Would I Answer Honestly If I Was Participating in a National Crime Survey?

Would I answer honestly if I was participating in a national crime survey? Christina M Blanks Criminology CCJ 1017-12 Instructor Cedric Thomas Would you answer honestly if participating in a national crime survey asking about your criminal behavior, including drinking and drugs use? Why or why not? Yes I would answer honestly. The reason I would answer honestly is because it would help in the data, profiles, and to make sure that the results are correct, so there will not be any confusion in the data when criminologist go to profile criminals. Explain how honesty and dishonesty impact self report studies. If false information is given on a survey then the data is not accurate, and when criminologist go to use the data to profile a criminal it will not be correct. When true information is given on a survey, data will be entered correctly, and when time to profile a criminal it will be accurate and more affective. As long as you are honest on a survey or anything else, the results come out correct and can change data so that criminologist can create better profiles when profiling criminals. Also to better help criminologist figure out why a person committed the crime, what lead the person to commit a crime, and how they may be able to stop people from committing crimes. Self-report study is a method for measuring crime involving the distribution of a detailed questionnaire to a sample of people, asking them whether they have committed a crime in a particular period of time. Self-report study has been a good method for criminologists to determine the social characteristics of ‘offenders’. Self report studies involve confidential questionnaires that invite the respondents to record voluntarily whether or not they have committed any of the listed offences. Negative affectivity: how serious a threat to self-report studies of psychological distress? Brennan RT, Barnett RC. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Department of Administration, Planning and Social Policy, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Women’s Health. 1998 Winter; 4(4):369-83. Serious questions have been raised about the common practice of relying on self-report measures to assess the relation between subjective role experiences on the one hand and both mental and physical health symptoms on the other. Such self-report measures may reflect a common underlying dimension of negative affectivity (NA), thereby leading to spurious results. In this article, we present findings from analyses in which we estimate, using a hierarchical linear model, the relation between subjective experiences in job and marital roles and self-reports of symptoms of psychological distress after controlling for NA in a sample of 300 full-time employed men and women in married couples. Results demonstrate (a) that NA can account for a great deal of the variation in self-reported psychological distress, as much as half in the case of the men in the sample; (b) that estimates of the relations between a self-reported predictor of social-role quality (e. . , marital-role quality, job-role quality) may be biased by failure to include NA as a predictor of self-reported psychological distress; (c) that the degree of bias in these estimates is dependent on the nature of the predictor, and (d) that the role of NA as a confounder does not appear to be dependent on gender. – ncbi. nlm. nih. gov Male and female differences in self-report cheating James A Athanasou, University of Technology, Sydney Olabisi Olasehinde, University of Ilorin – Nigeria Cheating is an important area for educational research, not only because it reduces the consequential validity of assessment results, but also because it is anathema to widely held public principles of equity and truthfulness (see Cizek, 1999 for a comprehensive review of the topic). Moreover, modern education is centered on numerous situations that really depend upon a student’s honesty. The purpose of this paper is to review the extent of academic cheating and to describe any gender differences in self-reports. pareonline. net/getvn. asp? v=8&n=5 References Brennan RT, Barnett RC. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Department of Administration, Planning and Social Policy, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Women’s Health. 1998 Winter; 4(4):369-83. www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov James A Athanasou, University of Technology, Sydney Olabisi Olasehinde, University of Ilorin – Nigeria Cizek, 1999 www. pareonline. net/getvn. asp? v=8&n=5 http://www. sociologyindex. com/self_repor t_studies. htm

Collete’s “The Murderer” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe Essay

Explore the similarities and differences between Collete’s â€Å"The Murderer† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar Allen Poe. In this essay I will write about â€Å"the Tell-Tale Heart† which was written in the nineteenth century, and â€Å"The Murderer† which was written in the twentieth century. I will compare them in a number of ways; language, settings, suspense, characters In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the mood is typical of Edgar Allen Poe in that he wrote about murders in dark gothic houses this creates a mood of tension that something is about to happen suddenly and drives us to read faster and faster until suddenly the climax is upon the victims or sometimes, on a anti-climax. The narrator uses short sentences that are filled with active verbs to describe the story. Whereas the mood in â€Å"The Murderer† is quite calm and non-threatening. There is no haste to the words. This is very different to â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†. In â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† the narrator does not tell us exactly where he is but he does tell us that there are â€Å"creaky floor boards† and â€Å"heavy doors† there are also â€Å"mice†. This leads us to believe that he is in a gothic house that is quite old. The narrator does not tell us about the weather directly but mention â€Å"the wind in the chimney† which suggest mid-winter. In the murderer there are a lot of different places, the murder scene, out side the newsagents, the flat where he slept and worked, each of them described in detail. The murder scene was a stationary notions shop as with the tell tale heart during the whole story there is only a few references to the weather such as a â€Å"brief shower† and that â€Å"darkness cam suddenly apron them. The themes of the stories are both murders. The strangest one of the two stories is the murderer because the main character, Louis, kills his victim, for no reason that we know of, but there is a clear motive in the tell tale heart. The eye. The old mans evil eye this is the thing that drives the murderer to kills the old mans â€Å"vulture eye† the eye with a â€Å"pale blue film over it.† The main character in â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart is a person who talks about him self a lot in the story ands says a few things like â€Å"never before that night had I felt the extent of my powers.† I think this person is insane (he spent an hour to look through a door) He is mostly in self-denial but he does say â€Å"the disease has sharpened my senses -not destroyed them† this becomes exenterated when he says he â€Å"heard all the things in heaven† because of the acute sense of hearing he has acquired from being mad. The main character of the tell tale heart is a mystery because they does not reveal their sex or their age, or any of their physical looks. Where in the murderer we know that Louis is good looking and has a â€Å"swarthy face† that girls like to smile at. I think that, whilst these authors have crated stories that are similar in theme they have there own way of introducing the characters and victims of the story. Also the setting is very different. I like them both for they are very griping and leave a great deal of the story to the readers imagination but my favourite is â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† because of the way the nature of the murderer is very well presented and has left me thinking about it. The very way that he calmly killed him with out no little voice in his head telling him what he is doing is wrong chills me to the bone. This is a little detail that Poe was very clear about for although he was insane (As I have pointed out before the evidence for this case is not in short supply) he was still a human being and as one of them I fell disturbed that one human can do that to a fellow human. Humans are the most dangerous species because of our actions. Our kind is the only ones that ill because they feel like it. Not because they are hungry or in danger but because of pure spite. This is one of the many dangers of free will and Poe and collate point this out in the most disturbing ways imaginable.

Session Long Project: Working on a Negative Letter

Dear Ms. Ambrose, Thank you for allowing me to examine your case.   I went over your files, which you gave in the 5th day of May 2008.   I saw that you are 16 years old, a graduate of high school through tests conducted by the General Education Development (G.E.D.) in February 6, 2007, and has earned 15 semester college hours at the New Jersey City University on the first semester of S.Y. 2007-2008.   It is also indicated here, in the files that you submitted on May 5, that you scored a good 71 on your Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, which should earn you the right to enter the U.S. Navy here and then, especially that you are about to turn 17 years old this coming month. When I took your case to the office on the 8th day of this month, the numbers show that, for the enlistment of 2007-2008, G.E.D. graduates have filled up the 5% allowable applicants only this past week or specifically in April 30, 2008.   You have filed your request of application in the 5th of May 2008, but you will still get the chance to file again, since we are always open to applicants who are willing to join and launch an enjoyable career.   We should wait, however, for the next set of enlistments, which should be offered by August 2008.   By then, you should have turned 17 years old, with no reason for not being accepted in the navy. If you want, I can send another application to you once the door is open again for enlistment applicants.   That will only take about 2-3 months from now, which is only a little time, as compared to the vast opportunities that you will be having for the following years ahead.   I am sure that you will have no problems by then, especially if you earn more semester college hours, which you can still take in these three months that you have.   For the meantime, it would be best to wait for the next luck, which should arrive this August.   This can be an opportunity to get better standing, which should reflect well in your upcoming files. Good luck and see you again this August. Sincerely, _________________ SH1 (SW/AW) Jermaine Moore United States Navy Recruiter NRS Bossier City, Louisiana The principles The principles that were used in creating the letter above are mostly from the article of Joel Bowman (2002) of Western Michigan University.   I tried to be as logical and believable as I can be, without getting too formal, so that the reader will feel the concern of the letter writer (although not very emotional).   I tried to indicate that what I was relaying to her was nothing very tragic or sad because another set of enlistments should arrive by the following 2-3 months. The letter mirrored that what was happening was for the best of both the writer and the reader—a win-to-win situation—and even if the applicant’s request for admission has been denied, there are other opportunities in the future, which the writer would be pleased to accompany the reader.   I tried to show that the event was reasonable and legitimate, with the intention of offering the reader some alternatives that might help in her getting accepted in the next opportunity. This is to compensate for the shortcoming, which makes the letter forward-looking (instead of backward-looking), motivational, and not very negative to read.   It makes the reader realize that the letter does not really indicate refusal or rejection but more of a delayed opportunity.   I tried to minimize the impact by trying to point out that the opportunity is not lost but would come again in the months ahead. The parts Following the lecture of Bowman (2002), the letter that was presented is composed of the following: (1) The ‘pace’ portion that, in this letter, dictates the thankfulness of the writer for allowing him to examine the case, as well as the information that the writer has received concerning the case.   (2) The ‘lead’ portion that dictates the major episode that has led the writer to create a letter for the reader, which should include the negative message that is the reason for filing the negative letter.   In this letter, it reflects that G.E.D. applicants were accepted only until April 30, 2008.   (3) The ‘blend outcomes’ portion that changes the angle of the letter from negative to positive; it turns the message from backward-looking to forward-looking.   In this letter, this part says that the reader will get the chance to file again by August of the same year.   Finally, (4) the ‘motivate’ portion, which dictates why the alternative would suit and benefit the reader, with the decision to offer support and promote goodwill; this presents the reason on why the letter is not entirely negative, as it presents more positive opportunities that offer the reader some benefits. References Bowman, J. (2002). Writing negative messages. Business communication: managing information and relationships. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from Joel P. Bowman Homepage: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman/badnews.html. Carroll, A. (2004). Letters†¦ we get stacks of letters and business notes. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from Dr. Jay’s Write Homepage: http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/lettr.html. Sittenfeld, C. (1999, March). Good ways to deliver bad news. Fast Company Magazine, 23. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from FastCompany.com database: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/23/buckman.html.         

Food journal analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food journal analysis - Essay Example Of these foods, the yogurt and the cheese are complete proteins while the beans are an incomplete protein. The beans and cheese combined together become a complementary protein. I took in more than the daily recommended amount of protein. This did surprise me because I didn't include any meat into my daily intake, which is what I would have assumed would take me over the daily limit. Clearly meat is not the only food that can serve as a good protein source. In order to bring my protein down and to better balance my diet I can cut down the portion sizes that contain protein such as the servings of beans and cheese, and I can add more fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables, as well as some more fiber rich foods such as whole grains. If I had eaten beans and cheese only once during the day rather than twice, I probably would have taken in the recommended amount of protein and I could have then eaten some of the other foods that I am lacking in place of that unneeded protein. Protein is one of the most essential elements of our diet and is often referred to as the building block in our body because of its function in the growth and repair of our tissue. According to the CNPP website, proteins are involved in the production of many hormones and are necessary to maintain the immune system and fluid electrolyte balance. They are also involved in the transport of nutrients throughout the body. Given these facts about protein, it is easy to see how insufficient amounts of protein intake could leave the body unable to do some of its most vital functions. Without enough protein the body's tissues would not be capable of repairing themselves. In addition, our muscles, which are fueled by protein, would not grow and develop as they should, and our organs, many of which are made up of muscle tissue, could ultimately suffer and cease to function optimally. Also, our immune system would not be able to function as it should, which would cause more frequent, as well a s more prolonged illness, and our electrolytes would become unbalanced causing all types of health problems.In contrast, too much protein can also pose a problem for the body. According to the CNPP website, too much protein coupled with a lack of enough other essential foods can cause the body to go into a state of ketosis which can wreak havoc on the body causing all types of medical problems. Additionally, many times, high protein intake is coupled with high saturated fat intake, which is also bad for the body and can cause disease and general health problems. Also, a higher than normal protein intake can often coincide with a diet that lacks in other essential areas such as whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruits. This lack in the diet can also lead to health problems and illness. Given these facts, it seems clear that keeping with the recommended daily protein allowance will help to ensure that one's diet remains as healthful as possible as well as adequately and appropriatel y balanced. My fiber intake for the day was 22 grams, which is 3 grams less than the recommended daily intake of 25 grams. I think that this intake is a bit low and I would like to come up to the recommended amount of 25 grams per day. I would like to raise my fiber intake the remaining three grams because I know that fiber is good for me and can serve to help keep my weight under control and my general food

Anthopologist Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anthopologist - Term Paper Example Migration is the movement of people from one country to another for causes that are either for greener pasture or opportunities; desire to enjoy democratic freedom from conflict situations or for education, retirement or pleasure for new climate; and for a taste of better political hegemony. In United States, the pattern of migration developed anent with geopolitical expansion of United States of America in other major regions of the world. This is reflected to the kind of nationals US have these days who came from different poles of the world with distinct cultural structures, historical roots, political affiliations, economic characters and social contexts. A typology of immigrants showed that they came from Europe, Asia, Latin America and other areas of the world. They all leave their families, properties and the culture which molded them to wander into larger communities that require major adjustments in lifestyles despite uncertainties, of new laws, norms and social structures t hat could either assimilate them or marginalize them. Immigration therefore poses a challenge on how social relationship and interactions are accommodated in the mainstream of American society with comforting sense of belongingness. Many stories depict sad and great tales about issues on racial and identity that may relate to white’s colonial expansion and economic exploitation or to racial discrimination of African blacks which took a Hegelian success toward tribal unification and struggle for independence. This proved that migrants passed historic prejudicial processes which segregated them from the white in an ideation that their skin and identities are stamped with inferiority. This prejudice is a position made by dominant race with an imposing feeling and thought of disliking another person due too their native social characters. If such is actually manifested in behaviors by disqualifying or mistreating other people on the basis of membership, this becomes discriminatio n. The latter evolves into an institutional discrimination if prejudice and marginalization are done systematically as a state policy. A classic example of this case is the ironclad separation of black and white due to Apartheid policy—a law that socially segregate people by custom and laws and from black and white. This created problems on integration, organizational affiliation, access to the use of social facilities, and therefor cause disparities, inequalities or inequities in economy, politics or decision-makings, stature of very lives, distrust in social relations and, ergo, causing ethnocentrism and interracial conflicts in various forms. The situation inspired on US administrators to dialogue about migration, race and ethnicity in search for common ground and to recognize common values such as freedom, rights, fairness, security and justice in response to growing demands of immigrants for the state to look seriously into. The series of national dialogues also situate perspectives whether race is a significant issue in America and about the deep impact of ethnicity in the process of integrating and mainstreaming new people into American fold. Such meant a discursive discussion about accessing and providing equal opportunity and equal protection, education, jobs, health care and in availing for justice under the law. It also motivated America to enhance their understanding of migrant’s history by highlighting in dialogues the experiences of Natives, Afro-Americans, Latinos,

Avis Europe Good Corporate Citizens of the Society Essay

Avis Europe Good Corporate Citizens of the Society - Essay Example The company is now enjoying around 16% market share in U.K. The company provides rental stations through three business formats such as corporate locations, agency location and franchise location. The Budget variety, belonging to Avis Europe in March 2003, provides for customers in above 1,000 places within 65 countries. These are contract-based firms with corporate offices in Austria and Switzerland, France and the UK.   Avis Europe aims to be the leading rental car company while maintaining very high ethical standards. Avis works on the Philosophy of ‘Kaizen’ or Continuous Improvement, which they coin by the phrase â€Å"We Try Harder†. A person named Warren Avis founded Avis Europe. He was a war pilot who after being discharged from US war force came out to design his car rental company. He thought of tapping the niche market of Airport Car Rental Service. The first airports the company tapped were Miami and Detroit. The success of the company can be traced from the fact that in about seven years it rose to the second position behind companies like Hertz and Lazard Freres. Keeping in mind the philosophy of continuous improvement their mission is to build a long-term relationship with stakeholders in the business. They also consider customer loyalty as the focus area. According to a survey report prepared by U.S research organization, Avis is one of the top companies from the vi ewpoint of customer loyalty. Retention of customers in a highly competitive market is always a difficult task. Therefore, they are very much focused on this. In terms of their vision, Avis Europe wants to establish themselves as good corporate citizens of the society. Gaining customer loyalty is their prime goal in this respect. They are also adopting many strategies to project themselves to the society as a good & responsible company. They are equally caring about their employees, suppliers, shareholders,  environment community and society.  

Project risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Project risk management - Essay Example Projects are regard the planning and execution of beneficial transform. This positive change may engage the creation of a preferred physical asset or some less physical organizational change. In either case, the quest of opportunities is an intrinsic central concern. There are various approaches used to tackle project risk management. In this paper, we analyze the key features of Performance Uncertainty Management Process (PUMP) approach. PUMPs have designed broad or specific processes facilitate its functions. One of its key features is iterative nature. Performance uncertainty management processes’ (PUMPs), designed to elucidate uncertainty, opportunity and threat in all types of organizations and projects. The importance is the strategy shaping phase of the venture lifecycle, precisely shaping the expansion of project execution and delivery approach plans. This feature allows it to do a cyclic process of the risk management (Barkley, 2004). It process iteration organization and has a plan-criterion structure comprehension. It has four broad phases that ensures the implementation of the twelve stages. A twelve plan categorization of the lifecycle offers a framework for contemplating the purpose of a PUMP at dissimilar stages in the lifecycle, when unlike performance contemplations operate. The fundamental PUMP offers a structure for uncertainty control, but the defined purpose, scope and factor of analysis done in each PUMP stage will rely upon the function context. There is no one outstanding approach for all circumstances. The essential phase of the basic Performance Uncertainty Management Process is concerning acclimatizing the basic procedure to the precise project context and lifecycle phase of instantaneous interest. The PUMP approach deals with the identification of all applicable sources of uncertainty and reaction options in a tightly coupled way; in part since unidentified reactions are a basis of vagueness. In PUMP approach, consequences or effects observed in qualitative stipulations are element of the bond between responses and sources. For instance, some sources entail potential consequences that require a useful reactive response, but others require an efficient preventative response, and others require both. Considering projects allied to a single deliverable asset or institutional change, a comprehensive description of the asset/transform lifecycle and the actions involved in each phase of the lifecycle is obtainable (Kendrick, 2009). Uncertainty around and in a project account, utilizes a 12 step nominal structure that distinguished variant features of the four essential life cycle phases of conceptualization, execution, planning and delivery also utilization of the change or asset delivered by a venture. This lifecycle supposed structure offers a structure in which indecision management can be organized in any suitable framework for fastidious contexts. An instant insinuation is that the extent and nature of th e procedure used to administer project uncertainty must be driven to areas where the lifecycle is situated, to efficiently address the questions pertinent to that stage. In conceptualization phase, the idea of the project is shaped also gateway for the project implementation is set. Shaping involve making best decisions on how to proceed with project

Continue American Airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Continue American Airlines - Essay Example 352). The airline industry is gravely affected by the rising fuel costs in the global market, rapid evolution of the internet, and other technological factors. 2. Competitive Forces of the Airline Industry Competition in the airline industry is becoming more aggressive since the â€Å"world is experiencing massive expansion of both domestic and international air travel† (Williams, 2009, p. 80). However, the industry has been shakedown by highly dynamic environment that influenced the industry’s competitive forces which include entry of competitors; threat of substitutes; bargaining power of suppliers; bargaining power of buyers; and rivalry among the existing players (Hubbard, 2004). The entry of competitors is determined by the existing barriers that include intense competition, differentiation and the high capital costs of entry. However, when the market is deregulated the liberalized the industry is becoming saturated with new entrants like the LCCs. In terms of thre at of substitutes, customers can also use other carriers such as train, bus or cruise lines in order to reach the desired destination. Furthermore, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers is among the critical competitive forces of the airline industry because of its direct impact on prices, volume, and profit (Porter, 1998, p. 45). Air travel carriers particularly those that are sharing the same routes need to have their own effective strategies in order to attract travelers, considering that the industry is centered on Boeing and Airbus suppliers. Lastly, competitive rivalry in the airline industry is high because of its low-cost nature; high fixed costs and competitive pricing make the industry grow at a very slow rate. 3. Airlines Firm Competes Today In the history, the airline industry is heavily regulated wherein almost all of the firm’s activities are highly supervised. This isolated manner of competition had initiated in the U.S.; however, it has been remodeled a nd â€Å"for the first time of history of commercial aviation, an open market situation in which competitive market pricing was to be the norm, and market entry was to become legally open to new airlines† (Williams, 2009, p. 78). The fact that U.S. is one of the highest performing countries in the world, and the reform strategy has been effective in the country, then the other countries are encouraged to adopt the diverse market deregulation. Today, airline firms are competing based on their sizes, assets count, competitive pricing and technological advancement. 1. Firm Competitiveness: Their Key Strengths and Weaknesses AA is one of the world’s largest air freight carriers, and they remain to be competitive despite of the existence of LCCs because they believe on their strengths from the principles of low costs, valued customers, cooperation, and strong financial condition (Subbarao & Murthy, 2005, p. 75). AA’s key strengths include 621 passenger fleet in more than 251 destinations in 41 countries, its alliances and partnerships with American Eagle and AmericanConnection (regional affiliates), Oneworld Airline Alliance, and trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific joint business agreement. All these activities are realized by AA because of their strong relations with the government. Their key weaknesses include unstable financial position because of on-going economic crisis, high operating expenses and

Comparative Analysis of Slavery by Stanley Elkins and Ordeal by Fire Research Paper

Comparative Analysis of Slavery by Stanley Elkins and Ordeal by Fire by James McPherson - Research Paper Example The difference in skin colour made a total difference in the perception of humanity that led to different treatment towards different people depending on their skin colour. Slave trade became a common phenomenon in America in the early 18th century with the onset of agricultural developments and the industrial revolution. However, slavery in America can be traced back to the 16th century when the first slaves entered America, twenty of them, all blacks from the African continent. These were brought into America as permanently indentured servants leading to more Negros and Caucasians moving into America as permanently indentured servants. Slavery, later on, grew in the southern agriculture where three types of crops were grown: tobacco, rice and indigo as a means of providing cheap untrained labor (McPherson, 1982). The farm owners who grew indigo felt devastated with the smell that was associated with it and did not want to touch it hence the need to have the African slaves to work o n the production as they concentrated on the sales and the keeping of the income that was accrued from the enterprise. Two American writers Stanley Elkins and James McPherson became so bold to address the evil that was being meted out on humanity by their fellow humans. In a bid to advocate for the abolition of the vice, these writers sternly criticized the trade of slaves in America and pointed out the need to set them free as they held to the fact that all men were created equal and that the slave trade was an embarrassment to the American continent. McPherson notes that at the onset of slavery in North America, slaves rarely worked on farms since most northerners only owned subsistence farms, slaves were therefore used as cooks, butlers, and house cleaners. These were more of light chores that did not humiliate the slaves. However, the dawn of agriculture-shifted things all together and the normal manual household chores were replaced with the forced farm labour. This left the sl aves with no choice other than to admit and be receptive to the prevailing shift in working conditions. Macpherson’s protest began at the point when forced labour was entitled to the slave immigrants. Arising from this, he launched a campaign for the slaves’ freedom. He argues, â€Å"The industrial revolution's new inventions made northern slave labour uneconomical. Free labour replaced slavery in most northern states except for the border state of Delaware. Free labour emphasized the right of each individual to "sell" his labour to the highest bidder† (McPherson, 1982). Thus, the sale of men in the American markets like goods moved McPherson to challenge the ethical implications of this. This according to him was a complete disregard of the human nature by her fellow humans, to sell a person as a good in the market was an abuse to human nature â€Å"when the southwest opened up new cotton lands, after depleting the upper south's soils, the slave population aga in increased. Upper south whites bred slaves for sale in the lower south† (McPherson, 1982)

The toxicity of chemicals Essay Example for Free

The toxicity of chemicals Essay Remedy I would not endorse hazardous waste landfill, waste treatment plant, deep injection well, or incinerators near a residential community because of the hazardous threats brought by the chemicals. Even though they are built so that the trash of chemical plants and the residue from pest control, there are some instance where there is a leakage that can harm the community. Hazardous waste landfills are built so that the waste from chemical processes can be dumped in this area. They are designed to resist the power of the chemicals. A deep injection well is a special kind waste landfill where the chemical residues are injected on the soil so that not to penetrate more from the environment and to the atmosphere. While a waste treatment plant treats the chemicals that lessen the impact of hazards of the chemicals. They used methods and even chemicals to in order for the hazardous chemical power be minimized. While an incinerators burned chemicals in a combustion chambers. All these methods are almost perfect because they are designed by engineers to minimize the effects of hazardous chemicals. But somewhat they have drawbacks. If people who operate this kind of methods did not operate well and accurate, they are big chances that the community will be getting toxic. And this consumes more land that must be used by the people in the community. (Network, 2005) The most practical way to response to this problem is to locate a dumping site or a site that will be building up by the waste treatment plant, deep injection well, or incinerators that is far from a community. In this way, the toxicity of chemicals that can affect the health of people can be minimized. But the most remedy to this problem is to minimize the use of chemicals that harms the human health as well as the environment. We must seek on the natural ways in preventing pest in our farms. Reference: Network, S. W. A. (2005). Landfill. Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://www. ccthita-swan. org/Tutorials/landfill. cfm

The Difference Between Perception And Expectation Marketing Essay

The Difference Between Perception And Expectation Marketing Essay The survival of any organisation is determined by satisfying the needs and wants of its customers. Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000) asserts satisfaction is a critical measure of a firms success and has been shown to influence attitude, repurchase, and word-of-mouth communication. A customer is satisfied once he steps out of the sellers shop and his happy when the immediate need or want his met. Lovelock Wirtz (2007) explains that dissatisfaction drives customers away; it makes them willing to switch to other alternatives. Therefore, if customers are not satisfied with the services received, they easily find a substitute which makes the other organisation unprofitable. Fornell (1992) argues that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition. Bainbridge (2003) defines convenience stores as a retail business with primary emphasis placed on providing the public with a convenient location to quickly purchase a wide array of consumable products. Therefore, Village store is considered as a convenience store. Lovelock Wirtz (2007:29) If a service experience does not meet expectations of customers, they may complain about poor service quality, suffer in silence, or switch providers in the future, customers evaluate service quality by comparing what they expected with what they perceived. 1.2 ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND Village store started on the 24th of September 2007 during the Welcome Weekend and is accommodated in the same building with the Sports Centre close to the school hostels (Student Village and Carroll Court hostels). It is been controlled by the University of West of England Bristol, United Kingdom. Village store operates only on the main campus, Frenchay. Village store is a grocery shop that sells goods and provides services to its customers (students living in the school hostels and students that go to the Gymnasium). Their rush hours are between 5pm till 8pm. Their opening times are: Monday Friday 9am 10pm, Saturday Sunday: 11am 8pm. 1.3 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND CONSEQUENCES. This problem focuses on Village store failures in satisfying its customers needs and wants despite its convenient location to them. This report is as a result of students complains about the delay in processes of goods sold and in services provided in Village store in UWE. After a close observation and investigation, it was discovered that students were not satisfied with the following: service promptness (Speed) and goods not available on time (Dependability). This results into some students saying they would prefer walking to a big store closer to UWE rather than shop at the Village store despite its convenient location to their hostels because they dont take the stocks of their goods on time and this would dissatisfy a customer that wants to purchase a good and finds out the good is not available (Dependability). 1.4 CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION FRAMEWORK Village stores objectives is to provide adequate goods and services to meet its expectant customers needs Slack et al (2007) Five Performance objectives would be used to analyse the difference between the companies objective and its customers expectations also the concept of the 7Ps of Service Marketing Mix Lovelock Wirtz (2007:22) to analyse the Processes services rendered and the People. Village store is a grocery store that sells goods and delivers services. The goods are displayed to be bought by the customers and their services are provided by the cashiers for the payment of their purchased items. 1.5 OBJECTIVES This objective is based on the problems encountered by students dissatisfaction of services provided in Village store. These issues could be divided into two parts which are the marketing and operational perspective of the grocery store which briefly explains the motive for this report and how it would be achieved. How does Village store know what their customers expect? What makes Village store objectives different from their customers expectation Why does a part of services provided by Village store not satisfy its customers? To recommend ways to improve the satisfaction of Village store customers. Brassington Pettitt (2006: 193) explains that Segmentation can be viewed as the art of discerning and defining meaningful differences between groups of customers to form the foundations of a more focused marketing effort and they further explained the organisation that fails to segment deeply enough on significant criteria will lose customers to competitors that do. Thus Village store customers are differentiated below: Segmentation Profile of Village Store Variable Segment 1 Segment 2 Segment 3 Gender Male Female Male Female Male Female Categories Of Customers Hostel Residents Gym Goers Non-Gym Goers Visits Frequency Regularly Regularly Occasionally Benefits Cigarettes, Alcohol, Sanitary pads, Soaps, etc Energy drinks, towels, socks, Gym bags, water etc Juice, coke, biscuit, yoghurt, crisps, etc 2.0 METHODOLOGY Methods adopted in gathering informations for this report are the two sources of data which are the primary and secondary data. To get the primary data SERVQUAL questionnaires were given out to forty students who visit the Village store during the peak periods of the store between 7pm-8pm to get a clearer view of the situation and their opinions of the goods and services provided (Appendix 1), And (Appendix 2) for a pictorial evidence of my observation of the students at exactly 8pm on a week day. For further data collection a secondary research was also carried out to analyse the situation, sources were mainly from, academic writings, articles, journals, and reports. 2.1 RESULTS Gilmore (2003:23) Service Quality is defined as the ability of an organisation to meet or exceed customers expectations. The outcome of the SERVQUAL instrument by Berry et al (1985) distributed to forty students who visits Village store regularly and occasionally showed students expectations is greater than their perceptions and this is seen from the table below with the aid of the formula which gives all the results in negative. Their responses were from a scale of 1(Strongly Disagree) to 7(Strongly agree) while 4 is neutral. Thus, my discovery was that service promptness of Village store is not satisfactory to what the students expects. EXPECTATION PERCEPTION Frequency of response Average Frequency of response Average 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 reliability 1 2 0 0 5 9 8 16 5.675 1 6 8 4 11 0 3 0 2.4 2 0 0 0 4 3 13 20 6.225 2 19 4 10 5 2 0 0 2.175 3 0 1 0 5 8 12 14 5.8 3 17 6 12 3 0 2 0 4.95 4 0 0 0 3 12 8 17 5.975 4 14 12 7 5 0 1 1 2.3 responsiveness 5 0 3 1 5 5 8 17 5.525 5 14 8 0 5 0 7 6 3.35 6 0 0 0 1 3 5 31 6.65 6 18 5 9 5 1 3 0 2.45 7 0 2 1 3 4 6 25 6.25 7 5 4 5 15 5 2 4 3.825 8 0 2 0 4 1 12 21 6.1 8 14 8 4 7 1 3 3 2.85 Fig 1 Expectations Perceptions (P-E) 1. 5.675 2.4 -3.275 2. 6.225 2.175 -4.05 3. 5.8 4.95 -0.85 4. 5.975 2.3 -3.675 5. 5.525 3.35 -2.175 6. 6.65 2.45 -4.2 7. 6.25 3.825 -2.425 8. 6.1 2.85 -3.25 Fig 2 The the total reliability expectations (23.67) and perception (11.85) of students who goes to Village store is illustrated below Fig 3 The total responsiveness expectation (24.52) and perception (12.47) of students who goes to Village store is illustrated below. Fig 4 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND EXPECTATION Perception Expectation P-E Reliability 11.85 23.67 -11.82 Responsiveness 12.47 24.52 -12.05 Total 24.32 48.19 -23.7 Fig 5 The pie chart below shows the overall total of students expectations is 48.2 and the total perceptions is 24.3 OVERALL TOTAL PERCEPTION AND EXPECTATION Fig 6 3.0 PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES AND CUSTOMER NEEDS The management of an organisation controls their objectives which determine their operational activities in fulfilling customers expectation. Slack et al (2007), explains that organizations set their objectives relating specifically to its basic task of satisfying customer requirements. Village store provides services that are run by UWE and part of their aim is to ensure that service to customer is delivered promptly. Slack et al (2007). The Five Performance Objectives of organisations are: Quality, Flexibility, Speed, Dependability and Cost. Village store has not been able to meet the needs of its customers in this two: Speed and Dependability. 3.1 SPEED DEPENDABILITY SPEED: It is essential in the operations part of an organisation by providing express delivery of goods and services to its customers. Slack et al (2007) defines Speed as the elapsed time between customers requesting products or services and their receiving them. This objective is important to Village stores serving promptness to its customers as quick as possible to reduce queues at the payment point. Katz et al (1991); Taylor (1994) claims Longish waits impact negatively on customer evaluations of an outlets quality because long queues affect the customers perceptions of the punctuality of a service i.e. how promptly customer requirements are satisfied and hence his or her ratings of the service providers overall efficiency and reliability. DEPENDABILITY: It requires fulfilling all customers needs and wants without delay of their desired goods and services. This makes the organisation dependable to its customers; they are assured that their expectation would be met. Slack et al (2007) defines Dependability as delivering, or making available, products or services when they were promised to the customer. This objective is also important to Village store having a minimum amount of goods out of stock so as to be able to always keep promises made to the customers. 3.2 PROCESS AND PEOPLE The seven elements referred to as 7Ps of service marketing which are product, place, price, promotion, physical environment, people, process: represent decision variables facing managers in an organisation Lovelock Wirtz (2007:21) A process is the method and sequence of actions in the service performance. Therefore if an organisations process is not well built its outcome would be poor. The manner in which an employee relates to a customer boosts the service quality of the organisation. Village store processing of goods and service takes a long time due to its low members of staffs. The frontline staff attends to customers as much as 400-500people in a day (high volume) and this diminishes the quality of the service. f Customer pays for goods Customer search for goods in the store Customer goes to the counter Customer sees the price of goods bought Customer enters the Village Store f Line of interaction Cashier put cash in the till and gives change Cashier politely request for payment Cashiers scans goods at the tills contact person (visible action) Line of visibility Cash till indicates the total amount of goods bought Contact person (Invisible action) F means Fail Points The above diagram is the blueprint of the process of interactions between a customer and Village store. Lovelock Wirtz (2007) defines Blueprinting as a powerful tool for identifying fail points which enables us to visualize the process of service delivery by depicting the sequence of front stage interactions that customers experience as they encounter service providers, facilities and equipment, with supporting backstage activities which are hidden from the customers and are not part of their experience. Mittal Vikas (2004) Managers can identify areas of high service responsiveness, that is, areas in which overall satisfaction is low but customers are highly responsive to improvements in service quality The first fail point pinpoints when a customer search for goods in the store and sees that goods have not been stock for sale; this affects the customers behaviour towards the grocery store since he/she was unsatisfied. After an interview with an employee, it was discovered that there is a capacity problem in Village store. Slack et al (2007) defines Capacity of an operation is the maximum level of value-added activity over a period of time that the process can achieve under normal operating conditions there are four components of capacity and if limited in an organisation can lead to constraints of capacity, they are: Manpower (Human Resource) Machinery(Equipment Facilities) Materials(Raw Materials) Money (Investment Funds). At this point Village store lacks manpower (human resource) capacity and this has resulted into a stock availability problem because there are not enough employees to quickly restore goods on shelf. This has made Village store undependable because customers would get dissatisfied if they cant get what they want from the store. Second fail point explains when a customer goes to the counter to pay for the selected goods. After thorough observation it was discovered at this point that Village store lacks machinery (Equipment Facilities) and manpower (human resource) capacity to cater for its demands which results into a queuing problem since there are not enough employees to serve customers and not enough equipments. 3.3 Gaps in Service delivery The gaps model of Zeithamal, Berry and Parasuraman was extended by Lovelock Wirtz (2007:424) identifies seven service quality gaps that occur at various points during the design and the delivery of a service performance of an organisation and the expectation of customers: The knowledge gap The standards gap The delivery gap The internal communications gap The perceptions gap The interpretation gap The service gap. The gaps noticed between Village store and its customers are identified below: The standards gap: Lovelock Wirtz (2007:424) the difference between managements perception of customer expectation and the quality standards established for service delivery. The management of Village store has not been able to understand the expectations of the customers and have therefore set a standard below what the students expect. Although students have not shown concerns about the cost, quality and flexibility they have shown dissatisfaction about the speed of service and also for the fact that you cant always get what you want when you need it (Dependability). The service gap: Lovelock Wirtz (2007:424) the difference between what customers expect to receive and their perceptions of the service that is delivered. Village store has not been able to meet the expectations of its customers, Customers are dissatisfied when they come into the store and can not find what they want. As shown in the questionnaire Village store customers expectations are higher than the perceived service they are getting. CONCLUSION After observations and thorough investigations for this research it was noticed that Village store needs to work on elements like speed of service and also work towards customers seeing the store as reliable to increase their service quality and customer satisfaction rate. This research also examined the process of interaction between a customer and the store and also identified fail points of the process. The gaps that exist between customers perception and expectations in village store were also discussed in this report. RECOMMENDATIONS Customers needs must always be satisfied at all times in both goods and services received from Village store notwithstanding that they have no competitor in their convenient location and they need to go out of their way to attract more customers. The following suggestions would be helpful in solving the two major problems observed between Village store and its customers Village store needs more effective and trained hands to increase the speed of serving customers at peak periods (manpower) by planning their capacity. Slack et al (2007:299) defines Capacity Planning as the task of setting the effective capacity of the operation so it can respond to the demands placed on it by deciding how the operation should react to fluctuations in demand. To retain these students they need to have an effective capacity management to control high demands of their goods and services. Slack et al (2007:309) explains that there are three methods of responding to demand fluctuations and they are: Ignore the fluctuations and keep activity levels constant (level capacity plan) Adjust capacity to reflect the fluctuations in demand (chase demand plan) Attempt to change demand to fit capacity availability (demand management). Slack et al (2007:309) An organisation uses the combination of these plans but one could overcome the other. Village store should use chase demand plan to respond to fluctuating demands of its customers by hiring a part time staff to assist the full time staff during peak periods to serve demands of customers at these times. Roger Bennett (1998) Other policies for reducing average queue lengths at checkouts include the practice of automatically opening a new till whenever there are more than (say) five people in an existing queue. Village store should provide self service checkouts (machinery) for the students to avoid queue and reduce pressure employee at the till. In closing the standard and service gaps Village store would develop innovative ways of carrying out feedback survey from the students by issuing a single paper form to customers at the cash till or fill a register book for queries to know their perceptions about Village store satisfaction rate to make more people take part in the survey and use incentives to motivate students to want to participate, this information gathered from its students would assist the management on making sure that promises made to their customers should be fulfilled at all times. The management of Village store needs to improve on the standard they aim to achieve these recommendations by making sure they are financially buoyant enough to focus on the areas they lack in satisfying their customers without going bankrupt. This can be done by recruiting employees that are hardworking, committed, focused on achieving target goals of the store, willing to abide by their set rules, and should always do what is expected of them by making sure they not only add value to the store but also to themselves. These are essential in satisfying customers needs and wants. Slack et al (2007) explains that dependability is valued by most customers.

The Data Inscription Standard Computer Science Essay

The Data Inscription Standard Computer Science Essay Whenever data is exchanged electronically many times the privacy of the data is a required. Encryption is used to restrict unintended recipients from viewing the data, which are deemed confidential and potentially dangerous if made known to irresponsible parties. In other word, encryption is the procedure of transforming plain text data that can be read by anyone to cipher text data that can only be read by someone with a secret decryption key.A message before being changed in any way is called plain text. Plain text messages are converted to ciphertext via some encryption method. An enryption method is called a cryptosystem. In 1972, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, initiated a program to develop standards for the protection of computer data. The Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology (ICST), one of the major operating units of the National Bureau of Standards, had been recently established in response to a 1965 federal law known as the Brooks Act (PL89-306) that required new standards for improving utilization of computers by the federal government. Computer security had been identified by an ICST study as one of the high-priority areas requiring standards if computers were to be effectively used. A set of guidelines and standards were defined by the ICST that were to be developed as resources became available in computer security. The guidelines were to include areas such as physical security, risk management, contingency planning, and security auditing. Guidelines were adequate in areas not requiring interoperability among various computers. St andards were required in areas such as encryption, personal authentication, access control, secure data stor-age, and transmission because they could affect interoperability. Standards can be divided into different sections: basic, interoperability, interface, and implementation. 1. Basic standards (also called 4standards of good practice) are used to specify generic functions (services, methods, results) required to achieve a certain set of common goals. Examples include standards for purity of chemicals, contents of food products, and in the computer field, structured programming practices. 2. Interoperability standards specify functions and formats so that data transmitted from one computer can be properly acted on when received by another computer.The implementation (hardware, firmware, software) or structure (integrated, isolated, interfaced layers) need not be specified in interoperability standards, since there is no intent of replacing one implementation or structure within a system with another. 3. Interface standards specify not only the function and format of data crossing the interface, but also include physical, electrical, and logical specifications sufficient to replace one implementation (device, program, component) on either side of the interface with another. 4. Implementation standards not only specify the interfaces, functions, and formats, but also the structure and the method of implementation. These may be necessary to assure that secondary characteristics such as speed, reliability, physical security, etc. also meet certain needs. Such standards are often used to permit component replacement in an overall system. Services or Applications The basic DES algorithm can be used for both data encryption and data authentication. 1. Data Encryption: It is easy to see how the DES may be used to encrypt a 64-bit plaintext input to a 64-bit cipher text output, but data are seldom limited to 64 bits. In order to use DES in a variety of cryptographic applications, four modes of operation were developed: electronic codebook (ECB); cipher feedback (CFB); cipher block chaining (CBC); and output feedback (OFB) [26] (Figs. 1-4). Each mode has its advantages and disadvantages. ECB is excellent for encrypting keys; CFB is typically used for encrypting individual characters; and OFB is often used for encrypting satellite communications. Both CBC and CFB can be used to authenticate data. These modes of operation permit the use of DES for interactive terminal to host encryption, crypto-graphic key encryption for automated key management applications, file encryption, mail encryption, satellite data encryption, and other applications. In fact, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find a cryptographic application where the DES cannot be applied. Figure 1: Electronic codebook (ECB) mode. Figure2: Cipher block chaining (CBC) mode. History of encryption In its earliest form, people have been attempting to conceal certain information that they wanted to keep to their own possession by substituting parts of the information with symbols, numbers and pictures. Ancient Babylonian merchants used intaglio, a piece of flat stone carved into a collage of images and some writing to identify themselves in trading transactions. Using this mechanism, they are producing what today we know as digital signature. The public knew that a particular signature belonged to this trader, but only he had the intaglio to produce that signature. Of course, technology today has evolved at such rapid pace that the need to protect information grows with the lessening reliability of older encryption techniques. Basic modern encryption is not much different from the ancient civilisations substitution using symbols. Translation table, lends itself very well in making a piece of data generally unreadable. However computers today are much too advanced that translation table is easily broken and thus no longer viable. Instead encryption today has grown into such specialised field that involve mathematical, non-linear cryptosystem that even a relatively powerful computers take months or even years to break the ciphertext. The origins of DES go back to the early 1970s. In 1972, after concluding a study on the US governments computer security needs, the US standards body NBS (National Bureau of Standards) now named NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) identified a need for a government-wide standard for encrypting unclassified, sensitive information.[1] Accordingly, on 15 May 1973, after consulting with the NSA, NBS solicited proposals for a cipher that would meet rigorous design criteria. None of the submissions, however, turned out to be suitable. A second request was issued on 27 August 1974. This time, IBM submitted a candidate which was deemed acceptable a cipher developed during the period 1973-1974 based on an earlier algorithm, Horst Feistels Lucifer cipher. The team at IBM involved in cipher design and analysis included Feistel, Walter Tuchman, Don Coppersmith, Alan Konheim, Carl Meyer, Mike Matyas, Roy Adler, Edna Grossman, Bill Notz, Lynn Smith, and Bryant Tuckerman. NSAs involvement in the design On 17 March 1975, the proposed DES was published in the Federal Register. Public comments were requested, and in the following year two open workshops were held to discuss the proposed standard. There was some criticism from various parties, including from public-key cryptography pioneers Martin Hellman and Whitfield Diffie, citing a shortened key length and the mysterious S-boxes as evidence of improper interference from the NSA. The suspicion was that the algorithm had been covertly weakened by the intelligence agency so that they but no-one else could easily read encrypted messages.[2] Alan Konheim (one of the designers of DES) commented, We sent the S-boxes off to Washington. They came back and were all different.[3] The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reviewed the NSAs actions to determine whether there had been any improper involvement. In the unclassified summary of their findings, published in 1978, the Committee wrote: In the development of DES, NSA convinced IBM that a reduced key size was sufficient; indirectly assisted in the development of the S-box structures; and certified that the final DES algorithm was, to the best of their knowledge, free from any statistical or mathematical weakness.[4] However, it also found that NSA did not tamper with the design of the algorithm in any way. IBM invented and designed the algorithm, made all pertinent decisions regarding it, and concurred that the agreed upon key size was more than adequate for all commercial applications for which the DES was intended.[5] Another member of the DES team, Walter Tuchman, stated We developed the DES algorithm entirely within IBM using IBMers. The NSA did not dictate a single wire![6] In contrast, a declassified NSA book on cryptologic history states: In 1973 NBS solicited private industry for a data encryption standard (DES). The first offerings were disappointing, so NSA began working on its own algorithm. Then Howard Rosenblum, deputy director for research and engineering, discovered that Walter Tuchman of IBM was working on a modification to Lucifer for general use. NSA gave Tuchman a clearance and brought him in to work jointly with the Agency on his Lucifer modification.[7]and NSA worked closely with IBM to strengthen the algorithm against all except brute force attacks and to strengthen substitution tables, called S-boxes. Conversely, NSA tried to convince IBM to reduce the length of the key from 64 to 48 bits. Ultimately they compromised on a 56-bit key.[8] Some of the suspicions about hidden weaknesses in the S-boxes were allayed in 1990, with the independent discovery and open publication by Eli Biham and Adi Shamir of differential cryptanalysis, a general method for breaking block ciphers. The S-boxes of DES were much more resistant to the attack than if they had been chosen at random, strongly suggesting that IBM knew about the technique in the 1970s. This was indeed the case; in 1994, Don Coppersmith published some of the original design criteria for the S-boxes.[9] According to Steven Levy, IBM Watson researchers discovered differential cryptanalytic attacks in 1974 and were asked by the NSA to keep the technique secret.[10] Coppersmith explains IBMs secrecy decision by saying, that was because [differential cryptanalysis] can be a very powerful tool, used against many schemes, and there was concern that such information in the public domain could adversely affect national security. Levy quotes Walter Tuchman: [t]he asked us to st amp all our documents confidential We actually put a number on each one and locked them up in safes, because they were considered U.S. government classified. They said do it. So I did it. Bruce Schneier observed that It took the academic community two decades to figure out that the NSA tweaks actually improved the security of DES. Encryption Now a Days Industrial espionage among highly competitive businesses often requires that extensive security measures be put into place. And, those who wish to exercise their personal freedom, outside of the oppressive nature of governments, may also wish to encrypt certain information to avoid legalities that entailed possession of such. With respect to the Internet, there are many types of data and messages that people would want to be kept secret. Now that commercial trading on the Net is a reality, one of the main targets of data encryption is credit card numbers. Other information that could otherwise benefit or educate a group or individual can also be used against such groups or individuals. Security Problems That Encryption Does Not Solve While there are many good reasons to encrypt data, there are many reasons not to encrypt data. Encryption does not solve all security problems, and may make some problems worse. The following sections describe some misconceptions about encryption of stored data: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Principle 1: Encryption Does Not Solve Access Control Problems à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Principle 2: Encryption Does Not Protect Against a Malicious Database Administrator à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Principle 3: Encrypting Everything Does Not Make Data Secure Principle 1: Encryption Does Not Solve Access Control Problems Most organizations must limit data access to users who must see this data. For example, a human resources system may limit employees to viewing only their own employment records, while allowing managers of employees to see the employment records of subordinates. Human resource specialists may also need to see employee records for multiple employees. Typically, you can use access control mechanisms to address security policies that limit data access to those with a need to see it. Oracle Database has provided strong, independently evaluated access control mechanisms for many years. It enables access control enforcement to a fine level of granularity through Virtual Private Database. Because human resource records are considered sensitive information, it is tempting to think that all information should be encrypted for better security. However, encryption cannot enforce granular access control, and it may hinder data access. For example, an employee, his manager, and a human resources clerk may all need to access an employee record. If all employee data is encrypted, then all three must be able to access the data in unencrypted form. Therefore, the employee, the manager and the human resources clerk would have to share the same encryption key to decrypt the data. Encryption would, therefore, not provide any additional security in the sense of better access control, and the encryption might hinder the proper or efficient functioning of the application. An additional issue is that it is difficult to securely transmit and share encryption keys among multiple users of a system. A basic principle behind encrypting stored data is that it must not interfere with access control. For example, a user who has the SELECT privilege on emp should not be limited by the encryption mechanism from seeing all the data he is otherwise allowed to see. Similarly, there is little benefit to encrypting part of a table with one key and part of a table with another key if users must see all encrypted data in the table. In this case, encryption adds to the overhead of decrypting the data before users can read it. If access controls are implemented well, then encryption adds little additional security within the database itself. A user who has privileges to access data within the database has no more nor any less privileges as a result of encryption. Therefore, you should never use encryption to solve access control problems. Principle 2: Encryption Does Not Protect Against a Malicious Database Administrator Some organizations, concerned that a malicious user might gain elevated (database administrator) privileges by guessing a password, like the idea of encrypting stored data to protect against this threat. However, the correct solution to this problem is to protect the database administrator account, and to change default passwords for other privileged accounts. The easiest way to break into a database is by using a default password for a privileged account that an administrator allowed to remain unchanged. One example is SYS/CHANGE_ON_INSTALL. While there are many destructive things a malicious user can do to a database after gaining the DBA privilege, encryption will not protect against many of them. Examples include corrupting or deleting data, exporting user data to the file system to e-mail the data back to himself to run a password cracker on it, and so on. Some organizations are concerned that database administrators, typically having all privileges, are able to see all data in the database. These organizations feel that the database administrators should administer the database, but should not be able to see the data that the database contains. Some organizations are also concerned about concentrating so much privilege in one person, and would prefer to partition the DBA function, or enforce two-person access rules. It is tempting to think that encrypting all data (or significant amounts of data) will solve these problems, but there are better ways to protect against these threats. For example, Oracle Database supports limited partitioning of DBA privileges. Oracle Database provides native support for SYSDBA and SYSOPER users. SYSDBA has all privileges, but SYSOPER has a limited privilege set (such as startup and shutdown of the database). Furthermore, you can create smaller roles encompassing several system privileges. A jr_dba role might not include all system privileges, but only those appropriate to a junior database administrator (such as CREATE TABLE, CREATE USER, and so on). Oracle Database also enables auditing the actions taken by SYS (or SYS-privileged users) and storing that audit trail in a secure operating system location. Using this model, a separate auditor who has root privileges on the operating system can audit all actions by SYS, enabling the auditor to hold all database administrators accountable for their actions. See Auditing SYS Administrative Users for information about ways to audit database administrators. You can also fine-tune the access and control that database administrators have by using Oracle Database Vault. See Oracle Database Vault Administrators Guide for more information. The database administrator function is a trusted position. Even organizations with the most sensitive data, such as intelligence agencies, do not typically partition the database administrator function. Instead, they manage their database administrators strongly, because it is a position of trust. Periodic auditing can help to uncover inappropriate activities. Encryption of stored data must not interfere with the administration of the database, because otherwise, larger security issues can result. For example, if by encrypting data you corrupt the data, then you create a security problem, the data itself cannot be interpreted, and it may not be recoverable. You can use encryption to limit the ability of a database administrator or other privileged user to see data in the database. However, it is not a substitute for managing the database administrator privileges properly, or for controlling the use of powerful system privileges. If untrustworthy users have significant privileges, then they can pose multiple threats to an organization, some of them far more significant than viewing unencrypted credit card numbers. Principle 3: Encrypting Everything Does Not Make Data Secure A common error is to think that if encrypting some data strengthens security, then encrypting everything makes all data secure. As the discussion of the previous two principles illustrates, encryption does not address access control issues well, and it is important that encryption not interfere with normal access controls. Furthermore, encrypting an entire production database means that all data must be decrypted to be read, updated, or deleted. Encryption is inherently a performance-intensive operation; encrypting all data will significantly affect performance. Availability is a key aspect of security. If encrypting data makes data unavailable, or adversely affects availability by reducing performance, then encrypting everything will create a new security problem. Availability is also adversely affected by the database being inaccessible when encryption keys are changed, as good security practices require on a regular basis. When the keys are to be changed, the database is inaccessible while data is decrypted and re-encrypted with a new key or keys. There may be advantages to encrypting data stored off-line. For example, an organization may store backups for a period of 6 months to a year off-line, in a remote location. Of course, the first line of protection is to secure the facility storing the data, by establishing physical access controls. Encrypting this data before it is stored may provide additional benefits. Because it is not being accessed on-line, performance need not be a consideration. While an Oracle database does not provide this capability, there are vendors who provide encryption services. Before embarking on large-scale encryption of backup data, organizations considering this approach should thoroughly test the process. It is essential to verify that data encrypted before off-line storage can be decrypted and re-imported successfully. Advantages EFS technology makes it so that files encrypted by one user cannot be opened by another user if the latter does not possess appropriate permissions. After encryption is activated, the file remains encrypted in any storage location on the disk, regardless of where it is moved. Encryption is can be used on any files, including executables. The user with permission to decrypt a file is able to work with the file like with any other, without experiencing any restrictions or difficulties. Meanwhile, other users receive a restricted access notification when they attempt to access the EFS encrypted file. This approach is definitely very convenient. The user gets the opportunity to reliably and quickly (using standard means) limit access to confidential information for other household members or colleagues who also use the computer. EFS seems like an all-around winning tool, but this is not the case. Data encrypted using this technology can be entirely lost, for example during operating system reinstallation. We should remember that the files on disk are encrypted using the FEK (File Encryption Key), which is stored in their attributes. FEK is encrypted using the master key, which in turn is encrypted using the respective keys of the system users with access to the file. The user keys themselves are encrypted with the users password hashes, and the password hashes use the SYSKEY security feature. This chain of encryption, according to EFS developers, should reliably protect data, but in practice, as explained below, the protection can be ultimately reduced to the good old login-pass-word combination. Thanks to this encryption chain, if the password is lost or reset, or if the operating system fails or is reinstalled, it becomes impossible to gain access to the EFS-encrypted files on the drive. In fact, access can be lost irreversibly. Regular users do not fully understand how EFS works and often pay for it when they lose their data. Microsoft has issued EFS documentation that explains how it works and the main issues that may be encountered when encrypting, but these are difficult for regular users to understand, and few read the documentation before starting to work. Data Encryption Challenges In cases where encryption can provide additional security, there are some associated technical challenges, as described in the following sections: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Encrypting Indexed Data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Generating Encryption Keys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transmitting Encryption Keys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Storing Encryption Keys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Changing Encryption Keys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Encrypting Binary Large Objects Encrypting Indexed Data Special difficulties arise when encrypted data is indexed. For example, suppose a company uses a national identity number, such as the U.S. Social Security number (SSN), as the employee number for its employees. The company considers employee numbers to be sensitive data, and, therefore, wants to encrypt data in the employee_number column of the employees table. Because employee_number contains unique values, the database designers want to have an index on it for better performance. However, if DBMS_CRYPTO or the DBMS_OBFUSCATION_TOOLKIT (or another mechanism) is used to encrypt data in a column, then an index on that column will also contain encrypted values. Although an index can be used for equality checking (for example, SELECT * FROM emp WHERE employee_number = 987654321), if the index on that column contains encrypted values, then the index is essentially unusable for any other purpose. You should not encrypt indexed data. Oracle recommends that you do not use national identity numbers as unique IDs. Instead, use the CREATE SEQUENCE statement to generate unique identity numbers. Reasons to avoid using national identity numbers are as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ There are privacy issues associated with overuse of national identity numbers (for example, identity theft). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sometimes national identity numbers can have duplicates, as with U.S. Social Security numbers. Generating Encryption Keys Encrypted data is only as secure as the key used for encrypting it. An encryption key must be securely generated using secure cryptographic key generation. Oracle Database provides support for secure random number generation, with the RANDOMBYTES function of DBMS_CRYPTO. (This function replaces the capabilities provided by the GetKey procedure of the earlier DBMS_OBFUSCATION_TOOLKIT.) DBMS_CRYPTO calls the secure random number generator (RNG) previously certified by RSA Security. Note: Do not use the DBMS_RANDOM package. The DBMS_RANDOM package generates pseudo-random numbers, which, as Randomness Recommendations for Security (RFC-1750) states that using pseudo-random processes to generate secret quantities can result in pseudo-security. Be sure to provide the correct number of bytes when you encrypt a key value. For example, you must provide a 16-byte key for the ENCRYPT_AES128 encryption algorithm. Transmitting Encryption Keys If the encryption key is to be passed by the application to the database, then you must encrypt it. Otherwise, an intruder could get access to the key as it is being transmitted. Network encryption, such as that provided by Oracle Advanced Security, protects all data in transit from modification or interception, including cryptographic keys. Storing Encryption Keys Storing encryption keys is one of the most important, yet difficult, aspects of encryption. To recover data encrypted with a symmetric key, the key must be accessible to an authorized application or user seeking to decrypt the data. At the same time, the key must be inaccessible to someone who is maliciously trying to access encrypted data that he is not supposed to see. The options available to a developer are: Storing the Encryption Keys in the Database Storing the Encryption Keys in the Operating System Users Managing Their Own Encryption Keys Using Transparent Database Encryption and Table space Encryption Storing the Encryption Keys in the Database Storing the keys in the database cannot always provide infallible security if you are trying to protect against the database administrator accessing encrypted data. An all-privileged database administrator could still access tables containing encryption keys. However, it can often provide good security against the casual curious user or against someone compromising the database file on the operating system. As a trivial example, suppose you create a table (EMP) that contains employee data. You want to encrypt the employee Social Security number (SSN) stored in one of the columns. You could encrypt employee SSN using a key that is stored in a separate column. However, anyone with SELECT access on the entire table could retrieve the encryption key and decrypt the matching SSN. While this encryption scheme seems easily defeated, with a little more effort you can create a solution that is much harder to break. For example, you could encrypt the SSN using a technique that performs some additional data transformation on the employee_number before using it to encrypt the SSN. This technique might be as simple as using an XOR operation on the employee_number and the birth date of the employee to determine the validity of the values. As additional protection, PL/SQL source code performing encryption can be wrapped, (using the WRAP utility) which obfuscates (scrambles) the code. The WRAP utility processes an input SQL file and obfuscates the PL/SQL units in it. For example, the following command uses the keymanage.sql file as the input: wrap iname=/mydir/keymanage.sql A developer can subsequently have a function in the package call the DBMS_OBFUSCATION_TOOLKIT with the key contained in the wrapped package. Oracle Database enables you to obfuscate dynamically generated PL/SQL code. The DBMS_DDL package contains two subprograms that allow you to obfuscate dynamically generated PL/SQL program units. For example, the following block uses the DBMS_DDL.CREATE_WRAPPED procedure to wrap dynamically generated PL/SQL code. BEGIN SYS.DBMS_DDL.CREATE_WRAPPED (function_returning_PLSQL_code()); END; While wrapping is not unbreakable, it makes it harder for an intruder to get access to the encryption key. Even in cases where a different key is supplied for each encrypted data value, you should not embed the key value within a package. Instead, wrap the package that performs the key management (that is, data transformation or padding). An alternative to wrapping the data is to have a separate table in which to store the encryption key and to envelope the call to the keys table with a procedure. The key table can be joined to the data table using a primary key to foreign key relationship. For example, employee_number is the primary key in the employees table that stores employee information and the encrypted SSN. The employee_number column is a foreign key to the ssn_keys table that stores the encryption keys for the employee SSN. The key stored in the ssn_keys table can also be transformed before use (by using an XOR operation), so the key itself is not stored unencrypted. If you wrap the procedure, then that can hide the way in which the keys are transformed before use. The strengths of this approach are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Users who have direct table access cannot see the sensitive data unencrypted, nor can they retrieve the keys to decrypt the data. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Access to decrypted data can be controlled through a procedure that selects the encrypted data, retrieves the decryption key from the key table, and transforms it before it can be used to decrypt the data. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The data transformation algorithm is hidden from casual snooping by wrapping the procedure, which obfuscates the procedure code. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ SELECT access to both the data table and the keys table does not guarantee that the user with this access can decrypt the data, because the key is transformed before use. The weakness to this approach is that a user who has SELECT access to both the key table and the data table, and who can derive the key transformation algorithm, can break the encryption scheme. The preceding approach is not infallible, but it is adequate to protect against easy retrieval of sensitive information stored in clear text. Storing the Encryption Keys in the Operating System Storing keys in a flat file in the operating system is another option. Oracle Database enables you to make callouts from PL/SQL, which you could use to retrieve encryption keys. However, if you store keys in the operating system and make callouts to it, then your data is only as secure as the protection on the operating system. If your primary security concern is that the database can be broken into from the operating system, then storing the keys in the operating system makes it easier for an intruder to retrieve encrypted data than storing the keys in the database itself. Users Managing Their Own Encryption Keys Using Transparent Database Encryption and Table space Encryption Transparent database encryption and table space encryption provide secu

Jonothan Edwards Essay -- Edwards Puritan Calvinist Christianity Essay

Jonothan Edwards Works Cited Not Included He was considered a genius, quoted as a man of formidable intellect and master of puritan revival. During his time, he was an uncompromising Calvinist and he had the power of single-handedly keeping the Puritan faith strong and alive for almost sixty years by using a sort of influential scare tactic to provoke his audience. His name was Jonathan Edwards and his use of imagery was exquisite. In one of his great sermons "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards used phrases and parallelism that could simply move his listener or reader. Edwards described his view of a vengeful God and the consequences of sin with such strong emotion and vividness that it was sure too shaken up most, if not all of those who had the privilege of hearing or reading it. Edwards clearly portray an image of a fearful and powerful God in relation to a simple and weak man. Edward's dialect was very mighty and yet handled with class and ease. Edward's words were potent and astonishing and he was sure to shaken anyone who came across them. First, many of the beginning and following entries of "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God," by Jonathan Edwards, create many word pictures. Edwards begins by describing man, who was nothing other than insignificant and evil, and his relationship with God, who was angry and very much in authority. Edwards states, "There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up..." (Edwards,290). Edward's view of man is not only poor, but also small. Edward's view of God is very much almighty. Edward's follows up his views by stating, "He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but He can most ... ...od." Edward's use of pronouns and parallelism made his overall imagery just fabulous. Edward's phrases were fierce, strong, and stated with such ease and smoothness that his audiences could easily feel his words weather heard or read. Edwards is undoubtedly due all praises and recognition as being a intellectual genius. The sermon "Sinners of an Angry God" alone, clearly proves Edward's ability to control and imitate one's views of a very strong and angry God that must be respected. It is no wonder that Edwards had the ability to keep the Calvinistic views of his time very dominate and alive. Edwards knew very well how to use words as a means of pure command, influence, and forcefulness. Edwards is amongst the top in deifying the highest levels of clever and prestigious dialect. In other words, Jonathon Edwards was a master at simply portraying the power of words.

Performance Management Essay -- Business and Management Studies

Performance Management The performance management process provides an opportunity for the employees and managers to discuss goals and develop plans for achieving those goals. Therefore, communication involve between managers and employees that they have to identify job roles and functions related to the company objectives. They get together to devise some performance appraisals to enhance the company overall performance. The performance manager responsible for supervising workforce and the group educates and develops employees’ potential in order to improve workforce performance. Moreover, rewards is directly Employees performance. Essential Managing Performance to the Group 1 Explain how managing performance is a critical element in the success of a business. Employees need to understand their roles clearly An effective Performance Management system is based on these concepts: * Employees need to understand their roles clearly * Performance may be managed * There is a direct relationship between performance and rewards * Employee involvement is critical to performance development * Performance expectations must be set in advance and there must be agreement * Performance management requires on-going coaching, feedback and planning * Performance management can be a positive experience * Facilitate a process to establish clear role definitions and accountabilities. * Create a custom Performance Management program or improve your existing program. * Establish the objectives of your Performance Appraisal and Performance Management program. * Determine your performance criteria and integrate these criteria with your compensation systems. * Create your evaluation format. * Develop policies and procedures. * Conduct training sessions for your managers and supervisors. * Assist with the roll-out and communication of the program to your total employee group. How managing performance for a success of a business To begin the process, you and the employee will collaborate on the development of performance standards. You will develop a performance plan that directs the employee's efforts toward achieving specific results, to support organizational growth as well as the employee's professional growth. Discuss goals and objectives throughout the year, providing a framewo... ...n you and the employee * Help the employee attain performance objectives * Increase employee motivation and commitment * Maintain and increase the employee's self-esteem * Provide support Link of appraisal and review Performance Appraisal The campus carries out its mission through the individual and collective contributions of its employees. To do their best, staff members need to know that those contributions will be recognized and acknowledged. Overseeing performance and providing feedback is not an isolated event, but rather an ongoing process that takes place throughout the year. The performance appraisal is part of that process, and provides an excellent opportunity for you to communicate with the employee about past performance, evaluate the employee's job satisfaction, and make plans for the employee's future performance. Remember that the performance appraisal summarizes the employee's contributions over the entire appraisal period (usually one year). It is not a step in the disciplinary process. It may occur as often as you believe is necessary to acknowledge the employee for accomplishments and to plan together for improved performance.

Analysis “Angel Pavement” by Priestley

The extract under analysis is written by an English novelist, playwright and a broadcaster, John Boynton Priestly. â€Å"Angel Pavement† is his novel published in 1930. It brought him a great success. Some problems are touched in this novel, for example, a problem of upbringing, a generation gap. Generally, Priestly touches upon problems in the society, emphasizes its inconsistency. The extract dwells upon a common dinner of a family. Mr. Smeeth, the head of a family, compares the behaviour of his children, George and Edna, today and several years ago.He does not accept their views. A protagonist, Mr. Smeeth, presents a common father who wants an atmosphere of mutual aid, understanding and warmth in his family. Initially, Mr. Smeeth is disappointed by his daughter, he can’t understand her. She seems like smthunattractive for him anymore, for instance such words as with the help of which Mr. Smeeth describes his daughter â€Å"grayish-greenish-bluish eyes†, now he ’s not sure, moreover he talks about it with some degree of disgust resorting to such kind of derivative.Actually, practically the whole extract presents thoughts of the protagonist, his inner monologue, instead of the last one where the author by himself makes a kind of conclusion. Such words as â€Å"Mr. Smeeth eyed Edna severely; Edna annoyed him these days† can demonstrate Mr. Smeeth’s attitude towards Edna. John Priestly resorts to such a technique as â€Å"flashback†. So we can observe how Mr. Smeeth treats his daughter at her different ages.A detached construction in the sentence â€Å"He had been very fond of her when she was a child – and, for that matter, he was still fond of her†, this compares his attitude in her childhood and nowadays when she is a teenager. From the point of view Mr. Smeeth, Edna is described with the help of parallel construction as â€Å"neither child nor adult, neither dependent nor independent†, agai n it proves that her father practically doesn’t know her.There is an example of gradation in description of Edna by Mr.  Smeeth’s words: â€Å"She was at her worst: languid and complaining, shrill and resentful, or sullen and tearful; Actually, the last extract presents a piece of argumentation in which the author by himself raises a problem of generation gap and gives examples. There is an example of metaphor â€Å"the product of a changing civilization†. It proves that they are people of a consumer generation. Also there is an example of parallel construction. Mr. Smeeth doesn’t consider his children as someone unique since it’s a characteristic of each parent to distinguish his child among others.For him, George â€Å"a very bright promising boy†, actually only George has positive characteristics in comparison with Edna, however father is not satisfied with his inclinations, he doesn’t see any prospects in his life, moreover he doesn’t believe in his success. There is a bright example with the help of antithesis: â€Å"George was both a disappointment and a mystery†. Mr. Smeeth considers his children to be â€Å"foreigners†, people of different views, behavior, values. Actually, generation gap is an eternal problem which existed for many centuries.

Working with Children: Child-Centered Practice

The family institution is an important entity in the society that has implication on the future of children and the nation at large. In order to realize the importance of family institution, the parents and their parenting role should be placed at the centre of success strategy. This realization explains why there is an intense national interest in parenting and the associated societal forces influencing parenting such as child care support organizations and inter-professional bodies that enhances an enabling environment to foster children development. Essential bodies that frequently interact with the parents and their children in their upbringing are: the family, friends and neighbours, professionals, voluntary workers or self-help groups such as Playgroups, and formal organisations for children such as Nurseries, Schools, After-School Clubs, children’s homes, hospitals. Developmental Scholars have established that child’s growth and development is shaped by the environment in terms of total interaction between parenting process and societal forces. The critical role played by societal complex forces and institutions that influences parents and early child rearing practices can not be underestimated but can be evaluated to enhance its effectiveness in developing a healthy and all round future generation. Having a child centered practice means providing care for the children from preconception, prenatal and breastfeeding. Therefore, improving a child care network system invokes addressing issues such as breastfeeding, parent’s time with their children, social and economic challenges of parenting and support services for parents in early child rearing process. In this regard, this paper shall analyse and discuss how to improve children’s lives and provide a plan that reflects inter-professional, collaborative approaches to meeting their needs. In order to achieve paper’s objective, an overview of prenatal and preconception, and breastfeeding child care current practices and their necessary remedies shall be suggested. Introduction Parenting is a challenging topic to scholars and as a result it has received much attention in the recent past owing top its importance to the society’s sustainability. This much received attention received is due to knowledge expansion in fields of behavioral, developmental psychology and neurosciences which have emphasised the importance of child’s early years in children’s long term growth and development in areas of behavior, health and long term learning. In this regard, various scholars and institutions have looked at the issue in detail from various perspectives that are determined by factors that influence process of bring up of children by parent-substitutes or parents . Attkisson (1992) report that the nation realizes many benefits by investing in the children’s early intervention programs welfare. However, the issue of children welfare in relation to their development ought to be understood on a wider concept in terms of societal expression of the families and children. Unfortunately, the public polls clearly indicate that 82% of the adults believe that it is difficult to undergo childhood phase than it used to be in the past decades . While on the parental roles and responsibilities borne by parents, statistics show that most parents face hard times that they need help to successfully raise their children. It is evident that both the family and public sectors have heavily invested in the development of children. An estimated $16,030 is allocated to a child annually that translates to about 14. 47 percent of the GDP . This is just a tip of ice burg in resources allocation because it does not include indirect cost such valuation of the time parents spend caring for their children together with the direct out-of-pocket costs like housing, health care and food . On average, the expenditure ration allocation of child care varies greatly between the private and the public sector with respect to earnings distribution . The major section being supported by the government is that of children education and health care . However, before the children enroll in the elementary schools the responsibility of child care and development is carried by the parents. In the past decades, the child development documentation highlights that the early years of a child have an important bearing on the entire human life. Therefore, to improve child care systems requires a clear understanding of the parental behaviours and the contextual factors that affects the parenting at these early years. In this line of thought, this paper shall look at preconception and prenatal care, and breastfeeding as part of having a healthy children parenting. Preconception and Prenatal Care Most early childhood interventions usually target the children from birth up to five years. In contrary, the child’s bright future should start before birth. tates that prenatal and preconception child care are critical as they play key role in preventing: the risk of low birth weight, birth defects and prematurity problems which in normal circumstances are major attributes that lead to high cases of childhood disabilities and infant mortality . For instance, developmental psychologists report that pregnant women who access adequate prenatal care are likely to give birth to right weight infants as opposed to their counterparts that received inadequate prenatal care who report infants with less weight of about 5. 5 pounds . In addition to that, prenatal and preconception care prop up reduction in risk taking behaviours, provide for parental support and education and healthy behaviours. Moreover, Halfon N et al. (2002) reports that effective and adequate preconception and prenatal child care have a positive impact that extends up to adulthood. Therefore, it is important to be included in the preconception and prenatal child care in construction of the childhood care services. The national child care guideline highlight and emphasizes that the preconception and prenatal practices should be considered as integral part of the parenting and parent care incentives. This because the prenatal care involves a process that identify conditions that can hamper successful child bearing or pregnancy like birth defects but there is an intervention that can ameliorated them before a routine preconception care . Prenatal care can be relied on as a good strategy to prevent most recorded birth defects because most pregnant mothers usually start prenatal care before day seventeen and 56 days after their pregnancy, when the foetus is vulnerable to external effects that can result to birth defects . However, the extent of utilization of the preconception and prenatal care by pregnant mothers has been put to question as many pregnant women exposes foetus to risk during and after pregnancy. Evidently, the study of pregnant women between the age of 18 to 45 by (Gilian 1997) showed that 1in 7 women was underweight, 1 in 4 was an overweight, 1 in 5 was a smoker, 1 in 8 engaged in risky sexual behaviours that lead to contaminating STIs or HIV/AIDS infections, 1 in 15 was alcoholic, and 2 in 5 breastfed their infants after being discharged from hospital. Extend of exposure risk among pregnant women exhibits disparities across the population’s social, class and race. The age group disparities in birth rates show that the teenage birth rate is high in Hispanic with 64 births for 1,000, Africans had 48, and white ladies had 14. On the other hand the rate of infant mortality has relatively declined from 7. 9 per 1,000 from 1997 to 5. 9 in 2004 with most cases reported from low income and middle income families. Additionally, low weight births increased significantly by 6 percent with record of very low birth weight infants at 11percent of an equivalent of less than 3. pounds . However, the African born infants in all circumstances were likely to be twice as heavy as white infants. Available Interventions There are a number of programs that pregnant woman can access in order to actualize prenatal and preconception care for the children. These services include: private insurance for reproductive age women, Medicaid and the Comprehen sive Prenatal Services Program (CPSP) that provides for low income women, Access to Infants and Mothers (AIM) provide low cost insurance cover to middle income women and their infants. Additionally, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grants that funds maternity and prenatal care, Adolescent Family Life Program (AFLP) aims at educating teenage parents to minimize their chances of conception while increasing their chances of graduation, Migrant and Community Health centers serves and supplements food for low income mothers and their infants reducing infants deaths by 40 percent . Gaps The research reveals that there are still many gaps alongside barriers within the child care networking system. However, understanding the gaps and barriers is necessary to fill these gaps and lower the barriers in order to foster and promote quality early childhood development. Some of the fundamental gaps in child care are: First, lack of the defined framework for administration, funding and service delivery of prenatal and preconception child care for low income pregnant mothers. Second, the insufficient instructional design for parental education that lacks home and car safety, cognitive development in children, new born immunization needs, infant-parent bonding techniques and normal infant behaviours and needs. Third, there is insufficient or costly smoking cessation education which is unaffordable to low income parents that does not meet their needs . And lastly, there is no sufficient efforts geared towards taming domestic violence against pregnant women as statistics reveal that 4 to 8 percent of pregnant parents are physically abused annually causing deformity, diseases and damage to the foetus . Barriers The barriers that are evident to the prenatal and preconception hinders service utilization and as a result the target populations can not benefit it fully . Some of the barriers includes: low valuation of the prenatal and preconception intervention programs by the service providers and expectant mothers. This attitude is believed to be caused by lack of knowledge for expectant mothers and unaware of program benefits by the services providers. The diversity nature of the population need cultural and linguistic competency to dispense child care services of which the nation lacks. Lastly, there is a barrier in terms of service coordination for prenatal care providers and the closely associated programs. Improving prenatal and preconception care. Based on the gaps and barriers, it gives an opportunity to search for possible measures to improve prenatal and preconception child care. It is appoint of worth to note that, it is difficult to do everything for everyone; but if a few priority areas are identified and addressed, then a small input can yield a tangible returns in early child growth and development. The priority areas which need to be improved on include: promotion of outreach incentives in order to encourage pregnant women which have shown positive impact in the past in terms improved access to child care and birth outcomes. Enhancement of service capacity is requiring so that it can serve any increasing number of pregnant women when they show up after outreach campaigns, promotions and awareness. There is need to invest heavily in parenting education by designing and sustaining parenting classes for parents expecting or those with infants with partnership with local agencies and professional bodies. Smoking and alcohol abuse cessation efforts especially to Africans and teens to minimize that risk of exposing foetus to this external hazard . The government and other stake holders should work hard to design policies that aim at arresting domestic violence against pregnant women by use of group counseling, abused women care and prosecution of criminals. Psychological support is needed at each level through development of the family resource centre to provide the population with psychological support and skills for parents in regard to flexible work schedules against responsibilities, child care and paternity leaves for male spouses to support infant growth and development . Enhancement of the services coordination and integration of the system between the early childhood health systems and the reproductive health by: supporting the local effort to enhance capacity, facilitate service coordination and experiment more on prenatal and preconception care to gain better insight . Moreover, there should be adequate funds allocation for research and evaluation of the program in order to feedback to further improve the services. There is need however, to promote cultural competency in services delivery. Lastly, the programs for prenatal and preconception intervention shall be helpful to the pregnant women if there is an additional investment to the program . However, to reframe the prenatal and preconception phases of child care special attention should be given to aspects such prenatal services as being point of entry for other services, service platform such as administrative platform, partnership between obstetrician and pediatrician and the service providers training and sustainability is key. Breastfeeding After prenatal and preconception care as the child is born, the immediate step is the breastfeeding. Gilian, (1997) notes that breastfeeding is not only an important aspect in the sense that it denotes how organized the family is, but also determines the infants initial nutrition and the feeding . Breastfeeding is perceived today as an old age essential behavior for survival purposes of species, its utilization has declined sharply in present century due to cow’s milk formula availability. As a consequence, breastfeeding have not remain to be an automatic behaviour to be exhibited by lactating mother for the child’s survival, but a choice that depends on the family, health system factor and social factors. It should be noted that many families today are reaching a decision to breastfeed the infant though not easy to arrive at as it involves a complex adaptations and decision. Despite the ups and down of arriving at the decision to breastfeed, there are many long term benefits accrued to breast feeding. In fact, the infants that are breastfed usually experiences less chronic and infectious illnesses and shape optimal child growth and development. Therefore, as medical and social practitioners this is an opportunity to adopt, support and sustain this vital health promoting behavior by addressing barriers such as workplace, social and economic factors that hamper breastfeeding . The challenge that is evident as far as breastfeeding is concerned is the sustainability of breastfeeding after the period of six moths after discharge from the hospital; thus many infants fail to get full benefits resulting from breastfeeding. The challenge of breastfeeding has emerged in early 1940s due to introduction of â€Å"formula† or artificial baby milk replacing mother’s milk. As a result, breastfeeding is no longer valued as universal health source for infant’s nutrition. As a consequence of declined breastfeeding culture, three barriers emerge. These barriers are: Lactation management is no longer a serious priority, few nurses and physicians were trained for care and support of breastfeeding and breastfeeding was not recognized as primary choice for infants feeding. Therefore, the decline resulted to elimination of knowledge base and model for pregnant women to use in supporting or teaching breastfeeding. Evidently, these barriers have to be handled at any cost due to the tangible benefits of breastfeeding. Some of the Developmental and Health benefits of breastfeeding are: mother’s milk is a source of complete nutrition for infant’s hydration and optimal growth during the first six months of life. Breastfeeding reduces infectious illnesses such as botulism, meningitis, otitis media and bacteremia . Additionally, there are reduced chances of chronic illnesses that can affect the infant Crohn’s infection, food allergies, SIDS and bottle tooth decay. Provides the needed 30 percent of calories between 1 and 2 years of growth and development ; Infant improves his or her Intelligent Quotient and performance of the developmental assessments and lastly breast milk reduces infant risk of retinopathy of prematurity. The mother through breastfeeding her infant benefits by keeping off chronic diseases such as ovarian cancer, hip fractures and premenopausal breast cancer. Secondly, the lactating mother can quickly recover from childbirth, high self esteem, minimal risk for parental depression, can rapidly return to pregnancy weight and reduces her risks for hemorrhage. Economically, breastfeeding proves to less expensive and reduces health care expenses because there are healthy children’s. Improving breastfeeding Breastfeeding is an important undertaking vital for human race survival. However, communication issues emerges to be one of the most urgently needed to be addressed as breastfeeding is no longer seen on our local or international media such as radio, internet, TVs, magazines, news papers, journals and posters. The media shall play a key role in changing the public attitude towards this important health support activity for infants . Secondly, there is need to invest in lactation management support and services in child care centers and educate parents sufficiently. And thirdly there is need to Integrate and Coordinate Services, Programs, and Funding in breastfeeding to realize a positive impact. This will help to build and develop a strong child-community centered, comprehensive and integrated child care breastfeeding system that can support almost all families. Conclusion In conclusion, the paper ahs discussed elaborately how to improve child care by looking at the preconception and prenatal. Thereafter, the paper has looked at the immediate phase of breastfeeding which need to be addressed if the nation has to keep the infants healthy and fit as future generation. However, the parenting part remains of impact in terms parent-infant interaction. The research shows that the relationship or interaction between the parents and the infant has positive cognitive, social and emotional development effects. In fostering this, the parents should be guided and counseled in relation to making of conscious choice geared towards caring for children over that for job, mothers to have husband support and that of other family allies, work organization, connecting to other social or agencies providers and need for balancing family obligations with that of job are essentials that facilitate successful parenting at advanced infant years of the child.