Journal Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Journal - Term Paper Example One of the first insights Thoreau makes when he states, â€Å"a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone† (Thoreau, pg. 335). This statement is somewhat complex and difficult to discern. While Thoreau is referring to his interactions on the Pond, it’s clear the statement can be extended to the larger context of existence. For me the statement is referring to a sort of wealth that isn’t necessarily linked to money, but is more rooted in wisdom or knowledge. In these regards, Thoreau means that the individual that can go without certain elements in life, has already experienced or gained spiritual insight into their nature and as such can go without them. Another insight I found highly enlightening was Thoreau’s insights into the nature of daily existence and art. In these regards, he states, â€Å"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the day, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep...to affect peoples' quality of life, that is the highest of arts† (Thoreau, pg. 338). This section of the essay is very loaded and complex. In one sense, Thoreau seems to be indicating that the Socratic belief that the unexamined life is not worth living is accurate. He is stating that the individual should wake up every morning with the desire to discover some new truth or an ‘infinite expectation of the day’. Rather than leaving the reader at this stage, however, Thoreau extends this to include the nature of art. He indicates that the greatest type of art should affect individuals’ quality of life. In these regards, Thoreau has gone beyond simply Socratic insights, into stating that the individual should also contribute their intellect to the betterment of society. For me, this underlines the passage and a great deal of Thoreau’s mission. "Reading" 351-362; "Sounds" excerpt 363-364 In the section tit led ‘Reading’ Thoreau considers the nature of reading as it relates to self-edification and culture. In his discussion Thoreau considers a number of works, all of which are considered ‘classics’ in the traditional sense. He has a great support for these works and argues that the information contained therein represent the pinnacles of human thought distilled and articulated into literature that has lasted the test of time. In his support of classic literature, Thoreau laments the unwillingness of others to embrace these texts. He states, â€Å"A man, any man, will go considerably out of his way to pick up a silver dollar; but here are golden words, which the wisest men of antiquity have uttered, and whose worth the wise of every succeeding age have assured us of;- and yet we learn to read only as far as Easy Reading, the primers and class-books† (Thoreau, pg. 357). While underlining Thoreau’s support of classic literature, this quote also indi cates a sort of general displeasure Thoreau has with the general social order. It should be no surprise that an individual who chose to live life for a period in seclusion on a farm should have some general disagreements with the nature of society. As the text progresses, it’s clear that Thoreau’s vision is in large part critical of traditional social assumptions

Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 Essay Example for Free

Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 Essay The invasion was the result of a long-standing territorial dispute. Iraq accused Kuwait of violating the Iraqi border to secure oil resources, (on July 17, 1990 Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates of flooding the world oil market. In addition, he singled out Kuwait for the production of oil from a disputed supply, the Rumaila oil field), and demanded that its debt repayments should be waived. (7:1) Direct negotiations were begun in July 1990, but they were destined soon to fail; along with reassurance from the United States making a claim that they would not get involved (the famous meeting of Saddam Hussein with April Glaspie, the United States Ambassador to Iraq, on the 25th of July, 1990). This was the go ahead that Hussein needed. (8:1) Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 1, 1990, but that session resulted only in charges and countercharges. A second session was scheduled to take place in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, but Iraq invaded Kuwait the next day. (9:1) Iraqi troops overran the country shortly after midnight on 2nd August 1990. The U. S. fell short on its claim to not get involved and instantly declared interest in keeping Saudi Arabia safe. (10:1) The History of Operation Desert Strom: On the morning of August 2, 1990 the mechanized infantry, armor, and tank units of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control of that country. The invasion triggered a United States response, Operation DESERT SHIELD, to deter any invasion of Kuwaits oil rich neighbor, Saudi Arabia. On August 7, deployment of U. S. forces began. United Nations Security Council Resolutions 660 and 662 condemned Iraqs invasion and annexation and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces. On August 20 President Bush signed National Security Directive 45, U. S. Policy in Response to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, outlining U. S. objectives which included the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait, and the restoration of Kuwaits legitimate government to replace the puppet regime installed by Iraq. (2) A U. N. ultimatum, Security Council Resolution 678, followed on November 29, 1990. It stipulated that if Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did not remove his troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 a U. S. -led coalition was authorized to drive them out. Early in the morning of January 17, Baghdad time, the U. S. -led coalition launched air attacks against Iraqi targets. On February 24, coalition ground forces begin their attack. On February 27, Kuwait City was declared liberated, and with allied forces having driven well into Iraq, President Bush and his advisers decided to halt the war. A cease-fire took effect at 8:00 the following morning. (3) A crucial element of the Persian Gulf war was the Iraqi launch of its modified Scud missiles. Iraq originally obtained Scud missiles, along with much of the rest of its military equipment, from their producerthe Soviet Union. This 1970s study provides basic data on various aspects of the Scud Bincluding, among others, its range, payload, warhead type, and accuracy. It also provides information on the background of the missile and conclusions based on U. S. materiel exploitation of one or more Scuds. (4) On December 2, 1990, six weeks before the United States and its allies initiated Operation Desert Storm, Iraq test launched three Scud missiles from sites in eastern Iraq, which impacted in western Iraq. This DIA report, based at least in part on data from Defense Support Program launch detection satellites, provides first notification of the launch and basic data on the nature of the missilesincluding type, launch sites and impact areasas well as other relevant information. It was reported that the Iraqi test firing allowed the U. S. to fine-tune its launch detection system, which proved of great value during Desert Storm. (5) During the Persian Gulf War Iraq fired 88 Iraqi-modified Scuds at Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. The Scud attacks on Israel threatened to provoke Israel into a counterattack, which the U. S. wished to avoid for fear that it would shatter the Allied coalition. From the beginning of the war destruction of Iraqi Scuds represented a high priority for U. S. and allied forceswhich involved the use of space systems, aerial platforms, and special operations forces. Destruction of Iraqs mobile Scud forces proved far more difficult than expected, in part due to Iraqi tactics. At wars end there had been no confirmed kills of mobile Scuds. This post-war DIA assessment focuses on a number of subjects, including pre-war intelligence assumptions, Iraqi Scud deployment and dispersal, the capabilities of Iraqs extended range Scuds, and means of measuring the effectiveness of the counter-Scud effort. It concluded that the lessons learned during Operation DESERT STORM can provide the framework for developing a more effective, realistic approach to targeting both Third World ballistic missiles and Soviet mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles in the future. (6) A key element in allied success in the Persian Gulf War was the U. S. -British led air campaign prior to the commencement of the ground campaign. That air campaign marked the first major use of the F-117A, Nighthawk, stealth fighter, the existence of which was declassified in 1988 shortly before its first combat in Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama in 1989. This chronology, in addition to covering events related to F-117A deployment and operations, provides a day-by-day, wave-by-wave, account of operations against Iraqi targets. It provides specifics on targets, bombs dropped, and the 37th Fighter Wings general assessment of the effectiveness of the attacks. Subsequent studies of F-117A operations, such as that of the General Accounting Office, were more skeptical of the F-117A effectiveness. (7) What is the situation now in the context of 1990 war?

The Present State Of Neutrino Masses :: essays research papers

One of the current questions in physics is whether or not neutrinos have mass and what this mass is. Neutrinos are subatomic particles that have no electrical charge and interact only via the weak nuclear force. They are products of radioactive decay processes, and thus are produced abundantly in our Sun, our atmosphere, and in other astrophysical sources such as supernovae and active galactic nuclei. Millions and millions of them are crossing through the Earth every second, but only very few of them will interact with the Earth. In practice you can say they are invisible. But fortunately we can detect them by building a very large detector and waiting long enough. There are several reasons to search for a possible non-zero neutrino mass. Fermion masses in general are one of the major mysteries/problems of the standard model. Observation or nonobservation of the neutrino masses could introduce a useful new perspective on the subject. Nonzero neutrino masses are predicted in most extensions of the standard model. They therefore constitute a powerful probe of new physics. Also, there may be a hot dark matter component to the universe. If so, neutrinos would be (one of) the most important things in the universe. The observed spectral distortion and deficit of solar neutrinos is most easily accounted for by the oscillations/conversions of a massive neutrino. The largest neutrino detector is the Super-Kamiokande and is located in the Kamioka Mine, about 200 km north of Tokyo. It is water cerenkov detector, which means it is a large (40 meters diameter by 40 meters tall) tank of ultra-pure water viewed by thousands of sensitive phototubes. Super-Kamiokande will address some of the most important open questions in physics today, such as: why does the Sun appear to produce only half as many neutrinos as theory would predict? Do neutrinos have mass? Do protons decay, as predicted by Grand Unification Theory? One source of neutrinos are nuclear reactions. Inside our Sun nuclear reactions are occurring on a gigantic scale. Lots of neutrinos are produced. There are enough of them, that when they reach the Earth they can still be detected. Since physicists can calculate how many of them should be seen, there is a big problem because we see too few, roughly two times too few. This is so called the solar neutrino problem. There can be several solutions to the puzzle. One is that we do not understand the Sun well enough.

Madame Bovary - Emma, Christianity, and Adultery Essay -- Madame Bovar

Emma, Christianity, and Adultery In Madame Bovary, Emma is depicted as a slave to her desires, namely, to the desire for what she calls love. The origin of these desires appears to stem from her childhood habit of reading romantic novels while she lived in the convent. Because of her idealized picture of what romantic love is supposed to be, she searched desperately for this in real life, but to no avail. It appears that Emma’s suffering is due to her disillusion with reality and her own naivete about the nature of relationships with other people. However, time after time, Emma looks into the face of morality in the respect of her religion. After she does so, rather than reconcile with her faith and repent her adulterous sins, Emma proceeds to commit them again, with a new and refreshed energy. In one of my previous papers I analyzed the role Christianity assigned to love and concluded that Christianity causes people to be enslaved by their Love for God. Although Emma never experienced the same type of Love f or God that I discussed, her Christian upbringings played a significant role in shaping the way she looked upon life. Specifically, Christianity contributed a great deal to Emma Bovary’s choice to commit adultery in her search for Love. The teachings of Christianity encourage the very thing Emma did throughout her entire lifetime—expect better things to come. Worldly things are not to be coveted because grander rewards will come in Heaven. Christians are taught to dream of a better future, eternal life, peace, and happiness. Moreover, Christianity makes its followers live in expectation of something better, and actions are motivated by expectations of these eternal rewards. Christians also martyr those who sacrifice and suffer since the sacrifice of Christ is a symbol of God’s Love. By acting in the imitation of Christ, the rewards and expectations will thus be fulfilled in Heaven. Therefore, in Christianity, Love is used to achieve transcendence. It is a passion that consumes, controls, and allows one to be content with unhappiness and suffering. Emma wanted happiness and an end to suffering just like other Christians, and she knew that the solution lie in Love. In the convent, she was inspired by stories from the old maid who slipped her romance novels. In the holy atmosphere of the convent, these stories of â€Å"love, lovers, swee... ...ll is to drag out, as I do, a useless existence. If our pains could be of use to some one, we should find consolation in the thought of sacrifice† (168). Because she felt this alienation from God, she struggled to practice Christianity. She knew what she desired, but she did not know how to attain it. Emma did not know how to be a virtuous woman and happy woman at the same time. The break between worldly love and heavenly love lead her astray and towards adultery, and the lack of guidance from the Church caused her to become confused. Finding worldly love has become more and more important today, and many people will travel the same roads as Emma in pursuit of the celestial lover, trying to make their sufferings and sacrifices of use to some one. Like Emma, they are motivated by the ideas that they deserve better and that happiness is found in Love. These ideals caused Emma to commit adultery and tragically end her life; she represents the modern person trapped between the ideals of the Christian tradition and modern times. Because of this conflict of interest, the modern man, as demonstrated by Emma Bovary, will suffer from insatiable and conflicting desires.

Betrayed by My Best Friend Essay

Betrayed by my best friend, the more I thought about the title the more I decided that it was time to write about the betrayal that cost me so very dearly. She entered my life in August of 1978 with her three children, she rented the apartment on the other side of the old farm house my former husband and I had purchased. I was still young and naive then, and overly trusting. I thought she and her sons would be a blessing instead she used that friendship to betray me and my daughters. My former husband was cheating on me: I knew that much I just had no idea that he was cheating with two different women at the same time. One woman he got pregnant and married the other was my best friend or so I thought. I first became suspicious when I discovered she knew exactly where my former husband hid his cigarettes and alcohol. I ignored those clues; I just could not bring myself to believe she was having sex with my former husband. She knew we were having problems and even told me at one point she would gladly testify in the divorce trial if she were needed. I told her of coarse she was needed; I had to prove he was cheating on me and that he was continually abusive to me and my daughters. Imagine my surprise when she reneged and refused to testify. She had been dating a friend of mine and while I was visiting she was also there. She could not even look me in the eye but still being as naive as I was I pursued the subject with my friend who finally told me that she had indeed been having an affair with my former husband. I remember sitting and crying all I wanted was to know why, what had I done to deserve this? She never did answer me but my daughter recently told me what happened after I finally left. Apparently she was supposed to be cleaning the house and doing the grocery shopping since my former husband did not think that his children needed food. When the divorce trial became a reality, she not only would not testify on my behalf, she would not answer her phone. My attorney told me that if she was called to testify, she would be a hostile witness and possibly harm my case more than it was already harmed. My former husband’s attorney was the assistant District Attorney who happened to play golf with the presiding Judge. On the advice from my attorney she was not called, I lost my daughters to my former husband; he was working and had a good income. I was working at a minimum wage job, so the Judge decided that my daughters would be better off with their father. The girls were abused by their step mother; their father knew what was happening to them but ignored them. My best friend’s betrayal not only cost me my daughters, it cost me precious time with my daughters that I can never regain. I am no longer bitter where she is concerned, she is not worth it. Betrayal is the hardest thing to deal with because it involves not just friendship but trust. I sometimes wonder what happened to her after the trial, I would like to see her again one day and ask: â€Å"why did you betray me?†

Youth In An Austrian Town Essays

Youth In An Austrian Town Essays Youth In An Austrian Town Essay Youth In An Austrian Town Essay replaced with a new town square and monuments to those that have been lost, old mingles with new, like the waters in the sea. Buchanan shows how the children have survived but are forever changed.

buy custom Moral Philosophy essay

buy custom Moral Philosophy essay The moral philosophies of Aristotle and Plato have some similarities and differences. One of Platos main arguments is that the structuring of the elements of the soul would result onto great benefit (Grube and Plato 27-31). He exemplifies this through an examination of how traditional values may be interpreted from the perspective of fostering the proper interaction between reason and the less logical psyche. Aristotles thinking is similar to Platos in that his function argument is heavily tilted on the premise that good results from a dominance of reason. Aristotle however differs from Plato in that he does not rely on Metaphysics to make conclusions as Plato did in the Republic. Aristotle does not believe in Platos premise that in order to be a person of virtue, they must study all branches of knowledge in a holistic manner. According to Aristotle, ethics is an autonomous branch of knowledge and in order to be virtuous one need not be an expert in all branches of knowledge (Chase a nd Aristotle 6-8). Plato asserts that the type of virtue, which we ought to have like a desirable in itself and also for its consequent results. According to Plato, justice fits in this category since it is desirable in itself and results in positive consequences in the society (Grube and Plato 49-53). Aristotle, on the other hand, makes the assumption that if one thing is desirable for the sake of another then it must be better than it. This, therefore, follows that the highest form of good would be one that is not hinged on anything else, but rather on its own sake. Aristotle argues for the centrality of good in a successful life by explaining that a virtuous individual will rarely live his life without contentment, affluence, friends, and honor. The performance of good deeds in itself does not guarantee happiness at all times, but rather it serves as the objective in which antecedent components of happiness are achieved. Aristotles concept, therefore, makes the connection between virtue and antecede nt results to be of more significance than in Platos conceptions (Chase and Aristotle 25-32). Issues such an isolation, poverty and dishonor usually restrict people from exercising virtuous deeds, which in turn robs them of happiness even though he adds that there are various exceptions. Aristotle and Plato would have opiions concerning American consumerism, which would be similar in some aspects and different to some extent. Aristotle in many instances makes reference to the importance of pleasure to the human condition. Aristotle argues that a happy life is a function of the pleasure that a virtuous life brings upon a person (Chase and Aristotle 78-81). Consumerism is said to be a psychological condition, which leads a person to purchase things simply because such purchases induce pleasurable feelings. According to Aristotle, a lack of external goods which in this instance are representative of American consumerism would lead to negative consequences. He explains that this lack would result into people`s less virtuous lives. Aristotle makes very important assertion that in some instances which may be considered pleasurable by someone may not be pleasurable to others at all. The issue of consumerism would apply to this notion in that consumerism in the United States is driven by the Joness syndrome whereby people purchase things not because they need them, but because they have seen others with them. People usually assume that some expensive things will bring most pleasure while this is not always true. Platos response with regard to consumerism would probably be best represented by his notion of measure for measure. American consumerism is exemplified by excessive purchase of items, which is deemed relatively excessive and expensive. Plato makes the assertion that a measurement or quantification of pleasure would be instrumental in measuring the virtuosity of any pleasure. This follows that any purchases which are deemed to be excessive or too expensive would be deemed by Plato as lacking virtue. Plato goes further to talk of balance and stability which results from measure. Consumerism will thus be perceived from the perspective of the balance of things bought and whether they are essential or not. According to Plato, the seeing of pleasure is usually a result of the endeavor to restore a balance within the body or soul of a person. Pleasure would thus be good, if they are intended to restore the mental or physical equilibrium (Grube and Plato 23-25). Indulging in pleasure without an understanding of measure, objective or quantity would be harmful. Since consumerism is characterized by a lack of measure and wrong motives, it would be considered morally wrong by Plato. My philosophical response to American consumerism would borrow from the assertions of both Aristotle and Plato with regard to pleasure and happiness. I consider consumerism to be against the basic criterion of not acting in a manner that is in the extremities. Since pleasure is a function of the human race, I believe that it is inevitable that human beings require a certain amount of consumerism in order to be happy. However, the exercise of pleasure ought to be exercised in combination with logical reasoning. This type of reasoning is supported by Platos reasoning which asserts the importance of pleasure, but stresses the importance of measure. Measure in this instance is a function of reason and logic. Human beings by nature are given to aspects of limits and non limits. It is a combination of these two elements in the right proportions which gives rise to harmonious ethical relationship (Grube and Plato 56-58). Consumerism if exercised with the right combination of restraint and p leasure is acceptable, if it allows the individual to have happiness with no negative effects such as debt. I would also make my observation on American consumerism which would be compatible with some of Aristotles ideas. I believe that consumerism ought to be practiced from the perspective of consideration of other antecedent factors. It is important for people to engage in consumerism, while analyzing their circumstances at the present and future time. Engaging in consumerism without an analysis of the present and the past would result in negative effects of unhappiness due to unpleasant consequences such as depletion of savings. American consumerism is undertaken by people in order to attain a certain kind of pleasure. I believe that pleasure may be achieved through a variety of avenues and not only consumerism. Americans should, therefore, make a careful analysis of the pleasure activities available to them. Since consumerism in most instances results in negative consequences, it is advisable that people engage in other activities such as spending time with family or sports which would give the same pleasure and other related benefits. This view is supported by Aristotles assertion that pleasure activities are usually in competition with each other and as such people ought to opt for those activities which result in the least negative effects and the most benefit (Chase and Aristotle 138-143). Buy custom Moral Philosophy essay

Journal Writing in the Elementary Classroom

Journal Writing in the Elementary Classroom An effective Journal Writing program doesnt mean you just sit back and relax while your kids write about whatever they want. You can use well-chosen journal topics, classical music, and checklists to make the most of your students daily writing time. In my third grade classroom, students write in journals every day for about 20 minutes. Each day, after read-aloud time, the kids go back to their desks, pull out their journals, and start writing! By writing every day, the students gain fluency while getting a chance to practice important punctuation, spelling, and style skills in context. Most days, I give them a specific topic to write about. On Fridays, the students are so excited because they have free write, which means they get to write about whatever they want! Many teachers let their students write about whatever they want every day. But, in my experience, student writing can tend to get silly with a lack of focus. This way, students stay focused on a particular theme or topic. Journal Writing Tips To start, try this list of my favorite journal writing prompts. Engaging Topics I try to come up with interesting topics that are fun for the kids to write about. You can also try your local teacher supply store for topics or check out a kids books of questions. Just like adults, children are more likely to write in a lively and engaging manner if they are entertained by the topic. Play Music While the students are writing, I play soft classical music. Ive explained to the kids that classical music, especially Mozart, makes you smarter. So, every day, they want to be really quiet so that they can hear the music and get smarter! The music also sets a serious tone for productive, quality writing. Create a Checklist After each student finishes writing, he or she consults a small checklist that is pasted into the inside cover of the journal. The student makes sure that he or she has included all of the important elements for a journal entry. The kids know that, every so often, I will collect the journals and grade them on their latest entry. They dont know when I will collect them so they need to be on their toes. Writing Comments When I collect and grade the journals, I staple one of these small checklists to the corrected page so that the students can see which points they received and which areas need improvement. I also write a short note of comment and encouragement to each student, inside their journals, letting them know that I enjoyed their writing and to keep up the great work. Sharing Work During the last few minutes of Journal time, I ask for volunteers that would like to read their journals out loud to the class. This is a fun sharing time where the other students need to practice their listening skills. Often, they spontaneously start clapping when a classmate has written and shared something really special. As you can see, theres much more to Journal Writing than just setting your students loose with a blank pad of paper. With proper structure and inspiration, children will come to cherish this special writing time as one of their favorite times of the school day. Have fun with it! Edited By: Janelle Cox

Home remedy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Home remedy - Essay Example In this essay some ingredients commonly available will be described with reference to their medicinal value. Honey is a natural sweet material that is produced by honey bees from the secretions of various parts of living plants. It is defined as "the nectar and saccharine exudation of plants, gathered, modified and stored as honey in the honeycomb by honeybees, Apis melifera" (Olaitan, Adeleke, Oha, 2007). Many published studies have proved that honey application to wounds clears the infection of the wounds rapidly without any prolongation in wound healing. Infact, there are some reports that honey promotes active wound healing. Research in the antimicrobial action of honey has shown that the substance has many antimicrobial properties against various bacteria like pseudomonas aeruginosa which is resistant to antibiotics (Olaitan et al, 2007). Researchers are often perplexed by the beneficial effects of honey because it is the medium for many organisms like bacteria and yeast. The material is made up of mainly water and sugar. Other than these compounds, honey also has minerals, enzymes wh ich have their origin from the saliva of the bees, and multivitamins. Honey has a characteristic taste and composition. It is highly viscous, acidic, hygroscopic and hyperosmolar (Olaitan et al, 2007). Thus the microorganisms which are present in honey are those which survive the physical and chemical properties of honey. They are mainly bacteria like Bacillus and Micrococcus and yeast like saccharomyces which come from bees, nectar and comb material (Olaitan et al, 2007). Research has shown that most of these microorganisms are in the dormant stage in the material and cannot grow or reproduce in that medium (Olaitan et al, 2007). Majority of these bacteria lose viability within 1-4 weeks (Olaitan et al, 2007). Those who continue to survive are spore forming organisms like clostridium species and bacillus cereus which can

ECONOMIC OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ECONOMIC OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT - Essay Example TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 4 Limits To Growth 4 Mathematical Analysis 5 Role And Impact Of Technical Advancements 7 The Quality Of Life 7 Challenges 7 Transition To A Sustainable Economy 8 Conclusion 8 References 10 1. Introduction Barack Obama (27 March 2008) said, â€Å"I think all of us here today would acknowledge that we’ve lost that sense of shared prosperity†. With the escalating gap between the economy of nations and amongst the individuals of same nation, prosperity is declining. The definition of prosperity needs to be revisited considering the world’s limitation of resources. According to Jackson (2009), global economy is constrained by finite ecological limits. The flourishing of human society in context of ecological limits is not only an alternate vision but also a necessity. This is a finite world with limited resources. To add to this, the population is expected to rise to 9 billion [1] and even more within a span of just three decades. Having a vision of prosperity for such a scenario is the need of the hour. Jackson (2009) has scrutinized the assumption that whether growth is essential for prosperity or not. Herman Daly (2008) and others have continuously tried to put forward the notion of steady-state economy. Jackson’s Prosperity Without Growth (2009) has been a vital attempt on the same notion and following it there are considerable â€Å"De-growth† European movements (Latouche, 2007) and surfacing of organisations like CASSE (2010). These actions and notions are all in favour of removing the growth element from the current implications of the economy. The arguments against this idea constitutes primarily of the reforms of the consumer-capitalist society. However as per Trainer (2010), the consumer capitalist society cannot be fixed or reformed. Rather, it needs to be scrapped and then remade along different lines. 2. Limits to Growth There are some huge issues down the line and these include the compl ete consumption of the environment, resource depletion, war, conflicts and lessening of social bonding. The key cause behind this would be overconsumption. Fotopoulos (2007) comments on the â€Å"de-growth initiative† and states that people are currently trying to live at standards of affluence which are too high for all to share. This is leading to an unstable society and considering the environmental factors, the adversity of results can be well analysed. Considering the following two examples, it is clear that the there needs to be a limit set to the growth factor or else, there would be no prosperity at all. Example 1: As per World Wildlife Fund (2009), it takes around 8 hectares of potent land to supply water, food and settlement area for one individual in Australia. After three decades, considering the number of 9 billion, 72 billion hectares of potent land would be required. This is approximately 10 times of the land which would be available at that time. Example 2: Th e Green House issue is well addressed by Hansen (2008) and Meinschausen et al (2009). In order to discontinue carbon content present in the atmosphere, the CO2 eliminations would be required to be completely eliminated by possibly 2030. Such examples clearly explain that the rich people’s living standards would no longer be sustainable in the coming future. People are living in way which makes it completely impossible to share resources by all. 3. Mathematical

Healthcare reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthcare reform - Essay Example ry in the world, with $7,290 spent per person on health care cost (Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2009), yet suffers from massive un-insurance, uneven quality of care and administrative waste. The public health insurance sector is much smaller compared to the private health insurance sector and comprises of Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for the low-income groups and disabled, State Children’s Health Insurance Program for children of families who do not qualify for Medicaid and lack private insurance and Veteran’s Administration for military veterans. The private health insurance sector comprises of employer sponsored insurance and private non-group insurance. 1. Extend coverage through insurance mandate: This would be implemented by providing subsidies in insurance premiums and tax credits up to 35% of premiums for small businesses that employ less than 50 people to provide health care benefits. Those people who are not covered under Medicare or employer sponsored insurance will receive assistance through direct subsidies to purchase insurance through a new on-line exchange, an internet state run market place. for insurers to exclude lifetime and annual caps and cover more of a person’s health care cost. It also requires all new health insurance plans to provide coverage for preventive services with no out of pocket cost and prevents exclusions made for necessary care. The major outcome of these reforms for clients/patients of the health care system is that it will ensure that maximum number of people have health insurance. It will also encourage health care clients to focus on prevention, health promotion and wellness rather than cure of diseases. Also, more healthcare services would be covered. It is projected that this reform will help in reduce the number of uninsured in the country from 19% in 2010 to 8% by 2016 (International Insurance News, 2010). In light of the new health care reform, baccalaureate-prepared nurses will spend a

Participative Management - A Study of John Lewis Partnership Case

Participative Management - A of John Lewis Partnership - Case Study Example Competitors find it difficult to replicate the competitive edge acquired by such a firm over a period of time. The objective of this report is to analyze HRM principles and theoretical observations applicable to John Lewis Partnership. The report will also examine whether and where the HRM policies adopted by the company fulfill or fall short in strengthening its efforts to achieve organizational goals and attempts at suggesting remedial measures. Human Resource Management-Participative Management: The central theme of human resource management is to enhance employee performance through employee commitment (Armstrong, 1987, Storey 1995 cited in McGunnigle 2000). The right human resource management system attracts and retains the right talent, develops workforce skills, resolves or avoids conflicts and motivates workforce into a culture of commitment to achieve organizational goals (Storey 1995 cited in McGunnigle 2000). Watson et al. suggest that a culture of commitment may be induced by the application of specific practices within HRM areas such as recruitment and selection, training and development, reward systems, employee participation, involvement and empowerment (Watson et al. 1996 cited in McGunnigle 2000). Kinnie et al. ... Involvement in decision making Performance appraisal with tight links to contingent pay (Holbeche 2001 p.13) Kinnie et al. sound a word of caution when they argue that the application of specific HR policies may not have a uniformly desirable effect on all employees working in an organization. They argue that the extant debate on the links between HR policy and organizational performance has been based on the distinction between the 'best practice' and 'best fit' perspectives, both of which assume that HR policies have the same effect on all employees working in an organization. The best practice view put forth by Pfeffer (1994, 1998 cited in Kinnie et al. 2005) identifies a set of policies associated with performance improvement applicable to all industries and by implication to all employees. On the other hand the best-fit strategy proposed by Schuler and Jackson (1987 cited in Kinnie et al. 2005) and Miles and Snow (1984 cited in Kinnie et al. 2005) suggests that HR policies consistent with business strategy maximize performance. (Kinnie et al. 2005). There have been a number of references to 'participative management' within the literature on human resource management, which however must not be confused with permissiveness. According to Frohman, it is a "practical approach to solving problems and achieving performance targets by utilizing people as resources." As against the human resource approach which "aims to generate compliance and employee morale" participative management is a "quest for improved performance and quality." (Frohman 1988) John Lewis Partnership (JLP): JLP is an employees' co-operative, wholly owned by its 64,000 employee-partners. This unique democratic management model imbues the company with a corporate

A review of an existing IR system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

A review of an existing IR system - Essay Example What is more, the researcher acknowledges that each of the different information retrieval systems available have its own strengths and weaknesses, which make their use in certain context inappropriate as against other forms of use. With this in mind, the report will seek to critically describe, by coming out with a detailed descriptive account of a selected information retrieval system, which will become a basis for users of the report to make decisions on the information retrieval system. The description shall be done in accordance with how the system allows for specific information retrieval tasks to be performed. Thereafter, findings from the study shall be outlined, which shall mainly dwell on the strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement for the selected information retrieval system. Finally, there is a realization that for every information retrieval to take place there must be a corresponding information source, which leads to the next topic of this discussion. Introduct ion to Information Retrieval and selected IR system The internet continues to dominate as an important tool in the search, retrieval and storage of information. Indeed, with the coming of the internet, there is now a centralized whole-point where almost every kind of information and data can be found (Ando and Tong, 2005a). This has been made possible because of the easily accessible nature of the internet where everyone can stay and live in the comfort of his home and input pieces of information online. Commonly, the same form of information exists online and from several sources that, when a person wants to make use of a particular line of information, the options available to choose from are more than required. Apart from the numerous natures of available options, there is also an issue with the differences with information source quality, where some sources of information can be proven to be more reliable, authentic and valid than others (van Rijsbergen, 2009). Han and George (2 000) has explained information retrieval as a conscious activity that is aimed at obtaining information resources that are highly relevant to a person’s information need from available information sources. This definition indeed gives a very broad overview of the concept of information retrieval and explains it even further. In the first place, it would be noted that information retrieval does not take place as an accidental process but as an intential process, and thus the use of the word, ‘conscious’. In effect, people who perform information retrieval are people who sit before their computers and other internet media with the mind of finding something useful for further processing. Secondly, the definitions establish that information retrieval must lead to the obtaining information that is highly relevant to a searcher’s quest. In other words, information retrieval would always lead to a pool of options for the person undertaking the search. The person performing the search thus has a role to play at that point when he is presented with the pool of options and this role is to ensure that he becomes part of the search by selecting only what is most relevant to the search. Description of selected IR system This section of the report therefore deals with a description of how PubMed has developed functionalities to help support its users with their search. This is made up

Participative Management - A Study of John Lewis Partnership Case

Participative Management - A of John Lewis Partnership - Case Study Example Competitors find it difficult to replicate the competitive edge acquired by such a firm over a period of time. The objective of this report is to analyze HRM principles and theoretical observations applicable to John Lewis Partnership. The report will also examine whether and where the HRM policies adopted by the company fulfill or fall short in strengthening its efforts to achieve organizational goals and attempts at suggesting remedial measures. Human Resource Management-Participative Management: The central theme of human resource management is to enhance employee performance through employee commitment (Armstrong, 1987, Storey 1995 cited in McGunnigle 2000). The right human resource management system attracts and retains the right talent, develops workforce skills, resolves or avoids conflicts and motivates workforce into a culture of commitment to achieve organizational goals (Storey 1995 cited in McGunnigle 2000). Watson et al. suggest that a culture of commitment may be induced by the application of specific practices within HRM areas such as recruitment and selection, training and development, reward systems, employee participation, involvement and empowerment (Watson et al. 1996 cited in McGunnigle 2000). Kinnie et al. ... Involvement in decision making Performance appraisal with tight links to contingent pay (Holbeche 2001 p.13) Kinnie et al. sound a word of caution when they argue that the application of specific HR policies may not have a uniformly desirable effect on all employees working in an organization. They argue that the extant debate on the links between HR policy and organizational performance has been based on the distinction between the 'best practice' and 'best fit' perspectives, both of which assume that HR policies have the same effect on all employees working in an organization. The best practice view put forth by Pfeffer (1994, 1998 cited in Kinnie et al. 2005) identifies a set of policies associated with performance improvement applicable to all industries and by implication to all employees. On the other hand the best-fit strategy proposed by Schuler and Jackson (1987 cited in Kinnie et al. 2005) and Miles and Snow (1984 cited in Kinnie et al. 2005) suggests that HR policies consistent with business strategy maximize performance. (Kinnie et al. 2005). There have been a number of references to 'participative management' within the literature on human resource management, which however must not be confused with permissiveness. According to Frohman, it is a "practical approach to solving problems and achieving performance targets by utilizing people as resources." As against the human resource approach which "aims to generate compliance and employee morale" participative management is a "quest for improved performance and quality." (Frohman 1988) John Lewis Partnership (JLP): JLP is an employees' co-operative, wholly owned by its 64,000 employee-partners. This unique democratic management model imbues the company with a corporate

Genetic Modification Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Genetic Modification - Research Paper Example However, genetic modification is most common in plants than in animals. Genetically modified foods are developed for various reasons. For example, to improve the quality of some foods and to some other foods, it is done to prevent the chances of allergies after consumption. Some of the genetically modified foods include; soybean, tomatoes and corn plants as will be discussed in this paper, among others. Although the technology gives a lot of promises for consumption of these foods, there are however some risks associated with the technology just like any other new technologies (Buzzle.com, 2012). Soybeans The genetically modified soybeans are fast growing and resistant to pests and herbicides. This leads to increased production hence food security to the ever-growing population as compared to the traditionally grown crop. The fact that this crop is tolerant to herbicides implies that it cannot be affected by the herbicides once sprayed to the weeds. Therefore, the farmers end up usin g strong herbicides, which are sprayed only once in order to destroy the weeds. This does not require a lot of herbicides because the herbicide once used totally destroys the weeds resulting to reduced environmental pollution. Genetically modified soybeans are drought resistant and can be grown in places with poor soils. This means that the crop can withstand harsh climatic conditions as well as be grown in places with infertile soils where agricultural production is poor with the normal crops. By growing the genetically modified soybeans in such places utilizes the unproductive lands, earning the residents income. Moreover, this food has high nutrient content with more vitamins and minerals, and tastes much better as compared to the traditionally grown crops. This, makes them more preferable to most people than the traditionally grown ones (Anslow, 2008 & Buzzle.com, 2012). Despite the advantages associated with genetically modified soybeans, recent research studies has shown that the growing of genetically modified soybeans may lead to the transfer of herbicide resistant genes to non-target species like the weeds through cross-breeding. This will make the weeds become herbicide tolerant as well. Moreover, chances of cross-pollination to the unmodified crops are also high in such a situation. In many countries where genetically modified soybeans are grown, the genetically modified soybean product is not labeled, as manufactures fear losing customers, which may ultimately interfere with their overall business. This denies the consumers the opportunity of making their own choice on whether to consume these foods or not since the products are not labeled in the market (Buzzle.com, 2012). Apparently, as Anslow (2008) points out, genetically modified soybeans can thrive under any climatic condition giving high production with high nutrients and requires less labor since one does not have to use tillage in order to remove weeds especially in big acreage of land, bu t can just use a strong herbicide instead, to destroy the weeds. Despite these, the negative effects should not be overlooked. For instance, in the long run the weeds also turn to be tolerant to herbicides hence becoming ineffective. Moreover, the consumers end up consuming genetically engineered products unknowingly, because the labels are not included and this may lead to long-term health problems, which is not their fault. Therefore,

Prose Coursework Essay Example for Free

Prose Coursework Essay One of my favourite short stories is The Birds by Daphne du Maurier. This story is set on a farm on the Cornish coast. The story is based on the main character, Nat Hocken and his wife, and their two children, Johnny and Jill. This is all set in the mid 1900s, at the start of December. It all starts on the 3rd of December. The birds were behaving in a strange manner. Their formations were abnormal, and they looked as if they were planning a liberation or attack. Nat notices all of these activities but does not pay any attention. Later that night the birds started to attack the windows. Nat opened the window and lots of birds flew in and started to assault and harm him. Nat thought that it would be the end of the aggression attacks but he was wrong. Day after day the birds begin to attack more and more aggressively very often. Nat starts concluding that the weather definitely has a lot to do with the birds actions. He now realises that all the common children that he had formerly told to run home are probably0 dead. From now on Nats duty was to protect his family only. When the birds finally broke into the childrens bedroom, Nat then began to pitch and hurl punches towards the birds. He then grabs one of the bed sheets and chucks it over the birds. Then he started to hurl a bed sheet around the room bouncing and hitting it off and into the walls until the birds were either severely injured or dead. Nat is very protective because he takes the risk of attack by boarding up the house and getting the supplies from the now deceased neighbours up the road. At the end they have realised that these sequences of events are happening all over the world. Nat theorized on the millions of years of repressed feeling that the birds had towards the human race and other species on planet earth. After realising that the wireless has no unique or any predicament transmissions to the public or even the world about these attacks, the silence was tensile. Nat had now given up any hope of survival from these anarchists who which represented a race in the animal kingdom that we believed was harmless. My next story is A message from the Pig-Man by John Wain. This story is set in early 1900s in what seems to be the city of London. This story is about a young boy called Eric of around the age of six. His parents are separated and he lives with his Mum and her boyfriend, Donald. Eric always imagines that the Pig-Man is almost like a character from a horror story. When he first heard about the Pig-Man, he started to ponder what the Pig-Man would look like. He concentrates various prospectives about the image of the Pig-Man, The Pig-Mans bucket had a handle; so he must carry it in the ordinary way, in his hand-unless, of course, and he walked on all fours and carried it in his mouth. But that wasnt very likely, because if he walked on all fours what difference would there be between him and an ordinary pig? Eric is very imaginative in his quest to find out what the Pig-Man really is. He realises it is better to confront your problems he asks his mum why dad cant live at home. When she cant answer he gets angry and claims that he hates all adults. The main characters are Eric, Donald, Mum, Dad and the Pig Man. In this story Eric is the pushy character. He keeps considering his theories about the Pig Man and is anxious to find out which one is correct. Donald has a small part in this story, but does get caught in the middle of one of Erics interferences where he asks his Mum why cant his Dad and Donald live together in the house. I believe that Donald must have felt very uncomfortable at that moment in time. The Pig Man is the one at the centre of attention in this story. He causes Eric to behave in a ridiculous way but not for a child. At the start the Pig Mans character is almost mysterious, as the adults do not tell us what his image is like; we only hear Erics knowledge of the Pig Man that is at the minimum. Erics dad is the one who confuses Eric about buying the train set and then leaving which leads to Eric questioning why him and Donald cant stay with Eric and his mum. The vernacular in this short story is evocative towards what perceptions you can have about someone or something when at a young age or unaware of the purpose or the appearance of an individual. What is interesting about these two stories is that they deal with problems that the characters must face for themselves and overcome; one the boy doesnt understand why the dad and the mums boyfriend (Donald) cant live together and he doesnt understand the term Pig Man. And the other is that Nat doesnt understand why the birds are attacking the Village and the world. He finds out when they time their attacks when he realises it had something to do with the tides.

Speech Acts Politeness And Turn Taking

Speech Acts Politeness And Turn Taking Introduction When we communicate, we give a number of verbal and non verbal cues to the audience that we are referring or targeting to. These verbal or non verbal cues have a lot of impact on the way we keep the listener engaged in the dialogue that we are trying to put up for him and keeping the interest of the listener to actually understand our message the way we want it to be delivered. Until and unless the receiver or the audience gets the message in the way we want it to be delivered, the communication process will mostly fail unless there is a coincidence that the receiver understands what the message meant. Otherwise the receiver or listener of the message will not be able to understand what the important point or points in the whole message were, which part did the sender emphasize more upon, how polite the sender of the message was in the whole communication process and how much room did he give to the receiver to come up with any arguments, additions or suggestions to the message of th e sender as a feed back. Thus, with this introductory not, this paper will actually come up with a discussion in which three important elements of communication that are speech acts, politeness and turn taking will be discussed in order to see how they have an influence on the receiver and what problems do those people face with these concepts being second language English speakers. The paper will first explain all the three elements and then conduct an interview in which a second language English student and a native English speaker will have dialogue and will be observed and analyzed on the basis of the above mention elements. After the observations, the communication process of the second language English speakers and their behavior will be compared to the native English speaker and then recommendations will be advised accordingly. Speech Acts Starting with the discussion about speech acts, we need to take an aerial view of the communication process and the words we use for communicating our message to the target audience. The first question is that how are words related to the world? What is the process and what is the logic behind the entire communication process in which a speaker tries to explain something to a hearer by using a set of words and then delivering these words to the hearer and the hearer actually understands what the speaker wanted to say. For example, if a speaker makes a statement that Alan went home. What is it in the sentence which will distinguish it from being a question or from being a piece of information? The statement is very simple to understand if it is said in a simple monotonous tone. But, if we relate speech acts with the punctuation marks, we see that when we put a question mark at the end of the same question, the question mark transforms the statement into a question and if an exclamatio n mark is used, it transforms the same statement into a piece of information that is given in great surprise. Therefore, when understanding speech acts, we see that speech acts are more or less like punctuations. They are not written but, the way the words are uttered, the tone that has been used, the pause that is given between sentences and the feelings that have been added through specific emphasis actually add meaning to these set words and can change the meaning of a simple statement as well as it is described in the earlier discussion. According to Austins theory, speech acts can take over three different meanings Propositional Meaning Illocutionary meaning Perlocutionary meaning The propositional meaning is the literal meaning of what is being said. For example if one says it is hot in here, then in literal meaning the speaker wants to say that the temperature is high or hot at a certain place. But, the illocutionary meaning relates to the social function of what is being said or the actual meaning of the statement. Taking into consideration the same example, we see that the same sentence or statement can be used as a request so that someone might help to open a window, it can be an indirect refusal so as to expect the receiver to close the window as someone might be feeling cold and it can also serve as a complaint in which a speaker may try to register that the hearer should know it better then to keep the window shut. However, as far as Perlocutionary meaning is concerned, it is related to the understanding of the receiver to understand what does it means when someone something like that. Using the same example, we can see that the desired outcome could be of opening of windows. According to the same theory, speech acts have been classified into 5 categories according to the functions that are assigned to each category. Co missives Expressive Directives Representatives Declaratives Promises Apologies Requests Claims Declarations Threats/ offers Complaint/thanks Suggestions/commands Reports/assertions decrees Speech Act Theory The origins of speech acts theory can be extended to philosophy of language but now it is considered as a sub-discipline for cross cultural programmatic. This theory basically explains how human beings achieve and accomplish desired intentions and motives through the use of language by using words in a way that they actually highlight the meaning of the sentence in a manner that the hearer understands what they actually mean besides the literal meaning. Austin relates the performance of saying words with an act of locutionary and the study of how specific words are uttered and what impact does utterance have on the message that is being delivered  [1]  . According to the theory of Austin, every statement might be inferred in all the three meanings that have been discussed in the earlier part of the paper, but, it is up to the acts that make them specific in their meaning and how the hearer infers them. The speaker can use any of the meaning combined with proper speech act in orde r to give the same sentence a different meaning. A speaker can change the same question to a complaint by uttering in a specific manner that is associated with anger or with surprise  [2]  . There has been a lot of discussion going on relating to whether the speech acts are specific to certain languages or are they specific to different cultures. The reason of this discussion is quite relevant with the essence of our discussion on which the analysis will be framed. the paper will conduct an interview in which students will be observed that whether they use certain speech acts because they belong to different cultures or do they use the same speech acts as speaking the same language regardless of the fact that one of them is a native English speaking and the other one is second language English speaker  [3]  . As it is described in the theory many linguistic mechanisms that have been implemented are in lieu of the cultural differences which cause mis interpretation of messages that are sent from speakers of different cultures and thus they cause break downs and loop holes most of the times when ethnic communication is taking place. This will help us understand more why the two students who were observed behaved in a certain manner during the interview and how differently did the interpret each other  [4]  . As it is in phonology and morphology, we also see that the basic cultural instincts and traits also shape the way a person emphasizes on words and gets his message across to the other person. The fact is that in different culture, the level of emphasis that is put in different situations is different and the way a message is transformed from a question to a complaint is also different. Therefore, on the part of the speaker and the listener, misconception or misinterpretation can result in noise ultimately leading to the distortion of the message that has to be actually delivered. Politeness Politeness can be simply defined as implementing good manners and reasonably good etiquettes via verbal communication. However, the concept of politeness is a subjective term. The level of politeness in one culture might differ from the level of politeness in another culture. Although politeness, being a positive phenomenon means to impart good manners and make others feel relaxed and comfortable with whatever the speaker is saying, however, in different cultures and specific to situations, politeness can also be used as a tool to make the other person feel ashamed of some acts that may not be appreciated by others around him or her  [5]  . According to British Social anthropologists, politeness can also be categorized into two segments. Negative politeness Positive Politeness In negative politeness we basically try to make a request in a way that it minimizes all chances in which the other person might be hurt due to a certain act. For example, rather than going to colleague and ordering to return the pen, we can go and add a sentence which says if you dont mind or if it is not too much trouble can I take the pen back  [6]  . However, the positive politeness is when a speaker tries to come into a relationship with the hearer by highlighting and safeguarding his interests, ego and personality traits and manipulating sentences in such a way that the hearer feels good about it and tries to conform to what the speaker is saying. This is just like talking to a child where a parent or guardian does not uses negative politeness with the child but by showing the child and the importance that he deserves, the parent or guardian tries to make the child understand certain manners and etiquettes that he should show towards elders. When the child gets the polite behavior, he actually starts trusting the parent or guardian more and understands that whatever they have to say is for the childs own benefit and interest in the future so he automatically conforms to it  [7]  . There are several techniques to show politeness: When one has to express a situation of ambiguity or uncertainty, one can use politeness by making the point clear indirectly that he does not know about what is going to happen or by hedging the situation with ifs and buts to make the situation look less negative. Taking the example of a child once again, we see that when parents do not know about something, they do not clearly say no to the child to scare the child away, but, they try to explain the matter to the child in an indirect way and make a hypothetical situation in which the child understands that there is a lot that no one knows. This way the child is not discouraging for asking questions in the future and at the same time the parents show their politeness to the child as well. People also tend to lie politely in order to make it less hurting for the listener. For example, a stock broker may not leak his information to another competitor but he can actually use polite behavior to indirectly change the topic. Using questions instead of revealing the truth. For example, if a group member knows that the other group member has not started work, rather than simply saying you have not started work, the group member can also ask did you check the information that I mailed you for your part. Turn-Taking A study of ten major languages reveals that the concept of turn taking is basically guided by two simple rules. Avoid speaking when someone else is speaking Avoid silence and long pauses between discussion and communication process As it is meant by turn taking, every speaker must pause after he or she has made her message clear in one go and then give a chance to the other person to add value to the discussion. The reason why we call it adding value is the fact that when the hearer starts speaking, it is actually related to the statements that the speaker has made and it is more like a feedback rather than a literally giving a turn. Every speaker should expect a feed back and also give time for the feedback or response to the other person in order to see whether the hearer has got the message in the right context or not or what more information needs to be provided . A communication process cannot be complete if only one of the persons is constantly speaking unless it is a Debating competition where a speaker has to address a large audience, Moreover, it is also not advised to actually overlap anothers turn because of the fact that the concept of noise in the communication process comes into play at this point   [8]  . Furthermore, the research made it clear that every language follows the same rules of turn taking and a variation of just milliseconds was seen in some languages which were also influenced by the types of syllables that the other speaker had to utter. Otherwise, whether it is the second language English speaker or the native English speaker, both of the participants clearly know how to wait for their turn and then take turn automatically from where the other person leaves it. Interview Coming to the interview in which all the three elements of the communication process that have been discussed above will be integrated upon the observation, we see that all of them have some effect or the other in making communication slightly difficult or biased when a native English speaking boy and a second language English speaking boy communicate. The basic reason that was seen in politeness and the speech acts was actually the cultural difference that made it difficult for both the participants to get to the desired point of view off the other. however, as far as taking turn is concerned, it has more to do with the thinking process that both of the participants had to go through in their minds to actually give it a though to understand what the other person said especially in the case of the second language English speaker and then elaborate words to reply. This practice used to take a bit longer in which the native English speaking boy used to carry on the discussion or nod th e other boy for his thoughts and ideas about the situation. Starting with speech acts, following is a conversation that will serve as a good example how both the participants graded each other as rude. (Scarcely, 1990) Now in the above discussion, speaker A is the Second Language English Speaker and Speaker B is the native English language speaker. Speaker B, though incorrect in his conclusion, claimed that speaker B showed a rude behavior because in B culture, interruptions are looked upon as impolite. B thinks that any sort of an interruption in a communication process is rude, as an interrupted, thus, A is rude. However, if we say A is from Iran, and that in his society, interrupting can also be seen as a sign of friendliness, casualness and comfort between two speakers, then according to a he is not wrong. So this is one of the biggest problems that Second language English speakers face with Native English speakers. When speaking English they do not realize that they have to blend into the culture as well and try not to blend in their own culture in the second language that they are trying to learn. Moreover, it was obvious from the tones and speech acts of the second language English speaker that he had a company of people who also spoke English as a second language. The reason was the same that their style of communication could not blend it to the natives and thus they divided into their own groups. Resulting in communication gap and distances which did not enable the second language speakers to develop their language the way natives speak it. They seldom got a chance to infer and subconsciously grasp the rules of how the natives spoke their language. As far as turn taking is concerned, we can see the fact that the non native speaker often took some more time rather than interrupting all the time. the fact is that he used to take some time to actually think what was he had just heard, what is his response, translate into English and then select the suitable words to get the message across. In the mean time the native English speaking boy often nudged him to remind that he it was his turn to carry on the discussion or to ask if there is everything alright. This is not actually related to any culture or linguistic mechanism, but, it is actually related to the thought process through which this specific participant had to go through. It is not the case with all non native English speakers as there might be many who have a faster though process still, the problem is not that rare as well. Recommendations and Conclusions Here are a few recommendations that the non-native speakers may use in-order to come out of the linguistic deficiencies that often cost them decreasing self confidence and fear of competition. The first thing that teachers need to do with non-native speakers is to highlight the advantages of native English language. The advantages may not be only restricted to the way they will converse, but social advantages as well so as to enable them to mingle in the natives more easily and conversing on their level  [9]  . Moreover, the teachers should tell these students what difficulties they might be facing in using the second language and what are the general difficulties that everyone faces. These students might not be able to identify their difficulties on their own as better as the teacher can. Thus, the responsibility lies on the teacher to make them identify their difficulties and make them work on them only rather than perfecting the language by conversing more amongst them. Also, feedback is another way to keep the student in line with the learning process. Good or bad, it will serve as an asset for the student in the long run because of the fact that he would trust the teachers advice and feedback more then what his peers have to say about his communication skills. The more the teacher gives feedback, the better the student will show response and try to overcome the difficulties by developing interest and maintain the enthusiasm with which the student joined the English language class.

Sandra Cisneros Writing Essays -- Literature Analysis

Writing in the 20th century was great deal harder for a Chicano then it was for a typical American at this time. Although that did not stop this author, Sandra Cisneros. One of her famous novels, Woman Hollering Creek was a prime example of how a combined culture: Mexican-Americans, could show their pride and identity in this century. In conjunction, gave the opportunity for women to speak their voice and forever change the culture of Latino/a markets. Not only did it express identity/gender roles of women and relationships, but using these relationships to combine the cultures of Mexican and American into a hybrid breed. This novel, should have been a view-point for the future to show that there is more to life than just gender and race. Concluding this, the articles that helps define this is â€Å"The Latino/a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature† and â€Å"What is called Heaven†. Women Hollering Creek was considered one of Sandra Cisnero's best works. With a Texan view, this 22 short story novel was set upon the late 1960's to 1980's era. There are three distinct sections: â€Å"My Lucy Friend who smells like Corn†, â€Å"One Holy Night† as well as â€Å"There was a Man, There was a Woman†. Each part contains short stories within them. These all consist of a heartwarming girl, Esperanza,who matures into a woman and how she faces these gender roles through love and violence. Cisneros alters the name Esperanza with Chayo, Rachel, Lupe, Ines, and Clemenica, to explain differences between them along with to give the story more lewd effectiveness. Sandra Cisneros main focus throughout the novel was identity. Cisneros starts off in the first section (â€Å"My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn), narrating as a young child and further matures in... ...of mixing the cultures and the identities of women. Her voice is what emphasizes the article to show how the goal is to redistribute the language and culture not criticizing the â€Å"New World†. This is what affects our future as a whole and challenges us to be â€Å"bridge the gap between marginal Latino/a culture and the American mainstream.† If society does not at least try to blend together, then it will cause into a huge war that possibly could never end. Just being that woman to show her passion and influence, can cause a great impact and force this world to acknowledge we all are the same. Works Cited Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek. First Vintage Contempoaries Edition. March 1992. 10 Nov 2010. Thomson, Jeff. "What is Called Heaven": Identity in Sandra Cisneros's "Woman Hollering Creek". Studies in Short Fiction, 31:3 (1994:Summer) p.415. 16 Nov 2010.

Genly Ai vs. Neo Essay -- Matrix Left Hand Darkness Characters Essays

Genly Ai vs. Neo Just as a child starts out unable to live on their own and then eventually is able to walk, speak, and make decisions, Genly Ai from the novel, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin and Neo from the movie, The Matrix were able to grow as characters in much the same way. Genly Ais name reveals his three narrative roles throughout the novel that clearly depict his growth and change as a character. His journey begins as the reader views him as I, just a regular human. Gradually as the novel proceeds the reader finds that Genly Ai is able to transform and grow from I into eye, having blindness and insight into himself, and then finally to Ai, referred to as a scream which depicts the actual depth of his emotional existence. Neo changes and grows in much the same way. Though his name only refers to the idea that he eventually becomes this new human, he takes many of the same steps as Genly Ai in his character growth. In the beginning of the novel, Genly Ais character takes on the role of I, revealing that he is limited to himself. At this point, Genly Ai is a conventional, young, black Earthman who is confused and defensive. He lacks the insight and understanding to carry out his mission, and for the past two years he has been on Winter, he has never been able to understand or relate to any of the Gethenians. He views them as aliens and the others unable to step back and see that in reality he is the alien in this situation not the Gethenians. He is also unable to step away from his Earth prejudices and truly see the Gethenians for who they are. He believes that what is different from him is bad, a typical Human belief, which creates a barrier for him. Due to this lack of understanding of the Gethenians ... ... the new messiah for the last city of people on earth. He finally believes in himself and sees the new world in the eyes of the others. He has developed the ability to defeat the artificial intelligence within the matrix and has begun the process of restoring man to his rightful place. His old realities have been shattered, and he has fight for his life, and the future of humanity, against this dangerous group of artificial intelligence. Both characters transformed by the end of the novel and movie. They became fuller characters through the experiences they had in their strange environments. In the beginning they both took on typical society views where they thought mostly of themselves and question anything different. However, in the end of their journey they were able to see other views. They also grew as characters from within, becoming stronger individuals.

Truth in Sentencing

Truth-in-sentencing debate Learning Team B CJA/204 November 26, 2012 Deana Bohenek Truth-In-Sentencing Debate Opening Argument Truth-in-sentencing laws do not deter crime. The federal truth-in-sentencing law guarantees that certain violent offenders will serve at least 85% of their sentence  (Schmalleger, 2012). However, if the offender acts accordingly in prison, he or she can attain parole for good behavior. What about the victims? Victims do not want to hear this. If an offender is sentenced for 30 years, the victim wants justice and wants to see the full 30 years served.They do not want to see the offender getting released after 25 years. The truth-in-sentencing laws are the judges’ guideline when choosing the sentence of the offender. The law is a structured guideline for sentencing the offenders. However, the judge can deviate from the guidelines if there are mitigating and aggravating circumstances. Look at plea bargaining,  this is still a possibility even though t here are truth-in-sentencing laws in place. The offender knows that if they get caught, they can plea bargain for a lesser sentence and be back out on the streets sooner.Let me say it again, truth-in-sentencing laws do not deter crime. The offenders know they will get out of prison soon through a plea bargain or parole. They know they can avoid serving the full sentence that the judge imposed on him or her. The only way to deter crime and reduce recidivism is to abolish the possibility of parole and ensure that the sentence the judge renders is carried out to full-term. Obviously, to take away the option for parole would mean that the prison populations would increase. Well, we should take the funds left over from overhead to run the parole division and build more prisons to house these offenders.The longer we keep them off the streets, the safer society will be. Rebuttal Argument Each state has to look at the amount of money being spent to house each inmate they have in custody. Be cause the Truth-In Sentencing Law wants to keep the offender behind bars until they complete their entire sentence/term in prison no matter what the costs are to the public. Meaning, everyone’s hard earned income  (taxes) are used to keep them in their present place of occupancy. This law depletes the services we receive from our state revenues.We don’t have much say in the budget spending but we do see the increase in taxes used for each state program. I have to disagree with the statement made â€Å"The offenders know they will get out of prison sooner through a plea bargain or parole. †Ã‚   Not all offenders before or during their trial will know the outcome of sentencing. Many do not have the option for plea bargaining because plea bargaining depends on the severity of the crime committed. Instead, if the case went directly to trial, (this includes judge and jury) the accused might have a chance of plea bargaining.No plea bargaining makes the offender elig ible for a parole based on his or her behavior during incarceration and no plea bargaining being offered. But if society had no parole system, then the correctional system will have to face overcrowding in the institutions. The lack of Rehabilitation for said prisoner would be non-effective because there would be no programs such as work-time credit or good-time credit, which is the main reason why early release would benefit them. With those programs the time served by offenders would be less and would allow the offenders to enter back into society.The fear of re-entry of said offenders are the defense for keeping them locked up. These programs should be used for offenders that have this as a first offense on their record and have shown they can be productive in today’s society. Not all inmates are repeat offenders some are just non-violent offenses but carry a great penalty. When I was younger it was a big deal to go to jail because it showed most people that they were a â €Å"badass†, a badge of honor, and should be feared. In my eyes it was a waste of mind, body, and productive individual. Those same individuals found when they came out ithout a trade they were worthless and the only way to survive was crime and more time in jail. In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn on October 2, 2012 has reinstated the program for â€Å"Good-time† releases,  a way to bring down the overcrowding in his state and federal prison system. Opening Argument Truth-in-Sentencing laws deter crime because they ensure that offenders are in prison for at least 85% of their sentence. Therefore, the convicted offenders stay in prison for longer periods and not able to commit additional crimes and endanger the member of society.TIS laws are the assurance of longer prison terms as punishment and serve as an effective deterrent from criminal actions to the serving offender and others who may be considering criminal acts. The laws provide the ability for the criminal just ice system to operate more effectively by lowering violent crimes as well punishing violent criminals. According  to the publication from  University  of Alabama at Birmingham (2005) citing data from Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the decade following the passage and implementation of the truth-in-sentencing laws in 1994, the arrests for violent crimes were reduced by 16% by the year of 2005.The TIS laws also limit some of the discretion of the judges and parole boards with regard to release of the offenders prematurely and being â€Å"too soft† on crime, thus eliminating the many possibilities for the offenders getting away without receiving the well-deserved punishment. The Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report from January 1999 indicates that prior to the TIS laws violent offenders barely served half the length of their sentences. What kind of message did that send to the convicted or potential criminals?With the availability of TIS laws, criminal justice adm inistrators can build public confidence by ensuring that the just punishment is served to anyone breaking the law. In the article written by Joanna Shepherd published in the Journal of Law and Economics, she makes this statement: â€Å"Using a country-level data set, empirical results confirm that TIS laws deter violent offenders, increase the probability of arrest, and increase maximum imposed prison sentences. TIS laws decrease murders by 16%, aggravated assaults by 12%, robberies by 24%, rapes by 12%, and larcenies by 3%† (Shepherd,  2002,  p. 09). Today, more states are implementing the TIS laws and abolishing parole and indeterminate sentencing, demonstrating that the state legislature believes in this uniform application of justice processes and effectiveness of these laws in crime prevention. This information clearly shows that TIS laws are very effective in deterring crime by ensuring the stern and just punishment for offenders and sending the clear message to pot ential criminals that criminal behavior will be punished by lengthy imprisonment. Rebuttal ArgumentWhat about crime being committed in prisons around the world? Are we just going to ignore that fact because victimization is still happening across the boards of federal and state prisons? According to  a writer of The  New Yorker, Adam Gopnik, darkly described America prisons as â€Å"the moral scandal of America life. Prison rape is so endemic- more than seventy thousand prisoners are raped each year. † That is routinely held out as a threat, part of punishment to be expected. † (Gopnik, 2012). The National inmate survey reported that â€Å"An estimated 4. 4% of prison inmates and 3. % of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of victimization by another inmate or facility staff since admission to the facility  (Beck & Harrison, 2010). The total federal and state population in 2010 was 1,605,127, while the total jail population in 2009 was 767,62 0. This implies that there were over 94,000 victims subject to multiple violations (Beck & Harrison, 2010). No I don't agree with the fact that offenders being incapacitated for longer periods of time don't commit another crime. For people who want to do so, they will commit crimes anyway, and largely at that.Especially, the incentive behind good time credit is to have offenders behave in prison. If you lock them up in less than ideal conditions with no incentive to behave appropriately while incarcerated, they will be a population difficulty to control because they have nothing to lose. Earning good time credit gives them an insight to behave well inside. As for truth-in sentencing laws, I don't know if I  would actually say it is a deterrent or at least how much of a deterrent it  is, but I think it is  important nonetheless. Prior to 2003, legislation allowed for automatic emission of every sentence imposed to be reduced by one third (Chong, 2008). If the offender was made eligible for parole, a portion of that sentence is served under supervision in the community to enable their reintegration  into the community when released (Chong, 2008). Legislation introduced in 2003 abolished the automatic remission provision, so the sentence  imposed would more truly reflect the time to be served. In its place, legislation required courts to adjust the sentence actually imposed by one third, to reflect the abolition of automatic remission (Chong, 2008).What the government has done is  replace  automatic remission with reduction of sentence (Chong, 2008). The more things change, the more they remain the same. Sentences are more or less duration  for the same type of offenses (Chong, 2008). Some say the money being used for these criminals sitting in  jail should be more valuable of utilizing for work  time credits and more programs  for educational, substance abuse, psychiatric help programs for these offenders before being released out into the world again.I think it will better prepare themselves rather than not knowing what to do and all they are use to is the  jail's way of life in which they will end up back  in having that kind of mind set. References Beck, A. J. , & Harrison, P. M. (2010, August). Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2008-09. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Retrieved from http://bjs. ojp. usdoj. gov/content/pub/press/svpjri0809pr. cfm Chong, P. (2008, June 19). The Truth about ‘Truth in Sentencing'. WAtoday. Retrieved from http://blogs. watoday. com. u/theverdict/2008/06/the_truth_about. html Ditton, P. M. , & Wilson, D. J. (1999, January). Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report,  (NCJ 170032). Retrieved  from  http://bjsdata. ojp. usdoj. gov/content/pub/pdf/tssp. pdf Gopnik, A. (2012, January 30). The Caging of America. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www. newyorker. com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/12030crat _atlarge_gopnik Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century, 11th ed. Upper Saddle River: NJ. Shepherd, J. M. (2002,

Hostel Implementation

Evaluation Study on Construction of Hostels For SC Boys & Girls ALL INDIA (REPORT) Programme Evaluation Organisation Planning Commission, New Delhi, April, 2009 CONTENTS Chapters Topic Preface Executive Summary Chapter – 1 Introduction – Background of the Scheme – Objective of the Scheme – Guidelines for Initiating Hostel Proposal – Procedure for obtaining Central Assistance – Evaluation Study – The Scheme in Selected StatesPage No. I-II i-xiii 1–2 Chapter – 2 The Evaluation Study – Objectives & Methodology – Objective of the Study – Sample Design – Reference period of the Study and Starting of field survey – Methodology/Instruments used for Data Collection – Data Analysis and Report Writing 3–6Chapter – 3 Planning, Implementation & Monitoring Method of Scheme – Role of Nodal Ministry – Role of State Nodal Department – The Level at which Proposal s Initiated – The Approval Procedures of the Scheme – The Process of Implementation of the Schemes in the State vis-a-vis General Guidelines – Achievements of Physical Targets – Role of PRIs/Local Bodies under the Scheme in Construction & Maintenance of the Hostels – Local Political/Bureaucratic Interference in Selection of Hostel Sites – Objective Criteria for Selecting the Location of Hostel – Inspection by State/District Administrative Authorities – Involvement/Role of NGOs – The Monitoring and Reporting System Prevailing under this Scheme, Including the Construction Stage 7 – 19 Chapter – 4 Allocation of Grants and Expenditure on Hostel 20 – 27 – Funding Pattern under the Scheme – Modality of Release of Fund – Release of State Share – Release of Central Share – Utilization of fundChapter – 5 Functioning and Suitability of Hostels including Facilities 28 p rovided to Inmates 49 – The Suitability of Locations – Layout of Construction in Case of New Hostels – Use of Hostels Constructed under the Scheme – Availability, Quality & Maintenance of Facilities Provided in the Hostel †¢ Dining Hall cum Kitchen in the Hostel †¢ Food Provided to the Inmates and its Quality †¢ Annual Charges Paid in the Hostel †¢ Maintenance of Hostel Toilets †¢ Water Supply to the Hostels †¢ Supply of Food grains at Concessional Rates to SC Hostels – Facilities Provided to the Inmates – The Role of Nodal Department in Management and Maintenance of the Hostels Chapter – 6 Observations on the Impact of the Scheme – The Outcomes of the Scheme in Terms of Availability and uses of the Hostel by the Target Group – Impact of Scheme on Educational Development of SC Boys and Girls 2001 Census 50 – 55 Chapter – 7 Recommendations Project Team 56-57 58 PREFACE The Centr ally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of construction of new hostels as well as expansion of existing hostels for SC girls was initiated in 963-64 so as to give an impetus to education of girls belonging to the SC community. During 1989-90, based on the recommendations of the Working Group on the Development and Welfare of SCs and STs, this scheme was extended to SC boys also. The scope of the scheme was enlarged further to cover institutions of higher education/learning such as colleges and universities. The main objective of the CSS is to provide free boarding and lodging facilities in the hostels for SC boys and girls studying at Schools and Colleges/University levels. In order to integrate the SC students with the mainstream, 10 percent of total accommodation in such hostels was left for non-SC students.At the instance of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Programme Evaluation Organisation, Planning Commission, conducted an evaluation study of the scheme in 8 selected sta tes. The study was launched in November, 2004 with the following objectives: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) To study the approval procedures of the proposals for construction of hostels. To study the process of implementation of the scheme in various States vis-a-vis the guidelines. To assess financial & physical performance of the scheme. To assess the extent of utilization of hostel facilities by the target group. To study the monitoring & reporting system prevailing under this scheme, including that at construction stage. To assess the outcome of the scheme in terms of the use of the hostels by the target groups.In order to generate the required data base the study covered 185 hostels from CSS, 65 hostels from 100 percent state funded and 15 hostels constructed by NGOs which were sampled from Eight selected states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Besides, two Central Universities (JNU-Delhi and Central Universi ty, Hyderabad) were also covered in the study. The main findings of the study are as follows: The construction agency in most cases was the state PWD which took up construction work through approved contractors. The hostels, after completion, were handed over to the concerned District Social Welfare Officer in most of the states. The Panchayati Raj Institutions/local bodies played very little role in most states. The visit of the district officials to the hostels either during the construction period or later was casual in most states.The time taken in release of the state share to construction agencies varied considerably from state to state from two months to six months or even more after the release of central share. About 80 percent of the hostels were found functional at the time of visit of PEO’s study team. Most of the non-functional hostels were in Uttar Pradesh. Whereas Bihar had three such hostels followed by Karnatka and Orissa which had two each. This was due to a bsence I of basic requirement/amenities, wrong selection of site and without assessing the need for SC students in that area. About 6 percent of the hostels were found being used for other purposes such as office, library, class rooms etc.All these hostels were in Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Fifteen hostels in five states namely Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh were under construction at the time of visit of the study team to these hostels. Out of these 15, in six cases, the construction had been stopped due to land disputes in the case of Uttar Pradesh and due to constraint of funds in Karnataka. Hostels were overcrowded in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Rajasthan where average occupancy per room exceeded 10 and upto 30 or even beyond this number in some hostels of Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, hostels in Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, were underutilized.In the hostels under 8 districts of Uttar Pradesh and 8 districts of Bihar, inmates themselves cooked food in their rooms as the servant cum cook appointed for the purpose were reported to be deployed elsewhere by the authorities. In almost all the hostels, maintenance of hostel building and toilets was unsatisfactory. 90 percent hostel Wardens reported that the release of fund for salary of hostel staff was received in time. However, grant for meeting day to day maintenance expenditure was in time only in56 percent cases. The scheme had significant outcome in terms of establishment of hostels in three states only namely Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Other states i. e. Orissa and Rajasthan did not take full advantage of the scheme while the scheme totally flopped in Bihar with negligible effect.On the whole, the hostels benefited the target group of very poor SC/ST students coming for studies from long distances. But the outcome in Bihar has been poor. The performance of the programme could considerably be improved if the suggesti ons made in the report could be suitably implemented. The study received continuous support and encouragement from Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Member (Evaluation), Planning Commission. The study was designed and conducted under the direction of Shri K. N. Pathak, the then Deputy Adviser in PEO. The services of Institute for Resource Management and Economic Development, Delhi were availed for tabulation, interpretation and analysis of data and preparation of report. Shri L. N.Meena, Economic Officer, PEO assisted the research institute in Data processing, Chapter Plan, Tabulation & report drafting under the guidance of Project Director Sh. K. N. Pathak. Dr. R. C. Dey, Director, PEO gave a final shape to the present report and Mrs. Godhuli Mukharjee, Director, REO, Kolkata edited the same under guidance of Dr. Davendra Verma, Adviser (PEO) and my supervision. The list of the Officers involved in the study is given at the end of the report. The help and coop eration received from all of them is gratefully acknowledged. S. Bhavani Sr. Adviser(PEO) New Delhi Dated: April, 2009 II Executive Summary I. †¢ Background & Objectives of the SchemeConstruction of hostels within or near to the campus of educational institutions was visualized by planners as one of the means to enable and encourage boys and girls belonging to Scheduled Castes(SC) community to improve access to education. Government of India, therefore, started the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of construction of new hostels as well as expansion of existing hostels for SC girls in 1963-64 so as to give an impetus to education of girls belonging to the SC community. During 1989-90, based on the recommendations of the Working Group on the Development and Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, this scheme was extended to SC boys also.The scope of the scheme was enlarged further to cover institutions of higher education/learning such as Colleges and Universities. The main objective of the CSS is to provide free boarding and lodging facilities in the hostels for SC boys and girls studying at Schools and Colleges/University levels. In order to create social homogeneity and equity 10 percent of total accommodation in such hostels was left for non-SC students. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment which is the nodal ministry for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls, invites applications from areas having: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) High concentration of SC population and Low literacy among SCs in the area.Inadequate hostel facilities Adequate availability of school going SC children. Adequate number of educational institutions Good accessibility and safety of girl students. †¢ †¢ †¢ The Ministry has also laid down certain procedures for obtaining central assistance for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. i Evaluation Study †¢ At the instance of the Central Ministry, the Programme Evaluation Organisation, Planning Commission, conducted an evaluation study of the scheme in 8 selected states. The study was launched in November, 2004. The study covered the period from 1963-64 to 2002-03. But for the selection of sample, hostels constructed during 1992-93 to 2002-03, were considered. †¢The Broad Objectives of the Evaluation Study: To study the approval procedures of the proposals for construction of hostels. (ii) To study the process of implementation of the scheme in various States vis-a-vis the guidelines. (iii) To assess financial & physical performance of the scheme. (iv) To assess the extent of utilization of hostel facilities by the target group. (v) To study the monitoring & reporting system prevailing under this scheme, including that at construction stage. (vi) To study the role of nodal Departments at the State/UT level and those at the district/block level in proper utilization, maintenance and upkeep of the hostels. vii) To assess the outcome of the scheme in terms of t he uses of the hostels by the target groups. (viii) To analyze the impact of the scheme on educational attainment of SC boys and girls during the period between 1991 census to 2001 census. II. †¢ (i) Methodology Eight States where the scheme had made considerable progress and representing different regions namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, were covered in the sample survey. Besides, Two Central Universities were also covered in the evaluation study. Sixty eight districts constituting about 20 percent of the districts of the selected states were covered in the sample for detailed study.These districts were selected from two types of states namely (i) those having hostels more than the average number of hostels per district and (ii) those having hostels less than the average number of hostels per district. It was decided to canvas a supervisor schedule from one official in each hostel involved in construction/su pervision of construction of the hostels. †¢ †¢ ii †¢ This was restricted to hostels constructed under the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) only as relevant information regarding state funded hostels were not likely to be available readily. In all, 185 hostels from CSS, 65 from 100 percent state funded and 15 constructed by NGOs, were covered under the study.Ten boarders per hostel upto the sanctioned strength of 100 and 5 boarders per hostel having the sanctioned strength of less than 100, were selected. In all, 1417 inmates were covered in the study. Two ex-inmates subject to availability were selected randomly from each hostel. A total of 368 ex-inmates were contacted during the study. A total of 210 knowledgeable persons, i. e. roughly one per hostel, were also contacted to elicit their views regarding functioning of such hostels. Two Central Universities (JNU-Delhi and Central University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) and five State funded Universities from Haryana were covered under the study. Nine types of schedules as per details provided below were administered for getting information at different levels. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢Type of Schedule State Level* District Level** Officials involved in Construction Level Hostel Wardens Inmates Ex-inmates Knowledgeable Persons NGOs Level University Level Schedule*** No. Canvassed 7 67 191 211 1417 368 210 8 7 * Indicates that State Level Schedule of Uttar Pradesh has not been received so far. ** As new district Sant Kabir Nagar not having its own staff, its work was carried out by the staff of Basti district. Therefore only one district level schedule was canvassed for the both districts viz. Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar. *** 2 Central Universities (JNU,Delhi & Central University,Hyderabad) +5 State Funded Universities in Haryana. iii III. †¢Planning, Implementation and Monitoring The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GOI had formulated certain guidelines for i nitiating proposals and obtaining central assistance for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. Proposals in the prescribed form received by state governments from the level of district and down below for construction of hostels were forwarded to the nodal Ministry for getting necessary sanction. The Ministry, in turn, examined the physical and financial progress of the hostels sanctioned earlier and released necessary funds to the concerned states for construction of such hostels. For release of funds by the nodal ministry, the following requirements were considered. (i) A certificate regarding availability of land (ii) Site plan of the proposed hostels (iii) A certificate that the estimates are prepared as per latest PWD/CPWD norms. iv) Detailed cost estimates of the proposed hostel (v) Physical progress of hostels constructed since 1992. (vi) Hostel-wise, year-wise statement of utilization of State as well as Central shares in the prescribed proforma. (vii) Matching share of State Governments/Universities/NGOs. †¢ †¢ In most of the States, Department of Social Welfare at the state level acted as the nodal department for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. It implemented the scheme through its administrative setup at the district level and down below in different areas. Proposals for construction of hostels were initiated at different levels such as district, taluka and panchayat.The approval for construction of hostels was generally given by the state nodal department i. e. the Department of Social Welfare, after ensuring the fulfillment of prescribed norms under the guidelines. Number of hostels to be constructed every year depended largely on the availability of funds. State Public Works Department (PWD) provided technical help such as approval of design, cost estimates etc. in respect of construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ iv †¢ Officials involved in the construction of hostels, designated here as supervisors, were involved in construction activities in a number of ways. Cost estimation, and supervision of construction were among important activities performed by them (Table – 3. 1).About 53 percent of supervisors acknowledged that they had received guidelines for construction of hostels. The majority among them were from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh while in Delhi and Karnataka not a single supervisor received any guidelines. (Table – 3. 2). The guidelines issued to supervisors contained components like procurement of land, sanctioning of work, release of fund for work, implementation and monitoring of work (Table – 3. 3). The administrative set up for implementation varied from state to state. The construction agency in most cases was the state PWD which took up construction work through approved contractors. In a majority of cases, i. e. 1 percent, guidelines for making special provision for physically handicapped were not issued to the supervisors (table 3. 4). †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Quality of Work †¢ As reported by supervisors, in 75% percent cases, the materials used for construction, were tested by quality control wing of state PWDs. Regular supervision by higher officials also helped in the process (Table – 3. 5). Notwithstanding the above, the field study team found defects in the erected structures in some states i. e. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. The problem faced by the supervisors in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka related to the fund not being received in time for construction, where as in Bihar, problem of land dispute was reported.On the other hand, no problem was reported from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan in this respect. The hostels, after completion, were handed over to the concerned District Social Welfare Officer in most of the states. There was a mixed picture across the sample states with respect to achievement of physical tar gets. For example, in states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa targets were more or less fully achieved. On the other hand, in states like Karnataka and Rajasthan †¢ †¢ †¢ v achievements were reported to be far behind the targets, while in Bihar only 4 boys hostels out of a target of 40 could be constructed during the 11 year period (Table-3. 6). †¢The Panchayati Raj Institutions/local bodies played either very little or no role in most states as reported by the district authorities and Supervisors, both as can be seen from table – 3. 7. By and large, there was no political/bureaucratic interference in the selection of hostel sites except in some cases in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. In most of the selected districts, the objective criteria laid down in the guidelines for selection of hostel sites, were largely followed. However, some exceptions were reported in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In Rajasthan district level bureaucracy is reported to have played a dominating role in selection of hostel locations while in Uttar Pradesh selection of hostel site was largely determined by political and bureaucratic pressure groups.The visit of the district officials to the hostels either during the construction period or later was casual in most states due to (i) the hostel scheme being not a priority (ii) Grants for the scheme is not routed through the District Welfare Officer (iii) there is excess workload & too many meetings at district level and lack of infrastructure facility like vehicle, staff etc. In Andhra Pradesh such visits were regular and frequent. Visits of the state officials were mostly casual. The supervisors, however, visited the construction sites very frequently(Table-3. 9 & 3. 10) Haryana was the only state where NGOs were involved for the construction and upkeep of the hostel. Most of the supervisors (81 percent) sent progress reports on monthly basis during the course of construction out of them 69% sent MPRs to district level officials concerned (Table-3. 14).There was a mixed picture across the states with regard to sending progress report by hostel wardens about maintenance and upkeep of hostels. It was only in 54 percent cases that the wardens sent the progress report to the concerned district level Social Welfare Officials. Some wardens in Bihar, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh did not send any progress reports to the district administration about their hostel. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ vi V. †¢ Allocation and Utilisation of Funds The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India has laid down certain norms for funding various agencies for construction of hostels for SC boys & girls. The hostels constructed under CSS have 50:50 percent matching shares of state and central govt. for construction of hostels under central Universities.Central share goes upto 90 percent and remaining 10 percent is borne by Universities themselves. As far as grant to state Universities/NGOS hostels is concerned, 45 percent burden is borne by centre and 45 percent by the state government while the remaining 10 percent is to be contributed by the state University/NGOs. An analysis of the data collected from the various nodes of the implementing agencies reveals that: An amount of Rs. 22,230 lakh was spent for construction of hostels during 1992-93 to 2002-03 of which Government of India’s share was about 50 percent and state governments’ share was about 46 percent. The balance 4 percent was contributed by universities/NGOs (Table-4. 2).In 43 percent cases, state governments released their share in advance directly to the executing agencies on the basis of estimates submitted by them while in 22 percent cases; the state share was released in installments only after receipt of the Government of India share, on the basis of progress of construction. The more frequently encountered preconditions for release of fund by the state governmen ts were availability of owned land, cost estimates based on CPWD/PWD rates and selection of construction agency. The officials in a few districts in Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan were, however, not even aware of any preconditions. The time taken in release of the state share to construction agencies varied considerably from state to state from two months to six months or even more after the release of central share.The Central share was released to the Finance Department of the concerned states from where it was further transferred to the state nodal department i. e. Department of Social Welfare. In many states the transfer of the central share from the Finance Department to the state nodal department was delayed. This delay was reported to be 1 month in Karnataka , 2-3 months in Haryana and Rajasthan, and in case of Bihar it is inordinate due to complicated procedure. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ vii †¢ Time taken by the Government of India in releasing the central sh are after receiving applications from the state governments was negligible in the case of Andhra Pradesh but several months in the case of Bihar and Orissa because of inadequacies on the part of respective state governments.In case of Bihar, a reason for this could have been the availability of huge amount of unutilized fund (i. e. Rs. 360. 23 Lakh) from earlier years resting with the state govt. There was a reasonably good convergence between sanctioned costs and actual expenditure in most states except Andhra Pradesh, Delhi(JNU) and Karnataka there the actual expenditure was observed to be higher than the estimated cost. Per inmate, average expenditure on construction of hostels varied widely across the different states from Rs 85606 in Haryana to Rs 21918 in Orissa and Rs. 178720 in Delhi(JNU). Norms of ceiling on expenditure fixed by the Union Ministry were violated in most of the states.Functional Status of Hostels About 92 percent Wardens and 87 percent Knowledgeable persons v iewed the location of hostels as suitable. In Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Wardens(8%) and Knowledgeable persons(13%) both are not satisfied with the location of hostels while only Knowledgeable persons are not satisfied in Haryana and Orissa and only one Warden not satisfied in Rajasthan. Reasons varies from sites being not accessible by easy approach road, non-availability of drinking water, electricity etc. (Table-5. 1). About 80 percent of the hostels were found functional at the time of visit of PEO’s study team. Most of the non-functional hostels were in Uttar Pradesh. Bihar too had three such hostels followed by two each in Karnataka and Orissa.Reasons were absence of basic requirements, wrong selection of site and improper assessment of need for hostel for SC students (Table-5. 2- A). About 6 percent of the hostels were found being used for other purposes such as office, library, class rooms etc. All such hostels were in Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh (Table-5. 2-B). Fifteen hostels in five states namely Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh were under construction at the time of visit of the study team to these hostels. Out of these 15, in six cases, the †¢ †¢ VI. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ viii construction had been stopped either due to land disputes in the case of Uttar Pradesh and or due to constraint of funds in Karnataka(Table-5. 2-C). †¢Hostels were overcrowded in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Rajasthan where average occupancy per room exceeded 10 and reached upto 30 or even beyond this number in some hostels of Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, hostels in Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, were underutilized. Taking the country as a whole, average occupancy per room was 11 to 20. All functional hostels had dining halls attached to the kitchen but some of them in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were in dilapidated condition Inmates in most hostels were provide d food. The quality of food was considered good only in Andhra Pradesh whereas in Karnataka, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan, the quality of food was a mix between good and average.But in Uttar Pradesh there is no mess facility except in a few hostels of Gonda and Allahabad districts where some inmates reported about quality of food as average. In Bihar, no free food is given to inmates in hostels. In Madhya Pradesh 50 inmates of eleven selected hostels reported that either mess facility is not available in the hostel or food is not provided free. They paid for the food from their stipend amount. Similarly 15(43%) inmates in Orissa paid to the hostel management for food or ate outside the hostel. In the case of Haryana also, the information on the quality of food is available from 18 inmates in Kurukshetra district only, while for the remaining districts food was not provided free of cost to inmates.Over all only 41 percent of the inmates reported the quality of food i n the hostels as good. In the hostels under 8 districts of Uttar Pradesh and 8 districts of Bihar, inmates themselves cooked food in their rooms as the servant cum cooks appointed for the purpose were reported to be deployed elsewhere by the authorities(Table 5. 4-A). In 42 percent of the selected hostels in Uttar Pradesh, inmates wanted supplies of Kerosene oil on BPL rates for cooking and lighting(Table 5. 4-B). In states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, no annual charges were levied on inmates whether SC or non-SCs. But in other states i. e. Haryana and Orissa some charges were levied on inmates.In Bihar there is no mess facility in the hostel. Inmates themselves had to cook their food or get the food from outside on payment. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ ix †¢ In almost all the hostels, maintenance of hostel building and toilets was unsatisfactory. Drinking water supply facility was available in 64 percent hostels as rep orted by the inmates. But in Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh a majority of inmates felt that either water supply was not available at all or it was inadequate for the hostels. Supply of food grains at concessional rates at par with BPL rates was available to hostels as reported by wardens, in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan and to some extent in Haryana but were not made available in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, as can be seen from views of Wardens presented in Table – 5. 7. Facilities provided free of cost to inmates included accommodation, bedding/cot, free food and drinking water. Similarly, free text books, newspapers/magazines, articles for sports & games, first aid etc. were also supplied to a number of inmates free of cost. Among other facilities provided free of cost in the hostels were hair cutting facilities, telephone and transport allowances. In a majority of cases these services were rated as good. About 87 p ercent boarders were paid scholarships while staying in hostels. Around 13 % of them received amount Rs. 51/- to above Rs. 00/per month (Table – 5. 9). As reported by 59 percent inmates, there were proper security arrangements in the hostels. 64 percent inmates reported that there was sufficient potable drinking water in the hostels. 47 percent inmates reported that there were bath/common rooms in their hostels. 45 percent of them also reported that they got stipend while staying in hostels. The position with respect to study aids like bench/table etc were found to be grossly inadequate in the hostels of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Even in the sample hostels for SC boys and girls in Orissa, benches or tables were not provided.About 92 percent inmates reported that overall atmosphere in the hostels was congenial Maintenance of the hostels was the responsibility of the District Social Welfare Officers who appointed wardens to carry ou t various functions related to maintenance of building and ancillary activities. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ x †¢ About 74 percent wardens reported that they had received guidelines for maintenance of hostels while the remaining 26 percent informed that such guidelines were not provided. 87% percent hostel Wardens reported that the release of fund for salary of hostel staff was received in time. However, grant for meeting day to day maintenance expenditure was in time in only 56 percent cases.In a majority of districts, fund was released on monthly basis for salary The behavior of hostel wardens in respect of sorting out problems was satisfactory, as reported by both inmates and ex-inmates. Andhra Pradesh is the only state where hostel wardens did not face any problem in management of hostels. A major problem faced by wardens in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh was that they were over burdened since additional charges of more than one hostel were placed on them. The problem of fund constraint was reported by wardens from several states. Inadequate basic amenities were another problem mentioned by Wardens in 56% of selected states (Table-5. 18).Major suggestions given by wardens for improved functioning of hostels included provision of (i)adequate basic amenities,(ii) funds for regular maintenance (iii) adequate grant for meeting the food expenditure of the inmates and(iv) regular warden/hostel staff in the hostels. During the year between 1995-96 to 2004-05, a total of 49,384 students applied for admission into these hostels of whom about 93 percent were actually admitted. Of those admitted, about 69 percent were SCs, 11 percent ST and 14 percent from other categories. But in Haryana, the norm regarding intake of SC students was violated as the proportion of SCs admitted to hostels constructed/renovated by NGOs accounted for only 30 percent (Table – 5. 20). †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ VII. Impact of the Scheme †¢The scheme had significant outcome in terms of establishment of hostels in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka only. Other states i. e. Orissa and Rajasthan did not take full advantage of the scheme while the scheme nearly flopped in Bihar with negligible effect. In Haryana inmates from the SC category were less than half (30%) of the total strength which amounted to violation of the objective of the Scheme. In case of Uttar Pradesh a number of hostels were not being used by the beneficiaries due to various reasons. xi †¢ The occupation of 35% of the parents of inmates was cultivation while this proportion was higher (76%) in case of ex-inmates.Parent’s occupation as agricultural and non-agricultural labour among inmates, accounted for 42 percent against 22 percent from ex-inmate category. Haryana, however, had a different picture. Students from somewhat better off SC families were admitted to hostels run by NGOs in Haryana. About 78 percent of the inmates came from poor families having monthly income of less than Rs. 3000 and 26 percent were very poor having monthly income upto Rs. 1000 only. But Bihar and Haryana had much greater proportion of inmates from better off families about 42% of inmates and as high as 77% of ex-inmates came from families having monthly income above Rs. 5000/-. 54% inmates and 38% ex-inmates reported that they came to stay in the hostels from a distance exceeding 20 km or more from their residences.On the whole, the hostels benefited the target group of very poor SC/ST students coming for studies from long distances. But the outcome in Bihar has been poor. Overall increase in the literacy rate among SCs in 2001 census compared to 1991 was 17 percent for males and 18 percent for females. Part of this increase could be due to other factors also. About 94 percent of inmates were of the view that the scheme of construction of hostels for SC boys and girls had brought about a considerable improve ment in the educational development among SC boys and girls. This percentage is lower in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Orissa. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ VIII. Observation and Suggestions †¢Locations selected for construction of hostels must have adequate security for girl students and access to good roads, potable drinking water. There should be a regular and adequate budget provisions for repair and maintenance of hostels. Monitoring mechanism of the scheme ought to be strengthened. Design of such hostels should have provision for ramps for barrier free movement of physically handicapped students. †¢ †¢ †¢ xii †¢ Adequate number of hostels should be constructed in highly SC concentrated areas to reduce congestion in hostel rooms. Warden quarters may be constructed in all the girls’ hostels and it should be made mandatory for warden to stay in them. Every hostel should have a qualified warden. Women wardens should invariably be poste d in girls hostels.In cases where inmates are more than the sanctioned strength, provision for additional amenities such as toilets, living rooms etc. should be made. Scholarships should be increased to compensate escalation of prices and should be paid on time since these form major source of funds for food and other components of expenses by hostel inmates. Diet charges should be enhanced to meet the rising prices. Mess facility should be strengthened and free food should be must. Adequate infrastructure like benches/tables should be provided in every hostel. There should be provision for clean and hygienic toilets. Timely submission of utilization certificates before release of further installments of funds for construction of hostels should be ensured.District Social Welfare Officers should be involved in the admission process of hostels constructed by NGOs to ensure adequate representation of SC students in these hostels. Cost ceilings for construction of hostels fixed several years ago must be updated from time to time corresponding to rise in prices of construction materials and labour. A satisfactory mechanism for dissemination of guidelines issued by nodal agencies to implementing agencies must be ensured. There should be adequate arrangement for coaching facility for inmates of the hostels during extra timings. There should be uniformity in terms of rules and regulations for boarding and lodging across states. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ xiii Chapter – 1 Introduction 1. 1 Background of the Scheme The constitution of India envisages special protection for socially and economically deprived sections of the society for ensuring their rapid economic development and achieving equality with others. Provision of quality education is an important tool for empowering the weaker sections. Various socio-economic factors obstruct the access of the children belonging to scheduled castes to education in general and girls in particular, especially those living in rural areas. Construction of hostels within or close to the campus of educational institutions has been considered one of he means to enable and encourage boys and girls of SC community to strive towards achievement of quality education at reasonable costs to improve access to education. Government of India started the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for construction of new hostels as well as expansion of existing hostels for SC girls in 1963-64 so as to give impetus to SC girl’s education. In due course, certain changes were introduced to improve the scheme by allowing central assistance in construction of hostels in Universities and for making hostels barrier-free for disabled students. A major change came during the Seventh Five Year Plan (19851990) when the Working Group on the Development and Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes recommended that hostels for SC boys should also be constructed .They recommended at least two hostels for boys and girls should be established in each district HQ in the country. In light of this; the coverage of the scheme of construction of hostel for SC girls was also extended for SC boys. Accordingly, in respect of SC boys, this scheme was started from 1989-90. 1. 2 Objective of the Scheme The main objective of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) is to provide free boarding & lodging facilities in hostels for SC boys and girls studying in schools and also for those studying in Colleges and Universities. In order to provide and propagate social homogeneity and equity 10 percent of total seats were meant for non-SC students.The general instruction issued by the Government of India under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) further provided that if after accommodating all SC applicants, certain seats were left vacant then accommodation to non-SC students might be considered. However, the proportion of non-SC students in any case should not ex ceed 25 percent. The guideline also states that for general category students some charges may be levied which may be utilized for better maintenance of the hostel. 1. 3 Guidelines for Initiating the Hostel Proposal The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GOI prepared general guidelines for initiating proposals for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. Guidelines pertaining to the implementation of the scheme at istrict level were given to the district level authorities to be considered while initiating the proposals. These are: High concentration of SC population and low literacy among SCs in the area. Inadequate hostel facilities in the area. Availability of school going SC children. Adequate number of educational institutions. Suitable location keeping in view the connectivity aspect, safety and security of students particularly for SC girls. 1. 4 Procedure for Obtaining Central Assistance The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, GOI has laid down a procedur e for obtaining central assistance for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls.The proposals under the scheme have to be separately submitted by States/UTs for SC boys and girls in the prescribed proforma along with the following documents: (i) A certificate regarding availability of land, (ii) Site Plan of the proposed hostels, (iii) Detailed cost estimates of the proposed hostels, (iv) A certificate that the estimate has been prepared as per the latest PWD/CPWD rates, (v) Physical progress of the hostels sanctioned earlier since the year 1992 in the prescribed Performa, (vi) Hostel wise, year wise statement of utilization of State as well as Central share in the prescribed Performa, (vii) Matching share of the Sate Governments/Universities/Voluntary Organisations. 1. 5 Evaluation StudySince, the beginning of this scheme in the year 1963-64 and its expansion of scope from 1989-90; no evaluation study had been taken up. In order to assess the impact of this scheme across the c ountry it was felt necessary to undertake an evaluation study at All India level. Accordingly, at the instance of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Programme Evaluation Organization of the Planning Commission, conducted an evaluation study on the scheme of construction of Hostels for Scheduled Castes boys & girls. The study was conducted in eight states and two Central Universities where this scheme of construction of hostels for SC boys & girls was largely taken up.The study was launched in the field in November, 2004. The study has covered a reference period of ten years i. e. 1992-93 to 2002-03. 1. 6 The Scheme in Selected States The Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of construction of hostels for SC boys and girls has been in operation in several states of India. Some states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have constructed hostels only under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme. Others like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have constr ucted such hostels both under the CSS as well as 100 percent state funded scheme. In Haryana, only the hostels owned and managed by NGOs have been covered under the present study.In all other states, covered under the present study the hostels constructed for SC boys & girls have been owned and managed by the district level agency of the state nodal department i. e. the Social Welfare Department in most cases. In case of Central Universities, such as, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Central University, Andhra Pradesh and the hostels constructed by State funded Universities, it is the University which owns and manages the hostels. The district wise coverage of the scheme has also varied from state to state. In Andhra Pradesh and Orissa all the districts of the state were covered under this scheme. But in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh several districts had no hostel for SC boys and girls.Taking into account the size of population of the 8 selected states, the number of such hostels is relatively more in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and relatively less in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Orissa and Rajasthan. As per available information from 8 selected states, a total of 2310 (1479+831 i. e. CSS and 100% state funded respectively) hostels were constructed between the period from 1992-93 to 2002-03. Chapter – 2 The Evaluation Study – Objectives & Methodology 2. 1 Objectives of the Study The broad objectives of the evaluation study were the following: (i) To study the approval procedures of the proposals for construction of hostels. (ii) To study the process of implementation of the scheme in various States vis-a-vis the guidelines. iii) To assess financial & physical performance of the scheme. (iv) To assess the extent of utilization of hostel facilities by the target group. (v) To study the monitoring & reporting system prevailing under this scheme, including that at construction stage. (vi) To study the role of nodal Departments at the State/UT level and those at the district/block level in proper utilization, maintenance and upkeep of the hostels. (vii) To assess the outcome of the scheme in terms of the uses of the hostels by the target groups. (viii) To analyze the impact of the scheme on educational attainment of SC Boys and Girls during the period between 1991 census to 2001 census. 2. 2 Sample Design 2. 2. 1 StatesWith a view to complete the study within a specified time and also to have a better in depth analysis the following eight states representing different regions were selected under the study: (1)Andhra Pradesh, (2) Bihar, (3) Haryana (For hostels constructed through University/Colleges & NGOs), (4) Karnataka, (5) Madhya Pradesh, (6) Orissa, (7) Rajasthan and (8) Uttar Pradesh. It was observed that in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh large numbers of hostels (i. e. 163 and 666 respectively) were constructed under this scheme. Hence, it was decided to select these two states to assess their impact. F rom the Eastern Region, Orissa had the largest number of hostels (112), and Bihar had sizable SC population & also a large number of hostels (37) but considerably low literacy rate i. e. 49 percent as against the national literacy rate of 54. 16 percent.Hence, these two states were selected as sample states from the eastern region. From the Southern Region, Andhra Pradesh was selected due to very high concentration of SC population (16. 17% males and 16. 22% females) and the second largest number of hostels (196) constructed for SC boys and girls under this scheme. In the Northern Region, Uttar Pradesh has a sizeable SC population (20. 76% males and 20. 18% females) & largest number of districts in the country i. e. 70, the number of hostels constructed in this state is 76. It was, therefore, decided to select the state as a sample state to be covered under this study. Similarly, Rajasthan was also selected due to high SC population in this state.It was observed that five Central Un iversities have been funded for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls under this scheme. It was decided to select Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Mahi & Mandvi Hostels) and Hyderabad Central University as each of these two Universities has one hostel each for boys & girls. It is also observed that the state funded Universities in about 6-7 states have been covered under this scheme. In Haryana large numbers of hostels are reported to have been expanded under this scheme through NGOs. Therefore it was decided to select Haryana as a sample state to be covered under this study. 2. 2. 2 DistrictsIt was decided to select 20 percent districts from each sample state for the study. Average number of hostels per district in a state was worked out by dividing total number of hostels constructed in the state by the number of districts. The districts in a state were divided in two categories, first the districts having hostels more than the state average number and second catego ry of districts having hostels less than the state average. Twenty percent of districts in a state were selected pari-passu from each of the two categories. Based on the above criteria, total 68 districts were selected from the above mentioned states other than Delhi.These varied from 5 each in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka, 6 each in Orissa and Rajasthan, 9 in Madhya Pradesh, 10 in Bihar and 22 in Uttar Pradesh Table 2. 1 gives the complete list of selected districts. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi had two hostels, one for boys and one for girls. Since the two hostels covered under the study were constructed by University itself without any involvement of district administration in construction and management, hence Delhi has been excluded from this list. State wise number and names of the district selected as sample for evaluation study have been given in Table 2. 1. Table 2. 1: Number and Names of Districts Selected for the Study No. f Name of the Name of the Sele cted Districts Districts Selected States Selected Andhra Pradesh 5 West Godavari, Vishakhapattnam, Karim Nagar, Mehboob Nagar, Chittor, Central University Bihar 10 Patna, Siwan, Muzaffarpur,Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, West Champaran, Purnia, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Samastipur JNU, Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Haryana 5 Rohtak, Hisar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Kaithal Karnataka 5 Kolar,Chitradurga, Davengere,Chamraj Nagar, Gulbarga. Madhya Pradesh 9 Ujjain, Sidhi, Guna, Sehore, Narsinghpur, Tikamgarh, Datiya, Bhopal, Sivni Orissa 6 Jajpur, Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Balasore, Cuttack Rajasthan 6 Dausa, Tonk, Baran, Sikar, Bundi, Rajsamand Uttar Pradesh 22 Pratapgarh,Bareilly,KanpurNagar,Shahjahanpur, Chandoli, Meerut, Fatehpur,Barabanki,Varanasi, Gonda, Faizabad, Allahabad, Basti, Siddarth Nagar, Gorakhpur, J. P. Nagar, Banda, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Badayun, Ambedkar Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Chitrakut Total 68 2. 2. Officials involved in the Construction/Supervision of the Hostels It w as felt that the role of the officers who released the fund, coordinated the work and were directly involved in construction/supervision of the hostels was quite significant. Hence it was decided to frame a schedule for Officers at this level. That officer could either be a Junior Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, PWD or DRDA etc. It was decided to cover only those hostels constructed under CSS as information regarding the state funded hostels were not available because in all the cases where hostels were constructed long back, most of the Officers who had been involved in the activities at the district level had retired. 2. 2. 4 Hostels and Hostel WardensIt was decided to select ten (10) percent of the total hostels constructed (during the period 1992-93 to 2002-03) in each selected state under the CSS on random basis for the evaluation study. It was also decided to select at least two percent of the hostels constructed under100 percent funding by t he state government, in case the particular state had such hostels. Following this criterion, 185 hostels from CSS, 65 hostels from 100% state funded category and 15 hostels run by NGOs in were selected (table-2. 2) for the evaluation study. In each selected hostel, a Warden level schedule was canvassed. Thus a total of 211 Warden level schedules could be canvassed. As remaining 54 were either did not respond or their post were vacant. Table 2. 2: Coverage of Hostels in Sample States No. f Hostels: Covered Covered under Run by Total under CSS 100% State Funded NGOs Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls 10* 14* 18 8 28* 22* 2 10 9 12 9 1 1 1** 1** 11 4 11*** 4*** 21 6 10 5 31 11 36 23 36 23 10 8 10 8 10 5 10 5 26 12 5 31 12 116 69 43 22 11 4 170 95 States Andhra Pradesh Bihar Delhi(JNU) Haryana Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Orissa Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Total * Includes one boys’ and one girls’ hostel in Central University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. ** Indicates two hostels (Mahi and Mandavi) of JNU, New Delhi *** Hostels in State Universities also included. 2. 2. 5 Inmates It was decided that 10 percent of the sanctioned strength of each selected hostel would be selected as sample beneficiaries for the study. This norm was followed for hostels having a sanctioned strength of 100 boarders.However, if the sanctioned strength of the hostels was less than 100, even then minimum 5 boarders from such hostels were selected for the study. It was decided to cover inmates from non-SC category also, if available in the hostels. Overall 1417 inmates were selected for the study. State-wise number of inmates selected as beneficiaries is given in table – 2. 3 (Page-6). 2. 2. 6 Ex-inmates Two ex-inmates were randomly selected from each sample hostels with a view to get a feedback regarding the operational aspects of the hostels and the constraints faced by them while staying in the hostels and also to have an idea of the advantages, if any, they had as a result of staying in such hostels. 2. 2. 7 Knowledgeable PersonsFor the purpose of getting an over all view of the functioning of hostels as well as social perception of their benefits and constraints, it was decided to cover one knowledgeable person for each sample hostel. This knowledgeable person could be a member of village Panchayat, local body, village level worker, a teacher or an NGO activist etc. Total 210 knowledgeable persons were selected for this study. 2. 2. 8 Universities There were five Central Universities where the scheme was in operation. Of these, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Central University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, which ran one hostel each for boys and girls, were selected for the study.In addition, 5 State Universities from Haryana which had constructed hostels for SC boys and girls were also included in the sample of State Funded Universities. 2. 2. 9 Guide points Guide points were prepared to help the field team in preparing qualitativ e notes regarding implementation of the scheme in respect of quality of construction, maintenance of hostels and mechanism adopted for planning, supervision and monitoring of the scheme. 2. 3 Reference Period of the Study and Starting of Field Survey The study covered the period since inception of the scheme in 1963-64 upto 2002-03. However, for the selection of sample hostels, only those hostels which were constructed or taken up for construction between 1992-93 and 2002-03 were considered.The study was launched in the field in November, 2004. 2. 4 Methodology/Instruments Used for Data Collection Data at primary and secondary stages were collected through structured instruments of observation at different levels. Data on financing and monitoring were collected through secondary sources, such as the Union Ministry (Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) and from the nodal department implementing the schemes in different states. Information on aspects relating to project proposa l, sanction and release of fund, administration & maintenance of hostels and especially the impact of the scheme were elicited through field surveys. Table 2. : Types of Schedules used to collect data at Different Levels for the Evaluation Study in Selected States. Selected States Instruments of Observations Devised for Data Collection State Level District Level Officials Hostel involved Wardens in construction Level Inmates ExKnowinmates ledgeable Persons NGOs Level University level Schedule Andhra Pradesh Bihar Delhi(JNU) Haryana Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Orissa Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh* Total 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 NR 7 5 10 5 5 9 6 6 21 67 24 2 2 15 25 58 18 11 36 191 50 15 2 13 33 58 7 14 19 211 500 96 20 108 189 271 35 70 128 1417 94 32 4 22 60 94 10 25 27 368 48 16 2 13 33 58 7 14 19 210 8 8 1 1 5 7 *Note: I. State level schedule of UP has not been received so far. II.As new district Sant Kabir Nagar not having its own staff, its work was carried out by the staff of Basti district. Ther efore only one district level schedule was canvassed for the both districts viz. Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar. 2. 5 Data Analysis and Report Writing The Survey and data collection work relating to this study was done by the Officials of Programme Evaluation Organisation, Planning Commission. The services of Institute for Resource Management and Economic Development, Delhi were availed for tabulation, interpretation and analysis of data and preparation of report. Chapter – 3 Planning, Implementation and Monitoring of the Scheme 3. 1 Role of the Nodal MinistryThe Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GOI has laid down procedures for obtaining central assistance for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. At the time of inviting proposals under the scheme, the ministry impresses upon the states to submit the proposals separately for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls in the prescribed proforma along with the following documents: i) A certificate regarding a vailability of land ii) Site plan of the proposed hostel iii) A certificate that the estimate has been prepared as per the latest PWD/CPWD rates. iv) v) Detailed cost estimates of the proposed hostel. Physical progress of the hostels sanctioned earlier since the year 1992 in prescribed proforma. i) Hostel wise, year wise statement of utilization of state as well as central share in the prescribed proforma and vii) Matching share of the state government/NGOs/Universities. The Ministry received proposals for construction of hostels from Nodal Department (i. e. Social Welfare Department) of the State Government and held periodic meetings with state govt. representatives about the implementation of the scheme as reported by 43% state nodal departments. Based on the above, funds were provided to the state nodal departments for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls. In case of Central Universities, the Ministry received proposals directly from the Registrar of the concerned Univer sity. It was learnt that there was no guideline/manual as such formulated for monitoring this scheme at level of the Ministry.Hence funds were released only after examining the physical and financial progress of the hostels sanctioned earlier. But the nodal ministry mentioned that only general scrutiny of the proposals was done, as there were no technical experts for this purpose. Due to lack of staff, hostels under construction were not visited by any official from the nodal ministry. State nodal departments were required to send quarterly progress report and photographs of the hostels to the Nodal Ministry. 3. 2 Role of the State Nodal Department Social Welfare Directorates or Departments were the nodal agencies for the implementation of the scheme in most of the states. In Madhya Pradesh, however, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe Welfare Department was the nodal agency.In most of the states the scheme was taken up in areas where need for hostels was felt uppermost. Based on the availability of funds and the need for such hostels in the areas with high concentration of SC population, the state nodal department used to receive proposals from various parts of the state through District Social Welfare Officers. The applications were sent in the prescribed proforma containing information about availability of land, audited statement of accounts for the funds received in earlier years. The nodal department scrutinised the proposals keeping in view the guidelines given by the Union Ministry. Proposals were sent to the ministry for clearance and release of funds.The nodal department also convened review meetings of the district welfare officers at regular intervals depending upon the need for such meetings. The nodal department officials at the state level used to visit the construction sites during construction as well as post construction phases at intervals, the frequency of which, however, varied considerably from state to state. The state nodal departm ent claimed that they obtained the progress reports on the construction of hostels from different locations and submitted these reports annually to the Union Ministry. But such progress reports were neither insisted upon nor were maintained systematically at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. 3. The Level at which Proposals Initiated In most of the states proposals for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls were initiated at local levels. In Andhra Pradesh district collectors identified locations for construction of hostels with the assistance of revenue department. In Karnataka, District Social Welfare Officer(DSWO) took the initiative for construction of hostels. In Madhya Pradesh, the proposal was basically received from local Panchayat and after careful scrutiny and discussion sent to state nodal department for approval. In Rajasthan, proposals regarding construction of hostels were initiated by Directorate of Social Welfare through District Collector.In Hary ana, where study was conducted to evaluate the role of NGOs, it was observed that the proposals were initiated at the local level by the concerned NGOs as District Welfare Officer publicized the programme among NGOs and other educational institutions at the local level. In Uttar Pradesh the Social Welfare Department did not provide the information, but field study revealed that the potential of the SC students be assessed by Zila Samaj Kalyan Adhikari by involving Principals of the local colleges. In Central Universities the Registrar of the concerned university initiated proposal for construction of hostel for SC boys and girls after being intimated by the Ministry to send a proposal to this effect. 3. 4 The Approval Procedures for the SchemeGenerally approvals for construction of hostels for SC boys and girls were given by the state nodal departments after going through proposals received from different districts. Approvals were given to the proposals which fulfilled following par ameters of the guidelines: (a) Availability of owned land of concerned School/College authority or transferring land in favor of the Social Welfare Department preferably free of cost, (b) Availability of school going SC children in the area, (c) Inadequate educational facility in the area, (d) Low literacy among SCs, (e) High concentration of SC population, (f) Local demand, and (g) Cost estimate of hostel. The districts, which qualified on the basis of the above criteria, were asked to identify suitable locations for the hostel sites.The short listed proposals were sent by the concerned nodal department of the State to the Union Ministry for their approval. The Ministry, in turn, after giving approval to the schemes, released funds to the state nodal department for initiating of work. Grant is limited to sharing of cost of construction of the hostels 3. 5 The Process of Implementation The implementation of the scheme for the construction of hostels for SC boys and girls involved se veral aspects and stages like deciding the number of hostels to be constructed, administrative formalities, issue of guidelines for construction by the nodal agency at the state level, specifying an administrative set up for implementation, nsuring quality of work, handing over possession etc. However in Haryana the focus was on additions or renovations of already existing hostels being owned and managed by NGOs. 3. 5. 1 Deciding the number of hostels to be constructed At the beginning of each financial year, the concerned nodal department of the state govt. decided the number of hostels for SC boys and girls to be constructed on the basis of availability of funds and the following criteria: (a) The hostels should be located in the towns and large villages having a concentration of SC population. (b) The large villages and towns should have satisfactory standard of education on the ba