[Astronomy subject] Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

[Astronomy subject] Assignment - Essay Example This asteroid has an approximate diameter of 270 meters. Initial observations of the asteroid suggested a small chance (up to 2.7%) that the asteroid may strike earth probably on 13th April 2029. NASA has predicted 1 in 300 chance of the asteroid striking the Earth. But the results may change based on the day to day observations by NASA. With the development of new technologies, it may be possible to demolish any object which could be a threat. But this may lead to fragments of an asteroid striking the Earth. A thorough research should be carried out to understand the negative impacts of such an action. The motion or the orbit of an asteroid depends on many factors such as the gravitational pull of other planets or a satellite’s pull from solar wind. So it may be difficult to divert an asteroid and change its orbit. Asteroid 2011 CQ1 is a small 1 meter diameter asteroid which made a record close approach on February 4 2011. The Center for Meteorite Studies states that it passed within a range of 5480 KM over a region in the mid-pacific. It is the closest non impacting asteroid in the NASA asteroid Catalogue till

Change of Demographics in Central America from 1450 to 1914 Essay - 2

Change of Demographics in Central America from 1450 to 1914 - Essay Example However, as soon as Columbus discovered America, the indigenous people were exposed to many kinds of diseases including measles and smallpox. Most of these diseases were brought to the land of Central America by the animals kept by the Europeans. In 1450, the total population of the people in Central America was some millions. 3 centuries later, in 1750, number of people left in the Central America was even lesser than 10 per cent of the population in 1450. Immigration, was one factor that particularly revered the conventional demographic pattern in the Central America. In 1500s, Europeans began to immigrate to the Central America in large numbers. Europeans brought new kinds of domestic animals including cows and horses as well as germs to the Central America. The indigenous people, who acquired the diseases and died away were replaced by the slaves from Africa. The Africans grew much more in population as compared to the Europeans. There were about 10 million Africans in Central America in 1750. In 1790, number of slaves in Haiti was 500000 while the number of whites was no more than 40000 and there were 30000 people of mixed colors. The Industrial Revolution that took place around the year 1914 improved the general health and safety conditions of the people of Central America, as a result of which, the population seared up. More and more people moved towards the cities to make use of the emerging employment opportunities and improve the quality of living. Most of the Central America was urbanized during this time, and the descendants of Europeans and Africans replaced the original indigenous people of Central America. Women in Judaism are considered equal to yet separate from men. Their responsibilities are totally different from those of the men but are equally important. In Judaism, unlike most other religions, God is not referred to exclusively as male.

Formal Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal Report - Essay Example In purchasing equipments like laptops and desktops, it is feasible and good to pick leasing, as it is cost effective. It is good to examine the management of information and technology process of an agency, determine the business needs of the institution concerning information technology and acquit an analysis based on the benefit of cost choice of leasing and purchasing, in the decision whether to purchase or lease equipments. If the decision is made in the correct way and for a good reason, it is effective in terms of cost and efficient to lease than purchasing equipments. It can be harder to manage and expensive to lease than an instant purchase of equipments, if the decisions are handled in the wrong way. Introduction Present value It is hard to compare the same amount of cost between the option of purchasing and leasing in the concept of present value. The cost of the future currency in today’s value of the currency is what referred to as the present value. Money availabl e for future worth less at this time than the money you can use at that particular time. The future money one should use in leasing or purchasing is be converted to the current price to equate the actual cost of each one, when equating the alternative of leasing and purchasing. Information Technology Acquisition The first option of getting information technology in companies and institutions is by the outright purchase, which is gotten through the fund or revenue of any agency. This can only happen if restrictions are applied on the funds. Capital leasing is the second option, which is an accord that spreads the payment terms of equipments. After payment, the person who has bought the equipment, obtains a title to the equipment, but still he has been able to get access of the equipments. The buyer is able to spread the payment of the equipments in a given time to reduce the financial burden due to its acquisition. In an operating lease, one does not get ownership of the equipments. The seller retains ownership of the equipments and the person who has leased the equipments uses the technology for a given period (Taylor, 2003). Management issues The budget of information and technology has changed in all sectors, due to the fast development of information systems. This drastic change has led to the evaluation of the management issues of information technology. To control and understand the environment based on computers, full ownership cost and asset management, is required. Asset management binds the whole information technology ownership. It provides the environment control of computers to allow the director to purchase information technology equipments and price for the maximum cost efficiency. Lease terms should not be over 75 percent of the equipment. If the institution wishes to buy an item after a leasing period, the organization must pay the required price. The value at the starting point of the lease is not equal or greater than 90 percent. At the end o f the lease, the lease cannot give the buyer the ownership of the

Subsidizing Distribution of Free

Subsidizing Distribution of Free Anti-Virus Software Essay In today’s technologically dependent society, organizations can run a high risk of infection from computer viruses. Due to this, it is necessary, as the CIO of the organization, to explore the need for distribution of free anti-virus software to home users on the network. As such, many organizations are faced with technical problems resulting from network security. An analysis of these security problems, to include an exploration of the role of the various IT users within the corporation, will reveal the need for distribution of free anti-virus software. According to Vamosi (2004), â€Å"millions of PCs worldwide still do not have basic antivirus protection, and thus are susceptible to infection†. For Vamosi, the problem for many corporations lies within the fact that the computers within the corporation lack protection from virus attack and, as a result, would benefit from the instillation of free antivirus software. There are many potential issues that can affect the network security of an organization. Specifically, there is a dire need for organizations to implement security plans and to install antivirus software on their network computers. As Vamosi describes, the problems associated with computer viruses could simply be solved if security organizations offered the programs free of charge. â€Å"Let the antivirus companies corporate clients pay for the software and the annual signature-file subscriptions, and let the home users download both for free† (Vamosi, 2004). As such, it is essential to give further discussion into the role of the various users in the IT process, to include the roles of top management/non-IT management, IT professionals, and end-users in maintaining network security in order to determine the overall effectiveness of providing the home users with free anti-virus software. The core to the IT team includes the IT Management staff. The IT management staff, traditionally, will pair with non-IT management to make executive decisions. More specifically, the Chief Information Officer is the IT manager responsible for â€Å"the day to day operations of an IT Department and the work of any contracted IT employees† (Watkins, 2008). It is important to mention that it will be this group of corporate employees that looks closely at the corporate budget in order to determine if the distribution of free anti-virus software to home users is a fiscally sound decision. Supporting the IT management team are the IT professionals. These individuals â€Å"are trained to handle a wide variety of development, support, and administrative tasks related to keeping information systems operating efficiently and being used effectively† (Watkins, 2008). The IT staff members will handle the day to day issues associated with installing the antivirus software as well as troubleshooting issues that arise with the network itself. Providing the free anti-virus software will certainly provide assurance for this employee group that the network is safe and secure for home use. The end-users in the corporation must also be considered in determining whether or not it is effective to install and distribute free anti-virus software on home use computers. In general, the end-users are those individuals who will work on computers within their home. As Watkins (2008) describes, â€Å"End-users typically have four types of issues, hardware-specific problems, operating-system specific problems, application-specific problems, and network/Internet specific problems. † In discussing the role of end users in this scenario, it is important to mention that end users also have different levels of skills. End-users â€Å"often lack is training in specific applications and in advanced Internet searching. They may also may be unaware of good security practices and often need help solving unexpected hardware and software problems† (Watkins, 2008). The core problem with security, as has been observed by many professionals in the IT field, was, at one time, that of viruses. That is, the viruses would load computers with adware and bring the PC to a halt. And, as InfoWorld describes, many of the problems and issues resulting from viruses and other technical problems are the result of issues arising from within the organization itself. â€Å"The threat posed by their own employees isn’t lost on security pros, 56 percent of whom rated workers who fail to follow security policy as a significant security challenge† (2006). Based on the above, it is then necessary to take into consideration the variety in perspective in regards to computer virus attack held by users in the IT system. According to Gaudin, â€Å"slightly more than 50 percent of end users surveyed say spam is not a problem in their workplace. However, 79. 1 percent of IT managers say it is a problem in the workplace. † At the same time, â€Å"when end users were asked if they think spam is under control at their company, 8. 4 percent say its out of control; 23. 3 percent say its barely under control, and 68 percent say it is under control. â€Å" This statistic can be compared to the results of IT administrators asked the same question. According to the survey results, â€Å"10 percent say its out of control; 33 percent say its barely out of control, and 56 percent say they have it under control† (2004). It is necessary to determine, then, the specific role that corporate home users play in the receipt of free antivirus software. In order to best secure the organization and protect the home users from potential attacks, it is necessary to develop a strategic plan of action that will protect home users accessing the corporate network. A plan of action, to include the distribution of free anti-virus software is essential, â€Å"as predatory as today’s criminally minded hackers are, IT professionals face plenty of threats from within their own enterprises — none more glaring than their own lack of a comprehensive plan for security† (InfoWorld, 2006). As the literature reveals, it is highly recommended that the corporation provide home users with free antivirus software. Doing this will enable the organization to more effectively secure the network while protecting corporate security from virus and other outside attack. References Gaudin, S. (2004). IT and End Users Differ on Spam Severity, Retrieved May 7, 2009 from: http://www. enterpriseitplanet. com/security/news/article. php/3370591 InfoWorld (2006). IT’s Confidence Crisis. Retrieved August 18, 2007 from http://www. infoworld. com/article/06/10/30/44FEsecsurvey_1. html Vamosi, R. (2004). Antivirus software must be free. Heres why, Retrieved August 18, 2007 from: http://reviews-zdnet. com. com/4520-7297-5123825. html Watkins, P. (2008). Module 03 Background Information. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from E:\modules\module03\background. htm.

Performance-Based Funding In Higher Education

Performance-Based Funding In Higher Education Performance-based funding in the context of Higher Education System: Pros and Cons Abstract Performance-Based Funding once very popular in 1980s. However, when more other funding approaches been found out, Performance-based Funding no more a mainstream funding approaches. Recently, this funding approach has back to the stage, especially in the educational field. In this paper will explain about the pros and cons of this funding approach in the context of higher education system in Malaysia. Keyword: Budgeting, Educational Funding, Higher Education, Performance-based funding 1. Introduction Performance-based funding is one of the funding approaches among numerous types of direct public funding of higher educational institution approaches. The other types of direct public funding of institution have funding of teaching through negotiated formula, demand-side vouchers, funding for specific purposes or combined funding for teaching and research, block grant funding and project funding zero-based budgeting, quality circle, six-sigma, and etc.(Salmi and Hauptman, 2006). Performance-based funding is the approach that budgeting based on the performance of individual public university. The performance of individual public university can be measure by using Performance Indicator, which is a set of specific expectation that need to be achieve by the public university. Examples of Performance Indicator are like student result or the number of student passing examination. 2. Main Body Performance-based Funding is currently in the progress of implementation by the Ministry of Education in Malaysia toward all the public university in Malaysia. Implementation of the Performance-based Funding has brings some advantages to both Ministry of Education and public university. In this paper, some of advantages will be shown in clearly and briefly. 2.1 Help in Save Budget First at all, Performance-based Funding can Malaysia Government to save budget. Budget always is a hot issue in Malaysia, not only the Ministry of Education but the whole Malaysia Federal Government. For example the Malaysia Budgeting 2015 that release on 10 October 2014, after the Budgeting Plan is release, many different voices are talking about this Budgeting Plan, some are appraisal, and some are critics. Under the pressure of critics, Performance-based Funding can help release part of the pressure by saving the budget in Educational Fund. According to the study of World Bank / EPU, Performance-based Funding could save up to thirty percent of the budge. In Malaysia Budgeting 2015, budget for Ministry of Education is RM 56 billion (National News Agency of Malaysia). Save up to 30 percent of the budget, which means is about RM 16.8 billion. A reducing of such big amount of budgeting can be a great counter attack toward all the critics from outside. 2.2 Resources Allocation Another advantage following saving budget will be resources allocation. Based on the same example on previous paragraph, Performance-based Funding could release about RM 16.8 billion of budget from the Ministry of Education. This unallocated budget can be uses in many different ways, such as increase allowance for the staff of university, as a reward for high performance university, increase loan to students and any other way that can further improve the quality of public university in Malaysia. Besides using the unallocated fund in Ministry of Education, the unallocated fund that free by Performance-based Funding can be uses in other Ministry or field in the purpose of developing the strengths and infrastructures in Malaysia, so that Malaysia can become a developed country in 2020. 2.3 Motivate University to Work Hard. The implementation of Performance-based Funding will not only bring advantages to the Ministry of Education or Malaysian Federal Government, it also brings advantages to the public university. Performance-based Funding will motivate the public university to work hard. The Performance-based Funding will budgeting an individual public university according to the performance of the university on the Performance Indicator. Hence, to get more fund or budget, university will do harder on improving their performance on the Performance Indicator, such as the CGPA of student, number of student get first class honors, number of student passing particular examination, and etc. These Performance Indicators will be set and measure by the Ministry of Education, so that the Ministry can funding and rewarding based on the achievement on these Performance Indicators. 2.4 Avoid Vicious Competition Another than motivate the university to work hard, Performance-based Funding will help avoid the vicious competition among public university. Competition can be a double-edge in an organization, a suitable level of competition among colleague can improve the performance of organization. However, when vicious competition occurs, it will bring bad effect toward the organization. Same case in public university, to get more budgets from the Ministry of Education, university competes with each other to attract the attention of the Ministry, so that the university can get more funds. In many times, this competition between public universities will become vicious competition; this will bring bad effect toward the development of Malaysia, and the staff and student will become the victims of this competition. This Performance-based Funding could avoid the vicious competition, the funding will based on the performance of the university. In this condition, university will focus more on the achievement on Performance Indicators, and the universities will not have time to compete with each other. In other word, compete with other university do not bring any help in improving the performance of university. 3. Discussion Same like other funding approaches; implement of Performance-based Funding will not only bring benefit, it will have some side effects or disadvantages. Some of the disadvantages will be discuss at here. 3.1 Performance Indicators One of the main disadvantages of Performance-based Funding is the standard of the Performance Indicators. Performance Indicator is the specific expectation that will set up by the Ministry of Education. However, the problem is what standard this Performance Indicator should follow; this is because each university has own standard, own level, own expert field, and most important different number of students due to geographical condition. This means, a single set of Performance Indicator cannot fulfill all the standard of university; but it take more time, cost and human forces to set up and measure specific Performance Indicator to every and each of the university. Besides that, setting up a set of Performance Indicator for university may affect the behavior and the decision making of the particular university. When there is a Performance Indicator, university will be more likely to focus on those Performance indicators. University strategies, planning, decision making may become aggressive in making achievement in the Performance Indicator and may ignore other aspect of Teaching and Learning Process within the university in the purpose of getting more budgets. 4. Conclusion In a nutshell, implement Performance-based Funding in the higher education system has pros and cons. However, this funding approach has more advantages as compare to the disadvantages. Hence, Performance-based Funding is suitable to implement in higher education system in Malaysia. 5. References Abd Rahman Ahmad, Alan Farley. (2013). Funding Reforms in Malaysian Public Universities from the Perspective of Strategic Planning. (pp. International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research). Malaysia: Elsevier Ltd. Nicoline Frà ¸lich, Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt ,Maria J. Rosa. (2010). Funding systems for higher education and their impacts on institutional strategies and academia. International Journal of Educational Management. Reelika Irs and Kulno Tu ¨rk. (2012). Implementation of the performance-related pay in the general educational schools of Estonia. Employee Relations. Tam, M. (2014). Outcomes-based approach to quality assessment and curriculum improvement in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education.

Vonneguts Changing Women :: essays research papers fc

Vonnegut's Changing Women What follows is an argument to the effect that, in the novels written before 1973, Vonnegut's female characters generally are presented negatively, either as pro-authority anti-individualists or as helpless or male-manipulated victims who never "grow" in either a personal or literary sense. In addition I maintain that, in at least two of Vonnegut's later novels, certain female characters exercise individuality in their own existences and effect positively the awareness and attitudes of male characters. From the beginning of Player Piano (1952) through Slaughterhouse Five (1969), Kurt Vonnegut describes the characters of his various worlds in terms of their victimization at the hands of a dehumanizing, or perhaps a better term might be "deindividualizing," technologically fixated, industrial/militaristic society. Time and time again in these novels the role of the individual is subsumed in the miasma that passes for "social responsibility." Like the real world in which every human being exists, Vonnegut's literary worlds feature nameless and faceless authorities (when such authorities are offered at all) who seem to be the masters in local, regional, global, and sometimes interstellar chess games. Often, as is the case in Vonnegut's 1951 "All the King's Men," these "manipulators" move their all-too-sentient pieces in what at times, for the victims, must seem to be diabolical--and what certainly are tragic--maneuvers. In The Sirens of Titan (1959) and Slaughterhouse Five the "accidental" nature or intergalactic point of view of the authority that seems to be "in charge of things" serves to distance humans from personal responsibility for the results of such maneuvering--as such results are described in the novels. In Sirens, for example, the inappropriate and often asinine behaviors of Malachi Constant are shown to be products of the direct influence of the Tralfamadorians who for millennia have manipulated human societies simply to communicate with a mechanized messenger shipwrecked on Saturn's largest moon. The same excuse can be made for the ultimate human manipulator in the novel, Winston Niles Rumfoord, as it can for the actions and attitudes of Bee, Rumfoord's wife and the mother of Constant's son, Chrono. That the communications sent to Salo on Titan consist of such inane and, given the non-human nature of the receiver, unimportant content as, "Be patient. We h aven't forgotten about you," and, "You will be on your way before you know it" (271), only makes more pathetic the fact that Tralfamadore has influenced directly the rise and fall of countless human civilizations in order to deliver such messages.

Lucy, by Jamaica kincaid

There are a lot of ways of reading this novel. It could be read, somewhat conventionally, with focus on Lucy, people and places. But if we look into the deep, we’ll see well-marked psychological picture of the young woman, her everyday struggle with herself. In â€Å"Lucy†, Jamaica Kincaid challenges the idea of passive/pathological sexuality in women. Lucy's deepest conflicts and her greatest anger arise from her relationships with her mother and then with her substitute mother, Mariah. Her own family seems fragmented, and in some sense her island community does, as well. The novel itself, however, does seem to connect mother and motherland–the island. That may explain somewhat the intensity of her anger and feeling of suffocation. Her rage against her mother is not simply psychological, an especially strong version of the usual parent-child conflict. Lucy’s relationship to her mother is highly complex; she has very ambivalent feelings about her. She is cruel to her, but also loves her deeply; she hates her and admires her at the same time. Although Lucy constantly discusses her anger toward her mother and Annie’s inadequacy and failure as a mother, she also peppers the novel with tender stories of their interactions. â€Å"I reminded her that my whole upbringing had been devoted to preventing me from becoming a slut.† it is one lesson, which mother gave to Lucy. Lucy describes her mother’s large hands, and her love of plants; she tells us of Annie’s lessons to Lucy about sex, men, and abortion, and of sitting on Annie’s lap as a child and caressing her face. Lucy also proudly shares stories of her mother’s life and her various triumphs. Despite Lucy’s anger toward her mother, she still feels a deep connection to her and identifies with her in many ways. Until she was nineteen years old, Lucy Potter had not ventured from her own little world on the small island where she was born. Now she is living with a family and learning a culture that is very different from her own. Lewis and Mariah and their four daughters want Lucy to feel like she is part of the family but at first she finds it difficult to fit in. She just wants to do her duty and in her off-hours discovers a new world through her friend Peggy and sexuality through young men, Hugh and Paul. Lucy often reflects on her life back on the island; the conflicts between she and her mother, and the British influence on the islanders. She remembers the time her mother showed her how to mix herbs that supposedly would cleanse a woman's womb but what they both knew was an abortion remedy. Lucy knows what is expected of her, to study for a respectable job like a nurse and to honour her family. She finds out that the tidy, neat world of the family she has come to love is not all it purports to be and how silence is a universal language. Lucy comes to North America to work as an au pair for Lewis and Mariah and their four children. Lewis and Mariah are a thrice-blessed couple–handsome, rich, and seemingly happy. Yet, almost at once, Lucy begins to notice cracks in their beautiful facade. With mingled anger and compassion, Lucy scrutinizes the assumptions and verities of her employers' world and compares them with the vivid realities of her native place. Lucy has no illusions about her own past, but neither is she prepared to be deceived about where she presently is. At the same time that Lucy is coming to terms with Lewis's and Mariah's lives, she is also unravelling the mysteries of her own sexuality. Gradually a new person unfolds: passionate, forthright, and disarmingly honest. Lucy leaves the novel crying with shame over her wish to â€Å"love someone so much that I would die from it.† Lucy does love someone that much, but she has thrown that love away because she could not adequately create a space for herself within it. When her mother tells her â€Å"You can run away, but you cannot escape the fact that I am your mother, my blood runs in you, I carried you for nine months inside me,† Lucy interprets that as a prison sentence. â€Å"To myself I then began calling her Mrs. Judas, and I began to plan a separation from her that even then I suspected would never be complete.†   Yet this is a prison sentence that all human beings must face, and Lucy’s way of dealing with it leaves her empty and ashamed at the end of the novel. Indeed, she states, â€Å"I was now living a life I had always wanted to live. I was living apart from my family†¦ The feeling of bliss, the feeling of happiness, the feeling of longing fulfilled that I had thought would come with this situation was nowhere to be found inside me.†