Modelling and Forecasting Electricity Consumption of the Philippines Essay

In the Philippines, electric power is becoming the main energy form relied upon in all economic sectors of the country. As time goes by, while different establishments and properties were built and developed, the demand for domestic electricity consumption within the country accelerates. Energy consumption is an important index of the economic development of a country. Rapid changes in industry and the economy strongly affect energy consumption. According to the International Energy Annual (IEA) in the year 2004, the Philippines had total installed electricity generating capacity of 15.1 gigawatts (GW). The country produced 53.1 billion kilowatt-hours (Bkwh) of electricity in 2004, while consuming 49.4 Bkwh. Conventional thermal sources make up the largest share of Philippine electricity supply, comprising more than 65 percent of the total in 2004. However, the Philippines is also the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal energy. Despite several electricity sources, there are still bunch of problems that occur such as electricity shortage and high price somewhat due to increase of demand and company expenses. The Philippines is not just the sole country that experiences these specific dilemmas but the other countries in Asia like Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and the entire world too. This pushes researchers and experts to study the consumption movement from the past years in order for them to learn its behavior and suggest a method to help prepare the power companies and to prevent uncertainties that might happen in the near future. Through the years, there are many ways and methods developed by the experts and one of them is modeling and forecasting. Modelling electric energy consumption is useful in planning and distribution by power utilities. Modeling is a process of generating abstract, conceptual,graphical and/or mathematical models. Models are typically used when it is either impossible or impractical to create experimental conditions in which scientists can directly measure outcomes. In the field of energy use direct to electricity, modelling is a very important factor in forecasting the next set of electricity consumption. There are plenty of techniques and mathematical methods which are already used and proven effective in determining the energy consumption such as Multivariate regression –analysis, neural networks, autoregressive, and many more. Nowadays, time-series analysis was also used in the electric energy consumption modeling and forecasting. In statistics, signal processing, and mathematical finance, a time series is a sequence of data points, measured typically at successive time instants spaced at uniform time intervals. Based on Investopedia (2012) it provides another modeling approach which requires only data on the modeled variable, thus saving the user the trouble of determining influential variables and suggesting a form for the relation between them. For instance, measuring the value of retail sales each month of the year would comprise a time series. This is because sales revenue is well defined, and consistently measured at equally spaced intervals. Data collected irregularly or only once are not time series. Also, according to Austrilian Bureau of Statistics (2005) an observed time series can be decomposed into three components: the trend (long term direction), the seasonal (systematic, calendar related movements) and the irregular (unsystematic, short term fluctuations). Models for time series data can have many forms and represent different stochastic processes. Some other applications of time-series analysis are in macroeconomics and finance. As of now, modelling and forecasting is of its highest peak of achievement and significance of the modern society especially in aiding certain dilemmas in electric consumption. Objectives 1. To formulate a mathematical model for the electricity consumption of the Philippines. 2. To forecast the Philippines’ monthly electricity consumption for the next three years. 3. To evaluate the formulated model in forecasting the electricity consumption. Significance of the Study The goal of this study is to be able to forecast the electrical energy consumption of the Philippines for the next three years through formulating a model acquired from the data by using time-series. This information can contribute much to the power supply companies of the Philippines in order for them to determine the set of electricity consumption for the coming years. The forecasted result will help them plan and prepare for whatever might happen in the future years specifically in addressing the electricity shortage. Scope and Limitation The study focuses primarily in modelling the electricity use of the Philippines by using the time-series analysis. The study is narrowed to the forecasting of the monthly electricity consumption for the next three years of the entire Philippines. The data used in modelling is based on the 1999-2011 record. Review of Related Literature Modelling and forecasting electricity consumption of Malaysian large steel mills This study attempts to model and forecast the daily maximum demand of Malaysian large steel mills and the annual maximum demand contributed by these steel mills. It attempts to combine both the top-down and bottom-up approaches to forecast the daily and annual maximum demand of the steel mills. The top-down approach uses regression analysis to forecast the annual amount of electricity consumption of the steel mills. The bottom-up approach uses the Model for Analysis of Electric Demand Electric Load (MAED_EL) to convert the annual steel mills electricity consumption (which was earlier obtained from the regression model) into hourly load of the steel mills. The proposed method shows good forecasting accuracy, with weekly Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 2.3%. This study propose combination of the top-down and bottom-up methods to forecast the daily maximum demand of Malaysian large steel mills and the annual maximum demand contributed by these steel mills. The top-down approach uses regression analysis to forecast the annual electricity consumption of these large steel mills, based on its relationship with annual steel production and GDP. The projected annual electricity consumption from regression analysis was then integrated into the bottom-up model using MAED_EL to construct the hourly load curves. From the hourly load curves, the daily and annual maximum demands of the steel mills are determined. This model has the ability to forecast accurately the daily maximum of the large steel mills, with MAPE of less than 3%. The proposed method however, is purely based on the assumption that the future trend of daily consumption follows the base year. Although this is a slight drawback, nevertheless the proposed method has provided the utility with a better means to forecast steel mills’ load, despite the unavailability of daily production data which is vital in forecasting. The outcome of this study will benefit the utility in ensuring reliable and economic operation of the national grid, and is also useful for analysis pertaining to development of future optimal generation and transmission expansion plans. Findings of this study also give a valuable contribution to the utility in determining load management strategies and designing of tariff structures. A possible approach to improve the forecast performance is by combining the model with a time series method such as ARIMA. This will enable the model to take into account the most recent behaviour of steel mills load, and thus increase the accuracy of the forecast. The best approach however, would still be the one that is able to take into account the daily production data of the steel mills. With the availability of this particular data, many other complex and more effective methods can be explored such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and fuzzy linear regression. These methods will have the ability to capture the factors that highly influence steel mills daily load such as daily production plan and maintenance schedule, and hence improve the accuracy of the forecast. (S. Aman et.al, 2011 ) Long term energy consumption forecasting using genetic programming Managing electrical energy supply is a complex task. The most important part of electric utility resource planning is forecasting of the future load demand in the regional or national service area. This is usually achieved by constructing models on relative information, such as climate and previous load demand data. In this paper, a genetic programming approach is proposed to forecast long term electrical power consumption in the area covered by a utility situated in the southeast of Turkey. The empirical results demonstrate successful load forecast with a low error rate. In this paper, a genetic programming approach on the forecasting of long term electrical power consumption of a moderate city in Turkey was presented. It uses the genetic programming method to forecast future usage through symbolic regression using annual data of the previous years. In conventional regression, one has to decide on the approximation function (can be an n-degree polynomial, non-polynomial, or a combination of both) and try to find the coefficients of this selected function. Constructing an approximation function can be a difficult task. There is another form of regression called â€Å"symbolic regression†. In the symbolic regression problem, the aim is to search a symbolic representation of a model, instead of only searching for coefficients of a predefined model. Genetic programming (GP) method introduced by Koza can be used for the symbolic regression problem. GP searches for the model and coefficients of the model at the same time. In this study, power consumption data is processed with both conventional analysis and genetic programming techniques. Long term power consumption forecasting can provide important information for power distribution centers. Power consumption in this city is rapidly growing; therefore accurate forecasts can help authorities to make reliable plans. In this work, a genetic programming based forecasting method is presented. Two other curve fitting methods are also presented for comparison with this technique. Data used in all three models are not preprocessed. Genetic programming technique is used to form a model and evaluate the parameters for the model. The goodness of the fit produced by the genetic programming method is evaluated using sum of squared errors (SSE) method, which is better than the other two methods of regression. It was proved that the genetic programming can be used for electric utility resource planning and forecasting of the future load demand in the regional or national service area effectively. (K. Karabulot et. al, 2008) Electricity consumption forecasting in Italy using linear regression models The influence of economic and demographic variables on the annual electricity consumption in Italy has been investigated with the intention to develop a long-term consumption forecasting model. The time period considered for the historical data is from 1970 to 2007. Different regression models were developed, using historical electricity consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), gross domestic product per capita (GDP per capita) and population. A first part of the paper considers the estimation of GDP, price and GDP per capita elasticities of domestic and non-domestic electricity consumption. The domestic and non-domestic short run price elasticities are found to be both approximately equal to 0.06, while long run elasticities are equal to 0.24 and 0.09, respectively. On the contrary, the elasticities of GDP and GDP per capita present higher values. In the second part of the paper, different regression model s, based on co-integrated or stationary data, are presented. Different statistical tests are employed to check the validity of the proposed models. A comparison with national forecasts, based on complex econometric models, such as Markal-Time, was performed, showing that the developed regressions are congruent with the official projections, with deviations of 1% for the best case and 11% for the worst. These deviations are to be considered acceptable in relation to the time span taken into account. This paper aims to estimate GDP, price and GDP per capita elasticities of domestic and non-domestic electricity consumption in Italy. Also this paper wants to forecast the future growth of these consumptions using different regression models and compare our results with other available projections. The elasticity analysis showed that the price elasticity of domestic and non-domestic consumption is quite limited, confirming some results presented in previous studies. Through the findings, conclusions have been acquired. First, there is no need to consider electricity price as explaining variable in forecasting models for Italian electricity consumption. Second, pricing policies cannot be used to promote the efficient use of electricity in Italy. The estimation of GDP and GDP per capita elasticities showed higher values with respect to price elasticities, demonstrating that the consumption response to GDP and GDP per capita changes is relevant. Therefore, there is the need to assure an appropriate level of electricity supply to sustain the economic growth in Italy. According to the second target of the paper, different long-term forecasting models were developed and they substantially lead to similar results. Therefore, in the next years, an increase in the total electricity consumption, driven by both domestic and nondomestic consumptions, should be expected in Italy with an average rate equal to about 2% per year. Assuming that the data reported represent the reference benchmark, it can guarantee the most accurate projections for total, domestic and non-domestic electricity consumptions respectively, because they fit the data. It is believed that the elasticities, forecasts and comments presented in this paper would be helpful to energy planners and policy makers to build future scenarios about the Italian electricity consumption. (V. Bianco et. al., 2009) Forecasting electricity consumption in New Zealand using economic and demographic variables The inï ¬â€šuence of selected economic and demographic variables on the annual electricity consumption in New Zealand has been investigated. The study uses gross domestic product, average price of electricity and population of New Zealand during the period 1965–1999. Models are developed using multiple linear regression analysis. It was found that the electricity consumption correlated effectively with all variables. Forecasts made using these models were compared with some available national forecasts. The forecasts are also compared with the forecasts of the previously developed Logistic model. Electricity consumption forecasting models based on economic factors for Domestic and NonDomestic sectors and Total consumption for New Zealand using multiple linear regression have been proposed. The models performed effectively in the statistical tests conducted, implying their signiï ¬ cance in forecasting electricity consumption using the explaining variables considered. Comparisons of these models have been made with the national forecasts available in New Zealand. The comparison revealed that the forecasts made by the regression models are very comparable with the national forecasts. The accuracy of the forecasts made by these models depends strongly on the accuracy of forecasts made for the explaining variables. In this paper, simple regression had been used to model these variables. (Z. Mohamed & Pat Bodger, 2003) Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Demand in the Philippines The Philippine government has deregulated electricity generation markets to encourage private investors and actively courted independent power producers (IPPs). This has been done to promote efficiency and reduce government financial debt obligations. Until the mid-1980s, the power sector in the Philippines was mostly state-owned through the National Power Corporation (NPC). After the debt crisis in the early 1980s, the Philippines’ government tightened fiscal policy, and capital expenditure for additional electricity capacity was significantly reduced. This led to a slowdown in the electricity generating facilities. At the same time, electricity demand continued to increase. This resulted in tight electricity supply and demand conditions by the middle of the 1980s. There continue to be periods of generating capacity constraints. This may be the result of difficulties in forecasting electricity consumption. The residential and industrial electricity demand in the Philippines is modeled. The analysis follows Johansen’s vector error correction approach to estimate the price and income elasticity in both long and short run. The results indicate a long run cointegrating relationship is found among residential electricity consumption, income, and the stock of electric appliances. In the industrial sector there appears to be a long-run relationship holds for industrial electricity consumption and GDP. The lack of significant price responses appears to be the result of government development policies. The estimated models are used in forecasting total electricity consumption suggest that the government’s official forecast for electricity demand would be on the upper bound of the forecast range. (K. Ishi & F. Joutz, 2009) Methodology 1. Collect data of the Philippines’ monthly electricity consumption from the year 1999 to 2011 in National Statistics Coordination Board to be used for constructing a time-series model for the electricity consumption. 2. Using the formulated model, forecast the Philippines’ electricity consumption for the next three years. 3. Through the acquired forecasted consumption, evaluate the performance of the model. References Clough, L. (2008). Energy profile of Philippines. The encyclopedia of earth. Aman, S., Ping, H. , & Mubin, M (2011). Modelling and forecasting electricity consumption of Malaysian large steel mills. Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 6 (8), pp. 1817-1830. ISSN 1992-2248. Karabulut, K., Alkan, A., & Yilmaz, A. (2008). Long term energy consumption forecasting using genetic programming. Mathematical and Computational Applications, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 71-80. Bianco, V., Manca, O., & Nardini, S. (2009). Electricity consumption forecasting in Italy using linear regression models. Elsevier Ltd. Energy 34 (2009) 1413-1421. Mohamed, Z. & Bodger, P. (2003). Forecasting electricity consumption in New Zealand using economic and demographic variables. Elsevier Ltd. Energy 50 (2004) 1833-1843.

Brainology Essay Essay

Carol S. Dweck wrote an article talking about transforming student’s motivation to learn. In the article, he states that there are two types of mindsets; the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Dweck describes the fixed mindset as students who worry about how much the intelligence they posse is fixed, whereas students believe that the growth mindset is potential intelligence that can be learned. He explains that confronting challenges, profiting from mistakes, and dealing with setbacks is a way of becoming smarter. Dweck talks about how in the 1990s parents and schools felt that the most important thing or students was self-esteem. They felt that if students felt good about themselves then they would be good and successful in life. Dweck also talks about students being praised for their intelligence vs. being praised for their effort. At the end of the article, Carlos discuss how our society worships talent and how our talent is portrayed as a gift. He explains how worshiping talent was not motivating to our students. After reading this article, I’ve learned that it’s better to have a growth mindset because the more I challenge myself to grow with intelligence the more chances I will have of becoming successful. I always knew that it was important to learn and never give up but I never took it serious. I now see the importance of never giving up. I feel like now I can motivate myself to keep going no matter how tough things get and to always accept in any challenge in my classes because that’s the only way I can really enhance my intelligence. Also after reading this article, I see the importance of being praised for my hard work and effort rather than my talents.

Is Torture Reliable or Humane? Essay

Imagine being forced into confession with your head down, and blood rushing to your brain. Picture the struggle of being held down and defenseless, against your will. Imagine having a thick towel pressed firmly over your face and continuous water being poured on the towel as you helplessly gasp for air simulating the effect of drowning. Imagine being bound and thrown into the ocean with a ‘weight’ that pulls you in only one direction: down to the bottom of the ocean floor. Do you think this kind of action is right to do to a criminal or let alone a human? Torture is the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment in order to force them to do or confess something. History has changed from uncivilized torture techniques to civilized torture and then back again. There has been crucial maltreatment on prisoners and suspected criminals. The crucifixion of Christ by the Romans is a huge example of torture. The Romans beat and whipped Christ, pinned his hands and feet with needles onto a wooden cross, and put a thorny crown around his head. Back then, even great thinkers defended torture saying it was protecting civilization, and bringing control to the people. They had no limit to who they were torturing. The Romans began to create laws allowing only certain subjects and crimes that could entail torture, but as time passed they added more subjects to the availability of torture. Christianity later became the commanding force and went against all the torture laws, and fought hard to change the way torture was executed. Once the September 11 attack happened, people forgot about human rights because they were fearful of another attack, so they continued the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. Torture was used because people believed it to be an effective way to extract information from a captive suspect. The United States police mentality and parents cause children to think that torture is justifiable. When 9/11 happened the United States became defensive and feared the thought of another terrorist attack. We were willing to do anything to find out who the culprit was. We wanted to feel like we had national security and we needed someone to blame, so if torture techniques were the solution, we were willing to do so. Blinded by the tragedy that tools place, we were not using our intelligence. The United States was taking action based on fear and revenge, torturing suspects, and affiliates. The result from this will cause the safety of the nation to be at a higher risk of an attack. The media is another factor to the use of torture. Jane Mayer wrote in her article â€Å"Whatever it Takes† about a TV show called â€Å"24†. 24 was a television show that was all about torture, but instead of showing how torture was wrong, the show glamorized it. The show displays torture as being a useful tactic to make people talk and almost all the people that watch the show get conned into thinking the same way. The sad part of the story is that even children watched the show 24: â€Å"The kids see it, any say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about 24’† (261). The show was convincing and one sided, being torture is justifiable and effective, that people believed it was true, but Jane disagreed with it. She thinks that it only works in some cases, but there are down sides to using torture, such as misguided information. Torture is displayed widely around the world in a positive way, but they do not see the negative effects of using torture techniques to solve problems. Torture can cause long term effects on torture subjects. Physical and mental actions can harm a person for the rest of there life. Most survivors of torture suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome – a severe anxiety disorder. In David Masci article â€Å"Should it be used to interrogate suspected terrorist?† he interviewed a women named Dianna Ortiz that is a survivor of torture tactics. Dianna suffered mentally from the torture experience; â€Å"nightmares, flashbacks and fear shadowed me everywhere. And I had trouble with my memory. I couldn’t recognize the people who were closest to me before my torture. I couldn’t articulate what was happening to me†¦ I thought I was going crazy†(Masci). Dianna was damaged; she could not live her normal life. The fear of being tortured taunted her. Almost all or even all suspects suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Head injuries are also a common injury due to the different torture techniques used, as well as afflictive impairment, chronic pain, extensive sensory and memory loss. The prisoner will even be incapable of performing our daily activities: dressing, cooking, and sleeping. Torture is a dangerous, unreliable, and slow practice and can be stopped through accountability of the torturer. The torturer must provide a humane setting for the prisoner, question the prisoner with interpersonal evidence, and use his intelligence and technique to decipher the truth in an adequate way. Many people think that torture is the most effective interrogation strategy, but know very little about the torture techniques being used on prisoners. Society does not think of the inhumane violence that occurs when torturing a prisoner of war. By releasing failure torture techniques and vivid descriptions on the methods such as, water boarding, electrocuting, sleep deprivation, and solitary confinement, the society will see the truths and horrors of torture. In reference to David Masci article â€Å"Should torture be used to interrogate suspected terrorist?† he addresses different examples of terrorist techniques, one being â€Å"[Prisoners] were [being] stretched on the rack or subjected to leg or thumb screws†(Masci). What kind of treatment is this? Inhumane treatment. Prisoner’s rights are being blurred out and ignored. Animals do not even receive punishment like this, for the most part. Torture overpasses our human rights to interrogate prisoners and try to make it justifiable, but it is not. Even if the interrogator got an answer- true or false- from the prisoner, the actions the interrogator did are not right and will cause damage on not only the prisoner, but also the interrogator. This inhumane method of interrogation has been proven to work adversely in situations of torture and is unjust to do to anyone or anything. It can lead our people to realizing that torturing someone isn’t the only way to get what you want out of them. In order to coerce the prisoner to speak based on intelligence, the interrogators must have prior knowledge about him or her. When the interrogator first starts to interrogate the detainee, they must set him or her in a comfortable environment. Of course, the prisoner will have hatred and unwillingness for the United States to begin with; the United States must keep the interrogation in control. We must appeal to the prisoner, giving him hope of being free again. There was a story on Abu Jandal; Ali Soufan treated Abu Jandal with cookies when questioning him. Soufan noticed that Abu Jandal had not eaten the cookies, so he knew he had to fix something to treat Jandal. Soufan found out Abu Jandal was a diabetic, so in response to that, the next time the Americans questioned him, they brought sugar-free cookies. Giving Abu Jandal the cookies, Soufan found a change in the rest of the interrogation. Abu Jandal â€Å"could no longer think of us as evil American† as he did before he received special treatment (Tom Parker). Americans had expressed a respectful environment for Abu by providing him with sugar-free cookies that were fixed towards his health. The interrogators could have easily used his diabetic condition against him in a form of torture, but instead they chose to use a less inflicting technique, by appealing to his emotions. Abu Jandal now felt an obligation to inform the United States in turn of there kind treatment. He later â€Å"gave up a wealth of information about al-Qaeda — including the identities of seven of the 9/11 bombers†(Tom Parker). This information was vitally accountable in preventing any future attack on the United States. This interrogation technique used by the interrogator appealed to health and preference of the detainee to connect with him resulting in beneficial information. Another problem with torture is that fact that the information being given is not reliable. When a prisoner of war is being tortured and is at the point where he or she can not take any more pain, they say anything to get the interrogator to stop. The United States of America used torture techniques on al Libbi and the results from that misled our army, and potentially wasted our time and resources following a false lead, leaving leeway for Iraq to finish their attack. Torture does not yield accurate resolute. Torturing techniques fuel terrorist, put American soldiers at risk, and ruin America’s moral authority. When the prisoner of war is tortured they say anything to stop the torture from continuing, but almost always give false information, as al Libbi did. The torture technique interrogator does not have accurate information on the prisoner of war, so when the interrogators are given information they have no choice but to go with it, which can lead to even more conflicts in the process. When society turns against torture they will be open to alternative interrogation techniques that may have more effective results. Once the prisoner is in a comfortable environment, we can then start to question him or her. Prisoners are trained to resist the torturous techniques, but not trained or able to go through a questionable approach of interrogation. Prior to the interrogation, the interrogator must find valuable knowledge about the detainee to use against him or her. Mental abuse is to an extent a way of torture, but in the way the informed interrogators used the mental interrogation, it would not be considered torture. The informed interrogation approach is based on influencing our knowledge of the prisoner’s culture and mentality, combined with using known facts about the prisoner (Soufan). Having heard your child or family is captured or is at risk, is an example of mental torture. Ali Soufan, a security consultant and former investigator for the FBI, was involved in the investigation of Abu Zubaydah interrogation. Soufan discussed in his article â€Å"Is torture ever justified?† about two methods of interrogation, the informed interrogation approach and the enhanced interrogation technique. Ali Soufan asked for his name and he gave him a false name, so then Soufan used his investigation to work against Abu Zubaydah. He asked to call him by his nickname Abu’s mother used to call him, Hani (Soufan). Abu now had the thought of Americans having more information about him, so he could not give them false information. Research shows, when the United States asked him questions he started to give out answers involving KSM the mastermind of the 9/11 attack. Using this mental tactic was in no ways a type of torture because Abu Zubaydah was not harmed mentally, he just had the fear of lying and getting caught, resulting in reliable and useful information. Often times, torture techniques are slow: â€Å"preventing a detainee from sleeping for 180 hours as the memos detail, or water boarding 183 ties in the case of KSM† (Soufan). This method would not work in the â€Å"ticking time bomb† scenario because it does not get quick results. It takes time to torture a person, especially a prisoner of war. Although some people can handle pain more than others, the prisoner, if a culprit to the crime will be notably able to resist an abundant amount of pain. The prisoners go through training school that practice torture techniques. When your body gets used to pain, it can resist the pain for a longer period of time. Not only can the prisoner resist the pain longer, the torture techniques do not work quickly. For instance, sleep deprivation must take at least 24-48 hours to kick in. Sleep deprivation is also one of the first method used often times when interrogating the prison. Statistics show that when people are restless their brains do not work productively and can not think on the spot, so when being asked questions it will take the prisoner time to answer, if they are willing to answer in the first place. Therefore, getting information fast will not result from torture, but it will from the informed interrogation technique. The informed interrogation approach has work time and time again. Abu Zubaydah is a perfect example of the technique because he proved it effective. The investigators first approached him in an informative way. They used the background information they already knew about him, to make him fear giving them the wrong information and that took them about two hours to get information from him. After Soufan, the CIA took over the investigation and started to use torture tactics on Abu Zubaydah. The torture tactics did not produce any results. The CIA spent plenty of days and hours using different torture techniques to potentially obtain information, but he still would not give up any information. The investigators just hospitalized him, so once again Washington returned to the FBI agent and Soufan to continue the interrogation. Working with Abu Zubaydah’s conditions, the FBI agent and Soufan continued their questioning. They again were successful and got Abu Zubaydah to tell them more information, but once again, the CTC-Counter Terrorism Center- arrived and took over the interrogation. Harsh interrogation techniques were used one Abu Zubaydah, beginning with public nudity. The torture techniques kept making Abu Zubaydah uncomfortable, hurt, and angered. The technique was not working. The CTC used worse and worse torture technique, but still nothing came out of Abu Zubaydah because they did not treat him humanly. Washington noticed there were no results to the torture techniques, so they decided to go with the informed interrogation approach. The FBI agent and Soufan gathered more actionable intelligence from Abu Zubaydah in less then a couple hours (Soufan). This is one of the many proofs that the informed interrogation approach does result in reliable answers. Obtaining information quickly can be important when involving a â€Å"ticking time bomb† scenario, and after these studies of both techniques, you can see which one had a quicker, effective on the prisoner of war. Torture techniques are harmful, slow and unreliable. The solution to this problem is adapting the informed interrogation technique. The interrogator must do their research to have extensive knowledge about the prisoner. They must grant the prisoner a safe environment, perform civil treatment towards the prisoner of war, and question the prisoner critically and use evidence the investigator has about the prisoner to obtain information. All these steps will help prevent torture. Since there are alternative solutions that have been proven to work, then there is no need to use torture. Torture is evil; it inflicts pain on a human purposefully for questions and answers that have a high possibility of being false. Torture techniques are inhumane. We are humans and should be treated as humans.

Apple Case Study Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Apple Case Study - Coursework Example The paper tells that it would appear that Apple segments its business into business units on a geographic, rather than product bases, in addition to the four geographic business units, the company treats the retail business as a separate business unit. Each business unit reports sales and profitability from all product and operational categories within the region, with the exclusion of retail operations which fall under a separate SBU. In analysing Apple’s strategy, subsequent sections of the report will refer to the European SBU where appropriate. The financial performance of Apple’s European SBU would seem to be quite impressive in light of the economic events taking place during the period. Europe represents Apple’s second largest market by sales volume as the Americas division. Sale have risen from $9,233m in 2008 to $18,692 in 2010, a rate of growth of over 102%. Profit during the period has similarly increased from $3,022m in 2008 to $7,524m in 2010, an inc rease of 149% suggesting that profitability is increasing at a greater rate in proportion to sales. As such, this suggests that Apple’s European SBU has effectively kept expenses under control and is beginning to benefit from various economies of scale as sales increase . An interesting aspect of Apple’s capital structure is that the company reported to have no long term debt financing in the period 2006 to 2010. As such the company is wholly financed through equity. ... Key Ratios Ratio Apple Sony Samsung GP Margin 33.17% -2.95% 26.00% NP Margin 14.22% -1.28% 7.40% EPS 4.04 -98.95 29.98 Current Ratio 2.01 0.95 1.52 Acid Test 1.96 0.74 1.23 Debt to Equity 0.57 1.68 0.09 ROCE 14.09% -1.21% 12.28% 1.2 Marketing Analysis The following analysis of Apple’s marketing has been conducted using the standard 4p’s approach to the analysis of the marketing mix4: Price – Traditionally Apple has followed a premium pricing strategy often attempting to appeal to the early adopters in the field of interest. This has been especially true in the computer product segment. Product – While Apple has consistently brought new and innovative products to the market, the main features and benefits sold to computer is that Apple products are simple and easy to use, a marketing strategy which has helped Apple to a appeal to a wide audience. Place – Apple products are distributed through a wide range of retailers in the European SBU including hi gh street electronics retailers, major supermarkets and online sources such as Amazon. A key strategy however has also been the setting up of Apple’s own retail SBU which operates a number of stores within the European market dedicated to Apple products. Promotion – Apple makes use of a standard array of mass media advertising techniques including television advertising, targeted print media advertising as well as viral and other online advertising techniques. Overall, the marketing activities of Apple in the European SBU may be seen as aimed to create a product mix which is aimed at the mass luxury market. The product is appealing to those with higher levels of disposable income yet not so high as to be

Systems and operations management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Systems and operations management - Essay Example It has made the work at ease in various departments but at the same time requires appropriate skill development. Role of information systems in careers in finance, accounting, HR, operations management and marketing and how the careers in information systems have been affected by new technologies and by outsourcing The various departments within the organization have in built information system for its various functions. The operation management nowadays in organizations has automated warehouses, supply chain activities, use of RFID technology, and automated inventory control. To perform such activities which are completely based on information technology proper knowledge of such software’s is required. The information system has helped in managing several tasks but has increased the level of competence that the employees should possess related to the information technology. Even in the HR departments, payroll, compensation and reward policy, managing the entire employee base is done through such systems. This has helped the administration to reduce the paperwork but at the same time it is essential for the management to impart sufficient training to the employees (Doyle, 2000, pp.156-157).The finance department nowadays in every organization has in built software for performing various activities of maintaining financial records, and producing various financial reports for the company in coordination with various other departments within the organization. The marketing department even uses the CRM software’s for effective handling of its customer’s base and even uses some integrated software’s for their product design, promotion and forecasting the market demand. The role of information systems is very high in all of the areas in the organization, which has made an increase in technical competence to sustain careers in every department. The use of ERP (enterprise resource planning)

Why we should be far more skeptical about the death penality Essay

Why we should be far more skeptical about the death penality - Essay Example Basically, the bone of contention has always revolved around religious beliefs, and the application of utilitarian theory whereby the advocacy has been to go by the side that yields greater benefits. For those that advocate on the death penalty, it is evident that they wish for the end results to have impact on reducing the number of crimes. On the other hand, those that feel that the death penalty is not a better solution hold the view that there are other ways through which penalties can be applied in order to curb the crime menace (Shaykh 84). Nevertheless, whichever the side that people go by, it is apparent that the underlying principle is for everyone to be skeptical about the reality on the ground. As Bertrand Russell argues in his article, it would be necessary to consider articulating on uncommon opinions, which would in a way be of help in the transformation of social and political systems. In this regard, it is analytically correct to argue that the side that people could be less skeptical about could be the side with potential to offer solutions to an issue with dilemma. For example, it is unclear if many people endorse the death penalty. Nevertheless, going by the hypothesis that many people do not advocate for the death penalty, it could have some implications that having the death penalty in place could help in reducing the incidences of crime (Yorke 205). For example, one would argue that putting the death penalty in place would create some fear to persons with deviant behaviours. In fact, in another dimension, some victims of deviant behaviour by the defendant would only feel that justice has been done if the death penalty is executed on the offender. Perhaps, this would go in line with what others would term as favoring offenders if the death penalty is not imposed on them. All in all, I would not advocate for the death penalty. It is evident that those that advocate for it would be less skeptical about it. Nevertheless, I would argue that hav ing the death penalty in place would not for example cause resurrection of somebody killed by the offender. If anything, this would be causing another crime of murder. This is where the issue of religious beliefs comes in. Many religions do not advocate for the death penalty as it is associated with going against the will of God (Stewart 102). In a broader sense, if an alternative punishment can be put in place, it is apparent that the offender would in a way be helped and could probably change his/her behaviours. This could arguably be true because, for example, if the offender is subjected to parole or probation sentence, there is a possibility that the offender could be reformed and change his ways. However, since the death penalty has been viewed as an inhuman act that violates human rights, civil right groups have been campaigning to have it fully eliminated. Many countries have abolished execution and adopted other forms of punishment. Many people have argued that the death pe nalty is useless and does not help the victims or even the offender himself. Opponents of the death penalty belief that right to live is the most important human right and needÃ'‹ to be honored. The death penalty cannot be compared to normal death as it comes with physical torture to the victim from the time one has been convicted to the death penalty. One is subjected to a state of fear and mental torture as he has been made aware of when he will die. An act as this one should be discouraged as it is against the human rights. In another dimension, opponents of the death penalty argue that in the quest to have justice done, many people are punished for the crimes they did not commit. Many innocent people have been subjected to capital punishment as at times arm

The Impact of Steady Increase in the Interest Rate in the UK Coursework

The Impact of Steady Increase in the Interest Rate in the UK - Coursework Example These effects caused by a low inflation, low interest, but highly tax economy are the outcomes that are current and continuing to thwart economic competitiveness and equilibrium across the UK manufacturing base. This assignment, therefore, seeks to consider some of the reasons for the causes and effect of an increase in interest rates that are now providing causal effects across the economy. In particular the economy of the USA, that has been a focus of concern across financial sector industries in the UK. Commenting on the effect that world interest rates have on domestic interest rates, Mr King said that: â€Å"We look at the balance between demand and supply, we ask ourselves what goes into that balance and there is no doubt that what is happening in the rest of the world is a key input into that assessment. However, the way in which overseas interest rate changes affect our judgment is solely as an input into that judgment.† â€Å"†¦all central banks are very clearly focused on meeting their own price stability objectives. Of course, they take the rest of the world into account, but they do not say ‘Oh gosh, Jean-Claude has put up interest rates, perhaps we ought to keep up with him’; it is not like that† (House of Lords 2006 p.10). Therefore, the economics of equilibrium is a force that has to be recounted in that the elasticity of the economy is a crucial aspect of financial housekeeping in all World economies and despite the fact, an economy must predominately consider its own fiscal policies, rather than being affected by other economic decisions.

International HRM (comparing between 2 cantries) Essay

International HRM (comparing between 2 cantries) - Essay Example Another determinant of human resources function is the culture of the nation. Culture encompasses language, norms, customs and beliefs. Policy development needs to take into consideration the values of the country such as individualism or collectivism. Many in the field of HRM argue that the function depends on organizational structure while proponents believe it is dependent on national culture. This paper presents a critique of the significance of national culture as an explanation for the difference in HRM practice between Australia and Korea based on individualism and uncertainty avoidance, which are contrasting national approaches to HRM. National culture is a significant determinant of the nature of workplace relations and the human resource management practices. In Australia, the culture of individualism is deeply rooted and people usually focus on personal accomplishments rather than working to accomplish tasks as a group. A person ascends the management hierarchy through working hard to become the leader in terms of performance. This is different in Korea where individualism is minimal, and people tend to focus on teamwork to accomplish their workplace tasks. Holbeche (2001) suggests that the determinant of the level of individualism is the economic well being of a country. This suggestion is supported by Vance & Paik (2006) who view teamwork as the response to the need for people sharing a common problem trying to establish a solution. An example is when a country is confronted by a disaster. The government and stakeholders as well as individuals cooperate to ensure that they acquire the desired strength to cope with the disaster. When it is solved, people find no reason to remain together and each party attends to other matters independently. In essence, Australia is one of the countries that have a thriving economy and therefore people may

Assessment task 6.1, guidance,this module is assessed by the Essay

Assessment task 6.1, guidance,this module is assessed by the completion of 3,500 words assessment - Essay Example The role of the social worker with regard to the assessment, decision making and planning in this backdrop is analysed based on the data or information available in respect of the case. 1. Residential Care for Older Patients in Hospital Facts of the case in brief Mr. Harris was admitted to hospital having been found on the floor with a slight head injury. Mr. Harris was happily married for 53 years, had an active social life and many friends before his wife died unexpectedly less than a year ago. He has been diagnosed as having Parkinson’s disease. His daughter Beatrice, Mr. Harris’ only child, has two children. Her younger son is 10 years old and has a form of autism. She lives in the town and has been visiting twice a week. Assessment of the Case For the assessment of the cases, collecting complete information is necessary  to develop interventions and treatment planning. ... Proper assessment is very essential for taking various decisions involved in the treatment and for planning and coordination. Perception of inadequacies in the set-up is very important to take corrective measures to improve the situation. Parkinson’s Disease â€Å"Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive disorder of the central nervous system resulting in a lack of dopamine in the brain, among other changes. Dopamine, a chemical produced by cells in the brain, is necessary for smooth, controlled movement of muscles...researchers do not know what causes Parkinson’s disease at this time... â€Å"(The Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center, 2008) Confusion and lack of motivation on the part of Harris can be attributed to the disease. According to the Institute, in addition to the well-known symptoms of tremor, slowness and imbalance, other problems such as excessive saliva, a soft voice, as well as hand and foot cramps may occur. Depression, anxiety and a nu mber of sleep disorders are quite common.   The observation of the physiotherapist â€Å"uncooperative with exercise programmes and lacking motivation† is understandable. Local authorities where the patient ordinarily resides reimburse the charges to the hospital if they are responsible for any delay in discharge from the hospitals due to lack of arrangements for community care. Notice has been issued under the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act, 2003. Also, Community health care centre is ideal for treatment to Harris, rather than a hospital set-up. The statement made by The National Council for Palliative Care (2009) â€Å"â€Å"NCPC’s Neurological Conditions Policy Group has been

Madonna Granduca Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Madonna Granduca Painting - Essay Example The essay "Madonna Granduca Painting" focuses on the painting of Madonna Granduca. It is painted with oil on wood and is the size of 84 x 55. The painting shows Madonna holding a baby in her arms. The background is black with the main focus on the baby, with Madonna as the secondary figure of the portrait. The hands of Madonna are holding the baby, with one arm under the baby and one on the stomach, with the presentation of the child on the side. This position is what provides the main focus to the child. The pose that Madonna has is facing the canvas and is in the middle of the portrait. Her head is slightly tilted to the side, which also points toward the child as the main figure. Her eyes in this particular portrait are closed and pointing downward, specifically to show a presentation of care for the child. The hand of the child is on the heart of Madonna, which shows the relationship between the two. The pose that is in this painting is able to show the sacredness of the child as well as the motherly figure that is a part of Madonna. The colors that are used with this painting also help with the association of the child as the main figure. The background being black helps to present the portrayal of the child. The contrast with the child is from the cream and peach texture and color that stands out as the brighter part of the picture. The Madonna is wearing a green robe and red dress, both which fade into the bottom part of the picture. The texture that is used with the colors is richer.

Literature Review Rough Draft Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Literature Review Rough Draft - Research Paper Example Cho et al. (2009) measured staffing with the help of two indicators; the first being the number of patients attended by a nurse counted at unit level, and the second being nurses’ perceptions of the adequacy of staffing. Cho et al. (2009) measured the quality of care and dissatisfaction with job using a burnout and a four-point scale gauged with the help of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and determined the relationships between the three variables using the multilevel logistic regression models. Their research led them to the conclusion that nurse staffing is related to the care quality as well as job outcomes in the intensive care units of Korean hospitals. This conclusion was drawn on the basis of these findings; 20 per cent of the nurses perceived that the number of nurses needed to provide quality care was sufficient, whereas 33.33 per cent of the nurses were dissatisfied, 50 per cent were extremely burnt out with 25 per cent nurses contemplating to leave the hospital in t he following year. The optimal number of patients per nurse for high quality care as determined by the nurses was two or fewer. Kiekkas et al. (2008) explored variations in mortality of intensive care unit (ICU) patients based on the ratio between the total demands of patient care and staffing of nurses. Unlike Cho et al. (2009), whose design of research was cross-sectional along with a survey spanning August to October 2007, Kiekkas et al. (2008) conducted an observational and prospective study. Another major difference between the research of Cho et al. (2009) and Kiekkas et al. (2008) is that while the former included 1365 nurses in the survey who belonged to 65 units of intensive care in 22 different Korean hospitals to study the relationship between the staffing of nurses and the quality of nursing care related to nurses and job outcomes, the latter enrolled patients who were consecutively admitted in a Greek hospital’s medical

Once Were Warriors Essay Example for Free

Once Were Warriors Essay â€Å"Forget the big players in the world; it is the people in the margins of our society whose stories are most compelling. † To what extent do you agree with this statement? Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. The Heke family that feature in the ground-breaking New Zealand film from 1994, ‘Once were warriors’ directed by Lee Tamahori are clearly a family living on the margins of society. They live in a state house next to a busy and noisy motorway in South Auckland, New Zealand. Their story is undoubtedly a compelling one: an abusive husband with a love of beer drinking and parties who gains respect from the use of his fists at the local pub; a long-suffering wife who has somehow managed to hold the family together through an obviously tumultuous 18 year marriage; a disillusioned older son who flees the dysfunctional household to join a gang; a pubescent daughter who is the de-facto mother of the family; another son who has gotten in with the wrong crowd and is committing petty theft and two younger children, Polly and Huata. Director Lee Tamahori uses a range of camera and sound techniques, dialogue and compelling themes to teach us about the dangers of excessive alcoholism and moving away from our ancestral connections. Jake ‘the muss’ Heke is a compelling protagonist. After being laid off from his job, he uses his redundancy money to bring home seafood for his family. We are initially positioned to see him as a loving and caring family man, that is until his wife Beth discovers he has been laid off and sees her dreams of buying their own home go out the window. Jake is a man of excuses who sees the dole as being â€Å"only 15 bucks a week less than my wages† and bursts into a tirade of abuse when his wife Beth resists his sexual advances after discovering the truth. Jake also excuses his own propensity for violence when he says, â€Å"Look when I get like that, get out of my way, but you’ve got to get all lippy on me. Sure I’ve a temper, but who hasn’t? † It is apparent that Jake has an inferiority complex dating right back to his courting days of Beth saying â€Å"I was never bloody good enough† and that he descends from a â€Å"long line of slaves† unlike Beth who originates from more upper-class Maori roots. What this highlights is that domestic violence, while inexcusable can often have its origin in insecurities from years beforehand. This is why men in particular need to seek help when they are struggling with issues instead of resorting to excessive bing-drinking to numb emotional pain. Jake’s wife, Beth is also on the margins of society as we see her struggling to raise her family amidst all the physical and verbal abuse around her. Gradually the low angle shots of Beth become more prominent as her courage to stand up to her abusive husband increases as also seen in her dialogue. I won’t have any more of these parties or your bloody ugly mongrel mates coming over. † Tragically, Beth’s surge in power in response to Jake’s failure to take the family to see Boogie in the Boy’s home comes too late, as unbeknownst to her, Uncle Bully has raped her daughter, Grace sending her into a downward spiral which culminates in her suicide. Beth’s cou rage in standing up to Jake and restoring the family without him is compelling. It must have inspired many women across New Zealand and indeed the world to leave behind dysfunctional and violent domestic set-ups. The fabulous low-key lighting and low angle shot of Beth at the end as she calmly informs Jake that ‘from now on I make the decisions for my family’ is inspirational and reminds us of the ‘mana, pride and spirit’ that many Maori have. She finally goes ‘home’ to her Maori ancestral roots as well as literally home to restore her devastated family in the wake of Jake’s departure. Perhaps the most compelling story of hope in the film is that of younger son, Boogie who is ‘sent into welfare’ after the state decides his family can no longer control him after his mother, Beth fails to accompany him to a court hearing (due to suffering a beating and rape at the hands of Jake) as a result of a string of petty crimes. Boogie finally gets the tough love he needs from Maori man, Bennett a distinguished tane who teaches Boogie to use ‘his taiaha on the inside,’ instead of on the outside. Boogie learns that true mana is found by using your mind and developing the inner-strength and resolve to solve problems instead of resorting to violence. Bennett, initially called a ‘black bastard’ by Boogie despite being Maori trains Boogie to reconnect with his maori tikanga and culture which effectively clears up Boogie’s confusion about his Maori identity and that this can be a source of pride. This shows that with the appropriate guidance, initially wayward youth can have a chance to redeem themselves, although this is a job parents and to a lesser extent teachers need to be doing. State foster homes should only be a last resort. In conclusion, ‘Once Were Warriors’ left an indelible mark on the psyche of many New Zealanders with its brutal violence and depiction of problems such as binge-drinking and poverty that previously were swept under the carpet. Only by examining characters on the margins of society can we truly learn how easy it is to get there ourselves if we do not value our families, our education or seek help when we are struggling with issues from our past. The story of the Heke family is a compelling one and a story we would do well to consider seriously.

Development of Electronic Government Policy

Development of Electronic Government Policy 1. INTRODUCTION This paper discusses policy implementation in order to explain the development of electronic government policy in the Local Government in Great Britain. In order to do this, the paper firstly provides a brief description of electronic government. This is followed by a discussion of policy implementations and its relevance in local government to e-government, as well as the analysis of the key features and roles of implementation. Finally, the paper discusses British effort to implement e-government at the local level. 2. E-GOVERNMENT E-government is a notion that has revolutionised bureaucracy and the way governments function in the twenty first century. E-Government is an approach dealing with the development of online services such as e-tax. E-government is also responsible for many innovations and improvements in the early years such as e-transportation and e-health. There are clear associations between the goals of the modernisation agenda and that of the electronic government agenda. For example, within an expected national policy for electronic government in England, the term electronic government is currently described as â€Å"exploiting the power of information and communications technology to help transform the accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of public services, and to help revitalise the relationship between customers and citizens and public bodies who work on their behalf† (Local Government Association 2002:XXX). 3. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION AND ITS RELEVANCE It has been claimed that the implementation of local e-government is perhaps the most diverse and complex change programme ever undertaken by local government (The Economist 2006). The process touches all public services, from social services to housing and from education to street cleansing, and every single department of local government. As a plan for change, it entails innovations in structures, processes, working practices and corporate cultures. Therefore, it has an effect on everybody who is a part of the local government including elected members, staff, citizens and local businesses. Furthermore, local electronic government is not just a matter for local authorities, as it extends to a wide range of other local agencies. This necessitates the general partnership and successful management. The transformation from plan to implementation entails the organisation of capital, and current effort in processual studies of change have accentuated on the administration of organisational politics and the implementation of power. Resources not only include money, staff time and technological infrastructure, but also leadership, relevant skills and competencies (McLoughlin Cornford 2006). 4. KEY FEATURES AND ROLES The attainment of e-government is of strategic importance for local governments. According to Murray (2005), the key features for implementing electronic government are informatics planning, informatics management, informatics development, customer chain, internal value chain, supply chain and electronic community. Informatics planning considers information audit and standardisation, process mapping and design, authority strategy and modernisation, informatics strategy, risk assessment and cost–benefit analysis. Informatics management considers the management matters that are important for the execution of the electronic government agenda, including electronic championing, the form of electronic government organisation and the nature of any benchmarking exercise conducted or planned. Informatics development reflects on the existence of a clear plan for improvement. It does this by reflection on resource matters and whether an audit of appropriate skills had been performed. Key enablers for sustaining the customer chain consist of customer relationship management, the state of the citizen WWW site, examination of whether electronic democracy has been considered and what attention has been paid to the provision of the full range of future access mechanisms and channels. Internal value chain refers to the state of the current information systems. In regards to information systems architecture the apprehension is with the integration and interoperability of information systems as well as the integration with external standards and systems. Considering IT architecture, the significant technology enablers are knowledge management, document management, content management and intranets. Enablers for the supply chain contain the existence of any extranets, evidence of tale working and plans for the implementation of electronic procurement. Electronic community pays attention to the degree to which stakeholders have provided advice on electronic service delivery as well as the form of business planning employed and the existence of any form of electronic community strategy. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF E-GOVERNMENT IN BRITAIN The current e-government strategy in Britain is based upon e-government targets set in the 1999 Modernising Government White Paper. At the heart of this strategy is the belief that government services should be available continuously and not just during conventional working hours. Consequently, the White Paper established targets that 50 per cent of dealings with the public sector should be capable of electronic delivery by 2005 and 100 per cent by 2008 (Cabinet Office 1999). These targets were revised by a subsequent strategy statement from the newly created OeE to involve 50 per cent by 2002 and 100 per cent by 2005 (Office of the e-Envoy 2000). The targets are not restricted to central government departments or agencies but cover the entire public sector, including local authorities. Indeed, as the primary location of most day-to-day services, local government is seen as being central to the delivery of the information age strategy. According to Eiffert and Puschel (2004), the num ber of transactions involved in local government vastly exceeds those of the rest of central government put together. Informatics Planning â€Å"Some connection between their electronic government strategy and aspects of their modernisation agenda had been made by most authorities in Britain, however, there was surprisingly little evidence within the statements of the re-engineering of any current processes† (Barry 2004:37). There was little evidence of process mapping and redesign besides the general consideration of process changes required at the customer interface, apart from the general claim that electronic government change is organisational change. British local governments claimed to have an ICT strategy in place, but many acknowledged that it needed updating in the light of electronic government and needed to be more closely aligned with their electronic government strategy (Barry 2004). An initial cost–benefit analysis was also attempted, however a thorough assessment still had to be conducted by the majority of authorities. Financial analyses were also conducted, and findings were that cost sav ings were unlikely in the short term and cost neutrality was the medium-term goal for their authority. According to Barry (2004), most of the benefits of electronic government were likely to be intangible. Furthermore, the issue was also placed on inadequate resources, needed culture change within authorities and low-uptake of services as priority issues to be addressed. Informatics Management The council leader and the chief executive have been appointed by a significant proportion of the authorities in Britain as authority electronic champions. However, a variable level of support appeared for the electronic government agenda among elected members. â€Å"The general assessment seemed to be that, while a proportion of council members were interested and enthusiastic about electronic government, a substantial proportion of most council’s elected members had yet to be convinced of the case for electronic government† (Barry 2004:38). Specific structures for implementing the electronic agenda have been created, and electronic government officers for overseeing the strategy have been appointed by some governments. Most governments were only in the early stages of benchmarking their electronic service delivery and those that had completed this exercise placed their existing level of electronic service delivery in the lower quartile. Many local governments were re- using existing structures for implementing electronic government. Informatics Development Most governments in Britain had created development plans that had clearly evolved from their existing informatics infrastructure. Some authorities had aspired to consider more radical and aspirational solutions for the longer term future based on some early piloting of key technologies. Most authorities have also seen adequate resourcing for electronic government as a crucial issue. â€Å"Estimates from authorities regarding the investment required for the Welsh region for implementing the electronic local government agenda fully ranged from  £20 million to  £200 million† (Barry, 2004:39). Many of them have been actively looking towards various forms of external funding in order to finance critical components of their electronic government agenda. According to Barry (2004), one important aspect that was poorly addressed in most Implementing Electronic Government statements was the degree to which authorities believed they had the sufficient internal skills base required f or implementing the electronic government agenda effectively over the long term. The Customer Chain â€Å"Most of the planning within authorities in Britain appeared to be devoted to enhancing the customer chain† (Barry 2004:39). There was a need to re-engineer access to government services by using multiple access contact centres which are supported by sophisticated customer relationship management systems. This innovation was seen as particularly difficult for the smaller authorities, and in Wales for example, only one authority appeared to be well advanced in this area. In terms of the Society of Information Technology Manager’s four-point scale of categories (promotional, content, content plus and transactional) most authority WWW sites were currently content. The aspiration amongst most authorities was for fully transactional WWW sites, however only some authorities were using such technologies for facilitating interaction between, for instance, councillor and citizen. The Internal Value Chain â€Å"In discussions with the authorities it appeared that the enablement of the internal value chain of authorities was at a much more advanced stage than the enablement of the customer and supply chains† (Barry 2004:41). However, there was little description of the state of the back-end infrastructure and the integration and inter-operability of back-end systems in the Implementing Electronic Government statements themselves. There was also little allusion to plans for front-end/back-end systems integration in most authorities. â€Å"Most authorities seemed to be using basic technologies such as electronic mail to good effect internally, many had intranets and many had upgraded their internal communications infrastructure. However, the use of technologies such as content, document and knowledge management was variable† (Performance and Innovation Unit 2000). Furthermore, many authorities expressed concern over the increasing costs and unclear benefits of document mana gement systems. The Supply Chain Supply chain has been the least enabled theme within British authorities, even though in the private sector, electronic enablement of the supply chain was seen as critical to modernisation. Some authorities were piloting aspects of electronic procurement, but few authorities had a clear strategy in this area. Most also did not appear to be using extranets in any serious way and tele-working was being piloted only by a minority. The Community Chain The issue of the electronic community was treated differently amongst the governments. A minority of the governments oriented their entire electronic government strategy around the key idea of partnerships with the community, the community information plan was the electronic government plan in such authorities. â€Å"In the majority of the authorities, however, the electronic community was placed as one but not the only issue in their electronic Evaluating electronic local government in the UK 145 government strategy. Most authorities had consulted on electronic service delivery and, as a result, predicted low uptake of such services in the short to medium term† (Barry 2004:44). 6. CONCLUSION Local e-government in England is a hugely complex change programme that takes in almost every aspect of local government and almost everyone involved. The scale of the transformation which is envisaged, and the timescale in which it is expected to be achieved, are both highly ambitious. It is only by understanding this transformation as a both an organisational and socio-technical phenomenon and developing management practices appropriate to the emergent and on-going character of the change required, that many of the goals of e-government are likely to be realised. The effective implementation of e-government requires that the many resource gaps that exist in relation to appropriate leadership, change and project management skills are filled. Bibliography Barry, James (2006), â€Å"E-government† Unwin, London. Cabinet Office (1999) â€Å"Modernising Government†, Cm. 4310, London Stationary Office Eiffert, M. and Puschel, J. 2004, â€Å"National Electronic Government (eds)†. London : Routledge, 2004. Local Government Association (2002), â€Å"Towards a National Strategy for Local E-Government†, Local Government Association, London. McLoughlin, I. and Cornford, J. (2006), â€Å"Transformational Change in the local State? Enacting e-government in English local authorities† Journal of Management and Organisation, v12.n3, pp195(14). Murray, Smith, (2005), Implementation Strategies for E-government: A stakeholder Analysis Approach†, Centre for Innovation and Structural change, NUI, Galway, Ireland Office of the eEnvoy. (2000). www.archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-envoy Performance and Innovation Unit(2000): â€Å"E-government, 2000, Electronic government services for the 21st century. The Economist (2006), â€Å"Britain: The world in a website; E-government†, London March 11 2006 v378.n8468, pp32.

The Introduction Of Cultural Anthropology Cultural Studies Essay

The Introduction Of Cultural Anthropology Cultural Studies Essay Traditional dressing has been a topic of much concern when it comes to the world of fashion. Many fashions in todays world have slowly developed from the traditional garments that have been in existence for a long time. During ancient times, the ancestors just dressed scantily with animal skin but with the development of fabrics, this has changed tremendously. Each culture has its own unique way of doing things. Culture has been diverse and different in all regions and continents of the world. Indeed, in every region people have the values and virtues that they value most and the doctrines that they follow which contributes to a unique culture. Starting with the behavior, arts, music, believes, cuisine, and literature different cultures portray different models of everything. The dressing is also unique and it is easy to identify people with how they dress. The Asian and African cultures are two cultures that have held on to their customs and cultures, to date people still value and practice their traditions irrespective of the westernization. Although civilization has threatened culture with extinction, people need to be rooted in it to avoid the good values and virtues from disappearing. This paper examines the similarities and differences in styles of dress in Asian culture and African culture. What individuals put on is dependent on a number of factors. When people dress, those around them know their intention since the style is identifiable in many ways and functions. Dressing, according to many, is for warmth, protection and/or comfort; this, fact coupled with others makes dressing important. In areas of the Middle East there are different colors applied for women and men such that while women wear black the men wear white. Traditionally, women wore black in the wedding ceremonies since it was associated with fertility and status but this has changed with many preferring the westernized white gowns. The use of cloth relates the past, present and ensures a future through different experience and social relations. Winter (2002) in his article Fashion Statements quotes We wear clothes not only to be comfortable in the environment, but its one of the easiest ways of saying something about our identities, our histories, our aspirations, of where we want to be in the world, Social status or class is another reason people wear differently. Kings, queens, chiefs and other authorities dignitaries will wear differently from the commoners or subjects being ruled e.g. Chiefs will tend to wear uniforms (Derber, 2000, p.63). Their dressing maybe modified to indicate their power, rank, status and authority. Wear for the authorities may be got from animals skin and are always rare to obtain to the ordinary person. This makes it easier to identify people from lower castes. Color is also used to identify social status and one color used for the authorities for easy identification. Luxurious garments are also worn by the rich and famous to indicate wealth (Winter, 2002). Gender is also another factor to consider when dressing. Men and Women in culture have been seen as unequal and will wear differently each time they dress. Their outfits are also different with women traditionally wearing clothes that are covering their body in totality. The garments come differentiated in color, styles and fabric. The traditional culture dressing stressed on modesty, secrecy, and dignity. These dressings are regulated by laws of the traditions which dictate what men and women ought and ought not to wear. People also dressed differently for different occasions, for example, during weddings people will want to be radiant and very attractive but for funerals they will look gloomy and this will be shown in the dress codes. For war and circumcisions occasions all will dress differently. For sports and different activities that are involving the dress code will change to suit the event. Religion is also important when dressing. This may be seen as occupational clothing since most will stick to it for as long as they are in the religion. Different religions wear differently and most recommend decent dressing. Muslims, for example, will wear very conservatively such that women must cover their head with the hijab and long Kangas while men wear a white robe with a cap, and the Jews will wear robes and turbans as they worship. Culture The Asian culture and African culture are multi ethnic and the dressings involved are diverse. However, the religions practiced like Islam may be similar hence make the dressing look alike. This means different styles, fabrics, designs are found in these cultures for both men and women. Asian culture and African culture Asian cultures vary and the continent is rich in culture. These include the Shinto, Mahayana Buddhists Confucian of Japan Shamanistic and Marxists of South Korea, Taoists, the Hindu, and the Spiritist of Thailand. As many as there are the cultures so there are the differences. These differences are religion, language, beliefs, clothing, and ethics (Good, 2001). The Asian culture is more critical when it comes to religion. They have more reference to a supreme being no matter where they are in the continent and this is common to all traditions and ethnic entities. The dressing in the Asian culture is more linked to occasions which all have meaning (Good, 2001). The colors of the cloths they wear signifies and symbolizes different things e.g. red signifies wealth and good luck in Chinese, while white is used for funerals. The food is also prepared ceremoniously based on the calendar and events. There are also special meals that are prepared for the wealthy, rich and rulers. Education and labor are more emphasized since they are seen as means to wealth and success. This is passed on from generation to generation with its virtues. The family is one organization that the Asians respect. Many siblings live together in harmony and respect with shared responsibilities and duties that keep cordial relations. Common decisions are made and all favor the family values and virtues (Moore, 1998, p.147). Africa is renowned for its rich culture that attracts many tourists to the region. The numerous ethnic tribes and groups make the region enriched with true traditions that are hard to change. Africa can be broadly divided into Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Khoisan. Art, music, and religion characterize culture in Africa (Le Blanc, Van Lowe, 2000). Many Africans believe in traditional religion though most have transformed to Muslims and Christians due to civilization but many have believed in superstitions and black magic. They believe in team work and family values and respect for the elders and a society that is male dominated (Miller, 2007, p.124). They have rich traditional foods prepared during ceremonies and for the wealthy, rich and authorities. The emphasis mainly on respect of elders especially male elders and take them as gods. Apart from some few differences the Asian and African culture may some time be view as alike. Asian Dressing Many have long misinterpreted the clothing of Asia as unfashionable and obsolete. With the Japanese donning a kimono or other long robes with wide sleeves and the Chinese having the Mao suits that were of dull colors, then one would conclude that Asia is no place for fashion. However, traditions have been kept and civilization has not been allowed to change them (Winter, 2002). Ancient Chinese dressing included simply a tunic or jacket then known as a san with a pair of wobbly trousers known as the ku. This outfit was modified with age to include the mandrian collar to suit as fashion. For customary occasions, the higher class and wealthy, e.g. the emperor and court of nobles, wore robes, long sleeved loose fitting garment that was tied at the front and were made from silk. Other garments included the dragon robe worn by the ruling class. The clothing of the emperor who commanded a lot of respect had unique outstanding colors such as yellow to show dignity but never had numerous decorations. Modern day China has become a bit westernized but with a Chinese taste. For women, the cheongsam dress is very trendy, but the Mao suit was imposed and is the common daily wear for many Chinese. Japanese systems were the same as China with them preferring robes and tunics. The poor women wore loose skirts and men wore loose linen shirts. The loose shirt was the kosode and the long trousers were the hakama. The Japanese robe was tied with an obi or sash around the waist. The Japanese have several traditional dress wears including the; ho, kinu, haori, and katiginu. Beauty and design are much emphasized in the dresses. The major style of dress in the south Asian culture is the sari, while the East and Southeast Asia there is the sarong of Indonesia, the qipao of China, ao dai of Vietnam and the kimono of Japan. African Dressing African clothing is mainly based on weaving, tie and dye, batiks, and industrial prints. The dress of Africa has been influenced mainly by the religion the region follows. This has made multifaceted interactions between the Muslims and Christians. According to Hansen, 2004 in the article The world in dress: Anthropological perspectives on clothing, fashion, and culture explains that Africa ha two wide dressing cultures (Le Blanc, Van Lowe, 2000). These are based on decorations of clothes at the west, central and several regions of East Africa and the other is tailored western look alike attires found in the Southern Africa and the remaining part of East Africa (Hendrickson, 1999). Loose gowns for the men and women known as the boubou cloth wrappers and head tie are the common dressing. The Buna in the Yoruba land is more specific especially in Nigeria, but women and men wear different colors and patterns. During marriage the women wear black while for hunters they mix the colors of white and black which are stripped. The chiefs have reservations for the red impersonate clothing which is decorated with beautiful patterns. As for color, white signifies spiritual occasions. The clothes made by weaving include bogolanfini, aso, ake, kuba, raffia, and kente. These are made with black, white and brown motifs. Comparison and Contrast The clothing styles will always be different in the size, how, where, and when worn in the two regions. The veil and head wrapping in Egypt and Kuwait is the head cover for rich women makes them look wealthy, rich, famous, and honored but for those in lower status never cover their head. For those in Egypt covering the head is for those in the lower status and not the rich and wealthy. This brings the difference in opinions; to those in Kuwait, it preserves the wealthy status, while the Egyptians think of it as being a good and committed Muslims who preserves the status of a woman (Hendrickson, 1999). The Japans kimono gives the clear difference between gender and life cycle stages and the status. For the high status people their kimono sleeves are shorter as compared to those in the lower status. For the men the sleeves are equally short but for the women especially the unmarried their kimono sleeves are very long and for the married they are short like those of men (Hardin, 1997). For instance, the furisode kimono is made of fine silk of intricate colors and designs worn by a girl in her mid ages when not married signifying marital availability. Those in the African culture do not consider whether one is married or not but the gender. In wedding occasions in the South Korean side, traditional gowns are worn to retain the cultural tastes; this is common to the East and Southeast Asia where a white gown is used like the western culture but in India white clothing indicate widowhood. In Africa, the Moroccans wear a Berber costume, a long robe, accompanied by silver jewelry that is common in the pastoralists from the rural mountains. In the south, South Africans wear animal skin as traditional wear during the marriage ceremony. The long loose clothing is common in African and Asian cultures worn by both men and women. An explanation is that they cover their body not to expose their body structure. This preserves the traditional value of secrecy of the human body. The Nigerian women have also taken to wearing the tunic from the South Asia (Hardin, 1997). Dressing in Africa does not emphasize the class like the Asian culture where class matters. For example, in India the caste system dictates different dress codes to the members of the different castes. However, in both regions, status is considered. Religion makes the people in both regions wear the same. For Muslims they are dictated to wear robes and head covers in all regions. The veil which is the common religious wear has been named different names in the two cultures, some call it the hijab, others chador, burqah, or bui-bui. This is mostly worn by Muslims women not only in the region but throughout the world. Because of its visibility, the veil is the emblem of Muslim identity and the difference in Orientalizing approaches both in scholarship and popular media, serving as the symbol par excellence of womens subordination (Hansen, 2004). The African culture has more preference to cotton fabrics while the Asian cultures silk garments are preferred. Most of the garments in the South Asian culture are silky while the tie and dye, weave, and batiks of African culture are made from cotton (Le Blanc Van Lowe, 2000). Some of the garments in the East Asia are made of weaving like the sarong. Much of the Asian clothing often looks like uniforms while in African dressing the clothing is diverse and range in color design and style. Reacting to wearing uniforms, young Japanese buy cute things and fashion conscious youth use cuteness as a dress and adornment strategy to counter the norms of uniformity (Hansen, 2004). African culture of dressing does not come in uniforms and emphasis is laid on dressing for the occasions. Both cultures have distinct dressing for different occasion which can be said to be common throughout the world, and this is accompanied by covering of the head by women which is more emphasized in the Asian culture. This ensures that the woman remains concealed and dignified according to the culture. Conclusion Dressing in todays world has been revolutionized and people have moved from traditional wear to western fashion. As a result, the traditions have been eroded and traditional wear forgotten. People converge at beauty pageants to showcase the latest designs and styles of dressing that have been modified to suit different needs. Those who are strong in their traditions have continued to keep and uphold its virtues and values. Culture and dressing has been complicated in the recent past as cultures, traditions have merged, and the only concept that exists is the national dresses. Past traditions and cultures in terms of dressing also proved to be gender biased since they were strict on women but now women have resisted them and transformed, but one thing is for sure traditional African and Asian cultures were rich and valued. Reference(s): Derber, C. (2000). The pursuit of attention: power and ego in everyday life. New York: Oxford University Press US. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://books.google.ca/books?id=OXmOXQPc6eECpg=PA63lpg=PA63dq=Women+%2Bclothing+%2Battention+%2Bdress+-islamsource=blots=za_iogc9KCsig=EHnPXyq-wPd7rj83ImFs9p4-czohl=enei=rgEXSo2NKJiQmAeqlvDtDAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4#v=onepageq=dressf=false. Good, I. (2001). Archaeological textiles: A review of current research. Annual Review of Anthropology,  Vol. 30,  p.209-226.  Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=87511152Fmt=4clientId=74379RQT=309VName=PQD. Hansen, T.K. (2004).  THE WORLD IN DRESS: Anthropological Perspectives on Clothing, Fashion, and Culture. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol.33,  p.369-392. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=749595631Fmt=3clientId=74379RQT=309VName=PQD. Hardin, K. L. (1997). Cloth that does not die. American Anthropologist, Vol.99, issue.1 pp.216. Hendrickson, H. (1999). Consuming Fashion: Adorning the Transnational Body. Anthropological Quarterly,  Vol.72 Issue.3, p.149-151. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=46950134Fmt=3clientId=74379RQT=309VName=PQD. Le Blanc, D. Van Lowe, C. R. (2000). Clothing as a cultural Expression: African fashion Issue briefs, TransAfrica Forum. Washington DC. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:-BiYNe4cQecJ:www.afrisonet.net/Documents/clothing_issuebrief0600.pdf+Clothing+as+a+cultural+expression:+African+Fashionhl=engl=kepid=blsrcid=ADGEESglBDHqrYbIPF2ChfoueKZcjNa1hWW96rzZbE4KmmQTSpztUyg8pa3XK6cwlGB2hqvH0THzA4HUoZX619b5y86WADR5xXyluL-q_xo5kZgbYA6Ewdks9O6xjn4LVcYsJLJcqSmFsig=AHIEtbTnzOxS5OS14W1LNJvnvJSZBfn60w. Miller, B. D. (2007). Cultural anthropology. Ed.4. Boston: Allyn Bacon. Moore, A. (1998). Cultural Anthropology: The Field Study of Human Beings. Ed.2, Michigan: Rowman Littlefield. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=qvsrgl91TFsCprintsec=frontcoverdq=Cultural+anthropologycd=5#v=onepageq=f=false. Winter, M. (2002).  Fashion statement. Human Ecology,  Vol.30 Issue.1,  p.  11. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=114399732Fmt=4clientId=74379RQT=309VName=PQD.

Influence of the Spanish on Puerto Rican Society :: Puerto Rico History Historical Essays

Influence of the Spanish on Puerto Rican Society In the histories of Colonial Latin America there is one common aspect and that is the importation of slaves as a labor force. The resulting consequences for the territory are vital if we are to understand the development of the society. In Puerto Rico these consequences deal mainly with African influence on the peasantry, the corrective measures taken thereafter to negate the African influence, and the results of these corrective measures. The Tainos, the natives of Puerto Rico, were extensive agriculturalists as well as a highly organized people. They developed techniques, such as irrigation, which was new to agriculture and at the same time increased the productivity of their crops, like the yuca their main staple. Another unique feature to the Taino society was the relationship between man and woman. The Taino’s gender roles were markedly different from those of the European nations. For example the matrilineal arrangements allowed both men and women to become the chiefs of their respective villages. Spanish settlers were critical, upon arrival, of the Taino lifestyle. Unfortunately Taino influence is rarely felt due to their rapid demise. Although the natives of Borikà ©n were Taino, it is argued that the first Puerto Ricans were black Puerto Ricans. Spanish occupation virtually eliminated Native influences by the way of the decimation of the people as a result of disease brought across the atlantic by the Spanish settlers. In this way the Taino were minimally influential in forming a new cultural identity. â€Å"The descendants of the first African slaves had already become black Puerto Ricans†(Gonzà ¡lez 10) when Spaniards from the canary islands arrived to replace those who had left in search of riches in Peru and Mexico. For this reason it is feasible to accept the notion â€Å"that the Puerto Ricans were in fact black Puerto Ricans.† (Gonzà ¡lez 10) The African presence was more of a factor in the formation process of the Puerto Rican identity. Of the massive numbers of slaves who survived the voyage there were those who were fortunate enough to escape into the hinterland. Here they found refuge from the hardship of plantation labor along with the opportunity to join the peasantry that also searched for refuge. The jà ­baros â€Å"used the broken topography of the interior as an ally in its struggle with the expanding sugar plantations† (Scarano 6) This intermixing of the two cultures forged several similarities.

The Good Life :: Essays Papers

The Good Life In The Good Earth, by Pearl S, Wang Lung the main character is a poor peasant who buys a wife and moves up in the social ladder during the peasants' revolution. This story displays many major ideas of ancient Chinese culture, such as the social order, the treatment of women, and the role of the family in everyday life. At the beginning of the movie the following quote appears on the screen "The soul of a great nation is expressed in the life of its humblest people. In this simple story of a Chinese farmer may be found something of the soul of China. Its humility, its courage, its deep heritage from the past and its vast promise for the future." This means that an empire's greatness can also be measured by the life of its poorest people, and from this you can tell its character and where the empire is going. The Good Earth is an accurate reproduction of China during the Song and Tang Dynasties. The role of the family was completely represented in both the film and the book. The oldest male in the family is always greatly respected with filial piety. Filial piety was the the idea that elders should be respected and the older you were the wiser you were. In the beginning, Wang Lung bought an ugly slave for a wife because his wise father told him to. Wang Lung's respect for his father somewhat diminishes as his wealth increases and because of this he buys a second wife for his own pleasure. This shows that the Chinese society was predisposed against women and they were a disgrace to the family. The Good Earth shows the treatment, or mistreatment, of women accurately. O-Lan was treated badly by today's standards, but Wang Lung was kind to her compared many other husbands back then. Women in China were treated as slaves, they often worked in the fields, kept the house, and cared for the children. If a couple had a girl as a first child then there was a good chance that she would be killed because only men could earn good money. Some women had their feet bound to keep them small, this was thought to be attractive. If a woman's feet were bound then she could not be a slave or even walk properly on retarded feet. Rich men sometimes had two wives, one they bought for slave work and the other for beauty.

Irish Stereotyping In The Late 1800’s Essay

Published in Puck, America’s first successful comedic magazine containing several types of cartoons, on June 26, 1889 a cartoon entitled â€Å"The Mortar Of Assimilation And The One Element That Just Won’t Mix† clearly shows an Irishman rebelling against the rest of the American crowd with a knife in his hand, expressing violence, and possibly alcoholism. Through further research I found that how poorly the Irish were treated during this time period. The cartoon â€Å"The Mortar Of Assimilation And The One Element That Just Won’t Mix† expresses the idea Irishmen just do not belong in America, despite the several other races intertwined into our country. This cartoon brings me to the question; Why? Why were the Irish labeled as such outcasts? I have discovered three main reasons to answer this question: The Irish were labeled as violent, drunk, and having strange religious views. One clear reason the Irish were labeled as outcasts is because of the violence they were stereotyped to portray. The Irishman holding the knife in the cartoon is a perfect example of this. The Fenian brotherhood was a group with one main goal to obtain all freedom and become an independent republic of Ireland. For many played the role of motivation in emigrating to the United States, played a large role in this stereotype. One article in particular, entitled â€Å"The Fenians In Ireland† published in The New York Observer And Chronicle on November 23, 1895, articulates a perfect example of the violence portray by the Fenian brotherhood. It wrote: â€Å"The Derry Journal contains the following account of a sense of terror and alarm which occurred in a quiet village, but a few evenings since in consequence of a farmer of reliable veracity knocking up his sleepy neighbors to defend their homes and their firesides against a host of bloodthirsty, who were in march for their well-stocked farmyards. After some delay a great number of the male inhabitants were brought together in a truly warlike style†¦. The supposed Fenians had disappeared leaving the mangled remains of one of their companions behind them.† Another reason the Irish were labeled as outcasts is because of their religion. At this point in history America was made up of mostly Protestants, however the majority of the Irish emigrants were Catholic. Most Irish children were put into parochial schools and religion was placed as a big priority in their lives. The Irish held on tightly to their religious ways, a main reason being that was the one thing that still tied them to their homeland. Roman â€Å"Catholic priests denounce the common schools, and set up their protests in the form of un-American parochial schools.† (The Methodist Review, 5 January 1889) Americans refused to accept this religion due to the differences in their beliefs and practices. Today, Catholicism is one of the United States’ most common religions, with much thanks due to the Irish emigration. . Catholics also weren’t able to run for any political office, so that ruled out most of the Irish population for a great while, until the Know Nothing Act took place and the United States was able to look past religion. â€Å"The curse of the Irishman in America is strong drink.† (The Chautauquan, 8 October 1887) Drinking was a big part of Irish cultures. Even wakes were associated with alcohol due to the celebration of the deceased’s life. Americans feared their mostly Protestant nation would soon die out if the mostly Catholic Irish all emigrated to the United States, another reason why the Irish were not treated fairly. Not only were the Irish viewed as hot-headed violent, people with strange religious views, they were also known to be unskilled and drunk. Americans viewed Irish as alcoholics due to the drinking that is weaved into their culture and ways of living. Much like our culture does today, Irish drank in several difference social settings, although the y did drink alcohol at someone’s wake before the funeral, which may have been what disgusted Americans the most. Americans saw alcohol has ruling over the Irish and they were merely the slaves. One should also note, this was during the time of the ban of alcohol in the United States, so to see one consuming alcohol at such high rates was highly alarming and it would not be long for one to create a bad reputation because of something so simple. Due to this, Americans also stereotyped the Irish to be unskilled and lazy, at times signs were even put into windows stating things such as, â€Å"Irish need not apply.† At this point in history, Irish were viewed much similarly to African Americans when it came to respect. Over time, the Irish were able to keep their customs without encountering further confrontation, and the United States was able to run as one country under many different religions and customs as it does today. Catholics were able to run for office and Catholicism soon became one of the United States’ top most common religions. The Irish were looked down upon by Americans for three main reasons; they were stereotyped to be violent, drunk, and had different religious views which were frowned upon by the Americans. The Fenian brotherhood played a big role in the Irish being stereotyped as violent. At times, it is possible Irishmen were stereotyped to be violent because they were also known to be drunks. The Irish were known to be drunks because of the drinking that is associated with their culture. The Irish emigration to America had a lasting effect on everyone that was a part of the country, without the Irish emigration to the United States, America would not be what it is today, with a beautiful mix of races, religions, and beliefs.