Uses and abuse of drugs Essay Example for Free

Uses and abuse of do drugss EssayMany tribe do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. Substance abuse is a growing problem that not only affects the person who is abusing alcohol or drugs but also affects the lives of those who be close to the abuser. Substance abuse is the abuse of any substance. A drug is a substance that modifies one or more than of the trunk functions when it is consumed. It is often erroneously assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a disease and quitting takes a lot more than Just changing your behavior. Drug Abuse is generally defined as the use of a drug with such(prenominal) frequency that the user has a physical or mental harm or it impairs social abilities. The substances that are discussed in this report are called psychoactive drugs those drugs that tempt or alter the workings of the min d, affect moods, emotions, feelings, and thinking processes. Substances drugs affect the brain, heart, liver, lungs and also the people around you.When drugs get into the bloodstream they are carried to all parts of the body and some reach the brain. In fact, drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is more difficult than it appears. The quicker the drug reaches the brain, the more intense the effects. The quickest way to get a drug into the brain, and also the most dangerous way of using any drug is to injecting into the vein. Injecting into the vein Is close as quick as smoking a drug, followed by sniffing or snorting and therefore by mouth.Eating or drinking a drug Is the slowest route, because the drug has to pass through the stomach first. Drugs are generally categorized into twain groups, stimulants and depressants. Stimulants are drugs that peed up signals through the nervous system. They produce alertness, stimulus and excitability. They also Inhibit fatigue and sleep. Everything from over-the-counter pain medication, prescriptions drugs such as,, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and even coffee can abused In one way or another.The two man substances being abused In our nation are nicotine and alcohol. How does nicotine addiction work? Basically, when you smoke your first cigarettes, when you arent addicted yet, you get a head-rush which Is caused by the nicotine. In your brain there are nicotine receptors which arent used to the nicotine In a cigarette. Over time, the nicotine receptors get used to the amount of nicotine so they can cope with the nicotine. So when this nicotine simoleons being given to the receptors (when you give up smoking) they panic and cause you to feel unhappy and angry.When you smoke, the nicotine receptors send out messages to other parts of the brain which release a drug called dopamine which makes you feel happy, satisfied, relaxed. When you try to quit, or when you fancy a cigarette your dopa mine levels are going down and you start to feel unhappy, aggressive, unsatisfied. just about smokers dont know that they are addicted to nicotine until they try to stop smoking completely they Just think that they Like smoking. The answer to your question Is that you will have a moderate nicotine addiction, and quitting wont be that hard.The signs of a severe nicotine addiction are needing to smoke a cigarette every 2 hours, having one as currently as you wake In night). Nicotine increases the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, activating the pleasure pathways in the same way other addictive drugs do. After the effects (calmness, soul of well-being) disappear, the smoker craves more. Why is alcohol addictive? Basically because alcohol, like nicotine and heroin and other substances stimulates the reward response in your brain.You have a drink, the brain rewards itself with a surge of chemicals and hormones that it really likes, and therefore the more you stimul ate it, the more it wants. Some people are more susceptible than others in that their reward responses are stronger which is why some people will get addicted to things more easily than other people will. If you add to that a troubled background of some sort, then when the brain offers its reward response though making that person feels calmer and happier or more in control, hey are more likely than someone who is pretty happy.alcoholic beverage is made of ethanol, it is a depressant, your body becomes addictive to the depressant effects and you eventually need it to stop the shakes (delirium tremors) and the withdrawals of the depressant effects on the brain and body. For example, caffeine is a stimulant, and people become addicted to that and when having caffeine withdrawals one has headaches and other neurological effects. However, alcohol is a lot more dangerous because if you are a loyal not only can you die from drinking, if you stop cold turkey you can have convulsions and d ie from withdrawals.The addictive substance is ethanol. When you are pregnant, it is important that you live what you put into your body. Consumption of illegal drugs is not safe for the unborn baby or for the mother. Studies have shown that consumption of illegal drugs during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, low birth weight, premature labor, placental abruptest, fetal death, and even maternal death. If its suspected that woman whose pregnant is using drugs they will test the baby to sop up if its born addicted, yes it is possible to see if the baby is addicted even before he/she is born.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes EssayAll typical detective stories have features in common. They alone contain a detective, also the stories contain a crime and a criminal, also in typical detective stories the criminal usually has a motive. other detail in a murder story is the detective alship canal begins an investigation and this leads to the discovery of the criminal.The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were set and written in Victorian England by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Hound of the Baskervilles is about a big black vicious hound that is haunting the Baskerville Family and after the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville the legend of the hound was revived. A earthly concern goes to tell Holmes and Watson. Holmes and Watson take up the case.The Speckled deal is about a wo valet de chambre who tells Holmes that her sister has died. The woman thinks its her stepfather, Dr Roylott. She believes that he has killed her for her inheritanceThe Man With The Twisted ba cktalk is about a woman who sees her husband in a window of an opium den and goes in to see him but he isnt there. She asks Holmes to investigate.Sherlock Holmes stories ar foreign in that they are not written from the detectives point of view. It is written from Dr Watsons point of view. This means that the reader knows the events as they are happening and doesnt know what the detective is passing game to do next. This enhances the murder mystery quality because the reader wants to know what happens next and it builds suspense with the readerTypical Sherlock Holmes crime settings are normally dark, split up and gloomy places. These are normally places such as dark alleyways and streets. Also big stately homes made to look like eerie haunted places. some other setting is out on the moors in Hound of the Baskervilles, the moors are foggy and it is usually raining.The Manor House settings used in the Hound of the Baskervilles and The Speckled Band contain large portraits on the w alls of large old rooms. They also contain old wooden doors that creak as they percipient and the doors lead into large open passageways. A large wall surrounds the whole manor and at the entrance were two large iron gates.This enhances tension because it makes the reader feel the tension that the characters are feeling and it places a picture of the setting in their mind. The moors around the manor house in Hound of the Baskervilles are foggy and mysterious, they are barren and inhospitable. They take care abandoned and lonely. The moors contain dangerous quicksand. This creates tension, by the reader knowing, that something spooky or dangerous is about to happen. The opium den in The Man with the Twisted Lip is dark, clammy and smoky. There are bodies spread all over the floor in different positions. The untypical story is the Hound of the Baskervilles because its set out of London, on a moor whereas all of his other stories are set in homes or London.The criminals in Sherlock H olmes are not typical because they have obscure ways of doing things. We know that Dr Roylott has a criminal nature because he is aggressive and shows his strength when he comes to see Holmes. This quote shows Dr Roylott when he bends the poker in Holmes apartment He bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands. This shows his strength and aggressive nature. Another quote that shows how everyone became scared of him, because when ever he went out he either got into brawls or quarrelled with the locals. He became the terror of the villageWe doubt Hugh Boone as a criminal because he doesnt really commit a crime, he was a man in lots of debt so he ran away and disguised himself as a beggar and started life again. Which suggests he is a proud man but not a criminal

Barriers of Care for Young Parents

Barriers of Care for Young ParentsYoung Parents Perceptions of Barriers to Antenatal and Postnatal CareEileen Bates, Scott AtwoodPregnancy in the unfledged adult population is lacking education, and ancillary services. Young parents are faced with difficulties in returning to employment, and education or training. In landition, teen parents face an increased risk of social exclusion and postpartum depression (Berrington et al, 2005). There was no research questions stated in this article. Currently, there is a scarce amount of literature on keep back for pregnancy in young adults. Leys (1982) cognitive model of adherence has triplet aspects satisfaction, compliance, and communication all three of which were applied to this study.For protection of the participants rights, the ethical approval for the adolescent parents everywhere the age of sixteen to be recruited was obtained by Kingston University, London, United Kingdom. For the research design in this study, mixed-methods w ere used. There was a questionnaire, and there were two focus groups. The stress and setting for this study was done with adolescent parents whom lived in London near a PCT. A PCT is similar to a Health Department.The adolescent parents in this study were defined as a young person, or their partner whom conceived under the age of twenty-two. As an incentive, the participants were given supermarket vouchers. This study was done with predominantly etiolated British young parents. Their ages ranged from 15-25 years old at the participants age of conception.For data collection, the questionnaire contained five sections, with both open and closed-ended questions. The sections were as followed a self-esteem measure, participant characteristics, time to come plans, antenatal needs and support, and postnatal needs and support. The procedure for the questionnaire was to pass out 58 questionnaires to divide the group into parents with high self-esteem, and low self-esteem.The focus groups w ere designed to add detail, and information provided in the questionnaire. The procedure for the focus group was to divide the participants into two groups antenatal and postnatal parents. Of the 58 participants used for the questionnaire, ten participants were chosen for the focus groups three sires and two fathers were in the antenatal group, and five mothers were in the postnatal group.The questionnaires findings concluded that there was a trend among self-esteem, and the adolescent parents reaction to societys treatment of them. I feel that society tends to make you feel like everyone is better than me, and that I am a disgrace (mother, age 18) (Smith and Roberts, 2009). 37 of 58 participants tended to(p) antenatal support classes. Attendance positively correlated with self-esteem. More parents with high self-esteem attended the antenatal support classes than parents with low self-esteem. When asked the reason for not care postnatal support classes, the main reason given was they did not know such classes were available.The antenatal focus groups findings concluded that, All the young parents indicated that they would like to attend postnatal classes, but felt they were not given sufficient information about these classes to attend (Smith and Roberts, 2009). The postnatal focus groups findings concluded that relatives and friends were portrayed as the most helpful resource of postnatal support. All the young mothers perceived society to entertain a negative estimate of adolescent parents. They think youre just a dirty little slag basically (mother, age 19) (Smith and Roberts, 2009).The study yields results that expand discussion on some(prenominal) different areas that may influence desire or ability to seek treatment. The one quality presented by test subjects universally was the desire to be a good parent (Smith Roberts, 2009). Outside of this, influencing variables were labeled as self-esteem, age, and gender.The results of the study conclude tha t varying levels of self-esteem influence attendance. Low self-esteem may be playacting as a barrier to attendance while those with higher self-esteem seemed to be more likely to attend. The unknown aspect of self-esteem is that the study is unable(p) to conclude if the increased levels of self-esteem were present prior to attendance or if attendance of support groups increased self-esteem (Smith Roberts, 2009).Secondly, age was an obstacle to attendance. jr. parents seemed to have a difficult time when mingling with older parents. Due to differences in financial situations, younger parents were discouraged when drawing comparisons between themselves and older parents and experienced feelings of insignificance (Runciman, 1966). Younger parents also reported less-than satisfactory experiences with health care professionals. These unsatisfactory experiences are thought to be related to the health teams lack of training, knowledge, and communication skills related to young parents ( Smith Roberts, 2009).Lastly, gender had an effect on young parents seeking care. The issue was mostly related to the necessity of different education for each gender. Societal norms dictated roles for the mother and father which led to the father being left out of education regarding infant care (Warin, 1999). Smith and Roberts believe there is a need to allow revisions to current teachings to better include young fathers.The main revisions recommended to achieve improvement in the delivery of care for the population of this study is varying education and support systems. By extending time constraints to over 19, this would allow new young mothers more time to become mothers. Education delivery must also be changed, accord to the study, so information can be better received by young parents. Lastly, the way information about programs that are already available is delivered to the send population must be changed due to the degree of isolation of the subjects (Smith and Roberts, 2 009).While the study is not perfect, it does open the door for improvement. The system of delivery must be made more targeted and precise. If education can be changed for healthcare professionals and the young parents, it may improve the outcomes of providing treatment to this under-treated population (Smith and Roberts, 2009).ReferencesBerrington A, Hernandez IC, Ingham R, Stevenson J (2005) Antecedents and outcomes of young fatherhood longitudinal evidence from the 1970 British birth cohort study. Final Report University of Southampton,SouthamptonLey P (1982) Satisfaction, compliance and communication. British diary of Clinical Psychology 21 24154Runciman WG (1966) relational deprivation and social justice A study of attitudes to social inequality in 20th Century England Routledge, LondonSmith, D., Roberts, R. (2009). Young parents perceptions of barriers to antenatal and postnatal care.British Journal Of Midwifery,17(10), 620.Warin J, Solomon Y, Lewis C, Langford W (1999) Fath ers, work and family life Family Policy Studies Centre, London

How Self Evaluation is implemented for school improvement

How Self Evaluation is go through with(predicate)ed for give lessons locomoteThe aim of the study is to investigate how rail Self-Evaluation (SSE) is passed for instruct avail. There is an increasing international trend of democratisation and decentralisation of teaching, from the bureaucratic national to an autonomous develop based education, in legal injury of financial solicitude, human resource management and curriculum management. The Department of education observes that with the democratisation of education and associated decentralisation of authority, domesticates atomic number 18 increasingly being held accountable for their writ of execution (DoE, 2004). develop Self-Evaluation is defined as a procedure involving systematic information gathering which is initiated by the school itself and aims to assess the functioning of the school and the attainment of its education goals for the purpose of supporting decision-making and learning for fostering school expe diency as a whole (Schildkamp, 2007).Paradoxic solely(a)y, the quality of education that is offered, especially in boorish schools of in the south Africa, is decreasing dramatically. This is confirmed by national and international assessment bodies like the Systemic Evaluation (SE), the Trends in Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS), the Progress in internationalistic Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ). The Department of Basic Education, (2010) contends that both the Systemic Evaluation in 2004 and SACMEQ in 2000 indicated that less than one and only(a) in four Grade 6 bookmans passed minimum standards in mathematics (DBE, 2010). It further stipulates that the international tests that South Africa participates in show that the steer 10% of learners in South Africa do worse than the top 10% of learners in other developing countries such(prenominal) as Kenya, Indonesia and Chile (DBE, 2010) .School purifyment is defined as a systematic, sustained effort in changing learning conditions and other related sexual conditions in one or more than schools with the ultimate of accomplishing educational goals more effectively (Van Veltzen, Miles, Ekholm, Hamemyer, and Robin, 1985).The above observations do non presume that the decline in the quality of education in South Africa is due(p) to the democratisation and decentralisation of education, but rather depicts an inevitable demand for a more relevant mechanism, at school level, to be put in organise to discipline high quality education and continuous school utility. This condition imposes that an effective implementation and monitoring of School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is indispensable. Vanhoof, Maeyer and Petegem (2011) confirm that schools are increasingly involve to assume a greater share of the responsibility for developing and guaranteeing educational quality (Vanhoof, Maeyer and Petegem, 2011). SSE is a school-b ased valuation that is supposed to be implemented by principals, School Management Teams (SMTs), School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and the community, on an yearbook basis, to ensure continuous improvement and high quality education in all schools. bother carryment and rationale for the studySchool self-evaluation was introduces by the former Minister of education, Professor Kader Asmal in 2001. It is the initial contour of Whole School Evaluation (WSE), antedate external evaluation. In his foreword, the minister states that the National Policy on Whole School Evaluation introduces an effective monitoring and evaluation impact that is vital to the improvement of quality and standards of functioning in schools (DBE, 2002). This polity aims at improving the boilersuit quality of education in South African schools, and its purpose is to facilitate improvement of school movement through get ones characterised by partnership, collaboration, mentoring and advocate (DBE, 2002). con cord to the National Education Policy Act (No.27 of 1996), the Minister is mandated to direct that standards of education provision, legal transfer and performance are monitored though out the country. It remains a worrying factor that campestral schools seem non to be considered as part of South African schools by these education policies. This view is confirmed by the New Vision for Rural Schooling, (2005) which states that the states commitment to social justice in all matters and especially to commonplace access to education, written into the Constitution, remains unfulfilled for a large number of children, youths and adults living in rural areas (DoE, 2005).A plethora of education policies create been true in the new political dispensation, but the in force(p) challenge is that they do non translate into school improvement. Schildkamp and Visscher (2010) argue that enormous resources are invested to develop and implement school self-evaluation pricks, but how schools actually purpose the instrument has never been thoroughly estimated longitudinally (Schildkamp and Visscher, 2010). Furthermore, they contend that several studies report a lack of effect of school self-evaluation feedback, but this lack of effect may be caused by a lack of use of school self-evaluation feedback (Schildkamp and Visscher, 2010). McNamara and OHara (2008) note that there has been a remarkable rise in the regulation of public services and servants, especially in education, in an attempt to counterbalance the autonomy of schools. Furthermore, external evaluation and revaluation has been an important member of this trend, however as their limitations become more apparent, the concept of internal or self evaluation has grown in importance (McNamara and OHara, 2008). These authors proceed to warn that the greater emphasis an evaluation system places on teacher appraisal and accountability, the less useful that system is likely to be for school improvement and professio nal nurture (McNamara and OHara, 2008). The European Parliament and Council on European Cooperation in Quality Evaluation in school education, in McNamara and OHara (2008), argue that improvements in European schools evaluation pabulum are dependant on the enhancement of schools abilities to evaluate themselves and call for all member states of the European Union (EU) to encourage school self-evaluation as a method acting of creating learning and improving schools (McNamara and OHara, 2008). This analysis is echoed by the OECD report which views development of school evaluation skills within the education system as being a comminuted component of the drive to improving educational provision in OECD member states (McNamara and OHara, 2008)During the apartheid era, prior 1994, traditional quality assurance approaches like school direction were vehemently opposed by teacher unions who matte up that their members were intimidated. When WSE was introduced, there was hope that this d emocratic unconscious process would bring satisfaction to educators and yield better learner attainment results, particularly in previously disadvantaged areas, but that positive pitch is fluid being awaited. Despite the surfeit of education policies, South Africa is facing a serious challenge of a growing trend of dysfunctional and underperforming schools, especially in previously disadvantaged areas. Efforts by the government to swivel this proclivity have been in vane. This is confirmed by the fact that the government has made some strides to develop education policies that should have culminated in school improvement, but that outcome has not soon enough been squareised. The Whole School Evaluation insurance constitution was introduced in 2001 to improve school performance, but conversely, schools are performing worse as time goes by, as revealed by national and international studies like Systemic Evaluation, TIMSS, SACMEQ and PIRLS. It should be a worrying factor to eve ry educationist as to why this education policy is not yielding the expected outcomes. It is a cause for concern to find out if this policy is being implemented as prescribed by the relevant policy document.Even though the Mpumalanga province of South Africa has reported an 8,9 % improvement in grade 12 results in 2010, it is still the lowest province in equipment casualty of learner attainment in the country, sitting at 56,8 % (MDoE, 2011). Poor performance is shoddier in rural schools where socio-economic challenges and challenges of providing qualified teachers, adequate physical and financial resources are still overwhelming. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that a good number of these rural primary schools are multi-graded farm schools.As a principal of one of the rural primary schools in the neighbourhood of one of the worse performing utility(prenominal) schools in the sub-region, I have an obligation to find out the root tune of underperformance in rural school. It has also come to my realisation that during school visitations by the circuit management, district office or provincial external evaluation team, the school self evaluation instrument is neither enquired about nor monitored. There is no link or correlation between inspection and school-based evaluation. According to the WSE policy, schools must sail through and submit self evaluation forms A and B before the end of March on an annual basis (DoE, 2004). On the contrary not flush a single school submits such a document to the regional office. I have also noted that in my three years of discover as a principal, not even a single official from any of the structures of the education department has ever enquired about the self evaluation instrument. one then tends to wonder what purpose is this education policy serving. Whether they are meant to improve the quality of education or they were just developed for symbolism still remains mysterious. I am therefore determined to come out with a turn around strategy to ensure effective implementation of the self-evaluation instrument of the WSE policy so as to ensure accountability and improvement in the education quality of rural schools.This study go away investigate how and to what extent the school self-evaluation instrument is utilised in rural schools. It ordain further explore the perceptions of school principals towards school self-evaluation. Lastly, it will determine how school self-evaluation could be better utilised to ensure school improvement and quality education. It is my conviction that if school self-evaluation can be efficiently implemented, school improvement and quality education can be achieved. Moreover, the school self-evaluation findings must easily accessible to all stakeholders, analysed, and its recommendations must be implemented so as to realise the desired outcomes of school improvement. This study will counselor-at-law for keeping all stakeholders informed about the performance of t heir school, and encourage them to positively contribution to the improvement of their school. It will also assist different officers in all structures of education, from the school principal to the provincial Superintendent Generals, to perform their designated duties diligently. Finally policy makers will get feedback of implementation of the policy such that they can evaluate its allude and make possible amendments if necessary.main interrogation questionIn order to address the problem statement, this study must give an explicit answer to the interest question-How and to what extent is school self-evaluation implemented for school improvement in rural schools?structure of the proposalSection 1 of the proposal is the introduction of school self-evaluation, enunciation of the problem statement and rational, and elocution of the main research question. Section 2 portrays the context of the study and section 3 presents the literature that has been reviewed. Section 4 will demonstr ate the research design and methods that will be implemented and section 5 will illustrate the timeline for the whole research process. Section 6 will give the outline of chapters and section 7 will be the list references.Context for the studyThe study will take place in the rural schools of Mpumalanga province. Mpumalanga is one of the provinces that have the lowest socio-economic status. Consequently, most schools are in quintiles one and two, indicating that the learners in these schools are from destitute families. Learners have to travel for over quintuplet Kilometres every single day, to get to school, posing absenteeism problems to educators. Some of these schools have no electricity and sanitation, such that introduction of the new forms of technologically advanced equipment is implausible. Mpumalanga has the least percentage strike in the number of learners at farm schools. The new vision for rural schooling states that between 1996 and 2000, it decreased by -65% (DoE, 20 05). This figure shows that there is a smasher increase in the number of learners at farm schools.The Ermelo sub-district has three circuits with ninety seven schools, out of which only eight are in town. The rest of them are located in very remote farms such that access to such schools for the support teams in a daunting task. There are no secondary farm school, but combined schools. This is because the enrolment of these schools does not allow them to be fully fledged secondary schools. A good number of primary schools have multi-graded classes, combining learners from different grades into one class. This situation does not only present management problems but pedagogical challenges as head. It is unbearable for educators to manage curriculum delivery under such adverse conditions.Even though conditions seem to be unfavourable for provision of quality education, rural schools are also expected to improve their performance. School self-evaluation must be implemented just in the same way or better than it should be implemented in urban schools. The WSE policy however recognises that the inauspicious conditions may retard the pace of school improvement. A provision was made in the policy, to evaluate each school based on its contextual factors. One of the principles of the WSE policy is seek to understand why schools are where they are and to use the particular circumstances to the school as the main head start point of evaluation (DoE, 2001).literature reviewintroductionThis section reviews researches that were conducted in Ireland, Netherlands, England and South Africa, based on School Self-Evaluation (SSE). A comparison is made to give away and best international practices and set them as a benchmark for implementation of School Self-Evaluation for school improvement in South Africa.A DISCUSSION OF research conducted internationally AS WELL AS studies in south africaSCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN IRELANDIn Ireland, the first system of evaluation that was pil oted between 1990 and 1999 is the Whole School Evaluation (WSE). This system culminated in a series of rancorous industrial disputes that lasted until 2003. The reason for these quarrels was that educators viewed evaluation as reductionist and managerialist interference in their profession eyepatch stakeholders such as parents, learners and business community demanded hard data from a transparent school evaluation process (McNamara and OHara, 2006). In 2004, a new role model for school evaluation, Looking At Our School (LAOS), was implemented (McNamara and OHara, 2006). McNamara and OHara explain that the School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is based on a broad framework for inspection and evaluation of schools that includes five areas of evaluation that are subdivided into 143 themes for self-evaluation, which are used to prepare for external evaluation by the inspectorate (McNamara and OHara, 2006). In short, SSE precedes external evaluation and it is conducted by each schools stakeholde rs, contradictory external evaluation which is conducted by external officials called inspectorates.McNamara and OHara (2006) also contend that Ireland is adopting a model of quality assurance that empha coats school development planning through internal school-review and self-evaluation, with the support of external evaluation carried out by the Inspectorate (McNamara and OHara, 2006). This model concurs with MacBeaths idea which argues that the role of external evaluation and inspection is merely to ensure that internal systems of evaluation and self-review are implemented effectively (McNamara and OHara, 2006). In their study, McNamara and OHara (2006) reveal that principals expressed their view that any form of external evaluation was by its spirit superficial, underestimated the non-academic achievements of schools and elevated darksome concerns among teachers, yet to the contrary, self-evaluation with no external mandate or monitoring was perceived as a major success (McN amara and OHara, 2006).According to McNamara and OHara, self-evaluation in Ireland had its negatives. Firstly, LAOS documents lack suggestions as to how schools should collect the data on which the effectiveness and credibility of the whole system must rest (McNamara and OHara, 2006). Secondly, the judgments in the areas, aspects and components requires data that in the present system does not exist- there is, for instance, no data regarding the ability and general expectations of pupils (McNamara and OHara, 2006). McNamara and OHara argue that evaluation, whether external or internal, mandated or self-driven, requires at a minimum the collection and analysis of real data on which firm conclusions can be based (McNamara and OHara, 2006). Thirdly, the Chief Inspector shifted the responsibility of addressing weaknesses identified during inspection to self-governing and self-evaluating institutions. McNamara and OHara argue that the weaknesses identified during inspection should not be a responsibility of schools to address them since they do not have the capacity to control over resources, teacher tenure and conditions of employment, and issue. Moreover, schools cannot solve all problems themselves in-house-that is a fiction (McNamara and OHara, 2006). After the court judgment, the honours of whether to release none, some or all of the Inspection Report lies solely on schools management team. Fourthly, LAOS is unplumbed about the appropriate role of parents, teachers and learners in the school evaluation process. One other worrying factor is that the concept of an ongoing self-evaluation was said to be nonplus to most schools (McNamara and OHara, 2006). Lastly, McNamara and OHara (2008) lament that the lack of any guidelines in LAOS as to criteria or research methods that might inform judgments has led to what amounts to data-free evaluation in practice, and moreover, it is clear that without such guidelines and the provision of training and research support f or schools, the situation is not likely to change (McNamara and OHara, 2008). The study by McNamara and OHara reveal acceptance of the new themes of self-evaluation to give a comprehensive picture of all schools activities and not just their academic outcomes (McNamara and OHara, 2006). According to McNamara and OHara (2006), the above point was particularly stressed by respondents from the two primary schools designated disadvantaged, which felt very strongly that the affirmation of good practice provided by the inspectors was of extraordinary importance to teachers in disadvantaged school who rarely feel valued or supported. This was perceived as a considerable achievement in an education community deeply suspicious of evaluation, inspection and appraisal (McNamara and OHara, 2006).SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN SCOTLANDCroxford, Grek and Shaik (2009) state that despite the change from Conservative to Labour government in 1997, education policy in Scotland and elsewhere in the United K ingdom (UK) continued to chew over an emphasis on quality assurance and a belief that competition and setting standards would enhance quality and ensure accountability (Croxford et al., 2009). They further stipulate that Scotlands approach to Quality Assurance and Evaluation (QAE) has a greater emphasis on self-evaluation by schools, whereas England had a stronger focus on hard performance indicators (Croxford et al., 2009). The Inspectorate is a major influence on the formulation of education policies. In 1980, the Inspectorates set up a Management of Education Resource Unit (MERU) that later became the Audit Unit, to levy good management achieve value for money in education. It started publishing papers that identified characteristics of effective schools in an attempt to encourage secondary schools to evaluate their own practice and performance (MacBeath and Mortimore, 2001). In 1990/91 it began publishing annually information for parents series-reports giving the details of sc hools attainment data school costs attending and absence rates and school leaver destination for secondary schools. In 1991, it published the role of school development plans in managing schools effectiveness as well as statistical information about examination performance per school, which was used for school self-evaluation. Standards Tables were used each year to compare the performance by example departments within each school and nationally, the Relative Ratings and National Comparison Factors, respectively (Croxford et al. 2009). The Scottish Office Education Industry Department (SOEID) in Croxford et al. ( 2009) state that the process of self-evaluation and development planning were set out more explicitly by the Audit Unit publication How good is our school? (HGIOS?), which provided a set of performance indicators of what a good school should look like (Croxford et al. 2009). Schools were encouraged to use the same performance indicators as those used by the HMI in school inspection to identify, report and take action where required on strengths and weaknesses (Croxford et al., 2009). In 1997, HMI set out its vision of working in partnership with local authorities and schools through the quality initiative in Scotland schools. This was endorsed in the standards in Scotlands schools Act 2000. According to Cowie and Croxford, in Croxford et al. (2009), this act places local authorities under great pressure to implement the required quality assurance procedures by the threat of adverse inspection by HMI of education (HMIE) (Croxford et al., 2009). A new professional group of Quality good Officers (QIO) has been established to challenge and support schools. They scrutinise statistics on school performance, seek to ensure a robust self-evaluation structure within schools and identify areas that destiny to be addressed (Croxford et al., 2009). They carry out a regular cycle of visits to schools to assess the schools progress with its school development p lan discuss improvement issues with management and rung and support the schools management in making improvements (Croxford et al., 2009). The local authorities themselves are inspected by HMIE, with special regard to their own self-evaluation and the extent to which they support and challenge their schools (Croxford et al., 2009). In Scotland, schools are required to evaluate their own performance each year using the 30 quality Indicators from HGIOS and their performance on the indicators is extremely judged on a regular basis through inspection of schools carried out by HMIE. The indicators are based on let out performance outcomes, delivery of education, policy development and planning, management and support lag, partnership and resources, leadership capacity for improvement (Croxford et al., 2009). Self-evaluation procedure requires schools to look at each aspect of provision and ask How are we doing? How do we get? What are we going to do now? For each indicator, schools m ust gather evidence in order to evaluate their performance, on a six-point scale from 1 unsatisfactory, to 6 excellent (Croxford et al. 2009).SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN ENGLANDPrior 1990, the government of England implemented a top down strategy to school monitor performance of schools. A change was seen in 1997 when the government showed some commitment to support and promote school self-evaluation (Turnbull, 2007). The Department for Education and Skills (DfES), 2004 notes that in 1999, a revised framework was of inspecting schools that included guidance for schools on using it for school self-evaluation, and not just inspection was introduced (DfES, 2004). Local authorities had been providing support for head teachers as they increase their efforts to manage and lead the self-evaluation process and procedures now expected in their schools (Plowright, 2008). The Office for standards in education (Ofsted), in Plowright (2008) contends that the school that knows and understands itsel f is on the way to solving any problem it has self-evaluation provides the key to improvement (Plowright, 2008). In his empirical research, Plowright discovered that head teachers held a positive view of the use of self-evaluation in contributing to school improvement (Plowright, 2008).The introduction of the new inspection framework in September 2005 in England culminated in an obligation that every school had to maintain and submit an online Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) that records the judgments of its current performance and its priorities for improvement (Bubb, Early, Ahtaridou, Jones and Taylor, 2007). According to Ofsted in Bubb, et al. (2007), intelligent accountability is based on a schools own views of how well it serves its learners and suggests that all schools need to be able to answer two key questions How well are we doing? And how can we do better? Bubb, et al. (2007) further argue that even though the SEF is not statutory but all schools seem to use it, which is unsur prising as their inspection is largely based around the SEF which includes the performance data (Bubb, et al., 2007). The areas of evaluation are the characteristics of the school views of learners, parents/carers and other stakeholders leadership and management overall effectiveness and efficiency (Bubb, et al., 2007). Leung, 2005 emphasises that unless teachers beliefs are changed, and shared meaning is achieved, for example believing in the importance of evidence-based evaluation methods for self-evaluation and the importance of continuous self-improvement, there will not be commitment towards the reform initiatives and success cannot be guaranteed (Leung, 2005). She further warns that restructuring, changing only procedures, designing performance indicators and mandating the public announcement of evaluation results cannot help us but providing assistance to schools, supporting professionals networks and providing school-based on-going school development is vital (Leung, 2005). Scholars like Hargreaves and Fullan ascertain only that recruiting can facilitate educational professionals to transform their old beliefs and practices (Leung, 2005).In their research on 38 schools across England, where they were investigating self-evaluation and school improvement progress, Bubb, et al. (2007) discovered that SEF are completed in many different ways, ranging from individual efforts by head teachers to involvement of external consultants to collective efforts by all staff members (Bubb, et al., 2007). They also found out that some dissatisfaction demonstrated by support staff who felt left out and expressed that they could have made crucial contributions if they were not excluded. The process started with training the whole staff so as to raise awareness of the process and its requirements. Each staff member, including heads of departments, would the complete his/her form under supervision of their Senior Leadership Group (SLG) (Bubb, et al., 2007).In her study, Tu rnbull, (2007) discovered that head teachers in England saw that self-evaluation in some form became a reality of practice through the intervention of Local Education Authorities (LEAs), reflecting the growing impact of globalisation and accountability of schools (Turnbull, 2007).SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN SOUTH AFRICAPrior 1994, schools performance was monitored through inspection, but there was no requirement or expectation of schools to undertake self-evaluation in South Africa (Turnbull, 2007). Some form of self-evaluation was introduced in 1998 through the Developmental Appraisal System (DAS), and Whole School Evaluation (WSE) in 2001 for full implementation in 2003 (Turnbull, 2007). These systems aimed at involving all educators in evaluating their practice, enabling self-evaluation of the WSE and impact of management, and they were to be monitored by the external supervisors from the provincial office of the Department of Education (DoE) (Turnbull, 2007). Both systems failed to realize their documental and a new Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) was introduced in 2003, combining DAS, WSE and Performance Measurement (PM).School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is the initial phase of the two-phased WSE. The second phase is external evaluation conducted by provincial supervisors in a three year cycle. Both phases utilise the same instrument for evaluation. There are 9 key areas of evaluation namely basic functionality of the school leadership, management and communication, governance and relationships quality teaching and learning and educator development curriculum provision and resources learner achievement school safety, security and discipline school infrastructure and parent and community (DoE, 2001).The process of evaluation cycle includes pre-evaluation school self-evaluation detailed on-site evaluation, post-evaluation inform and post evaluation support. Each supervisory team will have a team leader who has the responsibility to build a brief v isibleness about the general level of functionality of the school and to share with the school the procedures that will be followed by the evaluation team. The team leader also has overall responsibility for the evaluation process and the conduct of the supervisors. Supervisory teams will comprise accredited supervisors capable of evaluating the nine areas for evaluation. Members should have the experience to evaluate at least one subject/learning area and have an awareness of the key elements of good provision for Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN). The number of supervisors will normally be within the range of four to six, depending on the school size and resources available. Evaluations will normally be conducted between three to four days of the week, depending on the size of the school. A school will be helped by district support services to formulate and implement an improvement plan based on the recommendations in the report and provide the school with support as it seeks to implement the plan (DoE, 2001)The findings in Turnbulls research disclose that all educators interviewed identified that the various attempts to introduce self-evaluation had failed, though all saw that the concept was one that should be in place, but attempts to use self-evaluation to improve the quality of teaching and learning in individual schools were winning place, with individual teachers working together on classroom practice and in some schools using IQMS, with senior team ensuring that every member of staff was sight at least once a year, met with the observer, and those seen to have issues being visited (Turnbull, 2007). The failure of introduction of self-evaluation is attributed to two groups of factors. The first issues are managerial and they include the linking of the use of self-evaluation to the annual pay increments making it impossible to award someone less than satisfactory even though he/she deserves it, especially in township schools the unwieldy n ature of the system needed to implement policy and the lack of capacity of the local DoE to either monitor the process, or provide support for schools where a need was identified. The second issues are cultural/historical and they include the limited experience of educators of any form of self-evaluation and limited training provided the limited practical training of the absolute majority of township teachers and principals the impact of the previous political system leading to a resistance to change and in township schools the real danger o

The Operation Of British Petroleum Commerce Essay

The Operation Of British Petroleum Commerce EssayThis project examines the operation of British Petroleum (BP) in the light of established international melodic phrase theories. Two major aspects ar considered globalisation outline and corporal friendly debt instrument ethics. Although certain failings are highlighted BP is surveyed to perform optimally on both counts. A conclusion is gaunt and certain recommendations with respect to the style of research are made in the final section.Report ContentsThe report assesses the operations of British Petroleum to establish to which degree the operations of BP are in line with related charge theory. The project starts with a brief introduction on the line of descent of BP. This sets a stage and develops a scene for further discussion. The second section discusses the research method adopted in the preparation of this project. Several methods are explored and the nigh feasible selected as the method of choice. The third section looks at BPs operations in two respects international trade and globalisation strategy, and merged responsibility and ethics. The final section of the project is a conclusion that summarises the main themes highlighted in the work, noting its achievements and limitations and sets the stage for future research. At this stage some recommendations are withal made.IntroductionBritish Petroleum (BP) is a global anoint and Gas company with its headquarters in the UK. It is one of the human races largest businesses by virtue of its revenues. On is merged website, it terms its self as one of the worlds largest companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemical products for everyday items. As of its financial year end 2009, it have 22400 service stations or so the globe, it owned operations in 30 countries around the world, it employed 80,300 people in different countries, it owned 16 refineries around the worl d (with the biggest in Houston Texas), it produces 2.3 million barrels per day and owned oil reserves of about 18.3 Billion barrels (BP web 2010)Research MethodsThis project aims to assess the operations of BP. It takes into snap two major issues in global business and strategy International trade globalisation strategy and ethics including aspects of incarnate genial responsibility. The counsel literature proposes several qualitative research methodologies (Bryman, 2004). These methodologies include surveys, questionnaires, case studies, focus groups, experiments and interviews (Bryman, 2004). Pursuant to the aims of this project, a case study approach is employed in which I consult several documents which discuss management theory (detailed in pitcher, 2009) and I examine how their application in practice basing on the case of British Petroleum. I use the BP website as a core source to derive information for this purpose. Given the lack of resources, early(a)(a) research m ethods much(prenominal) as interviews, questionnaires and focus groups are impractical. The next section details the operations of BP and the related theoretical underpinnings.British Petroleums globalisation strategyGlobalisation refers to the current trend where the world is bonnie a global village by magnetic coreively inter-knitting, national boundaries are being relaxed and countries are increasingly dependent on each another(prenominal) for survival. Globalisation presents significant opportunities to businesses as well as challenges. Firms that can cope with the trend enjoy larger markets, cheaper resources and therefore higher profitability. Firms that are unable to compete expeditiously are go about out.As highlighted above BP is a global company with a highly acclaimed globalisation strategy. The success of this strategy could be attributed several (three main) factors as discussed below.First-mover advantageThe history of BP can be traced back to the establishment of the Anglo Persian Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil Company in 1909. This soaked explored the Persian golf for many years and was converted to the British Petroleum company by and by the Second World War. Scanty reports show that the firm expanded hugely by 1960 developing its operations beyond the Persian golf into join America. Most importantly it established a significant presence in the mating Sea by being the first company to find Oil in Alaska (BP web, 2010).The above indicates the length to which BP has gone to establish itself as one of the worlds biggest and close successful companies.New Trade theory suggests that first movers can benefit enormously from certain economic and strategic advantages in terms of operations. The theory argues that for those products where economies of outperform are significant and represent a substantial portion of world take on, the first movers in an industry can gain a scale found cost advantage that later entrants find almost impossible to match (Hill, 2009. p 187).First mover advantage can potentially explain the social system of the Oil and Gas industry. The industry is made up of few big players and many small players in the Western world where competition is free. In other countries such as Kuwait, Saudi, Russia, China, Iraq and Qatar competition in the industry is restricted and the major oil exploiters are government owned.BP has established itself in most of the western world due to its first mover advantage. It is able to cut costs in its operations and derive benefits from economies of scale and scope. Many firms can compete effectively in Oil exploitation, exploration, extraction and refining, and therefore they turn to engage in the provision of support services such as distribution or the derivation of chemicals for other manufacturing industries.Competitive advantagePorters findings on national competitive advantage can be extended to understand why BP locates in the regions it does . BP is a global firm but has operations at varying degrees in about 30 different countries world wide (BP web, 2010). Despite operating significantly in 30 countries, its products and services are available in over 100 countries (BP web, 2010).Porters diamond asserts that the degree to which a nation is likely to achieve international success in a certain industry is a function of the combined impact of factor endowments, domestic demand conditions, related and supporting industries and domestic rivalry (Hill, 2009. p 191). Hill (2009) argues that based porters theory a profit seeking firm should localize its operations in those countries where such activities can be performed optimally.BP operates in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America.In Africa, it operates in Joint Ventures with firms in Egypt, Angola and Algeria. Its choice to operate only in join ventures in this country can be explained by the political economy of these countries. These countri es cannot be termed as ample democracies and are often susceptible to civil crisis. Operating as a joint venture, curbs the firms risk in the event of a political crisis but allows it to enjoy the revenues to be derived from its operations. It also has a huge presence in the Southern regions of Africa but in these regions it engages more with the marketing of its solar energy concepts. This region is rich in natural resources (sunshine) but the development of energy networks is very poor. The countries in this region depone heavily on hydroelectricity which is usually not sufficient to provide for industries and households.BP also operates as joint ventures in Asia with operations in Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, South Korea and Malaysia. It manufactures lubricants and solar panels in China and India where labour is cheap.BP does not explore oil color in Australasia. Its operations in this region are geared towards the provision of solar energy.BP operates as a stand alon e entity in much of Europe. Its operations in Russia are explodely owned (joint venture) by a Russian company. It has major exploration and drudgery facilities in Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Columbia. These regions are rich in natural gas and oil necessitating BPs localisation to the areas.ProductsHill (2009) noted that Raymond Vernon developed the product lifecycle theory after his realisation that firms had to keep innovating in order to maintain a demand for their products and ensure growth in revenues. The theory can be used to explain the globalisation trends, base drive and product mix of British Petroleum.BP currently produces a wide range of energy products including oil, natural gas, wind energy, solar energy, bio fuels and petroleum based lubricants.Two decades ago, its primary product was Oil. Research and development in the industry has led to the introduction of spick and more sustainable forms of energy. These forms of energy are widely regarded as t he future of the Oil and Gas industry. Speculators believe that at some point in time oil will be faced out as coal was faced out with the discovery of oil. BP has realised the fact that oil as a product has reached its maturity stage and its demand might diminish with the advent of new forms of energy. The firm has taken a colossal position in the new energy market by runway a major portfolio of energy products representing the mix of all bespoke and innovative new forms of energy.Unlike televisions for example, Oil cannot be re-engineered and further developed. Innovation by passing is therefore difficult. BP has turned the focus on energy efficiency i.e. researching and developing ways in which energy can be saved. Instead of devising faster or stronger energy which might be impossible BP has turned the focus to the development of equipment and usage techniques that will save energy through low consumption. This encompasses innovation that fuels the demand for its products.Eth ics and Corporate neighborly ResponsibilityAs Hill (2009) emphasized estimable issues in international business are brought about by political, legal, economic and cultural differences in between countries- what is considered normal practice in one country might be considered unethical in another (p. 124). The ethical challenge, I will argue, is significantly increased for global firms. BP for example operates in all the different continents of the world. In keeping with Hills argument ethics is relative and context dependent. In certain countries, it is ethical to employ young people. In the UK, all employees must be above the legal age of 18 to gain full employment. The legal age changes significantly between countries varying from 16 to 21. Most multi national firms deal with this challenge by devising a set of corporate values which govern their operations in all regions. BP web (2010) argues that the company is driven by four major values progressive, responsible, innovative and performance driven.In terms of being responsible, BP asserts that We are committed to the safety and development of our people and the communities and societies in which we operate. We aim for no accidents, no harm to people and no suffering to the environment. This commitment can be seen in the fact that BP reporting covers all aspects beyond financial reporting including health, safety, human rights, environment and energy.BP is at the forefront of the purifyer energy debate. It does its bit by engaging in energy saving initiatives and constantly researching on cleaner ways in which energy can be produced and delivered. It has diversified strongly into the green energy industry engaging in the production of liquefied petroleum gas, fossil fuels and renewable energy.A major part of corporate ethics that has been pervasive in the management literature in recent years is corporate social responsibility. Hill (2009) argues that multinational corporations such as BP have power th at comes from their operations and their ability to move production from country to country. Considering for an instance the revenues generated by BP annually, I find that the corporations revenues is higher than the GDP of many countries. Social responsibility advocates that managers should consider more than just the economic consequences of their decisions (hill, 2009). More importantly, importance should be placed on the social consequences of decision making. The European commission defines corporate social responsibility as A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (EC website, 2010). It basically refers to the companys interactions with its surrounding communities and looks at how the company tenses to promote development and social cohesion and participates in maintaining the environment within such communities. A firms community is a major stakeh older of the firm and thus needs to be considered. BPs financial reporting incorporates major aspects such as its social responsibility, its strive for cleaner energy, its contributions towards preserving the environment and its strive to improve sustainable extraction of energy. Communities take corporate social responsibilities seriously especially when it comes to Oil and Gas firms. This is largely as a result of the potential dangers that can arise from their operations with these communities. Recent crises have ranged from large explosions with severe casualties to major spillages with the destruction of flora and fauna.-A review of the BP 2010 Oil spill crisisBP faced a deep water horizon drilling rig explosion which killed 11 of its off shore workers and injured 17 other workers. The rig gushed out over 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Mexican Golf between April and July 2010. The spill was catastrophic and so were its effect on wild life, the fishing industry, the tou rism sector and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In response to this BP set up a crisis management program. It publicly apologized for the distress it caused and undertook to ft the clean up costs. The company has currently set up a $20 Billion dollar fund to manage the after-effects of the crisis. During the crisis, BP showed effort employing several techniques to judge to stop the leakage. It also arranged a compensation plan for those affected by the crisis.This attests to the fact that BP takes its corporate social responsibility and ethics very strongly.Hill (2009) also notes the social contributions or social investments of BP in Algeria. Hill notes that BP realised its communities in Algeria lacked clean drinking water and created two desalination plants to produce clean what for the public. To add to this, the company provided water cans to help residents transport water from plants to their homes.ConclusionsSummary of findingsThis study has examined the operations of BP in the global context to see how certain management concepts are applied in practice. Two aspects globalisation strategy and corporate social responsibility were reviewed. BP is found to have a sophisticated globalisation strategy which it has fortified over the years. This helps it to compete efficiently and to remain one the worlds leading corporations. Again, BP is found to have a robust stance towards corporate social responsibility and ethics. Its industry is hazardous and it is pruned to corporate disasters such as spills and explosions. BP has managed to keep these to a minimum and when they do occur, BP has taken necessary steps to manage the crisis and limit the defileLimitationsThis work is limited in the fact that it strongly relies on public information sources to assess the operations of BP. Several aspects could have been better scrutinized and invaluable insights drawn through other research methods such as interviews with key workers and focus groups to draw varied op inion.Due to the limitations in space (number of words) the aspects discussed can not be reviewed in greater detail.Future research RecommendationsThis research has examined BPs operations in light of established theory but has not confirmed if such a method of operation is optimal. It might be interesting to investigate whether the product strategy, globalisation strategy or their approach to ethics and corporate social responsibility affect their performance or contributes significantly towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. The limitations highlighted above also provide avenues for future research into the area.Several theories have been propounded in the management literature. Their understanding will only be facilitated by examining how these theories are applied in practice or by investigating the contributions of such theories to management practice. In light of this argument, this form of study is encouraged.

Is Cobol Dead :: Essays Papers

Is Cobol DeadThere is common question being asked by many in the programming world. That question is Is COBOL wild?In spite of the years of criticism and all the predictions that some new language exit soon replace COBOL, COBOL continues as a language of cable data processing. Although C and Java have become significant languages over the past seven years, there is no question that COBOL is still a language of business data processing. COBOL has been an integral part of the market for nearly thirty years. There are an estimated 20 billion lines of COBOL code currently in lend oneself and a vast range of experienced COBOL programmers. There is no question that COBOL should remain as the central language in curriculum designed to stand up students for entry-level jobs in data processing. This assertion contradicts an unfortunate trend. Recent surveys have shown that the number of schools teaching COBOL is declining Colleges, educators, and others with an interest in data process ing education must get down advantage of every opportunity available to make the case for continued COBOL education. Certainly the newer software development tools will grow in their importance, but they will not ca ingestion COBOL to vanish in the foreseeable future. There is another side of the question that you also must look at there is no growth in COBOL careers. Companies are no longer undertaking any kind of new development using COBOL, but still have a wishing for maintenance programmers. Insurance companies, banks, and large firms that have legal reporting requirements that change every time the Governments mind changes about what data it wants, still need their COBOL people to keep their legacy systems humming. And, having invested hundreds of millions of dollars into that legacy code, they have a hard time cost justifying throwing it all away now.COBOL is still used in many companies that reside here in Buffalo. The company that I work for uses COBOL in order to keep track of shipping, jobs that are still in process, and the also use it for it quality assurance for when they are audited. While they do use COBOL, there are no future plans to expand their COBOL database to handle other parts of their company. This is honest for many companies all through out the world. They have invested much time and money into their COBOL systems that will remain but not expand.

Part of the Neuron Affected, Inhibitory or Excitatory Potential Changes

Part of the Neuron Affected, Inhibitory or Excitatory Potential Changes and Ion Channels Affected by Psilocybin Psilocybin belongs to the mixture of drugs called hallucinogens. Hallucinogens typically act by stimulating serotonin receptors at different times or for longer durations than serotonin itself would (Kalat 2004). When psilocybin enters the brain, the enzyme alkaline breaks down angiotensin converting enzyme of its phosphate groups through hydrolysis. It then becomes psilocin, an even stronger hallucinogen (Psilocybin 2003). It is particularly potent due to the position of its hydroxyl group (Jacobs 1984). Psilocin is a postsynaptic serotonin receptor agonist. In other words, its similar structure allows it to mimic serotonin, fitting into some types of serotonin receptors and producing the same effect as endogenous serotonin (Merriam Webster 2003). Specifically, psilocin activates the 5HT2A and 5HT1A receptors. stimulant drug of 5HT1 receptors is associated with an inhi bitory response while stimulation of the 5HT2 receptors is associated with an excitatory response. Soma of the serotonergic neurons are located in the midline raphe nuclei of the pons and in the medulla oblongata. Axons conduce to the basal ganglia, hypothalamus, limbic forebrain, parts of the cerebral cortex, and to the spinal cord (Kruk and Pycock 1979). Functions believed to be moderated by serotonin include sleep, mood, arousal, chasteness of motor activity, hunger, thermoregulation, and some neuroendocrine control mechanisms in the hypothalamus. (Powell 2004, Kruk and Pycock 1979).One theory states that effects caused by psilocin result from stimulation of receptors in the raphe nuclei. According to this theory, the... ...ocal crystallise Common Molecule. (2003) Reciprocal Net Site Network. http//www.reciprocalnet.org/recipnet/showsample.jsp?sampleId=27344568Rabin, Richard A., Regina, Meridith, and Doat, Mirielle J.C. 5-HT2A Receptor-stimulated Phosphoinositide Hydrolysis i n the Stimulus Effects of Hallucinogens. (2001) Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Volume 72, 2002. (pp 29-37) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of saucily York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.Vollenweider, Franz X, M.D., Vontobel, Peter, PhD., Hell, Daniel, M.D., and Leenders, Klaus, M.D. (1998) 5HT changeover of Dopamine Release in Basal Ganglia in Psilocybin Induced Psychosis in Man A PET Study with 11Craclopride. Neuropsychopharmacology 1999, Volume 20, Number 5. (pp 424-431) New York, New York Elsevier Science Inc.