disenfranchisement of blacks voters(4). From the late 1870s, southern legislatures passed a series of laws requiring the separation of whites from â€Å"persons of color† on public transportation, in schools, parks, restaurants, theaters and other locations. These segregationist statutes governed life in the South through the middle of the next century, ending after the success of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. The migration was a watershed in the history of African Americans. It lessened their overwhelming concentration in the South, opened up industrial jobs to people who had up to then been mostly farmers, and gave the first significant impetus to their urbanization. The black migration began in the 1890s as African Americans left for cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and New York(8). The single largest movement of African Americans occurred during World War I, when people moved from rural areas and small towns in the South to cities in the North and the East. Even in the North, blacks encountered violence at the hands of whites, who resented competition for jobs and black economic success. Segregation and discrimination in housing, education, and jobs was pervasive in the North as well. From 1916, more than six million blacks left the South for other regions of the United States. Over the next fifteen years, more than one tenth of the country’s black population would voluntarily move north. The Great Migration lasted until 1930. This was the first step in the full nationalization of the African American population(2). The Klu Klux Klan is the oldest organization. During this time 1920’s, there were still 85 percent of African Americans in the south. The Klan was created in 1871 by the Democratic Party to prevent African Americans from voting the 15th Amendment. The Klan also became Americans 1st terrorist group and became an institutional part of American life and political colt. African Americans were intimidated and had fear towards the KKK. They hated blacks, republicans, Jews, etc(6). In the 1920s, many blacks had been brought to the south against their own will after the success of the northern states during the Civil War. Also, after the freeing of the blacks from slavery in 1865, a group was established which was designed to spread fear throughout the black population that still lived in the southern states. Most of the hatred was directed against the poor black families in the south who were very vulnerable to attack(6). The white hooded KKK burnt churches of the black population, murdered, raped, castrated etc. They were rarely caught as most senior law officers in the South were high ranking KKK men. White people who were in contact with any blacks had a reason to fear the KKK because they would be after them as well for being what they called â€Å"nigga lovers†(6). The Black Americans tried to fight back using non-violent methods. The NAACP asked Washington for new laws to help combat the KKK violence but received very little help. In the 1920’s Black Americans started to turn to the â€Å"Back to Africa† movement which told blacks that they should return to their native America. This was started by Marcus Garvey but the whole movement faltered when he was arrested for fraud and sent to prison. If African Americans were to move back to Africa, they would be giving the â€Å"white America† exactly what they asked for(6). African Americans drew to church. Going to church brought everyone closer to God despite everything that was going on in the 1920’s. In 1865, blacks started to create independent black churches. The African Methodist Episcopal and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion churches claimed southern membership in the hundreds of thousands, far outstripping that of any other organizations. They were quickly joined in 1870 by a new southern-based denomination, the Colored (Christian) Methodist Episcopal Church. The church was founded by indigenous southern black leaders. Finally, in 1894 black Baptists formed the National Baptist Convention which was an organization that is the largest black religious organization still today in the United States(8). The blossoming of the Harlem Renaissance was during 1918 through 1937. Harlem is located just north of Central Park. Harlem formally was a white residential district but by the early 1920’s, it was the becoming of a virtually black city. Harlem was a catalyst for artistic experimentation and a nightly popular nightlife destination. This was also an economic opportunity in New York(8). The Harlem Renaissance was a phase of a larger new Negro movement that emerged in the early 20th century. The movement raised issues affecting the lives of African Americans through various forms of literature, art, and drama. Its influence spread throughout the nation and beyond that included writers and philosophers. Between the 1920’s and 1930’s, about 750,000 African Americans left the south and migrated to the north to take advantage of this movement. The Harlem Renaissance appealed to a mixture audience. The literature appealed to the African American middle class and to whites. Many critics point out that the Harlem Renaissance could not escape its history and culture. Its attempt to create a new one separates from the foundational elements of White, European culture. Social foundations of this movement included the great migration of African Americans from rural to urban areas(8). The Harlem Renaissance was exposure to the African American Art and culture. It is also unusual among literary and artistic movements for its close relationship to civil rights. The Harlem renaissance set the stage for the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and the 60’s. This was very much black culture exposure. The African American artists intended to express themselves freely, no matter what the black public or white public thought. Since the 1980s, New Orleans has been the area for a new school of jazz players, among them trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his brothers, saxophonist Branford Marsalis and trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis. New Orleans has brought widespread attention to jazz and a new appreciation of the city and its jazz tradition(7). In the 1890’s it was the beginning of the Mississippi Delta Blues. The blues is the generation of American Music. By the 1900’s New Orleans Jazz was introduced. Jazz was first originally accepted in France before anywhere else. Jazz was played by whites and blacks. Both races played jazz together. Jazz was for the middle class African American people(7). In conclusion, during the years of 1870 and 1920, African Americans still encountered a lot of continued discrimination against blacks in American and the separation of race. Through the Jim Crow laws and the segregation, Blacks kept it together through religion, and even music. When looking back at our history, African Americans had a great deal to do with the shaping of America today. Bibliography 1) â€Å"Jim Crow Law (United States [1877-1954]). † Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 2) â€Å"Primary Documents in American History. † 15th Amendment to the Constitution: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 3) Fifteenth Amendment. † History. com. A&E Television Networks, n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 4) â€Å"Compromise of 1877. † History. com. A&E Television Networks, n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 5) â€Å"Compromise of 1877. † Information about The. N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 6) â€Å"The KKK and Racial Problems. † The KKK and Racial Problems. N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 7) â€Å"A History of Jazz Music. † A History of Jazz Music. N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 May 2013. 8) Notes.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Information Technology Acts

Technology has advanced greatly in the recent years. The internet has made it is easy for people to get any information they want, which in return presents danger to minors. This advance in technology has opened new issues that need to be addressed. Children depend on adults to protect them from any harm and as a result government passed acts to prevent child abuse on the internet. The two acts being discussed in this paper are the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998. Children’s Internet Protection Act, 2000 The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law which was passed by Congress to prevent children from viewing the offensive or harmful content over the Internet (â€Å"FCC†, 2013). CIPA regulates the schools and all public libraries. It makes it mandatory to filter all its computers to stop children from accessing sites that are not appropriate. (â€Å"FCC†, 2013). The (CIPA) was passed in December 2000 and its main priority is to protect children’s innocent eyes from child pornography and other dangers of the internet. CIPA does not require a certain kind of filter system, but rather to make sure schools and libraries have some sort of filters to prevent such activities. There are online predators, inappropriate chat rooms, and sexual content that children are at risk for if this law was not passed. Ultimately, all households, schools, libraries, workplaces, and restaurant have access to the internet and this is a law that needed to be passed. Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA), 1998 The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed in 1998. It specifically addresses children under the age of 13 that navigate thru any sort of internet service. COPPA requires anyone driving a website to have verifiable knowledge and consent from parents of any child 13 and under. Also, the driver has to get the consent of those parents before using any information given to them by the children. Furthermore, whether studying, shopping, surfing or chatting, children are blind to the fact that there are bad people who get their information and use it for all the wrong reasons. Advances in Information Technology The internet is a worldwide tool that is used for many different reasons. The Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 is a product of advances in information technologies. Regrettably, the internet can be used anywhere and anytime. The wireless fidelity, Bluetooth networks, and ultra wide-band network all give access to internet from any cell phone, computers, laptops, or tablets (Rainer Jr. & Cegielski, 2007). In addition, this creates a problem for minors because there are many online predators looking for ways to transition children into their world of viciousness. As a result, advance in information technology has created eye openers for every parent around the world. The advance in information technology opened issues that needed to be addressed because Children depend on adults to protect them. The government passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 and the Children’s Online Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 as a result of advancement in technology. As a matter of fact, parents should be more cautious as to what their children are using the internet for. Ultimately, the responsibility of a child falls on their parents References FCC.  (2013).  Retrieved from http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act Rainer Jr., K. R., & Cegielski, C. G. (2007). Information Systems (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, INC.

Poetic Style of Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost, New England’s cherished poet’s, has been called America’s purest classical lyricist and one of the outstanding poets of the twentieth century. He was a modernist poet. During his childhood he thrived in English and Latin classes and discovered a common thread in Theocritus' and Virgil’s poetry, and in the romantic balladry. Frost’s style was influenced by the early romantic poets as we can see the romantic features in his poems and also by the contemporary British poets as Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke and Robert Graves.Many of his poems had to do with nature and transcendentalism. â€Å"Of all his poetic elements, Frost's style seems the hardest to pin down. Actually one cannot pin it down, but something could be said to further our un-enlightenment†, says Lawrence Thompson. He then moves on to state what Frost said about style in a letter to his friend Louis Untermeyer dated March 10, 1924, â€Å"style in prose or verse is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and what he is saying†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. His style is the way he carries himself toward his ideas and deeds.†Randall Jarrell a poet/critic praised Frost’s style as, â€Å"No other living poet has written so well about the actions of ordinary man. † The essential element of Frost's style is his choice of words or diction. He uses everyday (simple) words you would use in conversation. Frost writes his sentences with meter and rhythm to increase their beauty. His style also comprises of various elements such as lyric and narrative, with characters, background and imagery drawn from New England, choice of rural (pastoral) subjects and realistic depiction of ordinary life and people.He also uses many poetic devices adding to the craftsmanship of the poem. Language used in his poems is simple and rustic. Frost is universally recognized for being a pastoral poet who deals with the subject of everyday life of the humble dwel lers in the countryside with their works and loved ones, with their joys and sorrows, and the background setting is nature. Many of his most famous poems (such as â€Å"Mending Wall† and â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening†) are inspired by the natural world, particularly his time spent as a poultry farmer in New Hampshire.Ironically, until his adulthood in New England, Frost was primarily a â€Å"city boy† who spent nearly all of his time in an urban environment. It is possibly because of his late introduction to the rural side of New England that Frost became so intrigued by the pastoral world. Frost states that â€Å"Poetry is more often of the country than the city†¦Poetry is very, very rural – rustic. It might be taken as a symbol of man, taking its rise from individuality and seclusion – written first for the person that writes and then going out into its social appeal and use.†Ã‚  Yet Frost does not express pastoral only i n terms of beauty, as in a traditional sense. Instead, he also emphasizes the harsh conflicts of the natural world: the clash between urban and rural lifestyles as seen in his poem â€Å"Mending Wall†. Frost’s poetry is simple and clear. Richard Wilbur points out â€Å"it is not written in the colloquial language of an uneducated farm boy, but rather in a beautifully refined and charged colloquial language. † Poems are said to be lyric, narrative or dramatic and Frost wrote in all these three forms.Lyric poetry's are usually short; expressing personal thoughts and feelings, and it is spoken by single speaker about his own feelings for an object or a person. For example ‘Mowing' is a lyrical sonnet where Frost talks about the speaker's own opinion or rather ideas about the sound a scythe makes mowing hay in a field by a forest, and what this sound might signify. Narrative poetry tells us a story of a single event. For example: ‘Out, Out' is a narrativ e in blank verse written in a continuous structure where Frost talks about the death of a boy in a farm (accident).Dramatic poems have speaking characters as in a little play. Frost's dramatic poems fall under four categories- ballads, linear narratives, dramatic monologues, and dramatic narratives. One of Frost's famous poems ‘The Death of a Hired Man' is an example for dramatic narrative which is written in blank verse. Frost has written many poems with speakers engaged in conversation like ‘A Hundred Collars' and ‘The Death Of A Hired Man', he has always been interested in distinguishing New England speakers who are highly characterized in his poems because he was born in San Francisco and spent his early years there..â€Å"I could enumerate more derivations in Frost's conversational style, but the point is that this style doesn’t try to imitate the inconsequentialities of spoken discourse† (Charney, Maurice. 1). Charney also stated â€Å"Frost is not at all like David Mamet or Harold Pinter, although these two dramatists are probably just as far from the realities of everyday conversation as Frost. † His use of ordinary conversational style is tremendous. Symbolic and metaphorical devices are one of the elements of Frost's poetic style.Frost said, â€Å"Every poem I write is figurative in two senses. It will have figures in it, of course; but it's also a figure in itself – a figure for something, and it's made so that you can get more than one figure out of it. â€Å"(Cook Voices p235). The use of metaphorical devices in Frost's poetry is more obvious. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things which are not alike. In most of his poems we can see the use of metaphors; he is notably a poet of metaphors more than anything else.For example: In the poem ‘Putting in the seed' the planting of seed in the garden, in spring time is like (compared to) making love, in another poem of Frost called ‘Devotion. ‘ the passive but ever-changing shore and the persistent energetic ocean are compared to a devoted couple. .Frost said,† Poetry begins in trivial metaphors, pretty metaphors, ‘grace metaphors,' and goes on to the profoundest thinking that we have. Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another. People say, ‘Why don't you say what you mean?'We never do that, do we, being all of us too much poets. We like to talk in parables and in hints and in indirections – whether from diffidence or from some other instinct†. †¦ Excerpt from an essay entitled â€Å"Education by Poetry† by Robert Frost. Symbolic representation may be an object, person, situation or action which stands for something else more abstract. For example: In the poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' even though there is no one overt symbol in the poem, the entire journey can represent life's jo urney. â€Å"Dark woods† also become a powerful recurring symbol in Frost.There are certain signature images that become symbols when we look at Frost's work namely, trees, birds and birdsongs, solitary travelers, etc. Inspired by the romantic poets, Frost's works influence romantic features as in the use of imagery. Poetry indirectly appeals to our senses through imagery. Frost’s use of â€Å"the sound of sense† is most successful because of the clarity and colloquial nature of his poetry. It is only because of this clarity that Frost is able to explore topics of emotion, struggle, and conflict that would be incomprehensible in any other form.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Employee Safety, Health and Welfare Essay

The Company has policies and programs to address our employees’ broad range of concerns which includes working conditions, skills training, career opportunities, health and safety, and work-life balance. We have training and development programs suited to our employees’ needs. We also organize programs that support the well-being of employees, allow them to participate in PLDT’s CSR activities and obtain their feedback on company concerns. In accordance with the PLDT Personnel Manual, the Company provides medical benefits for our employees, which extends to their qualified dependents, subject to certain terms and conditions, , as well as adequate insurance coverage. The Company has also issued a Manual of Safety Practices to fulfill its commitment of providing and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment that is in accordance with industrial standards and which complies with legislative requirements. Relevant data on Safety The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) programs being implemented by the Company resulted to an accumulation of more than 14,400,000 safe man-hours in 2013 without lost time accidents. Relevant data on health and welfare The Company’s medical benefits include the full or partial cost of doctor consultation medical tests, medicine, hospital confinements and post-operative rehabilitation. Part of our preventive medical approach is to subject employees to Annual Physical and Dental Examination (88% compliance rate in 2013). Continuous medical education fora are being conducted monthly to address common health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardio-pulmonary disease (82 conducted in 2013). The Company ensures that work-life balance is achieved by promoting sports and recreation programs with 30 various events (basketball, bowling, family fun day, volleyball, etc.) that covered and engaged 80% of employees in 2013. Likewise, the Company aims to empower its employees by providing them livelihood workshops and seminars (candle making, food processing, etc.) to engage them in productive activities that are potential for family income augmentation.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Students’ Perception on the Use of Google+

Running Head: Using Google+ 1 IIUM Students’ Perception on the Use of Google+ in Improving Communication Skill Siti Natrah Bt Bactiar (0918444) Kulliyyah of Human Science (Communications) International Islamic University Malaysia Instructor: Mdm Norazah Md. Idrus English for Academic Writing Section 14 6th December 2012 Using Google+ 2 AbstractFor this study, its purpose is to examine whether social networking site such as Google+ can really be used effectively by students in improving their communication skill by employing quantitative research where a sample of 25 respondents consisting of undergraduate IIUM students from the main Gombak campus for survey were used where respondents were given questionnaires which were distributed through email and Facebook.The questionnaires were done in order to answer two research questions in terms of what benefits can students gain from using Google+ as a way to improve communication skills and how can IIUM implement Google+ as a way fo r students to improve their communication skills and results from the study found that majority agreed that Google+ can help improved students’ communication skills and that they are positive that IIUM will implement this method by introducing Google+ as part of learning material, similar with e-learning.Thus, through this study, it can aid researchers who want to study on the usage and impact of social networking sites especially Google+ on the development of academic communication among university students in Malaysia and also for IIUM on ways to expand the learning environment by tackling on new ways that can aid the learning process by integrating education and social networking sites resulting in an interactive and fun way of learning between lecturer and students.Using Google+ 3 IIUM Students’ Perception on the Use of Google+ in Improving Communication Skill After the introduction of Internet in 1960’s (Brown, 2008, p. 30), the world saw a transformation i n how societies interact with each other and with the birth of Facebook in 2006 (pp. 32), it has changed how people in the 21st century would communicate with each other as more and more people are communicating and developing their relationship online.Majority of youths today spend their time communicating with their friends in social networking sites (SNS) as compared to other online communication tools such as emails, discussion forum and chat rooms as it enables the users to gain instant feedback with its realtime message capabilities and a higher respond rates, allowing them to improve their communication between each other (Goddard & Geesin, 2011, p. 51).Even though most youths especially students nowadays are communicating online with their friends and families daily through various channels of communication such as personal computers, laptops, Smart phones, mobile phones and so on, it does not indicate that their communication skills are improving. Instead, many of them show ed a lack of confidence and persuasiveness during class presentation and in public speaking as most shows signs of nervousness and lack of understanding and knowledge about their topic especially when they have to present it in front of their class.Moreover, some of them displayed poor team-player image by not participating actively in group discussion and freeriding other group members in doing their assignment. For this research, the purpose of this study is to examine whether social networking site such as Google+ can really be used effectively by students in improving their communication skill. Thus, two objectives are generated from this, which are to examine how students devote their skills, time and willingness in using their social networking site Using Google+ 4 Google+) in improving their communication skills especially in a team or group based discussion in order to prepare them for the working world and to examine factors affecting their use, which leads to the developme nt of two research questions (RQ): 1. What benefits can students gain from using Google+ as a way to improve communication skills? 2. How can IIUM implement Google+ as a way for students to improve their communication skills? According to Watson, Besmer and Lipford (2012), Google+ is a social networking site, similar to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter with an added feature for group-based sharing facilities (+Circles).Social Networking Sites (SNS) helps users to create an online profile that can be viewed by the public which allows interactive communication between the user and his or her circle of friends. As mentioned by Boyd and Ellison (2007) (as cited in Greenhow & Robelia, 2009): An online social network site (SNS) is a web-based service that allows individuals to (1) construct a public or semipublic profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system (p. ). Meanwhile, communication is defined as the means of sending or receiving information, such as telephone lines or computers (Oxford English Dictionary, 2007). However, in mass communication studies, Communication refers to your ability to share beliefs, values, ideas and feelings where it is seen as a dynamic process in which people attempt to share their internal states with other people through the use of symbols (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2010, pp. 14, 21).Thus, an effective communication consists of the ability to convey a message that is understood by the audience verbally and non-verbally such Using Google+ 5 as through gestures, facial expressions and postures and that which requires a two-way communication. As more and more youths are connected to their digital devices, their network relationships have also expanded from offline or face to face relationship to online relationship. Thus, many researches have been done to study on the usage and impa ct of social networking sites (SNS) on users’ social development.In addition, with the majority of social networking sites’ (e. g. Facebook ) users are adolescents and young adults who are still in high school and college, studies have found that social networking sites can influence the academic and social development of the students (Naeema, 2011; Ahn, 2011; Golder, Wilkinson, & Huberman, n. d. ). Moreover, Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfeld (2007) and Subrahmanyam and Greenfield (2008) mentioned that†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦emerging adults’ use of the internet is predominately social in nature, typically with people known from offline contexts. , as cited in (Reich, Espinoza, & Subrahmanyam, 2012, p. 364). However, the studies done tend to focus on the usage of Facebook and its implication on the general academic and social development of the users. There was little studies conducted on Google+ (Watson, Besmer, & Lipford, 2012), an emerging social networking site that was in troduced by Google in mid 2011 (Pascopella, 2011) which provides a more comprehensive features that are unique from Facebook such as +Circles that lets the user to share information that can only be known by selected group of friends.With Google+, students can gain considerable benefits as compared to Facebook with its features that can be used for group or team discussions. In addition with the lack of studies on the usage of Google+ by students, little research was done to explore on students usage and willingness in using social networking sites in improving communication skills. Using Google+ 6 MethodParticipants For this study, a sample of 25 respondents for survey were used which composed of undergraduate International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) students from the main Gombak campus who are currently taking courses offered in the Gombak campus such as IRK, HS, KAED, ENGIN, EDU, ICT, AIKOL and ENMS. The 25 respondents were selected from students in EAW class of section 1 4 and those who have answered the questionnaires which was posted through Facebook.Materials Respondents were given questionnaires that were done through Google Drive (see Appendix 1) consisting of 12 questions that are divided into three sections with three compulsory questions on gender, Kuliyyah and level of study of the respondents while Section B consists of questions on having a social network account, frequency in updating their social network profile, user of Google+ and time spent connecting to social network site and Google+ which can help to answer the first objectives while for the third section (Section C) was used to answer the second objective and two research questions, one question using eight-element questionnaire using Likert-like scale was used and three other questions on reason for using Google+ and how IIUM can implement Google+ into their system.Procedures The questionnaire was distributed to the 20 respondents via email by providing them the link to access t he questionnaire from Google Drive while the remaining five respondents were provided with the link to the questionnaire by posting the link on own Facebook profile. The purpose and objective of the research were stated clearly in the questionnaire for Using Google+ 7 respondents’ clarification and the questionnaire only took five minutes for respondents to complete. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics is used in analyzing the data and as the research instrument used in collecting the data was questionnaire, it will involved numbers making it easier for the data to be quantified.In descriptive statistics, frequencies such as percentages and graphs such as bar chart will be used in describing the data as it will focused on the differences such as the highest and lowest amount which will help in examining the frequencies of usage in social networking sites especially Google+. Google Drive provided the service of analyzing the data and describing it through graphs. In addition to Google Drive, Microsoft Excel will also be used. Using Google+ 8 Results The questions from the questionnaire (See Appendix 1) are generated in order to answer two research questions for this study which are 1) What benefits can students gain from using Google+ as a way to improve communication skills? 2) How can IIUM implement Google+ as a way for students to improve their communication skills? nd from the data that have been collected, 15 respondents (60 percent) agree that Google+ can be beneficial to students especially in improving communication skills while only two respondents (8 percent) strongly agree that Google+ can help improve communication skill. On the other hand, there is a balance between the number of respondents who disagree that Google+ can be beneficial to students in improving their communication skills with four respondents (16 percent) expressed disagreement while another four respondents expressed strong disagreement, as illustrated in the figure below: F igure 1 taken from Microsoft Excel Using Google+ 9 Meanwhile, pertaining to the second research question (How can IIUM implement Google+ as a way for students to improve their communication skills? ), the question ‘If yes, how do you think it can be implemented? is used in order to identify how students perceives the method for implementation of Google+ by IIUM with answers provided for them to check (See Appendix) . The answers from the respondents are listed in the figure below:- Figure 2 taken from Microsoft Excel As respondents can tick more than one answer for this question, almost half of the respondents chose ‘introducing Google+ as part of learning material, similar with e-learning’ (48 percent) while ‘introduce more team-based learning or collaborative learning through using Google+’ came a close second with 26 percent. Meanwhile, with a minor difference of 3 percent is the answer ‘making it compulsory for students to open a Google+ acc ount’ (23 percent).In contrast, ‘other’ only constitutes of 3 percent or only checked by one respondent who stated that there is no need to use Google+. Using Google+ 10 Thus, with the findings of the data collected from respondents are illustrated from the figures above, it shows how the findings have answered the two research questions for this study. For the rest of the answers from the respondents, it can be viewed from the summary of the responses (See Appendix 2). Discussion Based on the results from the survey, it can be deduced that a majority of respondents viewed Google+ positively as being beneficial to IIUM students in improving their communication skill, especially in a team or group based discussion.This is also inline with the studies by Naeema (2011) where majority of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) students that were asked, were willing to use social networking sites for better academic communication and learning with all agreed that social networ king sites such as Facebook and other social networks are great form of communication that enable groups to meet and discuss matters (p. 99, 100). This shows that students in general are open to new way of learning, as evident in IIUM students’ willingness to use social networking sites such as Google+ in improving their communication skills. In addition, regarding on how IIUM can implement Google+ for students use in improving their communication skills, most respondents perceived that IIUM will introduce Google+ as part of learning material, akin to e-learning which can be advantageous to the student. Unlike -learning where communication mainly occur between the instructor or lecturer with their student (owner of the account) only, Google+ can offer a wide communication between the lecturer and the rest of his or her students and also students with their fellow classmates as long as they have a Google+ account. This is also similar to naeema’s (2011, p. 101) viewpoin t where according to her, ‘by integrating social network Using Google+ 11 technologies into the learning environments, students will learn from each other, explore regulations from experiences where students at advanced levels can help beginners’. Similarities between methodology used and the topic of research played a role in the outcome of this research.Both researches used university students who are active users of social networking sites and both employed quantitative research especially survey using questionnaire in gathering their data. In addition, the topic of research are somewhat similar with each other with Naeema doing a study on social networking as a tool for extending academic learning and communication whereas for EAW research, it tackles on IIUM students’ perception on the use of Google+ in improving communication skill. Using Google+ 12 Conclusion In conclusion, Google+ can be used by IIUM students in improving their communication skill as majo rity of respondents agreed that Google+ can help improved their communication skill and their optimism in how IIUM can implement Google+ into their curriculum.In addition, from the data collected, it has also fulfilled the objectives of this study as most of the respondents asked were active users of social networking sites and who mostly used these sites such as Google+ to keep in touch with friends and families and also for academic communication. Through this, the purpose of study which is to examine whether social networking site such as Google+ can really be used effectively by students in improving their communication skill, have been answered. Moreover, through this research, it can aid researchers who want to study on the usage and impact of social networking sites especially Google+ on the development of academic communication among university students in Malaysia as few researches has been done on Google+ and its perceived usefulness in improving communication skills of st udents especially in Malaysia .In addition, it can help IIUM on ways to expand the learning environment by tackling on new ways that can aid the learning process by integrating education and social networking sites and widen their perspectives on social networking sites being not just to establish and strengthen social relationship only but it can also help students in academic development which results in an interactive and fun way of learning between the lecturer and students. As the study was done through using limited number of respondents in terms of sample used and the method for data collection, the study may not have a high reliability and it may not reflect the perceptions and views of all university and college students in Malaysia. Using Google+ 13Thus, due to this limitation, this research can be improved in the future by changing the methods that have been used by this research such as increasing the number of respondents, changing the sample population by choosing stud ents from all universities and colleges in Malaysia or changing the type of research by using qualitative research such as in-depth interview or focus group instead. Thus, by changing the methods used it can lead to a different results of the study. In addition, by changing the purpose and objective of the study it can also direct the researcher to collecting different data and findings, for example, instead of looking at how Google+ can be used for academic development, the researcher can try to study on the impact of Google+ on the academic achievement. Using Google+ 14 References Ahn, J. (2011).The Effects of Social Network Sites on Adolescents' Social and Academic Development: Current Theories and Controversies. Journal of The American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62(8), 1435-1445. doi:10. 1002/asi. 21540 Brown, D. (2008). Chapter 2: Historical Perspectives on Communication Technology. In A. E. Grant, & J. H. Meadows (Eds. ), Communication Technology Update an d Fundamentals (11th ed. , pp. 30-31). Oxford: Focal Press. Goddard, A. , & Geesin, B. (2011). Unit four: e-language 2: real-time writing; social networking sites. In A. Goddard, B. Geesin, A. Beard, & A. Goddard (Eds. ), Language and Technology (1st ed. , pp. 51-52).London: Routledge. Golder, S. , Wilkinson, D. , & Huberman, B. (n. d. ). Rhythms of social interaction: messaging within a massive online. Palo Alto: HP Labs. Greenhow, C. , & Robelia, B. (2009). Old Communication, New Literacies: Social Network Sites as Social Learning Resources. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 1130–1161. doi:10. 1111/j. 1083-6101. 2009. 01484. x Naeema, H. J. (2011). Social Networking as a Tool for Extending Academic Learnning and Communication. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(12), 93-102. Oxford English Dictionary. (2007). e-kamus 5. 02 Professional Edition. Alaf Teras. Pascopella, A. (2011, October).Will Google+ Be the Answer for Safe Social Networking? District Administration, p. 1. Using Google+ 15 Reich, S. M. , Espinoza, G. , & Subrahmanyam, K. (2012). Friending, IMing, and Hanging out Face-to-Face: Overlap in Adolescents' Online and Offline Social Networks. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 356-368. doi:10. 1037/a0026980 Samovar, L. A. , Porter, R. E. , & McDaniel, E. R. (2010). Communication Between Cultures (7th ed. ). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Watson, J. , Besmer, A. , & Lipford, H. R. (2012). +Your Circles: Sharing Behavior on Google+. Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), (pp. 1-10). Washington. Using Google+ 16 Appendix 1 Using Google+ 17 Appendix 2