Why does science matter to a democratic society Essay

Why does science matter to a democratic society - Essay Example Firstly, this form of punishment is a protective measure. For the safety of the inmates and other people in the facility, there is need to isolate people who are a threat to human life. Therefore, when a person is isolated from other inmates, the inmates’ safety is not jeopardized. Similarly, some inmates tend to have a conflict with a single inmate. This may be due to personal grudges and misunderstanding. Therefore, for the safety of such a person, solitary confinement is a prudent approach. Secondly, this type of punishment is used to limit any illegal or criminal activities. For instance, some inmates have communication avenues whilst in the prison. This communication is crucial as it facilitates criminal activities inside the facility. In some bizarre cases, inmates facilitate criminal activities outside the facility. When the inmates are noted to facilitate such activities, they are isolated from the other inmates. Apparently, this is a prudent approach to the situation. As a fact, the other inmates will not be coerced into joining the criminal gangs. Thirdly, solitary confinement is effective when the people in control are on a suicide watch. It is noted that some people exhibit suicidal behavior. For instance, Evan shot himself twice while on probation (Zennie 1). Similarly, the inmate can commit murder before committing suicide. To substantiate such behavior, the inmate is isolated from the other inmates. This may save the life of the inmate, as there will be a closer focus. Though some people are in support of solitary confinement, some people find it inappropriate. For instance, in the Daily Mail article, there are allegations that solitary confinement may have affected the behavior of attorney’s son. First, it is stated that people need a social life. This is where people interact with others, make friends,

Slave ownership in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Slave ownership in America - Essay Example They were degraded, kept like animals and had no civil rights. They were for decades, invisible in the human society. However, slowly as advancements were made, as agriculture took and backseat to science and people began to see beyond economics, things changed. Blacks and white people began to realize that slavery was wrong. They realized that enslaving a whole race of people was simply unacceptable. Over time, more and more slaves began to get an education. They began to read and understand that their lives had value. Individual people changed the course of a nation as they taught others that racism was something to be scorned. The battle was slow, it took decades to win but steadily they did win. As literacy spread, as knowledge and understanding of the value of a human life was established, abolition became possible, and acceptable. Analysis: Initially, blacks came to the shores of American as missionaries caught them in African and took them into bondage. This first set of slaves was perhaps the most terrified. They had come to a strange land, brought by strange men who considered them savages. They forced them to give up their religion, their culture and their social behavior and made them into a slave. The brutality they endured broke their spirit and any rebellion on their part meant sure death. Since they were considered savages their lives were worthless. Once the culture of slavery was established the economic advantage the country gained allowed the culture to continue. It was forgotten that the original slaves were brought to be 'saved' by the greater god. The fact was they were a cheap form of labor that allowed their masters to control them without any rules or regulations. Overtime slavery became an institution so that children born into it knew no other life and did not realize that they could have something more than the brutal life they lived. That was the tragedy of slavery. Human life is sacred mainly because it is an intelligent form of life. Yet, this race of people was completely cut off from getting an education, from being allowed to realize that they were even human. The critical analysis of African American literature is the key to understanding slavery. For it is hard to believe how the blacks allowed themselves to be slaves for so long. Reading the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave we realize how a whole race was subjugated for so long. From the first line of the book we realize that slave owners thought of slaves as animals. They were treated like animals and so, came to believe that they were less than human. Slaves were so confined to their individual plantations that they did not know another world existed outside it. Douglass writes of himself as a boy who did not know how old he was. That was nothing unusual for slave he wrote "know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs" (p. 47). This goes to prove the mindset of slaves; they considered themselves comparable to animals. Slave owners tried hard to ensure that no slave became literate. They realized that the only way to control the blacks was making them completely dependent on them. They made sure slaves were born and stayed that way. Every slave owner knew that once a slave learnt to read and write he would be able to think about and critically evaluate his situation and that would lead to the abolition of slavery. In the words of Mr. Auld, his master, "If you give a nigger an

Harvard business publishing Essay Example for Free

Harvard business publishing Essay In mid-September of 2010, Emily Harris, vice president of New Heritage Doll Company’s production division, was weighing project proposals for the company’s upcoming capital budgeting meetings in October. Two proposals stood out based on their potential to strengthen the division’s innovative product lines and drive future growth. However, due to constraints on financial and managerial resources, Harris knew it was possible that the firm’s capital budgeting committee would decline to approve both projects. She also knew that New Heritage’s licensing and retail divisions would promote compelling projects of their own. Consequently, Harris had to be prepared to recommend one of her projects over the other. The Doll Industry Revenues in the U.S. toy and game industry totaled $42 billion in 2008 and were projected to increase by 4.6% per year to $52.5 billion by 2013. The market was divided into two broad segments: video games (48%) and traditional toys and games (52%). The second segment was further divided into infant/preschool toys (14.5%), dolls (14.1%), outdoor sports toys (12.3%), and other toys games (59.1%) including arts and crafts, plush toys, action figures, vehicles, and youth electronics. The U.S. market for toys and games was dominated by large global enterprises that enjoyed economies of scale in design, production, and distribution. Revenues were highly seasonal; the largest selling season in the United States coincided with the winter holiday period. Within the toy and game segment, U.S. retail sales of dolls totaled $3.1 billion in 2008 and were projected to grow by 3% per year to $3.6 billion by 2013. The doll category included large, soft, and mini dolls, as well as doll clothing and other accessories. The phenomenon of â€Å"age compression†Ã¢â‚¬â€ the tendency of younger children to acquire dolls that had traditionally been designed for older girls—reduced growth in the â€Å"baby-doll† sub-segment. Competition among doll producers was vigorous, as a small number of large producers targeted similar demographics and marketed their dolls through the same media. Lasting franchise value for a branded line of dolls was rare; the enormous success of Barbie ® dolls was an obvious exception. More recently and on a much smaller ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Timothy Luehrman and HBS MBA Heide Abelli prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Th is case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting scale, New Heritage also had created a durable franchise for its line of heirloom dolls. But the popularity of most doll lines waned after a few years. New Heritage Dolls By 2009, New Heritage had grown to 450 employees and generated approximately $245 million of revenue1 and $27 million of operating profit from three divisions: production, retailing, and licensing. The production division, discussed further below, designed and produced dolls and doll accessories. The retailing division offered a unique â€Å"intergenerational experience† for grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, centered upon the character histories and storylines of the company’s dolls and delivered through an online website (42%), a mail-order paper catalog (33%), and a network of retail stores (25%). In fiscal 2009, the retailing division generated roughly $190 million of revenue and $4.8 million of operating profit. The licensing division was started in 1998, and represented the company’s newest and most profitable division. It sought to extend the New Heritage brand and capitalize on high levels of customer loyalty by selectively licensing the company’s doll characters and themes to a variety of media that reached the firm’s target demographic of toddler to pre-teen girls. In fiscal year 2009 the licensing division generated $24.5 million of revenue and $14.5 million in operating profit. New Heritage’s Production Division Production was New Heritage’s largest division as measured by total assets, and easily its most asset-intensive. Approximately 75% of the division’s sales were made to the company’s retailing division, with the remaining 25% comprising private label goods manufactured for other firms. Table 1 summarizes the division’s various sources of revenue and operating income. Table 1 Production Division Data: Revenue ($ millions) Operating Income ($ millions) New Heritage’s dolls and accessories were offered under distinct brands with different price points, targeting girls between the ages of 3 and 12 years. The company’s baby dolls were generally priced from $15–$30, and were offered to younger girls in earlier stages of development. These dolls typically came with a â€Å"birth certificate† and a short personal history. Dolls in the higher-end of this category incorporated technology that produced a limited amount of speech and motion. For the 1 The division revenue figures include approximately $95 million of internal sales within divisions which are eliminated when considering consolidated revenue for the company. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 The New Heritage Doll Company was founded in 1985 by Ingrid Beckwith, a retired psychologist specializing in child development and the grandmother of two young girls. Dr. Beckwith believed the dolls produced by the major toy companies did little to develop girls’ imagination or foster a positive self-image, so she created a line of dolls with unique storylines and wholesome themes. Dr. Beckwith’s dolls struck a chord among mothers and grandmothers who also rejected the dated, clichà ©d images portrayed by the popular dolls of the day. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 New Heritage outsourced much of its production to a select number of contract manufacturers in Asia. To ensure product quality and safety, the company maintained a fulltime staff to oversee material sourcing, production, and quality control on site at each of its manufacturing partners. Manufacturing activities that required precise tolerances or proprietary processes, along with all the creative elements (design and product prototyping, for example), were handled in-house at the company’s headquarters facilities in Sacramento, California. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Capital Budgeting at New Heritage New Heritage’s capital budgeting process retained some of the informality that characterized the company’s early years as an innovative startup. As the company grew, deliberate steps were taken to decentralize some of the project approval process and increase spending authority at the division level. However, large and/or strategic spending proposals were reviewed at the corporate level by a capital budgeting committee consisting of the CEO, CFO, COO, the controller, and the division presidents. The committee examined projects for consistency with New Heritage’s business strategy and sought to balance the needs and priorities of each division against practical financial and organizational constraints. The committee also sought to understand project interdependencies and the potential for a given investment to strengthen the whole company, not solely the division proposing it. New Heritage’s capital budget was set by the board of directors in consultation with top officers, who in turn sought input from each of the divisions. The capital and operating budgets were linked; historically, the capital budget comprised approximately 15% of the company’s EBITDA. The committee had limited discretion to expand or contract the budget, according to its view of the quality of the investment opportunities, competitive dynamics, and general industry conditions. Before being considered by the committee, projects were described, analyzed, and summarized in self-contained proposal documents prepared by each division. These contained business descriptions, at least five years of operating and cash flow forecasts, spending requirements by asset category, personnel requirements, calculations of standard investment metrics, and identification of key project risks and milestones. Financial Analyses Financial analysis began with operating forecasts developed with oversight from New Heritage operating managers. Revenue projections were derived from forecasts of future prices and volumes. Fixed and variable costs were estimated separately, by expense category. Forecasts of working capital requirements were likewise vetted by line managers, who paid particular attention to a project’s requirements for various types of inventory. Forecasts for fixed assets and related depreciation charges were developed in cooperation with analysts reporting to the controller. HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] $75–$150 price range, New Heritage produced a line of heirloom-quality dolls and accessories. These were designed to appeal to older girls and to convey a sense of cultural and family tradition among grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. The heirloom dolls had more elaborate accessories and personal histories. Finally, the company offered a line of high-end dolls based on fictional â€Å"celebrities,† each associated with a charitable cause and embracing more contemporary fashion trends. These dolls targeted girls in the so-called â€Å"tween† age range of 8–12 years, and also were priced from $75–$150. Like the heirloom dolls, celebrity dolls also came with more elaborate stories and accessories. 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting New Heritage assigned discount rates to projects according to a subjective assessment of each project’s risk. High-, medium-, and low-risk categories for each division were associated with a corresponding discount rate set by the capital budgeting committee in consultation with the corporate treasurer. Assessments of each project’s risk were made at the division level, but subject to review by the capital committee. Factors considered in the assessment of a project’s risk included, for example, whether it required new consumer acceptance or new technology, high levels of fixed costs and hence high breakeven production volumes, the sensitivity of price or volume to macroeconomic recession, the anticipated degree of price competition, and so forth. In 2010, â€Å"medium†-risk projects in the production division received a discount rate of 8.4%. High- and low-risk projects were assessed at 9.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Projects that created value indefinitely, given continuing investment, were treated as going concerns with a perpetual life. That is, NPV calculations included a terminal value computed as the value of a perpetuity growing at a constant rate. However, to preserve an element of conservatism, the capital committee generally insisted on relatively low perpetual growth rates – lower than New Heritage’s historical growth and lower than near-term growth forecasts for a given division. Investment Opportunities in the Production Division Emily Harris was focused on two of the production division’s most attractive current proposals. The first involved expanding the successful Match My Doll Clothing Line to include matching allseason clothing for tween girls and their favorite dolls. The second involved a new initiative, the Design Your Own Doll line, which employed web-based doll-design software to let users â€Å"customize† a doll’s features to the customer’s specifications. Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion The Match My Doll Clothing line originally consisted of a few sets of matching doll and child clothing and accessories for warm weather. It quickly became successful after the daughters of a few celebrities were spotted and photographed wearing items from the line, and girls’ magazines included some of the line in â€Å"what’s hot to wear† sections. Given recent publicity, Marcy McAdams, the brand manager responsible for the line, believed the timing was perfect to expand. Specifically, McAdams proposed to create an â€Å"All Seasons Collection† of apparel and gear covering all four seasons of the year. She expected the new offerings to be at least as profitable as the existing line, since its current popularity would make it possible to maintain premium prices. She also hoped to take advantage of off-peak discounts offered by some suppliers and contract manufacturers as they tried to smooth their capacity utilization. In the same fashion, McAdams argued the expansion would help reduce, or at least not exacerbate, the seasonality in New Heritage’s sales and earnings. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Operating projections for a given project were used to develop cash flow forecasts that would underpin calculations of net present value (NPV), internal rates of return (IRR), payback period, and other investment metrics. Cash flow forecasts were intended to capture the incremental effect of a proposed project on the firm’s cash flow for each year within the forecast period. That is, each project’s cash flow forecasts excluded non-cash items, such as depreciation charges, and nonincremental items such as sunk costs (i.e., costs that would be incurred regardless of whether a given project was undertaken or not). The cash flow forecasts were computed on an after-corporate-tax basis, but excluded all financing charges. Some elements of the cash flow forecasts were prepared with assistance from treasury analysts, but most of the necessary adjustments were well understood by division staff. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 To exploit the current popularity of the original Match My Doll Clothing line, especially given the fickle nature of children’s fashion trends, McAdams believed the opportunity had to be exploited without delay. Her investment proposal contained relatively large outlays for RD, market research, and marketing to maximize the probability of quick acceptance and longer-term success for the follow-on line. Upfront investment expenditures are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 Match My Doll Clothing Extension Outlays The RD and marketing expenditures would be deductible for tax purposes at New Heritage’s 40% corporate tax rate. The property, plant and equipment was expected to have a useful life of 10 years; the associated depreciation charges, shown in Exhibit 1, were based on the modified accelerated cost recovery system (â€Å"MACRS†) allowed by the IRS. Working capital requirements, shown in Table 2 for 2010 and in Exhibit 1 for subsequent years were based largely on recent historical experience with the original Match My Doll Clothing line. Finally, given the proven success of Match My Doll Clothing, Harris believed the project entailed moderate risk—that is, about the same degree of risk as the production division’s existing business as a whole. Design Your Own Doll This initiative targeted existing New Heritage customers, many of whom owned several of the company’s heirloom dolls. The company’s research showed that, when asked what features (e.g., appearance, ethnicity, â€Å"life story,† etc.) New Heritage should give to future dolls, loyal customers’ responses had a high correlation with their own personal data. That is, girls wanted dolls like themselves. Further research suggested that many loyal customers would purchase yet another doll if they could customize the doll’s features to create a â€Å"one-of-a-kind† addition to a girl’s or family’s existing collection of dolls. It also promised to increase the girl’s pride in and identification with the doll, both because of their shared features and because of the girl’s participation in creating the doll. This in turn further cemented customer loyalty. The customization process would begin with a new section of New Heritage’s website, where proprietary design software enabled the customer to select physical attributes of the doll such as hair color, hair length style, skin color, eye shape, eye color, and other facial features. The software could combine selected features and produce a photo-realistic image showing the finished doll with user-selected accessories. The customer could zoom in or out on the image and rotate it to see different aspects. The software made it easy to try out different combinations of features and accessories before making a purchase. Elizabeth Holtz, brand manager for heirloom dolls, was very excited about the project. She observed, â€Å"A girl’s relationship with her favorite doll is often partly mommy and partly big sister. Either way, having your doll look more like you is really powerful. And there’s excitement in the experience: exploring the website, naming the doll-to-be, selecting her first outfit†¦even the anticipation of waiting for the new doll to arrive. I really think this is big.† Holtz also believed that the dolls could command a premium price. â€Å"Customers will naturally expect to pay more [for a HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Initial Expenditures ($ thousands) 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting custom doll],† she said. Market research with focus groups revealed significant enthusiasm for the product concept and supported the notion of premium prices. The web-based software tools and order entry system required New Heritage to make significant modifications to its existing technology infrastructure, expand its webhosting capacity, and modify the terms of its third-party service agreements to ensure a higher level of service quality. The majority of the RD expenditures shown below were related to software development, hardware upgrades, and web design. The development time involved, including product testing, was expected to be approximately 12 months. Initial outlays, some of which occurred in 2010 and some in 2011 As with Match My Doll Clothing, the required RD and marketing costs would be tax deductible. Manufacturing equipment had to be ordered by the end of 2010 to be ready for production at the beginning of 2012. While New Heritage had the option to pay for custom equipment in quarterly installments, the firm could get a substantial discount by paying for the equipment up front, in 2010. Figures in Table 3 and Exhibit 2 reflect the discounted cost of the equipment. To support the forecasted level of sales, substantial investment in working capital (primarily work in process inventory of partially manufactured dolls) would be required beginning in 2011. And still more equipment would have to be purchased and installed no later than 2014. In years 2015 and following, investments in working capital and equipment would revert to patterns familiar from the production division’s traditional lines of dolls. To complete development work, Holtz planned to use some of the company’s existing IT staff. The majority of the work would take place during calendar 2011. The number of people and their fully loaded costs are shown Table 4. These costs were not included by Holtz in the initial outlays shown in Table 3 or in the forecasts presented in Exhibit 2. The development personnel Holtz needed were considered â€Å"corporate† resources and were almost certainly available to work on the project. Table 4 Design Your Own Doll Development Personnel, ($ 000s) Application Development Personnel Costs: Web Application Developers Database Manager Systems Integration Specialist Total Cost BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] However, even a limited degree of customization increased manufacturing complexity and expense. Further, because of the low production runs and volume, fixed costs on a per unit basis were expected to be relatively high. Consequently, the breakeven volume for the project was also expected to be high. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 Finally, Holtz needed to give Harris her assessment of the project’s riskiness. On the one hand, Design Your Own Doll had a relatively long payback period, introduced some untested elements into the manufacturing process, and depended on near-flawless operation of new customer-facing software and user interfaces. If the project stumbled for some reason, New Heritage risked damaging relationships with its best customers. On the other hand, the project had a relatively modest fixed cost ratio, and it played to the company’s key strength—creating a unique experience for its consumers. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Emily Harris still needed to complete her review and financial analysis of the two proposals. McAdams and Holtz were in frequent touch with Harris and both had offered to respond to any questions she might have about the proposals: the business case, the financial projections, the operating details, or anything else. Harris expected that she would indeed have some follow-up questions as she worked through her financial analyses. She also knew that her final recommendation might disappoint some executives within the division, who would scrutinize it closely. It had to be well-supported.

The Classroom Vs Online Classes Education Essay

The Classroom Vs Online Classes Education Essay There are more advantages of taking classes in the classroom compared to taking them online; such as being able to physically meet with the teacher, asking for feedback and seeing their reaction. The traditional way of taking class, which is called the classroom environment, has become a lot easier to manage time because you are going to class everyday if not a little less. Students have more time to meet with their peers and teacher and more time for homework to be done in the classroom with the help of peers and your teacher. Many students learn best though the face to face interaction or the hands on approach that is provided by teachers and peers while attending classes in the classroom environment. Online classes might be effective for some students however many students learn by doing, seeing, and being able to interact with the teacher and their peers. The social constructivist approach is based on the assumption that individuals learn to construct their knowledge and meanings through interaction with others. It holds that knowledge is not presented to the individuals, but emerges from active dialogue where people create their own learning paths and knowledge. According to the constructivist approach, learners communicate their knowledge to others who provide feedback. (Alkharusi, Hussain, Ali Kazem, and Ali Al-MusawaQaboosi par. 10). With online courses colleges and universities haves made tremendous impact on the instruction and student learning. Distance education opportunities have brought the classroom from the university or college settings to the home, allowing students the privilege of pursuing college degrees without the inconvenience of actually traveling to campus to take the course. Thousands of students are earning their degree with little or no traditional participation and no interaction with the teacher or their peers. Students who learn by hands on or best thought the face to face interaction lose all this when they take classes online since you cant physical meet with you teacher or peers. Some students also lack the technological skills needed to take online classes which causes some students to struggle. Taking classes online is a lot cheaper than taking them in the classroom because of the cost of gas to travel to classes and other financial expenses like baby sister, food and drinks and book bag. Some students have a hard time getting internet access and a computer since the cost of getting a computer is so expense. Group assignments in the classroom environment have a more set schedule with more time for the project to do in classroom. This is a lot easier, because you can only physically meet with each other and be able to talk face to face with each other compared to trying to do the group assignment online, which could be challenging because of scheduling conflicts. The weekly schedule you have in the classroom environment all depends on the college you attend and the teacher. At Iowa Central Community College, the weekly schedule was set up with at least six to seven classes which were each two hours long and only met with the teacher two to three times a week. With four to six hours a week of class time this allowed for a lot of stuff to be taught in the 15 weeks we had in the first semester. Right now the accelerated classes I am taking, only last 8 weeks compared to the normal 15 weeks in a semester. The traditional way of taking classroom classes lets you have a total time of at least 60 hours of face to face as to where the 8 weeks allows for only 32 hours of class. There are set schedules in the classroom environment, but if the teacher feels their students do not understand the concept they can change the schedule or adapt the teaching. In the classroom environment the teacher can see who is putting the effort in the group assignment and give the correct credit to the students who do the work and effort. This allows for the students that dont put in effort get the grade they deserve. Meeting your teacher and peers face to face allows for better understanding of feedback, which you receive from your teacher and peers on assignments and allows you to better improve your assignment before the final copy has to be turn in to the teacher. Group Assignments in online classes are a lot hard to plan and takes a lot of more time to figure out when everyone can work on the project together or just to figure out on whom does what part. When you have to email each other or using another program to communicate to each other and figure out how to plan between everyone schedules. Some colleges and universities used Blackboard or similar systems, which provides a structured format for teachers to post announcements, assignments, course documents, faculty credentials and course notes for easy student access. This helps with students taking the classes online to be better prepared but it is able used with the classroom environment to. This even helps more with the traditional way of taking classes because it allows the students to seek feedback from the teacher in person and have a schedule, which they can view from anywhere if they have internet and a computer. Individual Assignments In the traditional classroom environment the individual assignments can sometimes be hard and you need help from the teacher Assessment of students learning and students activities has been said that it takes up half of the teachers professional time in the classroom, which is one of the many job responsibilities of a teacher. Tests Taking tests in the classroom environment sometimes become a little overwhelming but its also the best way to take the test since you have the ability to ask the teacher questions about the test and be able to physical meet with other students and the teacher. Many teachers let the students in the classroom review the day before the test in class and also before taking the class to allow the students the best grade they can get from studying. Online classes some teachers dont require a test in their classes since its online and the teacher knows the students will use their books. Instead they have them do more papers or homework assignments which shows the teacher they are doing their work. Online classes lets the students take responsibility for their own leaning more than traditional instructional approaches but some students have a hard time learning if they are not being pushed to study for the tests and do the homework.( Brockway) There are more advantages of taking classes in the classroom compared to taking them online; such as being able to physically meet with the teacher, asking for feedback and seeing their reaction. As for myself taking classes in the traditional way of taking classes allows the students a better improve on their studies and provides them with more feedback from the teacher and allows better communication with peers and your teacher. With the integration of Blackboard, it allows the students to better schedule their days and plan ahead.

Coors :: essays research papers

The Coors company got started when Adolph Coors and was 15 years old when he tool a ship to New York form Germany in 1868. With his savings and with the help of a partner, he started developing a brewery. Which took place in 1882. Then he bought his partner out and Adolph Coors started running on his own. As Adolph’s progress was going, people started to fight the sins of drinking and along came prohibition. Because of prohibition Adolph turned his brewery into making porcelain and selling malted milk instead of making beer. Adolph during the WWI he had to work really hard to get drinking legal again because of prohibition. His son Adolph Jr. Coors had help his father keep the business and to keep it running in the 1920’s. Adolph Jr.’s father died in June of 1929, the age of 82, as he was on vacation with his wife. While his wife was trying to get over influenza. They were unsure of his of his death; it could have been suicide. But after his death he left his ch ildren 2 million dollars and the brewery. 1933 prohibition was repealed. One of few breweries that actually lasted. During 1933 Adolph Coors Jr. took over the business after his father died. During the great depression Adolph the 3rd got ready to join the brewery business and also Joe and Bill joined too. There was a one-week strike from labor force. Many people thought that Coors discriminated against blacks, women, and homosexuals. Joe and his family plus his business was not publicly scared because of Joe Coors expressing his views and onions open. In the 1977 Coors business workers went on strike against lie detector tests, personal trust, and like searches discrimination everyone protested against Coors beer. It was almost 10 years before the boycotts against Coors ended.

Satellite Surveillance Essay -- Satellites Weapons Technology Essays

Satellite Surveillance I. Preface My interest in satellite surveillance did not really appear to after I saw the movie "Enemy of the State" in 1998. The synopsis of the movie is: Robert Dean (Will Smith) is a labor lawyer who is unknowingly in possession of evidence related to a serious politically motivated crime. Government agents eager to hide their guilt believe that Dean is on to them, and proceed to turn his life upside-down, ruin his reputation, and frame him for various incidents, thanks to the latest in high-tech government surveillance techniques. In an attempt to clear his name and reclaim his life, Dean teams up with the reclusive Brill (Gene Hackman), a former federal employee who has as much high-tech equipment and expertise as the government itself. Smith scores as a man who is desperate to reclaim his identity and prove his innocence. This intense technological thrill-ride from director Tony Scott questions how much access the government should have to the communications of private citizens, and leave s the viewer with the unsettling feeling that Big Brother is definitely watching. After this movie I was amazed that we have the capability in our hands to do this. I have two scenes from the movie that show the technology at work. II. Introduction A powerful worldwide surveillance system is being built up and the world is being watched. Spy satellites are orbiting the earth, those are the eyes in the sky, and millions of video cameras and other sensors are scattered on the earth, the eyes and ears on the ground. The computer networks are continually growing, the brians of the system. Implantable microchips with miniature digital transceivers are attached to many objects and animals, and lately to some hu... ...tion-en.html> (31 October 2003) ACLU, "ACLU Urges Congress to Investigate ECHELON Surveillance System," <http://archive.aclu.org/congress/lg040699a.html> (06 April 1999) MTC ONLINE, " Reports of Current Experimentation with Microwave and EM Weapons," <http://www.heart7.net/mcf/1.html> (10 August 2003) "Directed Energy Weapons," <http://www.rhfweb.com/hweb/shared2/usexist.html#Directed%20Energy%20Weapons> (2001) Hi-Tech Methods, "Technology of control," <http://members.tripod.com/%7Emdars/1/war2.htm> "The Microwave Syndrome," <http://www.grn.es/electropolucio/omega287.htm> (20 September 2003) Duncan Cambell, "Inside Echelon," Inside Echelon.pdf, 25 July 2000 European Parliment, "Echelon Interception System," Report.pdf, 11 July 2001 Patrick S. Poole, "ECHELON: America's Secret Global Surveillance Network," Echelon.pdf, 2000

Haptic Technology

1. 1 What is *Haptics*? Haptics refers to sensing and manipulation through touch. The word comes from the Greek ‘haptesthai’, meaning ‘to touch’. The history of the haptic interface dates back to the 1950s, when a master-slave system was proposed by Goertz (1952). Haptic interfaces were established out of the field of tele- operation, which was then employed in the remote manipulation of radioactive materials. The ultimate goal of the tele-operation system was â€Å"transparency†. That is, an user interacting with the master device in a master-slave pair should not be able to distinguish between using the master controller and manipulating the actual tool itself. Early haptic interface systems were therefore developed purely for telerobotic applications. {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Fig. 2. 1Basic architecture for a virtual reality application incorporating visual, auditory, and haptic feedback. †¢ Simulation engine: †¢ Visual, auditory, and haptic rendering algorithms: Compute the virtual environment’s graphic, sound, and force responses toward the user. Transducers: Convert visual, audio, and force signals from the computer into a form the operator can perceive. The human operator typically holds or wears the haptic interface device and perceives audiovisual feedback from audio (computer speakers, headphones, and so on) and visual displays (a computer screen or head-mounted display, for example). 2. 2 System architecture for *haptic* rendering: {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:rect} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Fig 2. 2Haptic rendering divided into main three blocks S- contacts* occurring between an avatar at position X and objects in the virtual environment. Fd- *return* the ideal interaction force between avatar and virtual objects. Fr- Force to the user 1. Collision-detection algorithms detect collisions between objects and avatars in the virtual environment and yield information about where, when, and ideally to what extent collisions (penetrations, indentations, contact area, and so on) have occurred. 2. Force-response algorithms compute the interaction force between avatars and virtual objects when a collision is detected. This force approximates as closely as possible the contact forces that would normally arise during contact between real objects. Hardware limitations prevent haptic devices from applying the exact force computed by the force-response algorithms to the user. 3. Control algorithms command the haptic device in such a way that minimizes the error between ideal and applicable forces. The discrete-time nature of the haptic- rendering algorithms often makes this difficult. The force response algorithms’ return values are the actual force and torque vectors that will be commanded to the haptic device. Existing haptic rendering techniques are currently based upon two main principles: â€Å"point-interaction† or â€Å"ray-based†. In point interactions, a single point, usually the distal point of a probe, thimble or stylus employed for direct interaction with the user, is employed in the simulation of collisions. The point penetrates the virtual objects, and the depth of indentation is calculated between the current point and a point on the surface of the object. Forces are then generated according to physical models, such as spring stiffness or a spring-damper model. In ray-based rendering, the user interface mechanism, for example, a probe, is modeled in the virtual environment as a finite ray. Orientation is thus taken into account, and collisions are determined between the simulated probe and virtual objects. Collision detection algorithms return the intersection point between the ray and the surface of the simulated object. *2. 2. 1 Computing contact-response forces*: Humans perceive contact with real objects through sensors (mechanoreceptors) located in their skin, joints, tendons, and muscles. We make a simple distinction between the information these two types of sensors can acquire. 1. Tactile information refers to the information acquired through sensors in the skin with particular reference to the spatial distribution of pressure, or more generally, tractions, across the contact area. To handle flexible materials like fabric and paper, we sense the pressure variation across the fingertip. Tactile sensing is also the basis of complex perceptual tasks like medical palpation, where physicians locate hidden anatomical structures and evaluate tissue properties using their hands. 2. Kinesthetic information refers to the information acquired through the sensors in the joints. Interaction forces are normally perceived through a combination of these two. To provide a haptic simulation experience, systems are designed to recreate the contact forces a user would perceive when touching a real object. There are two types of forces: . Forces due to object geometry. 2. Forces due to object surface properties, such as texture and friction. The first type of force-rendering algorithms aspires to recreate the force interaction a user would feel when touching a frictionless and textureless object. Force-rendering algorithms are also grouped by the number of Degrees-of-freedom (DOF) necessary to describe the interaction force being rendered. 2. 2. 3 Surface property-dependent force-rende ring algorithms: All real surfaces contain tiny irregularities or indentations. Higher accuracy, however, sacrifices speed, a critical factor in real-time applications. Any choice of modeling technique must consider this tradeoff. Keeping this trade-off in mind, researchers have developed more accurate haptic-rendering algorithms for friction. In computer graphics, texture mapping adds realism to computer-generated scenes by projecting a bitmap image onto surfaces being rendered. The same can be done haptically. 2. 3 Controlling forces delivered through *haptic* interfaces: Once such forces have been computed, they must be applied to the user. Limitations of haptic device technology, however, have sometimes made applying the force’s exact value as computed by force-rendering algorithms impossible. They are as follows: †¢ Haptic interfaces can only exert forces with limited magnitude and not equally well in all directions †¢ Haptic devices aren’t ideal force transducers. An ideal haptic device would render zero impedance when simulating movement in free space, and any finite impedance when simulating contact with an object featuring such impedance characteristics. The friction, inertia, and backlash present in most haptic devices prevent them from meeting this ideal. †¢ A third issue is that haptic-rendering algorithms operate in discrete time whereas users operate in continuous time. {draw:frame} ?Finally, haptic device position sensors have finite resolution. Consequently, attempting to determine where and when contact occurs always results in a quantization error. It can create stability problems. All of these issues can limit a haptic application’s realism. High servo rates (or low servo rate periods) are a key issue for stable haptic interaction. There are two main types of haptic devices: †¢ Devices that allow users to touch and manipulate 3-dimentional virtual objects. †¢ Devices that allow users to â€Å"feel† textures of 2-dementional objects. 3. 1 LOGITECH WINGMAN FORCE FEEDBACK MOUSE {draw:frame} fig. 3. 1 logitech mouse Fig. 3. 1 shows a Logitech mouse which is attached to a base that replaces the mouse mat and contains the motors used to provide forces back to the user. {draw:frame} Fig. 3. 2 Phantom Used in surgical simulations and remote operation of robotics in hazardous environments {draw:frame} Fig3. 3 Cyber Glove Cyber Glove can sense the position and movement of the fingers and wrist. {draw:g} The basic Cyber Glove system includes one CyberGlove, its instrumentation unit, serial cable to connect to your host computer, and an executable version of VirtualHand graphic hand model display and calibration software. The firm introduced haptic technology for the X-by-Wire system and was showcased at the Alps Show 2005 in Tokyo. The system consisted of a â€Å"cockpit† with steering, a gearshift lever and pedals that embed haptic technology, and a remote-control car. Visitors could control a remote control car by operating the steering, gearshift lever and pedals in the cockpit seeing the screen in front of the cockpit, which is projected via a camera equipped on the remote control car. With many new haptic devices being sold to industrial companies, haptics will soon be a part of a person’s normal computer interaction. REFERENCES: http://www. sensable. com/products/datafiles/phantom_ghost/Salisbury_Haptics95. pdf http://www. wam. umd. edu/~prmartin/3degrees/HAPTIC%20TECHNOLOGY1. doc http://www. sensable. com http://www. logitech. com http://www. technologyreview. com