Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Personal Adult Life

The purpose of this paper is to explore my personal journey through adult development, while incorporating Erikson’s 8 stages of developmental theory. It will take you on a brief introduction through my childhood up to my young adulthood. Touching on some of the trials and tribulations I have encountered and how they have contributed to my resilience’s. How my life’s journey has caused influenced my desire to obtain a career in criminal psychology Concluding, with the goals that success in grad school will help me attain in the remainder of my life.Life is filled with many twist and turns, up and downs. It is up to us the individual what we learn along life’s journey. People will come into our lives and help guide and changes us as well as the lessons, trials, and tribulations we all encounter. Although we have no control over fate, we do have power over our â€Å"driving skills†, and could thus widen or narrow our chance for a smooth, prosperous jo urney. It is beneficial to remember that we are not alone and that we all take this journey into adulthood.Most prominently, no matter how harsh the terrain of the road becomes, we just have to remember that we will pull through and be transformed for the better because of it. I believe that it is my optimistic philosophy that I’ve adopted which has been much solace to me in my own journey in becoming the level headed young woman I am today. It was not at all easy. However, I have been blessed with a great support system and environment. My childhood I learned a lot and matured faster than most of my friends. During what Erikson called the play age 3 to 5 my mom gave birth to my little brother. I wasn’t too happy about this.It is during this Learning to initiative vs Guilt this is where Erikson believed the healthy developing child learns to imagine, through all sorts of fantasy, cooperate with others, to lead as well as follow, fearful and continues to depend on adult s and is still restricted both in development of play skills and in imagination. (Erikson, E. H. , 1963). At first I wanted to try and hid my brother in the closet. My mom said I had a pretty good imagination and a ball of a good time with myself but I also made friends very easy. One of the hardest times in my life occurred two weeks before my 11th birthday.My father was killed. This is during Erikson’s stage known as School age, where he believed it is during this time where children learn to master the more formal skills of life. Such as relating to peers according to rules, progressing from free play to play that may be elaborating structured by rules and may demand formal teamwork, mastering social studies, reading and the necessity of homework. Erikson stated that the child who trust because of his successive and successful resolutions of earlier psychosocial crises is trusting and autonomous, and full of initiative will learn easily enough to be industrious (Erikson, E . H. , 1963). I had a hard time with this because my friends had both of their parents around and I couldn’t understand why I had my father taken away from me.The following year wasn’t that much easier for me. 2 days before my 12th birthday my mom was involved in a serious car wreck and was almost killed During Identity versus role years age 12 to 18 I went through a great deal of things. This stage Erikson believes that a successful early adolescence aquires self certainty as opposed to self consciousness and self doubt. During this time clear sexual identity is established and develops a set of ideals (Erikson, E. H. , 1963). You could say that this is where I really learned that life will keep throwing things at you and you have to learn how to roll with the punches. Starting off with my mom’s wreck at 12, at the age of 16 I was in an abusive relationship and was raped by my boyfriend at the time. My abuse, for example, had brought me much self-loathing, but then I realized I was able to get out and get out alive and this is where I really made the choice where I refused to be bullied in to silence and allow others to make me a victim. I felt each time I fell; I was obliged to obtain strength in order to rise.Thus each time I rose, I was a little stronger than before. During young adulthood 18 to 35 Intimacy & Solidarity verses Isolation I have done my most growing of finding out who I am. Erikson believes that during this stage The successful young adult, for the first time , can experience true intimacy- the sort of intimacy that makes possible good marriage or a genuine and enduring friendship. (Erikson, E. H. , 1963). I dated a guy who is actually my best friend now for seven years, we moved to Vegas and then realized things were not going to work.I wanted to focus more on school and eventually the family life but I gained a great friendship out of the seven years together. I met some of my best girl friends during these years. Vall iant added a stage which he calls Career Consolidation this is where he insists that adult education should help adults live better. He felt that educators help guide learners in better life style directions through education and counseling (Vaillant,G.. & Mukamal, K 2001). I personally have to say that I agree and have always been taught early on that an education is something that no one can take away from you.While during this stage of my life I have had some serious health problems. I have had cyst removed from my left breast which they later found out were in the beginning stages of cancer. I have had to have my gallbladder removed and found out that I have Celica disease. The one positive trait that had proved to be highly efficient in boosting me out of these pits is ambition. I know that too much of it could corrupt a person, but so far it had only empowered my spirit with much-needed optimism.My greatest ambitions is to become a criminal profiler or help start a victim†™s voice program and help counsel abused women; therefore every hardship and pain to me befits an inspiration a way for me to be able to connect with others and their hardships. It has been my optimistic perception of things, that have succored me through my many phases of emotional turmoil. Although this journey had been difficult and even toilsome at times, I pulled through. One of the merits that I have acquired from my past experiences is strength.Strength in mind and spirit is like steel, and the most sublime of its quality can only be heated through suffering each . Another lesson that I’ve learned through my journey up to this point is to appreciate all that life has to offer. Life is short, and my road could abruptly come to a halt at anytime. Thus it is prominent to savor each and every moment of it by focusing on the positive things. My struggles and desolation have procured me to value what I have in order to overcome depression. My family, friends, and other for tunate events in my life have been lights in times of darkness, eminding me that the world is not completely forlorn and bleak. Optimism, along with strength, is all that I need to carry on. And thus I go forth on this journey with the memories of all the people and places I’ve left behind. I know that as long as I possess a goal, I will never be lost. My goal is to become a successful graduate student obtaining my Masters in Psychology with specialization in Criminal Justice and Victomology. I hope to maybe one day work with the FBI and possible become a Criminal Profiler. It had been a most arduous but rewarding journey. My friends and family, especially my father, had made this journey much easier†¦All of these allies and resources have presented me with guidance in the right course. The bumps and craters that I’ve met along my journey held a large role in constituting the person that I am now. I have fallen so many times into the seemingly abyss of despair and struggled against the mirror for just a speck of self-esteem, but I have survived. I understand that there will be greater obstacles and barriers in the future, but I personally believe that pain is a thing to be prized. Someone who does not know pain would not appreciate joy, nor would he obtain the strength to make his journey worthwhile

College App

â€Å"Where are you from? † My stomach tightens and my mouth goes dry as I rack my brain for an answer that doesn't Involve explaining my entire life story. My anxiety over such a simple question may seem unnecessary, but I have spent the past seventeen years trying to come up with a suitable answer to that same question. I have grown up a proud daughter of a united States Army soldier, and in my father's line of work, never knowing where we'll be sent next is part of the job description. I was born in New York and from there moved to Georgia. Then we moved to Rhode Island, back to New York, Kansas,Virginia, and finally Washington. That's seven states. Not to mention, I have attended six different public schools and lived in seven different houses. You could say I've always been the new girl. My life is not Just in brown cardboard boxes though; it's picking up and moving at any given time. What can I say In response to this question? Should I say the snow drifts in New York be cause that's where I was born? Or should I say the rolling hills of Kansas because three years Is the longest Vive spent In one place? Some may feel sorry for me, but I couldn't Imagine Miming any other way.We are not defined by a geographic location, but rather the challenges we face and how we learn from them. Unexpected deployments and goodbyes have shown me that some lessons are harder than others, but I know that I am heading towards a bright future. Through my travels I have experienced a wide range of cultures and lifestyles that some can only dream of. Being an Army brat has made me adaptable, flexible, and empathic. So, a simple answer to this question Just wouldn't do my story Justice. I take a deep breath, smile, and say â€Å"I'm from everywhere. †

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Analysis of Vampire Scene in Chapter 3 Dracula Essay

Freud suggests that fear is â€Å"linked in some way to an earlier emotional response that has been repressed.† In chapter 3 Hawker experiences a great amount of fear when he is attacked by the Brides of Dracula, in a dramatic, highly sexual scene. Hawker’s submission and confusion as to whether he is experiencing pleasure of pain could, to follow Freud’s theory, be linked to a past memory in which he repressed his sexual desires. In the prudent society in which Stoker was writing, the rampant, overt eroticism of the Brides would have been shocking, and in some ways liberating. Stoker writes: â€Å"There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips.† The Brides are wholly sexual beings, who are guided solely by their desires, and this need contrasts completely against the typical 19th century men and women- John, Lucy and Mina. This liberation from repression would and did terrify and shock society, making vampires seem more like animals, monsters. Freud wrote about the Superego, Ego and Id, the three parts of the human psyche. The Id is natural, animalistic desires, such as sex and hunger and it is the Ego’s job to ensure that these desires are controlled, in order for a human to live in an ordered society. This links well with the idea that repression leads to fear. Freud also wrote about the ‘uncanny’ which in German translates to ‘unheimlich,’ which means un-homely. The idea of uncanny is that â€Å"within the concept of the homely is the notion of concealment itself,† that where we feel safest may not be that safe at all, and that â€Å"home is a place of secrets.† In Chapter three Harker seeks comfort in a room â€Å"where, of old, ladies had sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.† He seeks safety and comfort in familiarity, however within the place where he appears to be safest in the castle the Brides of Dracula descend on him. Stoker writes that: â€Å"The room was the same, unchanged in any way since I came into it,† however the Brides have appeared and suddenly the atmosphere changes from that of safety and sleep to sexually charged domination. At the climax of the scene, the vampires are just about to bite Hawker’s neck, and Hawker completely and utterly submits: â€Å"I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the super sensitive skin of my throat, and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there. I closed my eyes in languorous ecstasy and waited, waited with beating heart.† It is this uninhibited pleasure that Hawker experiences that makes the scene so significant, almost as if his unconscious Id has completely taken over his Superego. The Brides do not think, they act, they are, according to Freud, the complete opposite to how normal human beings think they should behave.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Book Report on Management Challenges for the 21st Century By Peter F Term Paper

Book Report on Management Challenges for the 21st Century By Peter F. Drucker - Term Paper Example As a teacher, philosopher, reporter and consultant, he had a very in-depth vision on politics, economics and social transitions which enabled him to guide his followers and readers with a wider and a modern perception of the management and its theories. Drucker authored more than twenty five books with his very debut scholastic work bearing the title, â€Å"The End of Economic Man† which was published in the year 1939. His book, â€Å"Management Challenges for the 21st Century† appeared in the year 1982 and provides an insightful and contemporary information for the benefit of individuals and organizations at the same platform as Drucker has almost united the two separate entities in his book and views their common objective towards the attainment of one common goal. Drucker views the 21st century as the period of â€Å"Profound Transition† as this era witnessed lots of social, political and economic upheavals starting from the World War to great Economic Depress ion. Drucker with his coherent knowledge and foresightedness tried to shape the course of business and management that he visions to classify the future course of commerce amid all the socio-economic and socio-political transitions across the globe. Management Challenges for the 21st Century: A Detailed Insight The era of 21st century is a time of metamorphosis according to Drucker. Amidst the structural changes taking place around, Drucker views five socio-political events that will certainly tend to shape the business and its strategy in the near future. He takes in to consideration the fall of birth rates in the developed countries of the world, transitions in the area of distribution of disposable income, paradigm shift and re-definition of corporate activities and performances, competition in the global market, and the growth of incongruence between the economic and political pragmatism as the factors that would influence much in the reshaping and reincarnating modern course of management, its strategies and businesses. Next, Drucker throws light on the issue of the requirements of leadership. He muses in an elegant style, â€Å"One cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it†. He visions that in the era of the â€Å"new information revolution† influence of characteristics of which are very much evident in the modern commerce, it is important to focus on the information and its meaning and not on the technology through which it is collected. As regards to the productivity of the knowledge workers, Drucker in his epoch making documentation on modern business and its strategy captivated in the â€Å"Management Challenges of the 21st Century† makes a very contemporary and relevant commentary. He views that the nature of the work for a knowledge workers are quite different from that of the physical labourers and under this circumstance, knowledge workers unlike manual workers, must not be considered as costs but must be treated as c apital assets. And finally, he throws light on the responsibilities that knowledge workers must assume in management pertaining to area of their self-development and their career. Actually very few people influenced the course of business individually in the 20th century to the extent like that of Peter Drucker. He literally invented and redefined management as a discipline in the year 1950s. Before reshaping and redefining management as a major course of study, it was much

Sunday, July 28, 2019

International Operational And Logistical Strategies Essay

International Operational And Logistical Strategies - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that total quality management encompasses combined management effort to improve and advance the quality of the company’s products at all levels. It has to do with meeting the customers’ quality expectation. Total quality management aids at improving effectiveness, flexibility, and effectiveness of an organization to meet the needs and expectation of all involved stakeholders. It facilitates planning and organizing to understand the contribution of all involved stakeholders. The frequently wasted energy and effort is eliminated through concrete and effective planning and organization. In total quality management, the leaders’ works on productive strategies of ensuring quality service management and total elimination of the detected problems and shortcomings. The ideology of total quality management accesses the management capability of managing people and business processes to meet customers’ quality expectation. Businesses provide the best outcome in satisfying the customers need through a well working combination of the total quality management and effective organization leadership. The guiding principle behind total quality management is suppliers-customer interface. The interface should be functional in internal level and in external level. Total commitment to quality is very essential in achieving the desired customer quality. To achieve the expectation of the total quality management ideology, frequent transmission of the quality messages together with the need and desire to change the culture of an organization for quality advancement are very fetal and necessary. The three main elements in total quality management are people, process, and systems available in the organization (Jarrett 2006, p. 57) In total quality management, the term quality refers to meeting fully the needs and expectations of the organizations’ customers. The component of quality in total quality management includes; reliability, maintenance, availability appearance, performance, delivery, cost effectiveness, and delivery. The understanding of the organization on all this needs necessitate total quality management (Joseph 2008, p. 50). After comprehensive understanding of the customer’s needs, the organization must strategize on the best means of achieving them for the sake of the customers (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, 2010, p. 19). The initial stage in achieving the quality expectation of the customer is conducting market research. Research helps in understanding the actual and real needs of the customers. The collected finding should be communicated to all relevant organization departments. For an organization to effectively meet the expectation of its customers, the involved stakeholders, department, activities must be integrated. The organization changes should also be based on customers’ satisfaction. Proper integration of all interfaces is very necessary in achievin g total quality organization (Zimmerman, 2006, p. 23). To meet the reality of total quality management, the process of transformation must start from the top. Senior managers must have the will and desire to achieve quality in the organization service delivery. They must demonstrate their total commitment and will of offering quality services to their customers. The operational managers must follow the suit of their seniors (Harrison and van Hoek, 2008, p. 87). Communication on the need and commitment to quality service delivery is also very relevant and demanding. The principles, ideologies, and benefits of total quality management must be communicated and understood by all playing partners. Frequent interaction and consultation in the organization is the real way of developing the required quality attitude and perception among the organization workers. The other core requirement in the total quality man

Saturday, July 27, 2019

DOES THE PRACTISE OF HRM GIVE ORGANISATIONS A COMPETITIVE EDGE Essay

DOES THE PRACTISE OF HRM GIVE ORGANISATIONS A COMPETITIVE EDGE - Essay Example Business organizations has been apt in declaring their commitment in treating employees as valued assets and a source of competitive advantage yet empirically "organisational reality appears 'hard' with an emphasis on the quantitative, calculative, and strategic aspects of managing a head count" (Gill 1999). Empirical evidences on the effectiveness of human resource management as a source of competitive advantage have been widely documented. During 1995, the study of Huselid conducted in almost 1000 US players in various industries concluded that "the magnitude of the returns for investments in high performance work is substantial." Furthermore, "a one percent standard deviation increase in such practices is associated with 7.05% decrease in labour turnover, and on a per employee basis US$27, 044 more in sales, and US$18,641 and US$3,814 more in market value and profits, respectively" (Huselid 1995). This study has been one of the earliest and most extensive works linking HRM to actual business performance. The findings has been strongly supportive on the view that HRM provides companies with competitive edge because HR practices increased employees' trust, job satisfaction, and commitment while eliminating work intensification and reducing stress. In the United Kingdom, wide array of case studies have also been documented which strongly links HRM to organisational performance. In 1997, Patterson et al released the results of their survey utilizing 67 manufacturing industries. This has been published by the Institute of Personnel Development which is currently known as CIPD and highly quoted for its enlightening insights. The study has put forward the "importance of HRM as a driver of, and contributor to, improved performance" (Patterson et al 1997). It is also interesting to note that this study asserts that "HRM had a greater impact on productivity and profits than of other factors including strategy, research and development, and quality" (Patterson et al 19997). Going further, Patterson et al, uncovers that while 8% in variations from profitability is explained by R&D, 17% is explained by HRM practices. This is highly significant compared to the 2% and 1% garnered by the strategy and quality, respectively. The study of Guest et al in 2000 also stresses the importance of human resource management practices in organisational performance. This research links specific human resource practices like job security, recruitment and selection, and training and development with performance outcomes including financial performance, quality, and productivity. It has been uncovered that 70% of the chief executives interviewed for the study asserts that their business strategy relied a lot on people as a source of competitive advantage (Guest et al 2000). On the other hand, less than half of them "felt that 'people issues' are more important than financial and marketing issues" (Guest et al 2000). This particular research opens an important field for further queries. Even though it concluded that HRM is positively correlated with performance, it has also been observed that only a small proportion of the companies considered do practice more than

Friday, July 26, 2019

Argumentative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Argumentative Research - Essay Example Content not driven at the ideology of this political group or the government as a whole (for example either Tibetan or Taiwanese independence) is suppressed in the interests of the state (Hughes). Search engine giant Google has recently come under fire for complying with China’s standards of censorship. Opponents, like Frida Ghitis, accuse Google of selling out on its lofty and righteous corporate responsibility to the oppressed people of China. They claim that as Google puts profits above the people of China, they are compounding the problem by promoting a low standard of corporate ethics. Nevertheless, this view of Google and its ethical responsibilities is itself destructive and contradictory. Claiming that any corporation has a moral duty to serve the interests of anyone besides stockholders is patently absurd. Additionally, to think a corporation does have a moral duty threatens to subordinate businesses to the whims of societies (and, by proxy, their governments): the ou tcome Google’s opponents argue against. The question of Google allowing the Chinese government to censor its content drives a deeper issue: that of corporate social responsibility. This term refers to the moral kinds of obligations, if any, that businesses and corporations are committed to by virtue of being such entities. Obviously, many are favorable to the idea of corporations contributing in some way to social change, other than what some have called â€Å"economic imperialism†, where corporations â€Å"exploit† workers in third-world countries. Nevertheless, the ethics of corporate responsibility have not been well-justified, and are typically found only in the businesses’ models for making profit. Thus, on its face, it seems that â€Å"being responsible† for a corporation is good for business. It can benefit, first of all, brand

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Personal Statement in Journalism Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

In Journalism - Personal Statement Example Then I made a decision to pursue my education in journalism and apply for a bachelor`s degree at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. The desire to become a professional journalist was not the only thing that pushed me to the choice of this career; I was also interested in possibility of research in this field. I also had a substantial practical experience while working for the three major newspapers and TV stations institutions in Saudi Arabia. I saw how the process of information collection, processing, analysis, and demonstration is going on from the inside. During this I time I also understood the responsibility which journalists take when working with information. It is not accidental that media industry workers are called a â€Å"fourth power† because they are able to form tendencies and opinions of people. My experience also enabled me to understand the necessity of Mass Communication for the gradual evolution of the society. But I also faced a lot of questions concern ing the mechanisms of Mass Communication and purposes of this phenomenon. Inability to find answers on my numerous requests personally led me to accepting an offer of an assistant lecturer position in King Saudi University and achieving a scholarship to study Mass Communication in a graduate school in the United States of America. This scholarship will allow me doing a deep and systematic research which I consider to be the only method of answering those questions.   My experience also enabled me to understand the necessity of Mass Communication.

600 ML pepsi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

600 ML pepsi - Essay Example He introduced it as Brad’s Drink and later renamed it Pepsi after enzyme Pepsin and the kola nuts ingredients (Stoddard, 1997). Pepsi, introduced as a cough syrup in America, sold in the pharmacies. Everyone liked the taste of the syrup. In 1909, Pepsi was licensed to process, bottle and trade in more than 24 states in the United States. It introduced its products in a 6.5 ounce bottle. Endorsement of the original application for Pepsi trademark took place in 1903 after an application in 1902 (Stoddard, 1997). Pepsi gained recognition in 1936 after the introduction of the 12 ounce bottle during the great depression. In 1950, there were slight changes in the Pepsi cola formula and calories and sweetness were also slightly altered in Pepsi cola. In 1957, the marketing team changed the bottle appearance of Pepsi cola to a new and attractive bottle and introduced new products, i.e. Mirinda and Teem. Currently, Pepsi cola is available in each and every country and is available to more than hundred million consumers in Asia as well as Africa and Europe (Stoddard, 1997). Distribution of Pepsi products in Abu Dhabi is indirect. Through the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Pepsi has a market share of 67 percent while Coca cola has a market share of 35 percent (Louis & Yazijian, 1980). This data fluctuates with periods and most of the times Pepsi is at par with coca cola, the biggest competitor. Pepsi dominates Abu Dhabi’s soft drink market. According to Harrell (2008), marketing environment refers to the forces and factors that influence a company’s aptitude to create and sustain healthy and successful relationships with customers. Marketing environment consists of the macro environment and the micro environment. The microenvironment refers to the factors and forces that are close to the company and influence the way the company serves its customers. This includes the suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets and the competitors.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

The Pareto welfare criterion requires that welfare improvements for Essay

The Pareto welfare criterion requires that welfare improvements for some are not achieved at the expense of damages to others. As it is impossible to imagine a - Essay Example As a decision-making tool, the Pareto chart provides facts and insights necessary for setting priorities. Pareto set up a welfare criterion known as the Pareto optimum which turned out to be an introductory perception in the theory of welfare. This Pareto optimum introduced by Vilfredo is a situation of dealing in which no individual can be improved through welfare while making the other individual worse off. If a change in the economy is in the positive and no individual is worsened off on the cost of one individuals betterment then it is known as Pareto improvement. It can also be said that the situation is Pareto superior. Pareto efficiency is a state resulting in an improvement in welfare of one or more individuals without adversely affecting the welfare of others. Pareto's theory was based upon the equal distribution of resources so that the well being of one person would not affect the well being of the other. This is not being achieved in the now world but in the recent years governments are taking steps to influence proper resource allocation. These steps include the introduction of public goods and services which are an exception and face no rival ness. The governments are increasingly getting involved in the field of semi public goods which are neither owned by the private or public sector companies. The governments provide subsidies which help in lowering the goods prices; lower the cost prices, impose tax penalties to limit the consumption or production of a good and mandate the goods or services like education on the public. This helps the government to properly allocate all the resources available. Tax penalties or legal punishments are enforced on the manufacturers by the government in order to limit the production or consumption of a good for e.g. pollution. They would impose excise taxes on products so that the production of harmful goods is dispirited for e.g. alcohol. The government also has an important role to play in the public Economic En terprises. They could invest more in their public sector and improve the goods in the market provided by them to the public at a much lowered price then available in the market. They could even privatize the companies so that natural monopolies are avoided in the market which exhibit increasing returns to scale. Such types of monopolies are taken over by the government on the basis of efficiency. The government would charge a price for the products less than the average cost and this shortage would be balanced by the tax revenues. And lastly the government could put on economic regulations so that the market works on a safety standard for e.g. providing licenses or patents, setting general anti-trust regulations and etc. This would help the government to change the pattern of resource allocation and thus attain the level of Pareto efficient allocation. Pareto efficiency has proved tremendously helpful for economists; The First Welfare Theorem affirms that when manufacturers and customers both are price takers, the equilibrium allocation is always Pareto efficient. For this reason, a competitive financial system fundamentally will distribute resources proficiently as customers can make the most of their utilities. The Second Welfare Theorem states that any market that is Pareto efficient will include a set of given costs that forms a competitive equilibrium in the economy. Many economists may and

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Libertarian Use of Punishment to Show Free Will Essay

Libertarian Use of Punishment to Show Free Will - Essay Example Libertarianism is the view that we have free will. Free will is an act based on a reason that an agent takes to choose an action from a range of alternatives (O’Connor, 2011). How choices transpire made at times of differing motives might agree with the increase of quantum indeterminism in individuals’ brains. Following my first premise, libertarians deem that we may hold individuals morally accountable only if they exercise free will, a person can freely choose to take an action, making them responsible, morally. This makes that person free and ethically responsible because they have taken a choice that is undetermined. Regardless of the undetermined choices they put forward, few libertarians will assert to offer an episteme justification that persons did take that kind of choices.   Libertarians decide the degree of harshness that is assigned to a individual whose moral responsibility has been established to the acceptable standards of the society. However, they to agree that assigning those difficult characteristic of moral responsibility to individuals who does not believe in libertarian free will is to take action wrongly. Hence justifying my premise that punishment bestowed by free willed libertarian can only be done to a believer of the same, in order to be deemed right. The second premise argues that that majority of libertarians deem that we should hold individuals morally responsible. Holding an individual morally responsible take account of a range of behaviours; that may be either positive or negative. Examples include: verbal accusation, praise and blame and retributive penalty. Libertarians differ among themselves over deciding how much of that assortment moral responsibility comprise. However, due to the fact that even the smallest of undesirable behaviour harms people, libertarians use the obligation of moral responsibility as a justification to turns otherwise immoral behaviour into punishable action (Double).  Some libertaria ns however have more to their thoughts on punishment. Mark Balaguer (1999) argues that there is enough grounds for believing alternative are undetermined as we do for supposing they are determined. He argues that nobody knows exactly how the human brain works. But his argument fails to give reason to establish that brains make undermined choices gives room to believe we do make choices based our free will. Robert Kane (1996, 1999) takes an alternative view other libertarians stating that Kanian free choosers may only have partial control over their choices. His implies that they are only, to some degree, morally responsible for their deeds. Because Kane’s theory makes indeterministic choices rely upon a indeterminate quantum actions, he concede that Kanian free individuals lack control over what they choose. Kane’s view would not be shared by traditional libertarians precisely because his argument of having less control over actions taken fails to support the responsib ility that libertarians wish to assign. Doing this would make it difficult to give emphasize on the importance to libertarians of mitigating the practices of making a person responsible morally for his deeds.   The strongest argument raised against libertarian argument to use punishment to show free will is the proportionality rule. The proportionality rule gives us how much penalty a claimant may exact to a wrong doer, and no more;

Monday, July 22, 2019

2008 Presidential Debates Essay Example for Free

2008 Presidential Debates Essay The October 7 debate, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates, took place in Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee and Tom Brokaw (NBC News) was the moderator. Questions were selected from thousands of online messages and were based on domestic and foreign policy. Overall, the issue that dominated the debate was the economy with both candidates pointing out the mistakes of the past and laying down their plan for the future. Senator Obama and McCain on the economy Senator Obama started with pointing out that the country is in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and people are worried by about their jobs, pensions and their ability to send their children to schools. Senator Obama stated that the crisis was as a result of failed economic policies of the George Bush regime. Obama emphasized on regulating Wall Street, cracking down on CEOs and making sure they dont get bonuses and giving the middle class tax cuts. Senator McCain puts the blame on the democrats in the senate and in the congress who defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Senator McCain plan is to stabilize home values and buy up bad loans. He also does not propose any tax cuts or increases. Senator Obama and McCain on energy Senator McCains plan is to enhance the use of nuclear energy since it is, as he puts it, safe and reliable. An added advantage of nuclear energy, according to him, is that the nuclear fuel spent can be reprocessed. Senator Obama puts energy among his top priority issues should he go ahead and win the presidency. He states that high gas prices are not only a strain to the family budget but also a threat to national security since countries like Russia and Venezuela were benefiting from high oil prices. Obama proposes a $15 billion ten year plan to guarantee independence from Middle Eastern oil. Senator Obama and McCain on health care Senator Obama proposes to lower the cost of premiums by up to $2,500 a year by investing in prevention. He puts emphasis on using information technology so that medical records are put in computers rather than in hospital forms. Senator McCain notes how everyone is struggling with health care and proposes giving every American a $5,000 refundable tax credit so that they can get their health care insurance. The October 15 debate took place in Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York and Bob Schieffer (CBS News) was the moderator. Focus on that day was on domestic policy. Senator McCain and Obama on economy Senator McCain once again blamed the input that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had that caused the housing market to collapse. Of the $700 billion allocated, McCain proposes to use 300 of that to buy the home loan mortgages and negotiate with home owners. Senator Obama reiterates that the financial rescue plan is an important step and proposes ending tax breaks for companies shipping jobs oversees and provide tax credit for companies creating jobs domestically. Senator Obama and McCain on energy Senator McCain plans to stop spending $700 billion annually in other countries on energy. He plans on investing in wind, tide, natural gas, nuclear and offshore drilling. He also suggests that Senator Obama is opposed to such initiatives. Senator Obama says that investing in a serious energy policy should help America to stop borrowing from China and spending in Saudi Arabia. Senator Obama and McCain on climate change The issue of energy and climate change goes hand in hand. Obama again talks of his plan to stop foreign oil dependence and making the oil companies drill from their unused land. He also says that he has focused on putting resource into solar, wind, bio-diesel and geothermal. Senator McCain points out the importance of starting offshore drilling right away.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in House Construction

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in House Construction Background and Justification of project Buildings are climate modifiers which provide indoor environments. These are essential to the well being and the social and economic developments of mankind. However, they are also intensive resources consumers and hence, they require enormous amount of materials and energy in their construction and maintenance. During the construction period and while they are demolished at the end of their life, buildings generate huge amount of solid wastes and various types of emissions, such as particulates, noise and various kinds of liquid effluents. According to Hall (2003 ) and Anink (1996) the building industry accounts for around one-tenth of the world’s GDP, at least 7% of its jobs, half of all resources used and up to 40% of energy used and green house gas emission. Hill and Bowen (1997) discussed how the applications of modern technology, together with the increasing population, are leading to the rapid depletion of the earth’s physical resources. Hall (2003) also estimated that by 2025, the world population would reach 8 billion and 98% of the increase in the population would be in developing countries. With time, the construction industry is expanding and the rate of resource depletion is not sustainable. As it can be imagined, construction materials and products are essential to life – with respect to both buildings and infrastructure. Humans spend around 80% of their time (on average) in some type of building or on roads. Construction products play a major role in improving the energy efficiency of buildings and also contribute to economic prosperity (Edwards, 2003). On the other hand, construction products also produce a considerable impact on the environment. The Worldwatch Institute estimates that 40% of the world’s materials and energy is used in buildings. However, according to Anink (1996), the construction sector is responsible for 50% of the material resources taken from nature and 50% of total waste generated. Also, Rodman and Lenssen (1993) pointed that buildings account for one-sixth of the world’s freshwater withdrawals, one-quarter of its wood harvest, and two-fifths of its material and energy flows. The impact of construction products relative to t he overall lifetime impact of a building is currently 10-20%. For infrastructure this value is significantly higher, greater than 80% in some cases. In Mauritius, nearly all the main resources in a building are imported, e.g. steel and cement. An average of 600 000 tonnes of cement are imported annually in Mauritius. As our country is currently going through a boom in the construction sector, the figures are expected to increase. The price of crude oil has more than  doubled on the world market during the past years. This has had a direct impact on nearly all the construction materials which are imported and produced locally. While choosing for construction materials, many do not think about the impacts that the material have on the environment. The environmental impacts of building materials are increasing day by day. Therefore, environmental impacts have become an increasingly important consideration in selecting building materials for the construction. Consequently, life cycle assessment has become an important tool in analysing natural resources and emissions generated in manufacturing processes. Winistorfer and Zhangjing (2004) said that life cycle assessment refers to the analysis of the environmental impact of a product through every step of its life. It includes environment impacts while the product is manufactured, used and disposed. The objective of a life cycle analysis is to quantify environmental influences of a product through input and output analysis. Aim and Objectives The aim of the project was to calculate all the resource energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions linked to construction of a typical residential house in Mauritius. Simapro Life Cycle Analysis software was used to calculate all the resource energy and greenhouse gas emission from the building. The objectives were to: quantify all the resources required for the construction of the typical residential house estimate the weight of the building minimise the use of resources in building thereby reducing the greenhouse gas emission and ensuring a cleaner production. To satisfy the aim and objectives of the project, a virtual house was selected to carry out the analysis. The house used was obtained from the central statistics office. It represents the most common type of building in Mauritius. The size of the house is 128m2. All the quantities of materials used for the construction of the building were calculated. Using Simapro life cycle assessment software, the energy requirement and CO2 emission of each material was obtained. Also, the weight of the house was calculated using the unit weight of reinforced concrete and concrete blocks. Structure of Report A literature search was done and the findings were included in chapter 2. The latter describes how the building consumes all the different resources, energy requirements and the environmental impacts of building. Also, the benefits of sustainable building and of recycling waste, in order to recover the energy, were discussed. A detailed methodology, which was adopted to achieve the aim and objectives of the study, was described in chapter 3. The key results and discussions were presented in chapter 4. Finally, conclusions, recommendations and further works were dealt with in chapter 5. Literature Review Building: direct consumption of resources There is growing concern that human activity is affecting the global and local ecosystem severely enough to potentially cause permanent changes to some ecosystems  and potentially cause them to crash. Boyle (2005) suggested that there must be a reduction factor of 20 to 50 in resource consumption and efficiency in order to achieve technologies which are sustainable. Sustainable technologies will be particularly significant to the construction industry which is a major consumer of resources. The pie chart below gives a repartition of all the primary materials resources used in the construction industry in 1998. Figure 2.1 Repartition of primary resources in the construction industry (Source: Construction Resource Efficiency Review, 2006) Despite the fact that every house makes use of different quantity of resources, according to US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network, a standard wood-frame house uses 4047 m2 (one acre) of forest and produces 3-7 tonne of waste during construction. Lippiatt (1999) stated that building consumes 40% of the gravel, sand and stone, 25% of the timber, 40% of the energy and 16% of the water used globally per year. Boyle (2005) estimated that in UK itself, about 6 tonnes of building materials were used annually for every member of the population. Much of the waste and consumption of resources occurred during the extraction and processing of the raw materials. For example, mining requires water and energy, consumes land and produces significant quantities of acidic contaminated gas, liquid and solid wastes (Boyle, 2005). A second example which can be used is that of timber. The cultivation of trees requires significant space for cultivation and amount of fertilizers. Moreover, the harvesting and processing phases of timber make use of considerable amounts of energy. Trees are also grown in plantations which require old-growth forest and significantly reduce biodiversity. Energy is also used extensively in the transportation of raw materials. Fossils fuels are used for the transportation, extraction and harvesting of the material, thereby releasing greenhouse gases and a range of air pollutants. Processing of metals and mineral often results in major gas emissions. The concrete industry is a major producer of carbon dioxide whereas on the other hand, aluminium smelting produces perfluorocarbons (Boyle, 2005). These two are very powerful greenhouse gases. According to the Construction Resource Efficiency Information Review (2006), emissions to the air by the construction industry in 1998 were just over 30 million tonnes in total, of which over 97% was carbon dioxide. Of the 30 million tonnes of emissions, over 70% came from mineral extraction and product manufacture. The table below shows the total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions generated by the construction industry in UK. Table 2.1 Carbon dioxide equivalent emissions generated by the construction industry in UK (Source: Construction Resource Efficiency Information Review, 2006) Emission generated by: Tonnage (Kt ) Mineral extraction, product and material manufacture 19,817 Transport of product and material 2,543 Transport of secondary and recycled product 675 Construction and demolition site activity 3,764 Transport related to construction and demolition site activity 1,291 Transport of waste from product and material manufacture 20 Transport of construction and demolition waste 219 Total CO2 equivalent emissions to the atmosphere 28,327 As it can be seen, from Table 2.1, a total of 28 327 Ktonnes of CO2equivalent emissions were generated by the construction industry in UK and much of these emissions occurred during the mineral extraction and product and material manufacture. Over the lifespan of a building, the material will have to be maintained and stored in good condition whereas, in some cases, replaced. Every five to fifteen years, exterior coatings, guttering, piping, walls, and flooring will require repair or replacement. By effective maintenance, requirements for replacement are reduced by a significant amount. The decisions here are not taken by the builder or designer regardless of the original design. Concerning  the material used for the repair and the maintenance of the building, it is the owner who takes the decision. During the lifespan of a building, the overall investment of resources into the building needs to be considered (Boyle, 2005).  Buildings can be constructed and designed in such a way that they can last for more than hundred years. Additionally, many traditional buildings are designed in such a way that they can last beyond 200 years (Morel, 2001). However, many designers are now planning buildings for a lifespan of only 50 years or even less despite using durable materials requiring minimal maintenance. Such materials reduce the requirement for repairs or replacement. Hence, simply designing and maintaining a building for 400 years  rather than 50 can potentially reduce its environmental effect from material resources by up to a factor of 4 (Boyle, 2005). Energy requirements of a building Cole and Carnan (1996) found that the energy that is consumed during the life cycle of a residential building includes energy used in producing building materials and constructing the structure. Also, energy is used in occupying and maintaining the building, and in demolishing or deconstructing the structure at the end of its serviceable life. According to Cole and Carnan (1996), the energy consumed in building can be classified in three categories: energy to initially produce the building; energy to operate the building, and; energy to demolish and dispose of the building at the end of its effective life. During the extraction, processing and transportation of material as well as during the construction as mentioned earlier large amount of energy is consumed. Morel et al. (2001) found that costs could be reduced by more than a factor of 6 during construction by the use of energy of local materials. The local materials studied by Morel et al. (2001) included rammed earth, stone, timber which were compared to the use of imported concrete. Consequently, Morel et al found that the imported concrete required significant energy for processing. Treloar et al. (2001) found that, by using a concrete binder, rammed earth had an energy load equivalent to that of a brick veneer construction due to the energy  required in processing the cement. Boyle (2005) stated that energy is the major resource consumed in buildings and 90% of the energy consumption is over the operational lifespan of the building. Therefore, significant decrease in energy consumption assists in reducing the resource consumption and improving efficiency. Although a house can be designed to a totally self-sufficient condition for energy and water, much depends on the location, that is, the climate, the availability and potability of  local water sources as well as the attitude of the user. The designer or builder can incorporate some energy saving devices and design such a water heater, passive heating, and composting toilets, which are suitable for local conditions. Furthermore, such devices and designs will only be incorporated if a significant profit can be generated. Many developers resist including energy- saving measures unless they are required by local councils or are considered essentially by buyers in the local community. Cole and Kernan (1996 ) found that the energy used to heat, cool, provide artificial lighting, and power typically used appliances in buildings accounts for more than 30% of Canada’s national energy use. Approximately two-thirds of this consumption is attributed to residential buildings and the remainder to commercial buildings. The US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network estimated that, the annual average energy consumption for one story concrete building, the annual average energy consumption is 63GJ. However, Zydeveld (1998) pointed out that up to 80% savings in heating water and improving the indoor air quality and thermal comfort could be made in the Netherlands with the inclusion of passive solar design with an additional 10% cost in construction. Therefore, savings of 90% could be achieved. Four major design principles enabled architects and builders to incorporate passive solar design  into their buildings: solar  orientation; maximizing the solar gain through low surface loss and high internal volume; high mass within the insulation and avoiding of shading. The rise in use of material in the low energy building can, however, mean that there is an increased consumption of material and energy overall. Thormark (2002) discovered that up to 45% of the total energy used is in the embodied energy in a low-energy building and that such a building could have a greater total energy use than that of a building with a higher operating energy consumption. Besides, he also said that 37-42% of the embodied  energy could be recovered  by recycling of materials. Embodied Energy According to an unknown author (2007), Embodied Energy is the amount of energy that has gone into the making of a material or things made with materials. A very high percentage of the world’s energy is derived from fossil fuels which, when burnt, release vast amounts of CO2. As the production of energy from fossil fuels is environmentally unfriendly, materials and things that have a lower embodied energy are more sustainable than those with a higher embodied energy. On average, 0.098 tonnes of CO2 are produced per gigajoule of embodied energy (Sustainable built environment 2007). Source: Sustainable Technologies (1996) Figure 2.2: Embodied Energy of the different building materials The embodied energy per unit mass of materials used in a building varies enormously from about two gigajoules per tonne for concrete, to hundreds of gigajoules per tonne for aluminium.(Figure 2.2). The reuse of materials commonly saves about 95% of embodied energy which could otherwise be wasted (Sustainable Built Environment 2007). According to Fichtner Report (1999), in Mauritius, steel is the only waste material generated from the construction industry which is recycled, implying that most of the embodied energy of the materials is wasted. Resource Efficiency in a building According to the report â€Å"Construction Resource Efficiency Review† (2006), resource efficiency is about the sustainable use of resources. Indeed, there should be effective use and management of all the resources available to the industry while at the same time optimising output and profit. There is much emphasis on the use of all the physical resources (water, energy, etc) and materials used in the production and operation cycle. As minimum resource is used in the manufacture of the product, profits can be made by increasing productivity. Resource efficiency can also be achieved by reducing the wastes. As far as the construction industry is concerned, there is a need to focus on sustainable consumption of resources. Buildings can be built with fewer resources while looking at the same time at the impacts of the building on the environment. Sustainable Buildings Buildings have a tremendous impact on our environmental quality, resource use, human health and productivity. According to Nicholas S. (2003), sustainable building meets current building needs and reduces impacts on future generations by integrating building materials and methods that promote environmental quality, economic vitality, and social benefit through the design, construction and operation of our built environment. Sustainable building, also referred as green building, involves the consideration of many issues, including land use, site impacts, indoor environment, energy and water use, lifecycle impacts of building materials, and solid waste. Benefits of Sustainable Building There are a number of environmental, social, and economic benefits which we can enjoy from a sustainable building. Miriam L. (1999) gives some benefits of sustainable building to the environment, which are as follows: air and water quality protection soil protection and flood prevention solid waste reduction energy and water conservation climate stabilization ozone layer protection natural resource conservation open space, habitat, and species/biodiversity protection Also, sustainable building can have other benefits for designers, contractors, occupants, construction workers, developers, and owners. These benefits include: Improved health, comfort, and productivity/performance As mentioned earlier, people spend 80 % of their life in some buildings. It is reported that 30 % of new and remodeled buildings worldwide may be linked to symptoms of sick building syndrome (WHO 1984). Particular Symptoms are:- Headache Eye, nose or throat irritation Dry cough Dizziness Fatigue Sensitivity to odors Sick building syndrome (SBS) is normally caused by fungi and bacteria that build up because of inadequate fresh air ventilation in structures. Therefore, improving the indoor environment of the building can reduce the effect of SBS. Lower construction costs The cost of the building can be lowered by reducing the use of material and saving on disposal costs because of recycling. For example, recycled aggregate can be used as filler material. Lower operating costs As discussed earlier in chapter 2.10, the use of energy can be reduced in a building by designing the building such that it gets maximum sunlight, and in so doing, cutting down expenses concerning electricity. This has a great impact for people with low income, who spend much of their salary in paying utility bills. Life Cycle Assessment â€Å"†¦.Life Cycle Assessment is a process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process, or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment; to assess the impact of those energy and materials used and releases to the environment; and to identify and evaluate opportunities to affect environmental improvements. The assessment includes the entire life cycle of the product, process or activity, encompassing, extracting and processing raw materials; manufacturing, transportation and distribution; use, re-use, maintenance; recycling, and final disposal†¦.† Guidelines for Life-Cycle Assessment: A Code of Practice, SETAC, Brussels (1990). There are four main components of LCA, which are as follows: Goal definition and scoping: Identify the LCAs purpose and the expected products of the study. Also, he needs to determine the boundaries and assumptions based upon the goal definition Life-cycle inventory: Quantify the raw material and energy inputs during each stage of production. Moreover, environmental releases are also taken into account. Impact analysis: Assess the impacts on human health and the environment associated with energy, raw material inputs and environmental releases quantified by the inventory. -Improvement analysis: Evaluate opportunities to reduce energy, material inputs, or environmental impacts at each stage of the product life-cycle. For this project, only the environmental impacts (carbon dioxide emission) and energy used from the manufacture of all the materials utilised in the construction of a typical residential house were considered. Construction Waste The construction energy generates an enormous amount of waste. Rogoff and Williams (1994) pointed out that in the USA, wastes from the construction industry contributed to approximately 20 %, in Australia 30% and in UK more than 50 % of the overall landfill volumes in each country. The Building Research Establishment (1982) has defined waste as the difference between materials ordered and those placed for fixing on building projects. Serpell and Alarcon (1998) defined construction waste as any material by product that does not have any residual value. But this is not true for the construction and demolition waste as much as the waste can be reduced or recycled. By reducing the level of waste in the construction industry, it benefits the environment and lowers the cost of the project. Bossink and Brouwers (1996) estimated that about 1-10% by weight of the purchase construction material leaves the site of residential projects as waste. However Guthrie et al. (1998) found that at least 10 % of all the raw materials which are delivered on most construction sites are wasted through damage, loss and over-ordering. A study carried by Dabycharun (2004), pointed out that a residential house in Mauritius generates about 0.2-0.5 tonne/m2 of waste. He carried out questionnaire interview in order to get this figure. However, the Fichtner report (1999) states that during the construction of an average private house of 140 m2, 8-10 tonne of mixed waste are generated. Skoyles and Skoyles (1987) identified two main kinds of building construction waste and finishing waste. Structure waste consists of fragments, reinforcement bars, abandoned timer plate and pieces which are generated during the finishing stage of a building. For example it comprises of surplus cement motar arising from screeding scatters over the floors inside the building. There are two distinct procedures in minimising the amount of in landfill sites through the construction process. The first one is to reduce the amount of waste generated through source reduction techniques both on site and during the design and procurement phases of a building project. The second procedure is to improve the management of the unavoidable waste generated on site. In managing the unavoidable waste, there are three options in order of preference. They are as follows: Reuse Recycling Disposal The balance between the three will depend upon the nature of the materials wasted, legislative requirements for the specific materials and the cost effectiveness of each option. The cost will in turn depend upon the availability of reusing and recycling options and the opportunities for reuse on a specific project. Recycled materials, while requiring transportation and reprocessing, consume significantly fewer resources compared to the extraction and processing of raw materials. This is particularly true for metal such as iron, copper and aluminium. These metals can be reproduced to a quality equal to that of raw material processing. Both concrete and timber can be recycled or reused but with the defect that the quality of the final product is often diminished. By crushing concrete, we can  reuse it as an aggregate for some purposes, particularly like paving (Boyle, 2005). But, it was found by Millard and al. (2004) that from the recycled aggregate found in the construction and demolition waste, concrete blocks can be manufactured. Also, coarse recycled aggregates can be used in new concrete (Limbachia, 2004). Good grade timber can be used in the making of furniture. It is strongly stated not to use supporting timber since it is difficult to determine whether a used timber beam has stress cra cks or other weak points. In other countries, plastics can be recycled into a number of construction products, including tiles, lumber, heating and wire insulation and carpet. According to Huang and Hsu (2003), each year in Taiwan over 10106 tonnes of construction material are extracted for their usage and more than 40106 tonnes of construction waste are disposed without recycling. Significant amounts of asphalt were present in the waste. However, if it was recycled, this would have decreased the amount of asphalt which was imported. Thormark  (2002) pointed out that recycled concrete, clay brick and lightweight concrete can meet the total need for gravel in new houses and in renovation. Materials and Methods The next part of the dissertation was the methodology. In this section, an analysis was carried out on the different resources used for the construction of a single-storey house and the CO2 emission from each of the different resources. Therefore, a house had to be selected to carry out the analysis Selection of a typical house The house model used for the analysis was basically a virtual detached house which occupied a space of 128.30 squares metres floor area. The floor area was measured at plinth level to the external face of the external wall. The plan of the typical house model was obtained from the Central Statistics Office which was originally provided by the Mauritius Housing Company Limited. The house represented the most common type of residential house in Mauritius. The plan of the house is found in appendix A. The building constitutes of two bedrooms, a living-dining room, a kitchen, a toilet, a bathroom, a verandah and an attached garage. It was assumed to be built up of concrete block walls, reinforced concrete flat roof, internal flush plywood doors, glazed metal openings, screened floor and roof, tiling to floor and walls of W.C, and bathroom and kitchen worktop; the ceiling and walls were rendered and painted both internally and externally. It should also be noted that in the event the single-storey building would need to be converted into a two-storey house, an additional provision of more substantial foundation and of stub columns of the roof has already been made. Calculation of different resources Various materials and other resources were needed during the construction of the house. These can be broken down in different input categories. The input categories (different components) for the construction comprised of labour, hire of plant, materials and transport. The materials were further broken down into hardcore fillings (remplissage), cement, sand, timber for carpentry and joinery, metal openings, ceramic tiles, glass and putty, plumbing, sanitary installation, electrical installation and other miscellaneous expenses. The weightage of the components, shown in table 3.0, was calculated by a private firm of Quantity Surveyors for the Central Statistics Office’s use. The firm had identified nineteen stages through which the construction of the house had gone through. The cost for each stage was calculated. Detailed cost of each inputs in terms of plant, labour, materials and transport that go into the construction of typical residential house were calculated. According to the Statician, Jagai D. (pers. Comm., 19 November 2007), the construction of the single storey building, in the year 2001, was estimated by the quantity surveyor to be Rs 550,000. the weight was calculated so that each input category represented a fraction of the price for the residential building. Table 3.0 Weightage of different Input categories (Source: construction price index,2007) Input categories Weight / % Labour Skilled workers Unskilled workers 16.8 17.7 Plant Mixer Breaker Metal plaques 0.7 0.9 1.4

Health Essays Medical Errors Hospitals

Health Essays Medical Errors Hospitals Medical Errors Hospital Disclosure of Medical errors in every day clinical practice. Introduction Medical errors are very common in every day clinical practice. Even taking serious caution does not make the error free hospital any where in the world. According to British Medical Journal ( cited in Adams 2005), â€Å"about 850,000 medical errors occurs in National Health hospitals every year resulting in 40,000 deaths†¦. Adverse events occur in 10% of all hospital patients (p. 274). Today’s times 2004 ( cited in Adams 2005) claims a cost of 2 billion pounds per year due to medical errors. The data shows the magnitude and the significance of the problem. In fact medical errors are preventable in most of the cases. But the sad part of the story is these errors are not disclosed to the patients or the family. Disclosure of medical errors is a very big issue for the leadership and management of a hospital in terms of institutional ethics. This paper will discuss about medical errors, the issue of its disclosure , its outcomes, current trends regarding disclosure of errors , application of theories and implementation in our context. Medical Errors Albert , Cavanaugh, Mc Phee , Bernard , and Micco ( 1997) define medical error as â€Å"Commission or omission with potentially negative consequences for the patient that have been judged wrong by knowledgeable peers at the time it occurred , independent of whether there were any negative consequences† (p.770). In this regard understanding of the error and realization that it is an error is very important. The issue is if it is internalized that error has occurred, then should it be disclosed or not. Non disclosure of medical errors There is a very strong culture of a number of hospitals world wide and the hospital where I belong to that health care professionals hide and do not disclose medical errors to the patients or their families. Errors come on the picture if by any means the patient or their family comes to know about the error. Kaldijan ,Rosenthal, Reimer, and Hillis (2005) did literature review of 316 articles on medical errors and came up with four categories which include attitudinal barriers, helplessness from the institution, uncertainties about how to disclose and its outcomes, and fears and anxieties. In addition to it, risk of ruining person’s as well as the hospital’s reputation, legality issues, low self esteem in the profession, mistrust of the patient and the family, and hindrance in professional progress are also some of the very important barriers to disclosure. (Boyle, Connell, Platt, Albert 2006, Fischer et al 2006, Albert et al 1997). Besides organization’s culture, policy and the colleagues’ attitude also impacts error disclosure. Non disclosure of errors can have some beneficial effects for the patients as well as for the physician. Patients do not become emotionally upset on hearing the news of occurrence of unexpected event during the hospitalization. Boyle, Connell, Platt, and Albert (2006) have cited that American college of physicians has given the liberty of not disclosing the error if the disclosure can cause more harm than benefit as in the case of psychiatric or depressed patients. But the worse part of it is this concept of deception for the benefit of patient is misused in the name of the health care personnel own interests. Similarly risk benefit ratio of disclosure should be calculated or in ethical terms beneficence versus non maleficence should be judged. Furthermore health care personnel do not have to fear for legal issues and the reputation. However they suffer emotional distress if they do not disclose. Disclosure of Medical Errors Medical errors should be disclosed as an ethical and moral responsibility of the health care personnel and the institution as whole. JCIA and JCAHO has made it a standard in 2001 that disclosure of errors should be implemented in hospitals. (Connell, White, Platt 2003, Henry 2005, Gallagher, Studdert, Levinson 2007). In addition The code of ethics of American Medical Association, The American College of Physicians and the National Safety Foundation have also emphasized on disclosure of errors.( Boyle, Connell, Platt, and Albert 2006 ). The standardization of disclosure by so many international organizations particularly JCIA and JCAHO gives the message that the culture and the approach towards the issue of disclosure is changing. These bodies are international standardized bodies and the change in the approach must be evidenced based. If disclosure was not that important it would not have been the part of these quality improving bodies. Literature supports disclosure of errors. According to Connell, White, Platt (2003) , response of participants who attended the workshop about disclosure of medical errors was 90% affirmative . In a study done by Hobgood, Peck, Gilbert, Chappell ( 2002) on patients and their familys’ perspective of error disclosure gave interesting results. 258 surveys were filled in an emergency department and it revealed that 76% of patients wanted disclosure in case of any error, and 88% felt to its full extent. This clearly indicates the significance of disclosure as an issue and patients need regarding the issue. Disclosure of medical errors has many benefits. Initially the reaction of patients may be negative as error could never be expected from patients’ side. But later they get settled .Studies show positive outcomes from patient as well as the health care personnels’ angle because of disclosure. Error disclosure helps patients to get any compensation in the form of additional treatment or financial help. Most of health care personnel believe that disclosure can ruin their relationship with patients and can bring law suit as well as their image down among their collegues. However according to Witman ( cited in Boyle, Connell, Platt, and Albert 2006 ) patients felt to claim law suit if they were not disclosed about errors. In addition University of Michigan Health System reported that â€Å" the cost and frequency of litigation decreased substantially in 5 years after implementation of an open disclosure programme , with annual litigation †¦reduced from $3 million to $1 million and †¦ claims by more than 50%† ( Gallagher, Studdert, Levinson 2007 p. 2716). Error disclosure also brings a positive impact on learning for the person who did the error as well as for others in the organization. Hence mistakes done once may not be repeated next time , system improvement and therefore improvement in the quality of patient care. ( Albert 1997, Mazor 2005, Boyle, Connell, Platt, and Albert 2006 ). Moreover patient physician relationships do remain intact in most of the cases. Trends in application of disclosing errors and comparison in our context Disclosure of medical errors is gaining its significance in so many health care organizations because of the outcomes of it as well as the realization of doing disclosure. Gallaher, Studdert, and Levinson ( 2007), have stated that 2002 survey of institutional risk mangers showed that 36% of the institutions have adopted disclosure policy and the percentage increased to 69% in 2005. They further quoted that Austarlia and United Kingdom in 2003, National Quality Forum safe practices and Harvard in 2006 emphasized and provided guidelines for full disclosure of medical errors to patients. The trend shows that awareness for disclosing medical errors is gaining its popularity. If we compare the scenario in Pakistan, we have a culture of not disclosing errors in most of the hospitals. In addition to the reasons discussed in the literature regarding non disclosure of medical errors, most of the times it is taken as for granted by the health care professionals that the patients belong to low socio economic status, less educated, low level of understanding and therefore errors need not be disclosed. It has been observed in clinical practices that errors are considered most of the time as side effects and untoward result because of certain treatment and there is no internalization that it is an error. In addition there is also a misconception that since the error did not bring any harm to patient so need not to be reported to the hospital management team and therefore no disclosure to the patient. It is interesting to know that most of the hospitals in Pakistan do not have any policy for disclosing error. However in Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) the polic y for disclosure of errors exists and it is mentioned in the sentinel events policy that there should be disclosure of medical errors and it is mentioned in the patients’ bill of rights that patients have right to have all information .( Multi disciplinary policies and procedures sentinel events policy no: MDP-S-002). But the sad part of the story is there is no proper implementation of the policy as well as proper explanation of patients’ rights to them. In fact there is no such culture for the individual to share errors to their supervisors as an ethical and moral responsibility until the error is identified by someone else. Reviewing the issue in the light of Theories To support that medical errors should be disclosed, we will be utilizing the following theories of ethics as well as leadership and management. Kant’s Theory of Deontology Immanuel Kant a German philosopher has given the theory of deontology or duty based theory. According to Kant (cited in Bernstein and Brown 2004), act should be done on the basis of the duty or obligation regardless of the consequences. He also believed that the intention behind the act justifies the action done. If we try to understand the disclosure of medical errors from Kant’s perspective, disclosure should be done as it is the duty of the health care personnel. It is the right of the patient and duty of the personnel to share all information including the errors if occurred. Kant believes in telling the truth which is the duty in all conditions and deception is un tolerable. The debate that if truth telling causes harm should be told to patients or not , goes against Kant’s philosophy. If health care professional feels that deception of the truth will give more benefit than there should be a very strong rationale for it and should not be taken as for convenience. K ant (cited in Bernstein and Brown 2004) has discussed about one’s conscience which play a major role in making right decisions according to his duty and states, â€Å"consciousness is an internal court †¦before which a human being’s accuse or excuse one another†¦an internal judge, and this authority watching over the law in him is something that he himself makes, but †¦incorporated in his being† (p.172). Heifetz’s perspective on Ethical leadership Heifetz ( cited in Northouse 2007) explains that leaders help followers to help resolve conflicts by using their authority. He further explains that â€Å"Heifetz’s perspective is related to values of workers, organizations and communities in which they work† (p. 347). In the light of this perspective, leaders need to have a clear idea of what is the value of the organization which in all circumstances is the best quality care given to its customers and taking care of their wishes and doing what is right. Leaders need to persuade people to do the right thing and therefore the culture of disclosure of medical errors should be inculcated by the leaders. Burn’s perspective on Ethical leadership Burns gave the theory of transformational leadership in 1978. According to Burns (cited in Northouse 2007), leaders have an important role in motivating people to identify their values and to help them reach to a level where the principles of â€Å"justice, liberty and equality† should be incorporated in practice. This clearly indicates the moral aspect of leadership which leads that disclosure of errors should be done as moral obligation of the organization. Significance of medical error disclosure from leadership and management perspective The issue of medical errors disclosure is very important from leadership and management point of view because this issue is not confined to a particular institution but it is a global issue. As discussed above that leaders have a very important role in pursuing and motivating people to follow morality in practice. Ethics has a very important place in leadership and organization. Leaders give direction to the followers or subordinates. They have a very strong impact on their followers. Therefore if leaders will have strong value on creating an environment and culture whereby every individual gets rights and do their duties, then this gives rise to an organization following ethical principles. This is only possible if and only if the leader values that act. In the issue of medical errors disclosure, leaders should play their role to first get the issue internalized and get it inculcated in the organization’s culture. Implementation of disclosure of errors in our context In order to address the issue in our Pakistani and in particular AKUH the most important aspect is first internalizing that the error occurred and not getting defensive. Internalization can be done by leading seminars, discussions, conferences and bioethical grand rounds where issues of error disclosure can be discussed and health care professionals can clarify their misconception about errors. They should have a very clear understanding of what are medical errors. Once the understanding of error is there, the next step is reporting of errors in the organization through the in built system of error reporting. Unfortunately AKUH Karachi does not have a very good system of error reporting. Errors are reported when someone identifies it but the person involved rarely reports the error. On conversation with clinical affairs person of AKUH , centralization of errors reporting is under process. At present if errors are reported it is not centralized to one place. Centralization will assist in getting the picture of medical errors occurring in the hospital as a whole. There should be reinforcement at the academia level of medical and nursing education about errors and its disclosure .Adams ( 2005) has given a very practical approach towards identifying our own errors. He has shared his example how he started writing all the errors which he identified during his practice and it was interesting to see that the identified errors were between one to six per week for 29 weeks . This data was for those errors which he identified himself and may not have captured all the errors done. This practice will help us identify and internalize that how many errors are made by health care professionals. Besides , voluntary electronic reporting of medical errors can also be implemented . The results of one study where 92,547 reports from 26 hospitals were evaluated showed that 47% of the registered nurses did voluntary reporting of errors compared to intern doctors which was 1.4%.( Milch, et al 2006). Jones, Cochrane, Hicks and Mueller ( 2004) asserts that success of voluntary error reporting depends upon the organizational culture where confidentiality is maintained and a â€Å"non punitive culture† exists which promotes error reporting. Once the error is reported, the question comes for the disclosure of error. Henry (2005) asserts that there should be clear policy for disclosure and this helps in creating an open organizational culture for disclosure as well as promotes patients autonomy. He further adds that managerial support should be there and as leaders they should be promoting disclosure in their organization. Organization’s culture needs to be formulated which best supports the disclosure policies. Giganti( cited in Henry 2005) claims that â€Å" one must approach culture change with systems thinking†¦.organization’s culture is built up over time and is based on the assumptions , beliefs and values that drive the organization† (p. 132). Hence the cultural change involves evaluation of systems to see why there is hesitancy and reluctance in disclosing errors to patients and their families. Persons should not be blamed instead system should be analyzed .Cultural change at the institut ional level will lead the policy makers to consider it at the health ministry level because there needs to be law to address this issue. Disclosure is not an easy task keeping into considerations the so called consequences afterwards. There needs to be special trainings in this aspect. Hobgood, Hevia and Hinchey ( 2004) suggest for disclosure in terms of promoting safe environment to the patients and that there should be open conversation during disclosure expecting any reaction from the patient. Therefore communication plays a very important role. Furthermore Connell, White and Platt ( 2003) have given the steps for error disclosure which includes â€Å" apologize and take responsibility†, â€Å"determine who will be involved†, and â€Å"be proactive in addressing the patient’s financial needs† (p.27). However the concept of becoming proactive in identifying our system gaps and root cause analysis of the problem will promote a safety culture and hence less medical errors and therefore less issues of disclosure. Conclusion Medical errors cause huge number of deaths which can be prevented. Medical errors do occur every day in our clinical practices but there is under reporting of the errors. And if reported there is culture of non disclosure of errors until it comes to patient’s knowledge by any means or the outcomes of that error are such that it cannot be kept hidden. The reasons identified through experiences and literature are fear of destroying relationships with patients, loss of patients trust on heath care personnel, legal issues , loosing the credibility in the profession, shame , guilt and not realizing to disclose considering it better from patients perspective. However recent trend suggests that institutions who developed and implemented disclosure policy had very positive results . Patients felt that they were apologized for that and were brought into confidence. This led to less law suits and decrease in the cost given for legal issues. Besides patients were able to participate in t he compensation or adjustment for the loss due to error. Hence the above mentioned literature and practical experiences suggest that medical errors should be disclosed. Leaders need to help their subordinates or the followers to apply Kant theory of deontology but justify if they feel error should not be disclosed. Moreover it is the responsibility of the leader and each and every individual of the team to help creating an open environment of disclosure and to follow it. References Adams,H. (2005). â€Å"Why there is error, may we bring truth.† A misquote by Margaret Thatcher as she entered No 10, downing street in 1979. Anaesthesia, 60 , 274-277. Berstein, M. Brown, B.(2004). Doctors’ duty to disclose error: a deontological ethical analysis. The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences,31, 169-174. Boyle, D., O’Connell, D., Platt, F. W., Albert, R. K.(2006). Disclosing errors and adverse events in the intensive care unit. Critical Care Medicine,34 (5), 1532-1537. Connell, D. O., White, M. K., Platt, F. W. (2003). Disclosing unanticipated outcomes and medical errors. JCOM, 10(1), 25-29. Fischer,M. A., Mazor,K.M., Baril,J., Alper, E., Demarco,D., Pugnaire,M. ( 2006). Factors that influence how students and residents learn from medical errors. Journal of General Internal Medicine , 21, 419-423. Gallagher, T. H., Studdert, D., Levinson, W. (2007). Disclosing harmful medical errors to patients. The New England Journal Of Medicine,356, (26), 2713-9. Henry, L. L. (2005). Disclosure of medical errors: Ethical considerations for the development of a facility policy and organizational culture change. Policy, Politics, Nursing Practice, 6(2), 127-134. Hobgood, C., Hevia, A., Hinchey,P.(2004). Profiles in patient safety: when an error occurs.ACAD Emergency Medicine,11(7), 766-770. Hobgood, C., Peck, C. R., Gilbert, B., Chappel, K., Zou, B. (2002). Academic Emergency Medicine, 9(11), 1156-1161. Jones , K. J., Cochran, G., Hicks, R.W., Mueller, K.J.( 2004). Translating research into practice: voluntary reporting of medication errors in critical access hospitals. The Journal of Rural Health, 20 (4), 335- 343. Kaldijan,L. C., Jones , E. W., Rosenthal, G. E., Reimer, T. T., Hillis, S. L. (2006). An empirically derived taxonomy of factors affecting physicians’ willingness to disclose medical errors. Journal General Internal Medicine, 21, 942-948. Mazor, K. M., Reed, G. W., Yood, R. A., Fischer, M. A., Baril, J., Gurwitz, J. H. (2006). Disclosure of medical errors: What factors influence how patients respond? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 704-710. Mellisa, A. F., Mazor, K. M., Baril, J., Alper, E ., DeMarco, D., Pugnaire, M. (2006). Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 419-423. Milch, C. E., Salem, D.N., Pauker, S. G., Lundquist , T. G., Kumar, S., Chen, J.(2006).Voluntary electronic reporting of medical errors and adverse events : an anlysis of 92,547 reports from 26 acute care hospitals. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 165-170. Northouse,P. G. ( 2007).Leadership Theory and practice .(4th ed).Sage Publications: London. The Aga Khan University Hospital Multi disciplinary policies and procedures. Retrieved March 22 , 2008, from http://intranet/jcia/jciapp/searchpolicy.asp Wu, A. W., Cavanaugh, T. A., McPhee, S. J., Lo, B., Micco, G. P. (1997). To tell the truth: Ethical and practical issues in disclosing medical mistakes to patients. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 12, 770-775. Winslade, W. McKinney, E. B. (2006).The ethical lawyer. Journal of Law, Medicine, Ethics, Nantechnology, Winter, 813-816.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Essay --

Introduction The United Arab Emirates has been a member of several regional organizations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) being a prominent example. This paper will provide a description of the participation of the United Arab Emirates in the GCC as well as a summary of its history. The purposes and specific goals that the UAE had when joining the GCC will be highlighted in addition to discussing the resulting contributions to its economy. The stated goals and purposes of joining the GCC will then be used to determine whether the initiative to join the regional body has been a success or a failure. The paper will conclude with an attempt to find out if the GCC will be important to the future development of the United Arab Emirates. Description and History The United Arab Emirates has been a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council since it was founded on 25th May 1981. Other founding members include the State of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, and the State of Kuwait (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, 2012). A framework for the body was agreed upon during a meeting of heads of state in Abu Dhabi and it was a product of previous planning as well as an embodiment of social, cultural, and historical reality. Another reason that led to the formation of this regional body was the kinship that existed among the citizens of these six states as well as the religious and cultural ties (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, 2012). In addition to these historical similarities, the founding states also faced the same challenges such as security and economic development. It is therefore correct to state that the GCC was formed as a result of the historical realities... ... got from the GCC states in 2012. However, the UAE needs to change its approach to the GCC especially when it comes to the creation of a common currency. According to Takagi (2012), the GCC states have practically used a common currency over the past decades owing to the fact that five of the countries have pegged the value of their currencies to the US dollar. Kuwait is the only country that floated its currency; however, the value its currency has remained stable with respect to the dollar. My recommendation to the UAE is for it to become willing to compromise and accept the formation of the GCC monetary union in order to ensure that it continues to benefit from the regional body. The decision to compromise might also lead to increased cooperation between the six states meaning that the initial goals and objectives of the Gulf Cooperation Council can be achieved.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Grandpa Blakeslee in Burns Cold Sassy Tree :: essays research papers

In life, people crave guidance. At some point, everyone needs a helping hand. Some people turn to one another, while other turn to great forces of power, such as God. Many people live accordingly to the rules of God, and in turn are directed in leading a better life. In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa Blakeslee is such a person. Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God. Grandpa turns to God whenever he needs true help. Grandpa is a type of person who is mild, witty, and rather religious. Grandpa uses religion to solve many of his problems. At the beginning of the story, Miss Love was the target of gossip. The entire town viewed her as an outsider and couldn’t understand why she married Grandpa, especially after his wife had recently died. After Grandpa elopes, he comes back to the house and finds a group of people mourning the sad death. When Grandpa prays, â€Å"Lord above, afore this gatherin’ assembled, I ask You to bless the memory of Miss Mattie Lou† (99). Everyone stood shockingly, in silence as Grandpa continued the prayer. When he finishes singing the praises of his deceased wife, and asking for guidance for his new one, the crowd has a change of heart. It was a strange thing that happened then. My mama went up to her pa and kissed him and, crying, hugged Miss Love, who, crying, hugged her back. My daddy kissed Miss Love on the cheek and then shook hands with Grandpa. Uncle Camp naturally did the same thing (100). Slyly, Grandpa used the power of God to divert the feelings of the crowd. While Will is talking to Grandpa about his frightening encounter with the train, he asks Grandpa if â€Å"[he is] alive [because] of God’s will† (97). Without fail, Grandpa responds with wise words. He tells Will that â€Å"God gave [him] a brain† (97). This shows that Grandpa believes God doesn’t deal with the everyday mumbo jumbo, only the things that are life altering. He believes that God doesn’t need to be there for us twenty-four hours a day, but will give us certain abilities that assist you when you need assistance. Conclusively, Grandpa starts to give Will a sermon.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Capital Punishment and Minors, Women, Retarded, and the Innocent :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

This essay takes the exceptions to the rule, the classes of people who are not ordinarily sentenced to death, and expsoses how they are impacted by the death penalty. Child offenders are people convicted of committing crimes when they were under the age of 18. International human rights treaties prohibit anyone under 18 years of age at the time of the crime being sentenced to death. The ICCPR, the ACHR and the CRC all have provisions to this effect. One hundred and fifteen countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty either have provisions in their laws which exclude the death penalty against child offenders, or may be presumed to exclude such use by virtue of becoming parties to the above treaties without entering a reservation to the relevant article of those treaties. The UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, at its annual meeting in August in Geneva, passed a resolution condemning the imposition and execution of the death penalty on those aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence. At the Asia Pacific Forum of Human Rights Institutions, meeting in Rotorua, New Zealand in August, the Advisory Council of Jurists, which is one of the bodies reporting to the above Forum, considered the death penalty, one of two issues referred to it by the Forum. In its final report issued in December the Council said that it ''......accepts as a minimum the restrictions placed on the categories of persons that can be executed as set out int the ICCPR namely persons who commit an offence while below eighteen years of age........ .....The Council emphasizes that the persons who commit offences when below the age of 18 are not to be executed under the terms of the ICCPR and Convention on the rights of the Child.'' Representatives on the Advisory Council of Jurists came from Australia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Nepal had not at that time nominated its representative to the Council. Pakistan: The government of Pakistan on 1 July 2000 issued the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 which prohibits the death penalty for anyone aged below 18 at the time of the alleged offence. This comes exactly 10 years after Pakistan ratified the UNCRC which makes it obligatory for states parties to ban the death penalty for juvenile offenders in domestic legislation. Capital Punishment and Minors, Women, Retarded, and the Innocent :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays This essay takes the exceptions to the rule, the classes of people who are not ordinarily sentenced to death, and expsoses how they are impacted by the death penalty. Child offenders are people convicted of committing crimes when they were under the age of 18. International human rights treaties prohibit anyone under 18 years of age at the time of the crime being sentenced to death. The ICCPR, the ACHR and the CRC all have provisions to this effect. One hundred and fifteen countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty either have provisions in their laws which exclude the death penalty against child offenders, or may be presumed to exclude such use by virtue of becoming parties to the above treaties without entering a reservation to the relevant article of those treaties. The UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, at its annual meeting in August in Geneva, passed a resolution condemning the imposition and execution of the death penalty on those aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence. At the Asia Pacific Forum of Human Rights Institutions, meeting in Rotorua, New Zealand in August, the Advisory Council of Jurists, which is one of the bodies reporting to the above Forum, considered the death penalty, one of two issues referred to it by the Forum. In its final report issued in December the Council said that it ''......accepts as a minimum the restrictions placed on the categories of persons that can be executed as set out int the ICCPR namely persons who commit an offence while below eighteen years of age........ .....The Council emphasizes that the persons who commit offences when below the age of 18 are not to be executed under the terms of the ICCPR and Convention on the rights of the Child.'' Representatives on the Advisory Council of Jurists came from Australia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Nepal had not at that time nominated its representative to the Council. Pakistan: The government of Pakistan on 1 July 2000 issued the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 which prohibits the death penalty for anyone aged below 18 at the time of the alleged offence. This comes exactly 10 years after Pakistan ratified the UNCRC which makes it obligatory for states parties to ban the death penalty for juvenile offenders in domestic legislation.