Family Life Is Undergoing Drastic Changes as a Result of Industrialization and Modernization. Elaborate.

Family life is undergoing drastic changes as a result of industrialization and modernization. Elaborate. The family has changed a lot throughout time; this is a result of industrialization and modernization. Industrialization refers to mass production of products with machinery in a factory. Modernization is the development of social, cultural, economic and political practices and institutions, which are found in today’s society. Such developments and changes in society may replace religious beliefs with scientific beliefs, replacement of monarchies with democracy systems.After these changes in society the family structure changed; nowadays the family is smaller in size. Today the family only consists of two adults and no more than three children. Other modern family types are symmetrical families, where both parents share conjugal roles. The modified extended family is like the classic extended family but instead of all the family members to live in the same household they li ve close by. Due to death of a partner, divorce or having kids out of wedlock; Single parent families are quite common in todays society as well, this is where a lone parent heads the family.In some societies same sex couples are accepted to have their own family with children as well who are either adopted or surrogate mother. Nowadays the family is no longer a unit of production since it has lost functions due to industrialization and modernization where individuals study for a specific field and are not capable of carrying out certain functions that the family used to do. Therefore the family needs other institutions in the society to be able to live and maintain its family life.Nowadays the society has institutions for health and education; in the past school wasn’t compulsory, and not everyone could afford schooling for their children so they chose to make their children work so the family could earn more money. In the pre-modern society healthcare was not much of a conc ern, in fact it was something that was taken care of by the family†¦nowadays in the society we find a health institutions which therefore takes another function, which the family used to perform.Since the industrialization family changed because the father in the family had to go out of the house to work in a factory instead of working as farmers as most families used to do. This earned the family money so they could buy other products and services from the market since the family is no longer a unit of production. Nowadays religion beliefs are not given much importance and don’t effect most family lives. This is due to secularization, which is when the religion is not given importance when it comes to the country’s business.

Compare and Contrast Rap and R&B Essay

Even though rap music is considered violent, there are some rap songs that delivers positive messages and then you have some R&B songs that are just as violent and raunchy as some Rap songs. Rap and R&B music are both enjoyable; however, both genres of music have a lot of differences. The word â€Å"Rap† came from a slang word meaning conversation. Rap music tends to attract a more tough and rowdy crowd. It is often categorized as violent music and has been known to be protested against. One of the reasons that some people think that Rap music is considered violent is because of the lyrics and the videos. Some of the lyrics in rap music talk about killing, robbing, shooting, stealing, sex and drugs. A group name N.W.A. (Ni**az with Attitude) made a song called â€Å"F**K Da Police† in the 80’s. The song caused a lot of uproar from not only the police but parents and fellow congressman as well. The Rap music videos often have a lot of half naked women dancing and gyrating in skimpy outfits. Sometimes you will see sexual references in these videos that can be considered â€Å"soft porn.† Luther â€Å"Uncle Luke† Campbell, was in fact taken to court because certain people thought that his videos and lyrics were too sexual and that he should be banned from putting out any more music. The end result of that was a Parental Advisory sticker being slapped on all cd’s that has either violent or sexual lyrics or cd covers. Rap music has also been claimed by most critics that rap causes sexist beliefs. I guess the reason being is because of the way the women are portrayed in these videos. Some of them are called â€Å"Video Ho’s†, â€Å"Groupies,† and now â€Å"Video Vixens.† The letters R&B stands for â€Å"Rhythm and Blues.† R&B music tends to attract a mellower, chill crowd and is put into a category called â€Å"baby making† music. R&B music has never been protested against and does not contain violent lyrics or videos. While rap music has a more a hard bass sound, R&B music has a more mid-tempo slow beat with a lot of wind instruments. Some R&B songs talk about being heartbroken and in love. Read Also:  Easy Compare and Contrast Essay Topics The reason most R&B songs are put into a category called â€Å"baby making† music  is because of the very slow sensual sexual beats that the songs have. There are certain songs that set a romantic mood for lovers or significant others. Certain groups or singers like The Isley Brothers and Barry White are known for having that very slow and sensual groove. In my opinion I do believe that R&B songs are more sexual than Rap. You have titles of R&B songs called: Sex Me, 12 play, T-shirt and Panties, and Let’s Ride, just to name a few. The lyrics in these songs may not be violent but they are definitely very sexual and raunchy. While R&B music has never been protested against, there have been some issues back in the late 50’s early 60’s with some of the dance moves and lyrics to songs. A song called the â€Å"HuckleBuck† dance moves were considered very racy. Recently there has been an issue with a song called â€Å"Sponsor† by R&B artist Teiarra Marie. Even though the lyrics are nowhere near sexual explicit as most R&B songs, her lyrics are stating that she has a man that buys her shoes, clothes, jewelry, and gives her money. Some see this as an issue because young women who look up to Teiarra Marie may think that it is okay to depend on a man to buy them things and to give them money; when they can just work and make their own money. I enjoy listening to both genres of music. The stuff they say about rap is not all true. I am not a violent person and I enjoy Rap just as much as I enjoy R&B music. I do prefer to listen to R&B over rap simply because I like the beats better. Even though the two attract different audiences, they both have one purpose and that is to entertain their fans and give them what they ask for.

Biblical Terms Used in Counseling

Dr. William Roberts LaTonia Watkins Liberty University COUN 501 December 18, 2009 Abstract The topic of counseling has been up for discussion for sometime as it relates to the spiritual or biblical aspect versus the worldview or secular concept. There has been some disagreement in regards to whether or not one can be a Christian counselor who have a level of morals and ethics that will allow them to not let their own personal beliefs affect the level of service they provide, when faced with an issue that goes against their beliefs. Upon conducting a biblical word search for counsel or counseling related terms it becomes evident that the core principles and foundation of counseling is found throughout the bible. The information obtained will detail the usefulness of the Bible in engaging in a meaningful as well as effective counseling profession. Biblical Terms Used In Counseling There has been much dispute as to the usefulness and validity for using biblical concepts in counseling. The most common disagreement is found between counseling professionals and Christian counseling professionals. Pride (2006) states, â€Å"psychology approaches human behavior from a secular, humanistic perspective. † Accordingly, Biblical revelation is irrelevant to understanding or changing human behavior. Psychology seeks to describe and explain human behavior apart from what God has clearly revealed. Its premises are derived from man-made theories, human wisdom and research conducted without a corresponding search for truth as God defines truth. Clinton and Ohlschlager (2002) have a different opinion of counseling and prefer using the Bible stating â€Å"secular psychology begins with a study of man’s ideas; Biblical counseling begins with a study of the Word of God as it relates to human behavior and human need. Therefore it is dependent upon the revealed mind of God rather than the easily deceived mind of man. † However it does not begin with God, it follows a path that lines up with the Word of God and examines man’s problems in light of God’s responses. The two aforementioned viewpoints are clear cut examples of the differences in opinions and viewpoints for counseling from a secular perspective as well as the religious perspective. Another view of counseling attempts to integrate religion/biblical views or perspectives with psychological counseling which is known as the secular-humanist view. Some view counseling as a process of prayerfully and sensitively listening to another person (Proverbs 18:13, 17), helping discern soul needs and providing biblical advice towards changing the attitudes and behaviors towards modeling God. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the validity of the Bible as a source for counseling and to expand the overall view of counseling perspectives. By examining words and concepts in the Bible as they relate to counseling the relationship between the two will be discovered. Using Biblical concepts adds depth and enriches the counseling relationship (Pride, 2006). Also addressed in this paper will be the ways of Biblical terms and their relationship to modern counseling concepts. Biblical counseling terms can provide a useful tool for counseling as well as allows for an understanding of counseling concepts in the field of counseling. Biblical Words Related to Counseling Counsel The term counsel is found to be translated 80 times throughout the King James Version of the bible which includes 74 verses between the Old Testament and the New Testament combined. According to the word search the term counsel is used interchangeably with several terms in the bible such as advise (Qal), consult (Nipal) and conspire (Hithpael). Judges 18:5 â€Å"They said, ‘Oh, good- inquire of God for us. Find out whether our mission will be a success. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ In this passage they are seeking (consult) God for his guidance (advise) in regards to the outcome of their mission. I Kings 12:8-9 â€Å"But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, ‘What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, give us a break from your father’s harsh ways- lighten up on us’? † This passage also shows an example of someone seeking advice in their situation. Mark 3:6 â€Å"The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod’s followers and ruin him. † This scripture details how the Pharisees consulted together and decide that they would join forces with Herod’s followers and go against Jesus. John 18:14 â€Å"It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people. † In this scripture Caiaphas is advising (counseling) the people on Jesus dying for the people. Advise The word advise has 947 different translations in 873 versus in the King James Version of the Bible and is derived from the Hebrew word ya-ats, meaning to know, learn to know, to perceive, see and discern, to name a few. These translations were only referenced to the Old Testament according to Blue Letter Bible; however after cross referencing with Crosswalk, New Testament scriptures were listed as well. Exodus 18:19 â€Å"Now listen to me. Let me tell you how to do this so that God will be in this with you. Be there for the people before God, but let the matters of concern be presented to God. † This scripture details Moses father in law advising him to be there for the people, however to allow God to handle everything and work things out for them. I Kings 12:6 â€Å"King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive. ‘What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people? ’† In this scripture the King is seeking to be counseled and advised from the elders as to how he should treat the people. Acts 21:21 â€Å"Theyve been told that you advise believing Jews who live surrounded by Gentiles to go light on Moses, telling them that they dont need to circumcise their children or keep up the old traditions. This isnt sitting at all well with them. † In this scripture they are discussing getting advise as to whether they should follow the traditional teachings of Moses and allow their children to be circumcised or if they should go against tradition. Help The word help appears 126 times in 117 versus throughout the King James Version of the Bible the Old and New Testament according to Blue letter Bible. Help is listed as to help (Qal), succor (Niphal), or support (Hiphil) which is defined as to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; to contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; to cooperate effectively (Webster 2005). Genesis 2:18 â€Å"God said, ‘It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion. ’† In this scripture help is being used in the form of God giving Adam a companion in order for him to no longer be alone. Mark 9:24 â€Å"No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, ‘Then I believe. Help me with my doubts! ’† In this scripture the father of the demon possessed boy was seeking Jesus’ help with casting the demon out of his son. The father was acknowledging that he had a need of Jesus and that he knew that Jesus could help him, although a part of him had doubts, I would venture to say it was because the disciples had tried to cast the demon out of the boy and were unable to do so. Advice The word advice appears 9 times in 9 versus in the King James Version of the Bible and is derived from the Hebrew word dabar, meaning speech, word, speaking, thing. II Samuel 19:43 â€Å"And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said , We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. † In this scripture they are seeking advice as to why they were not sought out first as to the decision regarding bringing back the king. I Corinthians 1:10 â€Å"I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. Ill put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. † In this scripture Paul is giving the people advice on getting along with each other and learning to be considerate. Discussion After completing this assignment and getting the information and knowledge gained from this course I can say that my view of counseling has changed. Although I have read the bible many times, and I am taking up Professional Counseling, it did not occur to me until this assignment how the bible is definitely the foundation for any counseling practice. When you look at some of the terms used to describe Jesus in the text,( i. e. Master, Teacher, Counselor, etc. ) it puts things in to perspective as to where the foundation of counseling began. Jesus is the central focus of counseling and the exemplar of the Wonderful Counselor. The Bible is about counseling, giving both understanding of people and methods of ministering to people. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom is the only worthy goal of counseling. (Carson, 2005). The Bible is authoritative, relevant and comprehensively sufficient for counseling. God has spoken to every issue that humans could possible face in the 66 Books of the Bible, which establishes the goal of counseling, how to change, what the role of the counselor is, counseling methods and so much more. The Bible’s view of counseling defines a distinctive ideal for how we as humans should live. The image of Christ is a familiar item in Christian profession, but its implications are often ignored when it comes to counseling. Much of the difficulty of counseling consists in sustaining suffers in hope through the comforts of the gospel. Counseling is simply the personalized ministry of the Bible, tailored to the particular situations and problems of individuals and small groups. In Genesis, God led the way when he was talking to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden regarding the decision they made to disobey his word and follow the serpent. Although this is a clear cut example of God counseling the two (advising, consulting, teaching, helping, etc. ), I don’t think we (society) really looks at this situation in regards to a counseling aspect. Models of spiritual counseling in the Bible can serve as important templates for counseling in the professional (secular) as well as the Christian aspects. The emphasis on communication and relationships implies the concept of involvement which is dependent on availability to council (Acts 20:31) and the importance of balance in the process of counseling, (Galatians 6:2 and 6:5). Conclusion There are so many more words that are found in the counseling sector that are used throughout the Bible this paper only included a few. Hathaway (2009) talks about Proverbs and Psalms being gold mines of wisdom and consolation relevant to counseling. The words from the Bible relating to counseling enhances counseling and are deemed appropriate as they relate to counseling outside the Christian realm. A concern that arose while doing the research is that the Biblical counseling aspect is non-subjective and refers to the counsel and the instructive power of God through the Holy Spirit. Biblical words in counseling are the foundation from where counseling stems, which reiterates that there is nothing new under the sun as it relates to what can be found in the Word of God. McMinn (1996 )states scripture and the counseling approach God enjoins, treats all of human life. The Bible’s counseling, on which we must seek to model our own counseling, speaks to the gamut of problems in living. Scripture comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable, turning people from foolishness to wisdom in every area: e. g. , learning to conciliate and to build constructive relationships in family, church, workplace, and neighborhood; attitudes and practices regarding finances and material possessions; responding to physical health or illness, to wealth or poverty, to success or failure, to acceptance or rejection; self-and other deception; addictive behaviors; the gamut of emotions, whether dysphoric (e. . , anger, depression, anxiety, fear, guilt) or euphoric (e. g. , love, happiness, joy, gratitude, confidence); decision-making; the response to suffering and bereavement; and so forth. In relation to using the Bible as a counseling tools it is best summed by Walker (2005) the Bible is sufficient to provide a systematic approach to counseling. The Bible pr ovides and models both counsel and counseling, teaching us to do likewise, with the intention of changing and sustaining people.

Strategic Management of HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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The Ocean in Crisis - Research Paper Example In some places like arid desert where fresh water is not readily available, ocean water serves as a lifeline for societies who can decrease its salt content to a safe level. Humanity’s dependence on the oceans is not a recent development, but has existed for thousands of years, ever since man first realized that he could master the resources that the ocean has to offer. Humans are not beyond that basic dependence on regulation and equilibrium in how they interact with the vast oceans of earth. Unfortunately, much of this equilibrium between the health of oceans and the health of civilizations has disappeared in the last century, with the rise of grave threats to the world’s seas. Problems such as acidification, climate change, pollution, and overfishing have resulted in the need for civilizations to rethink how they exploit the oceans to support necessary institutions. Of course, the existence of these threats is not always clear, so the purpose of this paper is to eluc idate some of the inevitable dangers humans pose to the oceans and how those dangers can be reversed. Acidification Acidification is a process of decreasing the pH level of some substance—in this case, earth’s oceans. The process of acidification is occurring at a faster rate because of higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Because levels of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere remain relatively stable, the excess carbon dioxide is taken up by the oceans (Raven and Falkowski). Dissolved carbon dioxide produces acids such as carbonic acid and bicarbonate. A lower pH has the effect of making ocean waters more acidic, which means most importantly that oceanic calcifying organisms such as corals, crustaceans, echinoderms, mollusks, foraminifera, and others will be vulnerable to the negative effects of a more acidic ocean. Fundamental disruptions to the ecosystems of these organisms that lie at the bottom of the ocean’s food chain will have pr ofound, and most likely irreversible, influences life in the ocean (Nienhuis, Palmer and Harley 10). Keith Sherwood and Craig Idso argue against those who claim ocean acidification poses a significant problem to earth’s largest ecosystem based on a review by Hendriks et al., published in 2010. According to the report, warnings that ocean acidification poses a significant long-term threat to marine biodiversity are based on theoretical models that do not account for numerous biological phenomena and are not supported by empirical observation. According to Sherwood and Idso, biological processes are capable of homeostasis against significant changes in pH levels within the range predicted during the 21st century. However, the essential contradiction here is that the conclusion being offered by Sherwood and Idso is based on the same theoretical models that they claim are not supported by empirical observation earlier; that is, â€Å"the range predicted during the 21st centuryâ €  is a prediction based on a theoretical model of how acid levels in the bulk waters of the oceans will change. A major problem Sherwood and Idso do not address is whether predictions about acid level increases are actually reliable when by their own admission, Sherwood and Idso do not think so. Perhaps acid levels will rise much more than predicted, which would call into the question their conclusion that homeostasis can make up the difference. Climate Change Climate change and ocean acidificati

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Developing an Interactive Secure Website - Essay Example Since most internet users engage in social networking in one form or another, the target group involved is quite expansive. The goal is to make use of the most popular form of telecommunication on an interpersonal level, which is the sharing of photos via uploading them, tagging and initiating chats with friends. The costs of establishing the information system will also be much lower than expected. This report outlines how the telecommunication grid may be used to supply the community with important information, as well as play an integral part in its constitution. Contents Introduction 3 Aim 4 Objectives 5 Rationale 5 Research 7 Methodology 9 Requirements specification and analysis 10 Design 10 Implementation 11 Integration 12 Testing 13 Installation 13 Maintenance 13 Project Management & Employability 14 Results 15 Database Connection 16 Changeover Technique 18 Conclusion 19 Limitations 19 Recommendations 19 Conclusion 20 List of Tables Table 1: Development mechanisms 12 Table 2: Identified Skills 14 Table 3: User Acceptance Testing 21 Table 4: Individual Evaluation 22 List of Figures Figure 1: The Waterfall Methodology 9 Introduction Information technology is the essence of the computers applied on an ongoing basis in the daily lives of the human race, sighs (Dawson 200). The importance of information technology has been greatly investigated and it has revealed significant citations that have been experienced with the use of information systems. The ability to create, store, manipulate and distribute data portrays the interaction of information systems, human beings and work. The existence of information systems since 1960 has proven worth with its impact on various aspects of life namely social, economic, education and health amongst others. The inception of the internet shall go down in history as one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. The internet is today’s most used, effective and efficient technological mode of communication allowing the transfer of data in textual, graphical and more complex form. Structures that enable the communication include websites, blogs, email, and webpages amon g others. These structures aid in meeting the main purpose of inventing the internet: communication. The structures operate as with any other communication mode, where there is the source and the terminal. The source in the case of the structures is a database where the data is stored whereas the terminal is the user who calls for the data via a search or a directed approach. These elements constitute a subject referred to as an information system (Gerardo 49). An information system is an incorporation of information technology together with human activities such as management, decision-making, transaction processing, and distribution of information. An information system provides interaction between humans and technology in various sectors such as health, education, economy, socialization, agriculture and so many more. In the social setting, the information systems are used to convey data of a social nature from one point to another, between users making use of a certain informatio n system such as a website (Hutchinson 421). Websites are vessels through which content can be contained, with help of a website server, which hosts the data for retrieval. The webserver is then connected to a network, which might be localized or globalized via the Local Area Network (LAN) and the World Wide Web (WWW) respectively. Once the data has been stored in a server that is connected to a network, it can then be accessed by referring to the data via the use of an address, which in my case is http://arabic-advertisments.com/try/index.php. Websites are generalized as either interactive or static. The interactive websites are structured such that they

Inside job Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inside job - Movie Review Example The movie arouses emotions of hatred towards those with financial power and annoyance towards regulatory agencies. The activities portrayed are too inhuman to bear and even come to terms with, which people with such wicked ambition do exist, and little can be done to bring their mindset to a halt. This is including the lack of a conscious, which seems to be the perfect definition of a capitalist nation, and one in which power is given to a chosen few to control the fate of the country’s economics. The worst part in the entire movie is the lack of measures to regulate the financial industry, and especially the replacement of business executives. This is concerning the selfish ambition with no regard, whatsoever, for human welfare, other than propulsion of their business enterprises into greater heights. This is particularly so with the selfish decision made in misleading investors, in internet stocks, to continue investing heavily while then returns, in the future, were not som ething worth considering (Scots 2). It is also frustrating to watch, in the movie, the lack of accountability after the bubble burst in the face of the world. The situation is made worse by the presence of Charles Morris and Lawrence Summers in the movies. They are the most annoying characters in the footage owing to their carefree attitudes in a dire situation that requires seriousness to put the audience at ease. Charles Morris finds it amusing that bankers have taken advantage of the windfall resultant from selfish decisions and misfortunes of members of the public. He is also annoying in his attempt to induce humor in the cheap mindset of the individual bankers at making large fortunes and thinking it is because they are smart, which is the opposite. This is because; his attempts appear as a mockery to the innocent pubic, which loses to the bankers. It also depicts the public as being part of a foolish movement that is easily swayed by winds of selfish ambition. Lawrence summers , though not an official member of the cast, is also annoying with his conceptions of other peoples’ ideas despite being backed by ideas. This is such as the warning given by Raghuram Rajan earlier of the pending financial crisis in the near future, which summers dismisses and mocks (Scott 1). Since the 1980s, the financial sector has undergone a phase of lack of regulation as opposed to the period before it putting the country in the state it currently is. With this mind, the film puts the blame for the situation squarely on the shoulders of both political parties; that is democrats and republicans (Scot 1). This is because during the entire period of lack of regulation, both parties have been in power and have done little to ease the tension in the financial sector. This is as portrayed by Ferguson through the dropping of regulation of the economy in the 1980s and the resultant crisis in the late 2000s. The blame for the entire crisis originates with the government followin g the policy against regularization of the finance industry, which could have been fuelled by financial institutions. However, the main cause of the crisis lies with the selfish bankers individually and their boards for misleading members of the public and capitalizing on their trust in financial institutions. Decisions made by financial services companies led to the meltdown in the financial sector by undermining reports of looming collapse of the financial system.

Social Media as a tool for Surveillance and gaze How do people consume Essay

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The Rule of St. Benedict and the Prayer of St. Francis Essay

The Rule of St. Benedict and the Prayer of St. Francis - Essay Example The monastic tradition, through the history of the Church, has gone through drastic changes and the religious rules of the monastic people were formulated by the monastic traditions of each period. The Rule of St. Benedict was the most prominent religious rule in the sixth century which was formulated according to the demands of the time. There was drastic change in the way the religious rules of monasticism were formulated and the views regarding such rules changed from one monastic tradition to another. A comparative analysis of the selection of readings from the Rule of St. Benedict and the Prayer of St. Francis drawn from the Christian Monastic tradition in the textbook explicitly suggests the different contexts of the monastic tradition. It is most essential to consider that both of these texts, despite their apparent differences, make sense in the context of the monastic traditions as they reveal the characteristics of the religious rules concerning monasticism in the various p eriods of Church history. The selection from the Rule of St. Benedict which belongs to the first half of the sixth century tells about the rules concerning excommunication for faults and it hints the severity of the religious rules of the period. The Rule of St.

Nursing Practice Act Essay Example for Free

Nursing Practice Act Essay I came to realize just how fare we have come. My article includes information on the scope of practice for the nursing profession. The’re alson many different responsabilities of nurses, and the exams and prcedures they go though to become licensed are something else. There are a lot of things that a person can do to lose their license. The’re are also many avenues you can take in nursing, there are a lot of opertunities to grow. The definition of Nursing Practice is to provide individuals and groups with nursing care requiring specialized knowledge, judgment, and skill derived from the principles of biological, physical, behavioral, social, and nursing sciences. A nurses scope of practice focuses on identifing patterns of human responses to actual or potential health problems amenable to a nursing regimen. They are to execute a nursing regimen through the selection, performance, management, and evaluation of nursing actions, assessing health status, and to provide health counseling and health teaching. The scope of practice includes administering medicatons, treatments, and to execute regimens that are by authorized personal. The scope of practice also includes teaching, administering , supervising, delegating, and evaluating nursing practice. The standards related to the RN’s responsibilities in implementing the nursing process and as a member of the nursing profession is to be knowledgable in your work, always use the best possible route, and always make informed decisions. An advanced practice nurse is a registered nurse who has been certified under a certain chapter to practice in a certain field, by the board of nursing. They have certified registered nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse- midwife, and certified nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioners have to also obtain prescriptive authority, which grants them the authority to prescribe medication. The nursing licensure requirements for a new graduate is first to send in an application for the licensure. The application has to include evidence that the applicant has completed requirements of a nursing education program approved by the board or approved by another jurisdiction’s board that regulates nurse licensure. The application will also include information requied by the board. There will be an application fee required by section 4723. 08 of the revised code. You also have to pass a background check that was brought into effect after June 1, 2003. The board of nursing may revoke, suspend or refuse to grant a nursing license, if a person is found by the board to have committed fruad in passing an examination required to obtain the license. A nurse can also have there license suspended or revoked if caught selling, giving away, or administering drugs or therapeutic devices for other than legal and legitimate therapeutic purposes. To renew a license that was issued for a two-year renewal period you have to have 24 hours of continuing nursing education. At least one hour of the education must be directly related to the statutes and rules pertainig to the practice of nursing in this state. The law and rule that sets the requirements for schools of nursing is section 4723. 07. Section 4723. 07 explains the different precedures and precautions that have to be taught to maintain proper sanitation and cleanliness. Handeling and disposal of needles and other sharp instruments. Wearing and disposal of gloves and other protective garments and devices. All in all the responsibilities of the Ohio state Board of Nursing is to assume and exercise all the powers and perform all the duties required of it by chapter 4723. In the nursing world everything has to go through the Board of nursing and they decide everything by vote. The board of nursing follows specific guidelines that are all mentioned with in the Nursing Practice Act and it is constantly changing. To continue on into advanced practice nursing you have to aquire your masters degree. It is also illegal to call yourself an RN with out being licensed but the board of nursing. The Nursing practice Act is where you want to look to find out what you have to do to get certain licenses and certifications.

Hp External Analysis Essay Example for Free

Hp External Analysis Essay Hewlett Packard External Environment Analysis Hewlett Packard External Environment Analysis In today’s constantly evolving business world, it is essential for organizations to fully master and incorporate strategic management theory into decision making processes. As the world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services, and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems (Hewlett Packard, 2010). HP is well positioned to outperform the market. The strength of HP’s portfolio is leaner cost structure and accelerating market momentum that gives the confidence to raise the full year outlook (Hurd, 2010)†. One of the most important aspects of Hewlett Packard’s strategy building is an analysis of the external business environment that they operate in. As pointed out in the text Strategic Management. Concepts and Cases Competitiveness and Globalization, â€Å"The firm’s understanding of the external environment is matched with knowledge about its internal environment to form its vision, to develop its mission, and to identify and implement actions that result in strategic competitiveness and above-average returns. (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2009) In this paper, there will be an analysis of Hewlett Packard’s external business environment and its impact on the firm’s strategic business continuity plan, including examination of the three components of the external environment, the general environment, the industry environment, and the competitor environment. External Environmental Analysis Before analyzing Hewlett Packard’s external influences, it is important to highlight the specific processes in an external environmental analysis. This analysis is performed so that firms can correctly identify potential opportunities and threats in their external environment, and involves continually scanning, monitoring, forecasting, and assessing segments of the general environment. Scanning is the process of studying each segment of the general environment to identify upcoming or ongoing changes that can impact the firm. Monitoring refers to observing the changes identified in the scanning process to determine if a particular trend can be singled out which would have significant consequences for the firm. Trend identification is an important aspect of monitoring, as well as recognizing the trend’s effect on the firm’s stakeholders. Forecasting takes the changes and trends that scanning and monitoring produced, and attempts to formulate useful predictions based on those changes and trends. One important factor in forecasting is identifying the time frame and rate of change for trends, so that the firm does not miss an opportunity or get caught off guard by a threat. The final step in external environmental analysis is assessing. The objective of assessing is to determine the timing and significance of the effects of environmental changes and trends on the strategic management of the firm. † (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2009) The prime focus of assessing is determining the impact of forecasted trends on strategic direction of the firm. Assessing decides if an opportunity or threat requires a change in plans, or the firm to take a new direction. General Environment The first component of the external environment is the general environment. â€Å"The general environment is composed of dimensions in the broader society that influence an industry and the firms within it. (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2009) These dimensions of broader society are further classified into six categories. The six categories of the general environment are demographic, economic, political and legal, socio-cultural, technological, and global. A large, global firm like Hewlett-Packard will find opportunities and threats in each aspect of the general environment. The demographic category of the general environment includes factors such as population size, age structure, ethnic mix, income distribution, and geographic distribution. Hewlett-Packard’s market position as the world’s largest technology company requires careful consideration of demographic factors. Hewlett-Packard’s strategic continuity is impacted by this factor because it must identify markets with the correct demographic to provide an opportunity to sell its computer products. Markets with an unfavorable income distribution or an older age structure may need to be avoided until more favorable conditions arise. The economic category of the general environment includes factors such as interest rates, gross domestic product, and business savings rates. Hewlett-Packard’s continuity strategy is impacted by economic factors in a similar fashion as it is impacted by demographics. Markets located in a strong economy represent opportunities for the firm. Additionally, developing economies may provide lower interest rates, or favorable business savings rates. Economies in decline can represent a threat to Hewlett-Packard, as expensive computer purchases may not be a consumer’s focus. The political and legal category of the general environment includes factors such as antitrust laws, taxation laws, and labor laws. Hewlett-Packard can face huge opportunities and threats with changes and trends in legislation. Hewlett-Packard produces a wide range of computer products, and if it is challenged by an antitrust law, it could face a very large threat. However, favorable changes in tax law can represent just as large an opportunity for the firm to save money. The socio-cultural category of the general environment includes factors such as workforce diversity, shifts in work and career preferences, and shifts in product and service preferences. Hewlett-Packard’s business continuity is very concerned with monitoring and planning for preference trends in the computer technology industry. Proper assessment and integration of a new product preference can represent an important opportunity, while missing this preference could end up a threat. The technological category of the general environment includes factors such as product innovations, new communications technologies, and government supported research and development expenditures. Obviously this category caries great significance for a computer based firm like Hewlett-Packard. Product innovations can represent an opportunity for strategic continuity if Hewlett-Packard can incorporate them, a threat to strategic continuity if they cannot. New communications technologies can be utilized to assist in streamlining operations, and represent an opportunity to lower long term costs. The final category of the general environment is global. The global category includes factors such as critical global markets, new industrialized countries, and cultural and institutional attributes. Hewlett-Packard is a global firm, and changes or trends in the global markets must be planned for to ensure strategic continuity.

Studying The STOF Business Model Domains Information Technology Essay

Studying The STOF Business Model Domains Information Technology Essay STOF Model: This framework for business model focuses on customer value creation, the arrangements required from the organisational, financial and technological point of view, for creating a new service. These four dimensions address how value is delivered to the customer and similarly how the service provider can gain value from the service offered. The four dimension of the framework are service domain, technology domain, organisational domain and finance domain. In the following sections, these dimensions will be explored in detail. STOF Business Model Domains Since it is essential that the service offered by the firm should meet the demands of the customer, the new service definition is used as the central reference for all other domains. In customers viewpoint the technology is an enabler of the service, from the firms perspective it is the driver. Organisational domain describes how the resources in the firm will made available and used. Financial domain, stress on the pricing model, investment and other cost based risks involved in providing the service. Service Domain: Critical Success Factor and Critical Design Issues for Customer Value Chapter 3: A successful business model should balance the value created for the customer to that for the service provider. To achieve this there should a balance between the different domains of the business model. A critical design issue is variable which is of importance for the feasibility and sustainability of the business model. Understanding of critical design issues (CDI) and its linkages is critical for designing balanced business model. Service domain requirements guide the choice of technology to be used for the service delivery. Furthermore, it affects the organisational and financial domain. Critical Design Issues in Designing Business Model For each business model domain, we identify the respective CDIs. The identification of different CDIs is based on the literature review. In case of service domain the CDIs are target customers, value creating elements and customer retention. Target customers: Service requirements and the customer need are different for each target group. The target group definition, whether it is B2C or B2B is necessary. And it is therefore fundamental to have a clear segmentation of the customers to address respective value proposition. Value creating elements: To provide a compelling value proposition to the targeted customers, factors like relevance, ease of accessibility, accuracy, quality and trust are critical. It is therefore, the core service offering as well as support service being offered to the customer. Branding (removed in the diagram) : To get a better recognition for the new service , brand image is essential. It can also increase the trust and awareness of the service being offered. Customer Retention: It defines the ways to keep the customer loyal and satisfied. It is also need to develop recurrent use of the service by the customer. Critical design issues for Technology domain: Factors like security, integration of the existing system and accessibility are key design criteria for the technology domain. Security: The way information is stored in the technical architecture and how the access is granted to the customer is essential to avoid security breaches. The trade off between ease of accessibility and data privacy should be addressed to reduce the risk of improper use of the services. Quality of Service: The ability to provide different priority to maintain a certain level of performance based on the users, context and importance. The incurred cost in the technological infrastructure should be balanced with that of the quality of service. It can also be argued that the technological architecture or infrastructure influences the technical functionality, which in turn affects the customers perceived value of the service. System Integration: The extent to which the new service offering can be integrated with that of the existing ones determines the adaptation of the service. Cost and flexibility of the new technology affects the system integration. In the case of ICT , firms with open standards bring down the level of integration required in the technical side. Accessibility: There two factors which affect the accessibility of a service by the customer, first preference of service platforms and second the architecture. If there is a closed or controlled environment, it can make way to a restricted access to a particular group of customers. This also increases the security at technology level. Critical Design Issue at Organisational Domain: Partner Selection: This design criterion is based on the strategic interest that the firm has, based on it suitable partners can be chosen. It is also vital, to get hold of the required resources and capabilities by the firm. Openness of Network: It is the extent to which new business can link to the value network. There can be two scenarios, first a closed network and second an open network. The closed network is mostly used to create higher quality of service and new partners are chosen by certain set of rules. Open network, gives an opportunity to deliver services to a wider audience than the closed network. Network Governance: Establishment of set rules by which the partner businesses should operate and can be monitored. This is usually done by the most dominant actor in the value network. Access to the end-users is the key determinant of an actors dominant role in the collaboration. Network Complexity : The number of relationships that has to be maintained with other businesses in providing the services act as the determinant of the network complexity. If the complexity is reduced , or in other words, less number relations increases the security and quality of service. Critical Design Issue in the Finance Domain: Pricing: Pricing of the service plays an critical role in the service adaptation and its use. The perceived value by the customer should be greater than or at least equal to the delivered value by the service provider. The pricing strategy should address whether the firm is aiming for maximising the market share or maximising the profitability from delivering the service. Risk and Investment: The uncertainty about return on investment is the fundamental risk involved in developing and delivering a new service to the market. A division of investment and risk among the actors can reduce the degree of impact to the actors involved. Cost and Revenue: The division of cost and revenue between the businesses is not the same in all cases, it differ from case to case. For instance, the service provider can share the revenue with the other actors in the service delivery or it can be based on the subscription fee. The revenue sharing is based on the underlying business logic either value based or on cost basis. The division of cost and revenue depends on the division of risk and investment also. The CDIs play a significant role in the process of creating value to the customer as well as to the service provider therefore it act as the starting point. The next step is the identification of Critical Success Factors (CSFs). A minimum group of areas in which satisfactory outcome is required to make certain that the business model generates value for both the service provider and to the customer is called the Critical Success Factor(Rockart and Bullen ,1981). Then the linkage between CDI and CSF , will aid for generating a feasible business model. Critical Success Factor and Critical Design Issues for Network Value Critical Success Factors (CSF) For creating value to the customer : Compelling value proposition: It is related to value creating element CDIs in the service domain and it is a critical criterion for creating value to the customer. Value proposition is the overall benefits that are delivered to the customer by the service provider. Bouwan et al (2008) argues that the value proposition should be based on the customer needs and requirements and not to be based on the technological possibilities. Customers perspective of value also depends on the pricing (CDI) of the service. Similarly, Kotler (2000) points out that brand (CDI) influences the customer perspective of value proposition. Defined target customer: The CDI targeting is related to this CSF. Defined target customer will help the firm to focus on the targeted customers, as the customer needs are different for different customer group. The assumed customer needs by the service provider can be nullified by segmenting the customer base (Kotler, 2000). Accessibility CDI of technology domain also affects this CSF. Customer Retention: Customised or personalised service delivery to the customers will help retain the customer, mainly influenced by customer loyalty and customer experience. The unconstructive occurrence in service can affect the experience and frustrate the customer(Strauss, Schmidt, Schoeler, 2005). Quality of Service: Grà ¶nroos, 1994 suggests that the quality of service output and service process are equally important. CDIs from technology domain are closely related to QoS. CDIs in the technology domain demands an adequate level of quality, since the service being delivered is technology based. Security and system integration To summarize a high score in these CSFs will grantee that the service being provided will meet the customer expectations and create value to the customer. CSF for creating value to the network: The actors in the value network will cooperate for generating value on mutual interest and also compete for value on individual interest (Brandenburg Nalebuff, 1996). Another framework, Porters five forces model stress on competition between the actors (Porter, 1980). For creating value in the network, balance between financial and organisational domain is critical, mover over it should be acceptable by the collaborating actors. Profitability: There should be a acceptable profit for the firms, according to the division of cost and revenue (CDI). Other domain issues like customer group and pricing will affect the profitability. Risk: An agreeable division of risk among the participating actors should result from the division of investment CDI. Since, there is a high uncertainty of service acceptance and due to the investment in IT infrastructure. Network Strategy: This CSF is required to effectively manage the different relation in the value network, from the organisation domain perspective. Division of roles and Network Governance CDIs is directly related to the network strategy. Partner selection and network complexity is also interlinked with this CSF. To summarise a high score on these CSFs will create benefit for the firms that are involved in the service. Organisational CDIs help in allocation resources and capabilities, similarly the CDIs in finance domain is instrumental in directing to a profitable service.

Free Rider Problem Essay -- essays research papers

The Free Rider Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The free rider issue has become one of the most serious economic issues today. The free rider is a lazy type person who wants the benefits that others bring in without having to do the work. The free rider typically takes advantage of a public good. Living in a civilized society presents many opportunities for free riding, which we have yet to find a way to control. Economists regard the possibility for free riding as a problem for the free market, which usually leads to government intervention. Government intervention is not generally needed in a free market society but in this case if there were no government intervention this problem would not find a solution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The free-rider issue is often seen as a serious problem because of the assumption that a free rider's best self-interest is that they interact with others by force and fraud. If they can get away with the fraud and begin to gain the benefits of others they have reached their first goal. Their next goal is to make some good money or get credit for someone else's hard work before they get caught. Then they get out and are long gone by the time anyone notices. Life in a civilized society allows each of us the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the work of people with productive ability far greater than our own, but what happens when people begin doing this? They get used to not having to do much work and become lazy. In some cases people look at welfare in this way. If a person is able to get a good job and chooses not to, but instead, to live on our government, this would be considered free riding. This causes a fluctuation in our market and it can have a negative effect. When the benefits go away people do not want to go back to work and eventually will loose their jobs or quit and become a true free rider. Clearly there is an essential difference between cases in which one can't contribute to the benefits one enjoys and cases in which one chooses not to make a contribution that is within one's power. But apart from this distinction, we can differentiate between harmless free riding and the worthless free riding. The free rider wants anything he can get for free and will think nothing of it if he can get away with it. Free riders take advantage of public goods without having to contribute to them. For example, if s... ...o make up the difference. This difference we have to make up is usually a higher tax. In raising the tax the price of the good goes up and when price goes up demand tends to go down. As the demand keeps falling and the price keeps rising the product usually ends up off the market and filing a chapter eleven. It typically does not go that far but this is an example of what could happen. A free market is a privilege to have and it is a shame people have to take advantage of it because they do not feel the need to work hard or to go out of their way to do something for someone else.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The free rider is a menace in our society and we do not need to let him take our money and put it to his use. We have found ways such as government intervention and price lids to help control the problem but we have yet to find a solution. Once a solution is found we will have fewer worries and possibly a true free market. These are very difficult problems to stop and may never be stopped. It will take a long period of time to begin the process to bring it to an end, but it will be nice to maybe some day have a true free market without the problem of a free rider.

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Bride :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Bride Families and friends. This has been a terrific day for Bob and I and we are both thrilled you could all be here. I wanted to say a few words in response to my Dad and thank a few people for all their support. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to make these thanks – its amazing how much advice and how many books there are out there for Groom and Best Man’s speeches but there is not a lot out there to help the bride. So having failed to find any sensible advice in print, I thought I would ask around to the family and friends for some advice on what to say this evening. I didn’t get much advice about the speech but they gave me some useful snippets to use. Sarah found out that Bob and I will share our wedding day and anniversary with a very famous Royal – 2 very famous Royals in fact – the Queen obviously as I believe she is having some sort of celebration herself this weekend. The other Royal is the late King Edward who abdicated to be mar ried to the love of his life – Mrs Simpson. Now I expect that Bob and I in time will be more like â€Å"The Simpsons† than Edward and Mrs but I trust we can be as happy as that couple were. I have some thanks to make. Firstly Paula – thanks for the â€Å"hairdo† and busting a gut to get here on time to have a trial run. Ben – thanks for taking photos for our guest book and thank you all for posing and signing it. Sarah – you made your dress, you looked after me on my hen night (I’ll forgive you for buying me that Tia Maria and get you back some time). You have been the perfect Best Woman and a great friend for may years now. You have always been around for me through thick and thin and it was a privilege to be your bridesmaid last year. I have to thank your new husband Ian too for marrying you – it has been fantastic fun planning weddings together and thanks for all your top tips and ideas – many of which you can see we have stolen! Simon – perhaps I should reserve my thanks to you until after your Best Man’s speech! Thanks for being such a good mate to Bob for so long and for brushing up so well today.

Destiny in Madame Bovary :: Madame Bovary Essays

Destiny in Madame Bovary      Ã‚   Destiny: the seemingly inevitable succession of events.1   Is this definition true, or do we, as people in real life or characters in novels, control our own destiny? Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary exemplifies how we hold destiny in our own hands, molding it with the actions we take and the choices we make. Flaubert uses Emma Bovary, the main character of his novel, to demonstrate this. Throughout her life, Emma makes many decisions, each one of them affecting her fate and by analyzing these decisions one could see from the beginning that Emma is destined to suffer. However, one can also pinpoint such decisions making events as her marriage, her daughter's birth, her adulterous relationship with Leon and her taking the poison, as times when, if she had made a different decision, her life would not have ended as tragically.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When we first meet Emma, the future Madame Bovary, we perceive her as being a woman who is refined perhaps a bit more than the average peasant girl living on a farm. We conclude this because she attended a boarding school where she was taught "dancing, geography, needlework and piano." (p.15) Charles, on the other hand, gives her more credit than she deserves. He regards her as well very educated, sophisticated, sensitive and loving, with the last characteristic being the one she lacks most. Soon after Emma marries Charles we see her unhappiness, and we are faced with a dilemma, why did she marry him? There are numerous possible answers to this, but the end conclusion is the same: if she had not married him it would have been better for both of them. Emma would not have been so miserable and depressed throughout her life and Charles would have found someone who would return his love and who would appreciate him. Throughout the novel Emma never expresses her appreciation for her husband. On the contrary, she often expresses her loathing for him - "Charles never seemed so disagreeable to her, his fingers never seemed so blunt, his mind so dull of his manners so crude--." (p.161)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, Emma and Charles were married. An uneventful year passed and Emma reached yet another fork in the road of life - should she have a baby now,

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 24-29

CHAPTER 24 Silas gazed upward at the Saint-Sulpice obelisk, taking in the length of the massive marble shaft. His sinews felt taut with exhilaration. He glanced around the church one more time to make sure he was alone. Then he knelt at the base of the structure, not out of reverence, but out of necessity. The keystone is hidden beneath the Rose Line. At the base of the Sulpice obelisk. All the brothers had concurred. On his knees now, Silas ran his hands across the stone floor. He saw no cracks or markings to indicate a movable tile, so he began rapping softly with his knuckles on the floor. Following the brass line closer to the obelisk, he knocked on each tile adjacent to the brass line. Finally, one of them echoed strangely. There's a hollow area beneath the floor! Silas smiled. His victims had spoken the truth. Standing, he searched the sanctuary for something with which to break the floor tile. High above Silas, in the balcony, Sister Sandrine stifled a gasp. Her darkest fears had just been confirmed. This visitor was not who he seemed. The mysterious Opus Dei monk had come to Saint- Sulpice for another purpose. A secret purpose. You are not the only one with secrets, she thought. Sister Sandrine Bieil was more than the keeper of this church. She was a sentry. And tonight, the ancient wheels had been set in motion. The arrival of this stranger at the base of the obelisk was a signal from the brotherhood. It was a silent call of distress. CHAPTER 25 The U. S. Embassy in Paris is a compact complex on Avenue Gabriel, just north of the Champs-Elysees. The three-acre compound is considered U. S. soil, meaning all those who stand on it are subject to the same laws and protections as they would encounter standing in the United States. The embassy's night operator was reading Time magazine's International Edition when the sound of her phone interrupted. â€Å"U. S. Embassy,† she answered. â€Å"Good evening.† The caller spoke English accented with French. â€Å"I need some assistance.† Despite the politeness of the man's words, his tone sounded gruff and official. â€Å"I was told you had a phone message for me on your automated system. The name is Langdon. Unfortunately, I have forgotten my three-digit access code. If you could help me, I would be most grateful.† The operator paused, confused. â€Å"I'm sorry, sir. Your message must be quite old. That system was removed two years ago for security precautions. Moreover, all the access codes were five-digit. Who told you we had a message for you?† â€Å"You have no automated phone system?† â€Å"No, sir. Any message for you would be handwritten in our services department. What was your name again?† But the man had hung up. Bezu Fache felt dumbstruck as he paced the banks of the Seine. He was certain he had seen Langdon dial a local number, enter a three-digit code, and then listen to a recording. But if Langdon didn't phone the embassy, then who the hell did he call? It was at that moment, eyeing his cellular phone, that Fache realized the answers were in the palm of his hand. Langdon used my phone to place that call. Keying into the cell phone's menu, Fache pulled up the list of recently dialed numbers and found the call Langdon had placed. A Paris exchange, followed by the three-digit code 454. Redialing the phone number, Fache waited as the line began ringing. Finally a woman's voice answered. â€Å"Bonjour, vous etes bien chez Sophie Neveu,† the recording announced. â€Å"Je suis absente pour le moment, mais†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Fache's blood was boiling as he typed the numbers 4†¦ 5†¦ 4. CHAPTER 26 Despite her monumental reputation, the Mona Lisa was a mere thirty-one inches by twenty-one inches – smaller even than the posters of her sold in the Louvre gift shop. She hung on the northwest wall of the Salle des Etats behind a two-inch-thick pane of protective Plexiglas. Painted on a poplar wood panel, her ethereal, mist-filled atmosphere was attributed to Da Vinci's mastery of the sfumato style, in which forms appear to evaporate into one another. Since taking up residence in the Louvre, the Mona Lisa – or La Jaconde as they call her in France – had been stolen twice, most recently in 1911, when she disappeared from the Louvre's† satte impenetrable† – Le Salon Carre. Parisians wept in the streets and wrote newspaper articles begging the thieves for the painting's return. Two years later, the Mona Lisa was discovered hidden in the false bottom of a trunk in a Florence hotel room. Langdon, now having made it clear to Sophie that he had no intention of leaving, moved with her across the Salle des Etats. The Mona Lisa was still twenty yards ahead when Sophie turned on the black light, and the bluish crescent of penlight fanned out on the floor in front of them. She swung the beam back and forth across the floor like a minesweeper, searching for any hint of luminescent ink. Walking beside her, Langdon was already feeling the tingle of anticipation that accompanied his face-to-face reunions with great works of art. He strained to see beyond the cocoon of purplish light emanating from the black light in Sophie's hand. To the left, the room's octagonal viewing divan emerged, looking like a dark island on the empty sea of parquet. Langdon could now begin to see the panel of dark glass on the wall. Behind it, he knew, in the confines of her own private cell, hung the most celebrated painting in the world. The Mona Lisa's status as the most famous piece of art in the world, Langdon knew, had nothing to do with her enigmatic smile. Nor was it due to the mysterious interpretations attributed her by many art historians and conspiracy buffs. Quite simply, the Mona Lisa was famous because Leonardo Da Vinci claimed she was his finest accomplishment. He carried the painting with him whenever he traveled and, if asked why, would reply that he found it hard to part with his most sublime expression of female beauty. Even so, many art historians suspected Da Vinci's reverence for the Mona Lisa had nothing to do with its artistic mastery. In actuality, the painting was a surprisingly ordinary sfumato portrait. Da Vinci's veneration for this work, many claimed, stemmed from something far deeper: a hidden message in the layers of paint. The Mona Lisa was, in fact, one of the world's most documented inside jokes. The painting's well-documented collage of double entendres and playful allusions had been revealed in most art history tomes, and yet, incredibly, the public at large still considered her smile a great mystery. No mystery at all, Langdon thought, moving forward and watching as the faint outline of the painting began to take shape. No mystery at all. Most recently Langdon had shared the Mona Lisa's secret with a rather unlikely group – a dozen inmates at the Essex County Penitentiary. Langdon's jail seminar was part of a Harvard outreach program attempting to bring education into the prison system – Culture for Convicts, as Langdon's colleagues liked to call it. Standing at an overhead projector in a darkened penitentiary library, Langdon had shared the MonaLisa's secret with the prisoners attending class, men whom he found surprisingly engaged – rough, but sharp. â€Å"You may notice,† Langdon told them, walking up to the projected image of the MonaLisa on the library wall,† that the background behind her face is uneven.† Langdon motioned to the glaring discrepancy. â€Å"Da Vinci painted the horizon line on the left significantly lower than the right.† â€Å"He screwed it up?† one of the inmates asked. Langdon chuckled. â€Å"No. Da Vinci didn't do that too often. Actually, this is a little trick Da Vinci played. By lowering the countryside on the left, Da Vinci made Mona Lisa look much larger from the left side than from the right side. A little Da Vinci inside joke. Historically, the concepts of male and female have assigned sides – left is female, and right is male. Because Da Vinci was a big fan of feminine principles, he made Mona Lisa look more majestic from the left than the right.† â€Å"I heard he was a fag,† said a small man with a goatee. Langdon winced. â€Å"Historians don't generally put it quite that way, but yes, Da Vinci was a homosexual.† â€Å"Is that why he was into that whole feminine thing?† â€Å"Actually, Da Vinci was in tune with the balance between male and female. He believed that a human soul could not be enlightened unless it had both male and female elements.† â€Å"You mean like chicks with dicks?† someone called. This elicited a hearty round of laughs. Langdon considered offering an etymological sidebar about the word hermaphrodite and its ties to Hermes and Aphrodite, but something told him it would be lost on this crowd. â€Å"Hey, Mr. Langford,† a muscle-bound man said. â€Å"Is it true that the Mona Lisa is a picture of Da Vinci in drag? I heard that was true.† â€Å"It's quite possible,† Langdon said. â€Å"Da Vinci was a prankster, and computerized analysis of the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's self-portraits confirm some startling points of congruency in their faces. Whatever Da Vinci was up to,† Langdon said,† his Mona Lisa is neither male nor female. It carries a subtle message of androgyny. It is a fusing of both.† â€Å"You sure that's not just some Harvard bullshit way of saying Mona Lisa is one ugly chick.† Now Langdon laughed. â€Å"You may be right. But actually Da Vinci left a big clue that the painting was supposed to be androgynous. Has anyone here ever heard of an Egyptian god named Amon?† â€Å"Hell yes!† the big guy said. â€Å"God of masculine fertility!† Langdon was stunned. â€Å"It says so on every box of Amon condoms.† The muscular man gave a wide grin. â€Å"It's got a guy with a ram's head on the front and says he's the Egyptian god of fertility.† Langdon was not familiar with the brand name, but he was glad to hear the prophylactic manufacturers had gotten their hieroglyphs right. â€Å"Well done. Amon is indeed represented as a man with a ram's head, and his promiscuity and curved horns are related to our modern sexual slang' horny. â€Å"No shit!† â€Å"No shit,† Langdon said. â€Å"And do you know who Amon's counterpart was? The Egyptian goddessof fertility?† The question met with several seconds of silence. â€Å"It was Isis,† Langdon told them, grabbing a grease pen. â€Å"So we have the male god, Amon.† He wrote it down. â€Å"And the female goddess, Isis, whose ancient pictogram was once called L'ISA.† Langdon finished writing and stepped back from the projector. AMON L'ISA â€Å"Ring any bells?† he asked. â€Å"Mona Lisa†¦ holy crap,† somebody gasped. Langdon nodded. â€Å"Gentlemen, not only does the face of Mona Lisa look androgynous, but her name is an anagram of the divine union of male and female. And that, my friends, is Da Vinci's little secret, and the reason for Mona Lisa's knowing smile.† â€Å"My grandfather was here,† Sophie said, dropping suddenly to her knees, now only ten feet from the Mona Lisa.She pointed the black light tentatively to a spot on the parquet floor. At first Langdon saw nothing. Then, as he knelt beside her, he saw a tiny droplet of dried liquid that was luminescing. Ink? Suddenly he recalled what black lights were actually used for. Blood. His senses tingled. Sophie was right. Jacques Sauniere had indeed paid a visit to the Mona Lisabefore he died. â€Å"He wouldn't have come here without a reason,† Sophie whispered, standing up. â€Å"I know he left a message for me here.† Quickly striding the final few steps to the Mona Lisa, she illuminated the floor directly in front of the painting. She waved the light back and forth across the bare parquet. â€Å"There's nothing here!† At that moment, Langdon saw a faint purple glimmer on the protective glass before the Mona Lisa. Reaching down, he took Sophie's wrist and slowly moved the light up to the painting itself. They both froze. On the glass, six words glowed in purple, scrawled directly across the Mona Lisa's face. CHAPTER 27 Seated at Sauniere's desk, Lieutenant Collet pressed the phone to his ear in disbelief. Did I hearFache correctly?† A bar of soap? But how could Langdon have known about the GPS dot?† â€Å"Sophie Neveu,† Fache replied. â€Å"She told him.† â€Å"What! Why?† â€Å"Damned good question, but I just heard a recording that confirms she tipped him off.† Collet was speechless. What was Neveu thinking? Fache had proof that Sophie had interfered with a DCPJ sting operation? Sophie Neveu was not only going to be fired, she was also going to jail. â€Å"But, Captain†¦ then where is Langdon now?† â€Å"Have any fire alarms gone off there?† â€Å"No, sir.† â€Å"And no one has come out under the Grand Gallery gate?† â€Å"No. We've got a Louvre security officer on the gate. Just as you requested.† â€Å"Okay, Langdon must still be inside the Grand Gallery.† â€Å"Inside? But what is he doing?† â€Å"Is the Louvre security guard armed?† â€Å"Yes, sir. He's a senior warden.† â€Å"Send him in,† Fache commanded. â€Å"I can't get my men back to the perimeter for a few minutes, and I don't want Langdon breaking for an exit.† Fache paused. â€Å"And you'd better tell the guard Agent Neveu is probably in there with him.† â€Å"Agent Neveu left, I thought.† â€Å"Did you actually see her leave?† â€Å"No, sir, but – â€Å"Well, nobody on the perimeter saw her leave either. They only saw her go in.† Collet was flabbergasted by Sophie Neveu's bravado. She's still inside the building? â€Å"Handle it,† Fache ordered. â€Å"I want Langdon and Neveu at gunpoint by the time I get back.† As the Trailor truck drove off, Captain Fache rounded up his men. Robert Langdon had proven an elusive quarry tonight, and with Agent Neveu now helping him, he might be far harder to corner than expected. Fache decided not to take any chances. Hedging his bets, he ordered half of his men back to the Louvre perimeter. The other half he sent to guard the only location in Paris where Robert Langdon could find safe harbor. CHAPTER 28 Inside the Salle des Etats, Langdon stared in astonishment at the six words glowing on the Plexiglas. The text seemed to hover in space, casting a jagged shadow across Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. â€Å"The Priory,† Langdon whispered. â€Å"This proves your grandfather was a member!† Sophie looked at him in confusion. â€Å"You understand this?† â€Å"It's flawless,† Langdon said, nodding as his thoughts churned. â€Å"It's a proclamation of one of the Priory's most fundamental philosophies!† Sophie looked baffled in the glow of the message scrawled across the Mona Lisa's face. SO DARK THE CON OF MAN â€Å"Sophie,† Langdon said,† the Priory's tradition of perpetuating goddess worship is based on a belief that powerful men in the early Christian church ‘conned' the world by propagating lies that devalued the female and tipped the scales in favor of the masculine.† Sophie remained silent, staring at the words.† The Priory believes that Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess from modern religion forever.† Sophie's expression remained uncertain. â€Å"My grandfather sent me to this spot to find this. He must be trying to tell me more than that.† Langdon understood her meaning. She thinks this is another code.Whether a hidden meaning existed here or not, Langdon could not immediately say. His mind was still grappling with the bold clarity of Sauniere's outward message. So dark the con of man, he thought. So dark indeed. Nobody could deny the enormous good the modern Church did in today's troubled world, and yet the Church had a deceitful and violent history. Their brutal crusade to† reeducate† the pagan and feminine-worshipping religions spanned three centuries, employing methods as inspired as they were horrific. The Catholic Inquisition published the book that arguably could be called the most blood-soaked publication in human history. Malleus Maleficarum – or The Witches' Hammer – indoctrinated the world to† the dangers of freethinking women† and instructed the clergy how to locate, torture, and destroy them. Those deemed† witches† by the Church included all female scholars, priestesses, gypsies, mystics, nature lovers, herb gatherers, and any women† suspiciously attuned to the natural world.† Midwives also were killed for their heretical practice of using medical knowledge to ease the pain of childbirth – a suffering, the Church claimed, that was God's rightful punishment for Eve's partaking of the Apple of Knowledge, thus giving birth to the idea of Original Sin. During three hundred years of witch hunts, the Church burned at the stake an astounding five million women. The propaganda and bloodshed had worked. Today's world was living proof. Women, once celebrated as an essential half of spiritual enlightenment, had been banished from the temples of the world. There were no female Orthodox rabbis, Catholic priests, nor Islamic clerics. The once hallowed act of Hieros Gamos – the natural sexual union between man and woman through which each became spiritually whole – had been recast as a shameful act. Holy men who had once required sexual union with their female counterparts to commune with God now feared their natural sexual urges as the work of the devil, collaborating with his favorite accomplice†¦ woman. Not even the feminine association with the left-hand side could escape the Church's defamation. In France and Italy, the words for† left† – gauche and sinistra – came to have deeply negative overtones, while their right-hand counterparts rang of righteousness, dexterity, and correctness. To this day, radical thought was considered left wing, irrational thought was left brain, and anything evil, sinister. The days of the goddess were over. The pendulum had swung. Mother Earth had become a man's world, and the gods of destruction and war were taking their toll. The male ego had spent two millennia running unchecked by its female counterpart. The Priory of Sion believed that it was this obliteration of the sacred feminine in modern life that had caused what the Hopi Native Americans called koyanisquatsi – â€Å"life out of balance† – an unstable situation marked by testosterone-fueled wars, a plethora of misogynistic societies, and a growing disrespect for Mother Earth. â€Å"Robert!† Sophie said, her whisper yanking him back. â€Å"Someone's coming!† He heard the approaching footsteps out in the hallway.† Over here!† Sophie extinguished the black light and seemed to evaporate before Langdon's eyes. For an instant he felt totally blind. Over where! As his vision cleared he saw Sophie's silhouette racing toward the center of the room and ducking out of sight behind the octagonal viewing bench. He was about to dash after her when a booming voice stopped him cold. â€Å"Arretez!† a man commanded from the doorway. The Louvre security agent advanced through the entrance to the Salle des Etats, his pistol outstretched, taking deadly aim at Langdon's chest. Langdon felt his arms raise instinctively for the ceiling. â€Å"Couchez-vous!† the guard commanded. â€Å"Lie down!† Langdon was face first on the floor in a matter of seconds. The guard hurried over and kicked his legs apart, spreading Langdon out. â€Å"Mauvaise idee, Monsieur Langdon,†he said, pressing the gun hard into Langdon's back.† Mauvaise idee.† Face down on the parquet floor with his arms and legs spread wide, Langdon found little humor in the irony of his position. The Vitruvian Man, he thought. Face down. CHAPTER 29 Inside Saint-Sulpice, Silas carried the heavy iron votive candle holder from the altar back toward the obelisk. The shaft would do nicely as a battering ram. Eyeing the gray marble panel that covered the apparent hollow in the floor, he realized he could not possibly shatter the covering without making considerable noise. Iron on marble. It would echo off the vaulted ceilings. Would the nun hear him? She should be asleep by now. Even so, it was a chance Silas preferred not to take. Looking around for a cloth to wrap around the tip of the iron pole, he saw nothing except the altar's linen mantle, which he refused to defile. My cloak, he thought. Knowing he was alone in the great church, Silas untied his cloak and slipped it off his body. As he removed it, he felt a sting as the wool fibers stuck to the fresh wounds on his back. Naked now, except for his loin swaddle, Silas wrapped his cloak over the end of the iron rod. Then, aiming at the center of the floor tile, he drove the tip into it. A muffled thud. The stone did not break. He drove the pole into it again. Again a dull thud, but this time accompanied by a crack. On the third swing, the covering finally shattered, and stone shards fell into a hollow area beneath the floor. A compartment! Quickly pulling the remaining pieces from the opening, Silas gazed into the void. His blood pounded as he knelt down before it. Raising his pale bare arm, he reached inside. At first he felt nothing. The floor of the compartment was bare, smooth stone. Then, feeling deeper, reaching his arm in under the Rose Line, he touched something! A thick stone tablet. Getting his fingers around the edge, he gripped it and gently lifted the tablet out. As he stood and examined his find, he realized he was holding a rough-hewn stone slab with engraved words. He felt for an instant like a modern-day Moses. As Silas read the words on the tablet, he felt surprise. He had expected the keystone to be a map, or a complex series of directions, perhaps even encoded. The keystone, however, bore the simplest of inscriptions. Job 38:11 A Bible verse? Silas was stunned with the devilish simplicity. The secret location of that which they sought was revealed in a Bible verse? The brotherhood stopped at nothing to mock the righteous! Job. Chapter thirty-eight. Verse eleven. Although Silas did not recall the exact contents of verse eleven by heart, he knew the Book of Job told the story of a man whose faith in God survived repeated tests. Appropriate, he thought, barely able to contain his excitement. Looking over his shoulder, he gazed down the shimmering Rose Line and couldn't help but smile. There atop the main altar, propped open on a gilded book stand, sat an enormous leather-bound Bible. Up in the balcony, Sister Sandrine was shaking. Moments ago, she had been about to flee and carryout her orders, when the man below suddenly removed his cloak. When she saw his alabaster-white flesh, she was overcome with a horrified bewilderment. His broad, pale back was soaked with blood-red slashes. Even from here she could see the wounds were fresh. This man has been mercilessly whipped! She also saw the bloody cilice around his thigh, the wound beneath it dripping. What kind of God would want a body punished this way? The rituals of Opus Dei, Sister Sandrine knew, were not something she would ever understand. But that was hardly her concern at this instant. Opus Dei is searching for the keystone.How they knew of it, Sister Sandrine could not imagine, although she knew she did not have time to think. The bloody monk was now quietly donning his cloak again, clutching his prize as he moved toward the altar, toward the Bible. In breathless silence, Sister Sandrine left the balcony and raced down the hall to her quarters. Getting on her hands and knees, she reached beneath her wooden bed frame and retrieved the sealed envelope she had hidden there years ago. Tearing it open, she found four Paris phone numbers. Trembling, she began to dial. Downstairs, Silas laid the stone tablet on the altar and turned his eager hands to the leather Bible. His long white fingers were sweating now as he turned the pages. Flipping through the Old Testament, he found the Book of Job. He located chapter thirty-eight. As he ran his finger down the column of text, he anticipated the words he was about to read. They will lead the way! Finding verse number eleven, Silas read the text. It was only seven words. Confused, he read it again, sensing something had gone terribly wrong. The verse simply read: HITHERTO SHALT THOU COME, BUT NO FURTHER.

Bridget Jones Diary Essay

In the novel Bridget Jones Diary, author Helen Fielding portrays men and women as superficial observers who act on their superficial judgment and are mentally affected by this. There are many different social messages being conveyed but they all seem to be of some superficial nature. They mostly express a man or a woman’s sexual lust or interest to some extent, and are shown as superficial. One of the gestures of superficiality is Bridget’s constant documentation of her weight. It shows how her weight directly affects her appearance towards men which affects her mood from happy to sad vice versa. Bridget states â€Å"Today is a historic and joyous day. After eighteen years of trying to get down to 119 lbs. I have finally achieved it. †(90) and then goes on to argue how if it’s a tapeworm then its staying which shows how she’s content with whatever makes he make her attractive no matter the cost towards health. Bridget then says â€Å"I am not in love with Daniel anymore. I am free. †(91) Which conveys how Bridget’s loss in weight made her instantly feel more confident. This shows her superficiality because she lets her weight become a gauge for how she should feel about herself which leads to her more positive thoughts. Bridget would change her personality to adapt to situations and cause certain reactions from people like Daniel. When Daniel attempted to undo Bridget’s skirt for the first time Bridget reacted to his brash actions by denying him saying she isn’t interested. After a few weeks however, Bridget said â€Å"Still no word from Daniel. Cannot face thought of entire Sunday stretching ahead with everyone else in the world except me in bed with someone giggling and having sex. †(37) which shows her fickleness after denying Daniel which I believe started with her talk with Sharon when she says â€Å"†¦ Emotional fuckwittage, which is spreading like a wildfire among men over thirty. As women glide from their twenties to thirties, Shazzer argues, the balance of power suddenly shifts. Even the most outrageous minxes lose their nerve. †(17) This was the introduction of â€Å"Emotional fuckwittage† which was the reason that Bridget denied Daniel. This depicts that women can see through men for their desire to mess with women’s emotion by their lust. The social message being conveyed about men shows that men are only interested in sex with no regards to collateral damage to women’s emotions. Thus Bridget let her view of men affect her emotionally. There were many portrayals of what women and men wanted out of relationships and were also based off of superficial judgments of men and women, where men wanted sex, and women wanted marriage. Throughout the book Bridget is pressured to get married by her family and acts as if there is some sort of obligation at her age to be married which is conveyed when she responds to her mom’s pressure by saying â€Å"Mum, I’ve told you. I don’t need to be fixed up with. †(9)

High School Exit Examinations Essay

In order to evaluate the educational ability of students Standardized Tests or examinations, have been designed, which do so in an unbiased manner, irrespective of social background and educational experience. One such test is the multiple-choice examination, wherein the students have to make a selection from a number of answers for a particular question and indicate their choice on a test form. Such tests are frequently given to students who study in elementary and secondary schools (Standardized Tests, 2006). These examinations benefitted students to a large extent, because they had to take just one set of examinations, in order to apply for admission to different schools. The College Board initiated the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the SAT in 1926. The SAT is a multiple choice test that was based on the psychological tests given to US Army recruits. The SAT, by the year 1940, was being widely employed by educational institutions in the US (Standardized Tests, 2006). Standardized tests are taken by elementary school and high school, and undergraduates and graduates. The majority of these tests are controlled by the Educational Testing Service or ETS and the American College Testing or ACT Program. The results of these tests help educational institutions to assess scholastic performance and to ascertain the suitability of a student for a particular undergraduate or graduate degree program (Standardized Tests, 2006). The Center on Education Policy or the CEP had made it mandatory for fifty two percent of the students studying in the public schools to take the high school exit examinations. However, the implementation of this policy became difficult as the CEP had realized that opposition from the public towards this compulsory high school exit examination had been on the increase. It was also decided that students who failed to obtain a pass mark in this examination would not be awarded the high school diploma. This decision to withhold high school diplomas to students who failed in the exit examination was greeted with a great deal of resistance (Darling-Hammond, Rustique-Forrester, & Pecheone, 2005). The implementation of the exit examinations also caused a gradual reduction in the number of graduate students. This was evident in the Afro – American and Latino students, English language learners and students with disabilities. This reform would result in reduced incentives for students who had been striving to remain in school, a reduction in the curriculum and a disregard for higher order performance skills, because of the utilization of limited measures and irrelevant judgments regarding student learning (Darling-Hammond, Rustique-Forrester, & Pecheone, 2005). The use of exit examinations varies from state to state. Some states have already implemented them, whereas other states have not implemented them. A majority of states have put forward several options and alternatives. So far only eight states have implemented the mandatory exit examination as a compulsory requirement, in which the student has to obtain a pass mark, in order to obtain a high school diploma. Further, this system does not take cognizance of the excellence of performance of the students and their academic record and is solely guided by whether the students have obtained a pass mark in the exit examination or not (Darling-Hammond, Rustique-Forrester, & Pecheone, 2005). Most of the states have implemented multiple measures of performance in order to evaluate the student’s capability of learning. The student requires a pass mark in the state examination, which is used as an indicator for the student’s ability to obtain a state diploma. Moreover, the student is also required to obtain a pass mark in other alternatives that test the student by using a wide range of methods so as to establish their academic learning. In these states, there is not just a single test to disqualify students from graduation but there exist an array of indicators to determine the knowledge of the students (Darling-Hammond, Rustique-Forrester, & Pecheone, 2005). In an important report relating to the implementation of the high school exit test in the state of Mississippi, sixty five recommendations had been proposed. Some of these are, it would be totally inappropriate to require students to obtain a pass mark in an examination that contained material that had not been taught to the students. Further, the exit examination should be based on a multiple choice system, which would test thinking skills. Moreover, the exit examination would be undesirable for the students of the state of Mississippi. In addition, the national – level exit examination would require a total restructuring of the curriculum of the district schools, which would create serious difficulties. Furthermore, measures that evaluate the student’s skills and performance should be segmented. Moreover, great care would have to be taken while implementing tests that evaluate the performance and skills of students (ED384990 – Issues To Consider in Moving beyond a Minimal Competency High School Graduation Test, 1995). The states of Arizona, California and Utah introduced high school exit examinations, in which high school students from the year 2006 have to obtain a pass mark, in order to be awarded a high school diploma. In most of the states of the Union that enforce such high school exit examinations, students are required to take it in the sophomore year. The level of these tests is of the tenth grade and students who are unable to obtain a pass mark are provided with a number of opportunities to again take this test. Sixteen of the twenty three states that have made these tests compulsory have directed the schools to provide remediation to students who fail to obtain a pass mark. Furthermore, in states that are introducing these examinations, financial help for such remediation has in most of the cases been provided by it (David, 21st June, 2006). In the state of New York students have taken these high school exit tests with a very high degree of success and have obtained a large number of diplomas. However, this has not proved to be applicable to students belonging to the minority communities. The Education Commissioner disclosed that eighty one percent of white students obtained their diplomas in due course, whereas the students of minority communities found the obtention of pass marks in English, mathematics, global history, geography, US history and science to be a daunting task. Consequently, only forty two percent of the Hispanic students, forty five percent of African American and sixty eight percent of Asian students obtained their diplomas within the stipulated time (Hoff, 23rd of March, 2005). A survey conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes has revealed the fact that fifty percent of the states of the Union have made it mandatory to obtain a pass mark in the exit test, in order to be eligible to obtain a high school diploma. However, very few states have implemented an alternative procedure for evaluating disabled students, which is of an equivalent standard in comparison to the test applied to regular students. This report goes on to state that the absence of tests for the disabled and regular students that are of equivalent rigor, gives rise to the impression that disabled students are not competent to undertake grade level work (Samuels, 4th of May, 2005). In the state of California, the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed a law that exempts disabled students from taking and obtaining a pass mark in the high school exit test. This new law states that if a student had been permitted to follow an individual education plan and if such a student had satisfied all other criteria for being awarded with a high school diploma and further if that student had received remediation for the exit test, then that student would be allowed to graduate, irrespective of having obtained a pass mark in the exit test. The objective of this law was to enable the state of California to provide better instructions for disabled students (Jacobson, 8th of Februray, 2006). In the state of Utah, even if students who do not obtain a pass mark in every portion of the high school exit test, they are awarded the high school diploma. However, such diplomas contain a statement that the student had not obtained a pass mark in the high school exit test. Several states of the Union are having second thoughts about continuing with such high school exit tests and at the same time a several students have proved to be unsuccessful in obtaining a pass mark in their graduation examinations. The law in the state of Utah has made it mandatory for high school students to obtain a pass mark in mathematics, reading and that part of the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test that comprises of tests on writing skills, in order to be awarded with a high school diploma (Olson, 25th January, 2006). In another study it was established that states of the Union, in which high school exit tests are in vogue, have a graduation rate and college entrance examination marks that are significantly lower than states that do not have such tests. In particular, students from states of the Union, that had made it mandatory to obtain a pass mark in the high school exit examination, fared worse than students from states of the Union that did not insist on such a condition, in the internationally acknowledged Scholastic Aptitude Test. Moreover, such students had a significantly lower rate of graduation (Viadero, 2nd of February, 2005). It has been opined by many people that high school exit examinations result in an increase in the number of students who discontinue their studies, before obtaining a high school diploma. The detractors of such exit examinations have very pertinently pointed out the fact that the already low graduation rates are being forced down to a much lower level. Many critics have stated that it would be patently unfair to deny a student who had completed thirteen years of schooling a high school diploma, merely because that student could not obtain a pass mark in the high school examination. Moreover, many persons consider such a denial of a high school diploma to be ruthlessly unjust, because such a diploma is essential for ensuring a bright future.