The Education System Essay Example

The Education System Essay This point has caused one of the main criticisms of looking at cultural deprivation as the reason for working class underachievement. Critics have argued that working class parents seem less interested and less encouraging because of their situation and circumstances. They want to show their children what life is like realistically for the working class, that high occupational status is a dream. Another criticism of cultural deprivation has been by those who feel that material factors are more important. These critics are structuralists, and think that it is important to focus on what parents can provide materialistically that would encourage their children to do better at school, for example a quiet room for homework and appropriate books. If there is not enough money for books, the student has to get a part-time job which is likely to result in less time spent on schoolwork, thus not doing well in exams. There are other critics of cultural deprivation who feel it is important to look at factors of the school which affect the performance of different social class students. For example, there are subcultures (anti-social, anti-school) which working class students are more likely to be drawn into, and so their educational performance is obviously affected. The next explanation was a criticism of the last one material deprivation, or material factors. These theorists believe the students homes background influences and affects them the most. This is very much a structuralist view. The argument is that working class parents cannot afford the materials necessary for their children to do well. We will write a custom essay sample on The Education System specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Education System specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Education System specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The children are likely to share bedrooms with other siblings and dont have a quiet place for study, and my have to get a part-time job if their parents are not financially secure. Working class parents are also less likely to be able to attend parents meetings because they have a clash of time with work. Working class students are less likely to continue to higher education because their parents simply cannot afford tuition fees and the extra necessities of university. All these negative aspects of material deprivation are why many sociologists argue that material factors are why working class students are relative failures in the education system. However, as with inheritance and heredity, and cultural deprivation, material factors have also been criticised. Those who do not believe in material deprivation focus more on in school factors and how these affect performance. They argue it is more important to look at how the school can provide materialistically, but overriding this, culturally. For example, they look at the dominant culture and value system of teachers. In school, teachers have authority and students of working class, in particular, feel intimidated and do not want to do well. This often results in a case of teacher versus student values debate. Where the teacher may encourage the benefits of education, the student may feel that the teachers authority and nagging is discouraging. There are many other in school factors that sociologists have put forward, which became the next explanation interpretivist arguments. The interpretivist explanation for working class underachievement focuses on in school factors. They believe there are many things that happen inside school which prevent working class students performing as well as middle class students. One of these factors is subcultures, both anti-school and anti-social. Working class students find themselves easily drawn into these subcultures, often with excuses such as the teachers picking on me so Im not going to his/her lesson. Peer pressure is also a major issue in anti-school subcultures. When one student decides that school isnt for them and does not attend, they need somebody or several fellow students to truant with. Students who may have previously conformed do not want to be left out and join the anti-school feeling. Two important in school factors of the interpretivist argument are teacher labelling and streaming. Labelling is where a teacher prejudges a working class student, labelling them as useless, thus giving middle class students more attention and support. This drives working class students away in anti-school subcultures and holds them back from educational success. Streaming is where students are split and taught in groups of their perceived ability. David Hargreaves, an interactionist, claimed streaming created an increased amount of feeling inferior as lower stream boys progress to more mature ages. This affects how they feel towards education and more than often results in poor exam performance. As older students feel inferior and join anti-school subcultures, younger students find themselves without role models and in turn feel anti-school. Both labelling and streaming involve teachers stereotyping students of all social classes, which can lead to discrimination, e. g. sexism and racism. Again, interpretivists have also found themselves being criticised for their views. The critics are structuralists who feel it is more important to look at out of school factors and the students home background, in other words material and mainly cultural factors at home. Focuses are on things such as the values of and attitudes to education at home, and religious and cultural values. Critics argue that parents of working class students have very different values and attitudes to education than middle class parents. For example, working class parents may find it important to emphasise survival as key in their childrens futures, whereas middle class parents could believe in encouraging their children to aim as high as possible and achieve all they possibly can. Religious and cultural values are also important in the structuralist view. Where features of religion may interfere with how students are taught, their parents may choose to pull them out of the education system. A current example of this is the banning of the Muslim scarf in French schools. It is a vital aspect of Islam for females to wear a scarf, so where I has been banned, huge protests have been held and many Muslim parents have taken their children somewhere Islam can be practised and the children can be educated. Critics of interpretivists also think peer pressure in the area where the student lives is important. If there is an anti-school subculture in the area, the student is extremely likely to be a part of it as it its where they spend most of their time. As time has passed, each of the explanations offered for working class underachievement have become more developed, and have also faced more criticism. The first sociologists to look into this issue believe intelligence is inherited and measurable, and middle class parents are generally more intelligent. They also believe in IQ tests and think they are an excellent way of measuring intelligence. However, there are opponents to this suggestion who believe IQ tests are unfair and cannot be used to test member of different social classes and people of subcultures within social classes and ethnic groups. There are many weaknesses and not many strengths to the argument of inheritance and heredity. Though the sociologists argue that intelligence is inherited from parents, there has not been a study to prove that this is so, i. e. no evidence has been provided to back up this idea. They do, on the other hand, not deny that there are less intelligent middle class students and more intelligent working class children. I agree with the critics who claim that IQ tests are unfair because when an IQ test is created, it will in some way be biased to a certain group (usually the middle class). There would be questions on the test that working class children would not be familiar with, thus failing to perform well and being labelled unintelligent. This is an extremely unfair way to explain why working class students are relative failures in the education system. Cultural deprivation was offered by those sociologists who felt working class children were brought up in a culture where people around them placed a lower value on education and where their parents were much less interested in their schooling than middle class parents. I agree with the critics who say that it is unfair to say working class parents are uninterested in their childrens education because it is their circumstances that put them in that position. A weakness of this argument is that although a researcher may have looked into a working class family and found that their argument was proven correct, not all working class families are this way and many do encourage academic success. As a reason for working class underachievement, cultural factors are important to look at but do not apply to all working class families. The sociologists who argue that material deprivation at home is the cause for working class underachievement have a strong argument. They claim that working class parents are unable to afford the materialistic requirements of school and that this forces their children to fall behind and perform badly. Though this is a very valid argument, it is important to look at other factors as well as materialistic factors at home. For example, material and cultural factors at school are equally important, and should all be taken into consideration. The interpretivist argument focused on in school factors and how these affected the performance of students. The sociologists looked at things such as anti-school subcultures and teacher labelling and streaming. Like the sociologists who agree with material factors, interpretivists fail to look at other factors. They see in school factors as the sole reason for working class underachievement, which is not correct. Though it is also a valid argument like material deprivation, it should not be forgotten that the home background of a student is equally important to look at as well as the state of the school. I think that inheritance and heredity do not cause working class underachievement, but that a combination of cultural and material factors both at home and at school cause working class students to be relative failures in the education system. Where each individual theory counts out the others as valid reasons, I think this is wrong and that all count equally towards working class underachievement.

Should I Take a Gap Year 6 Reasons the Answer Is Yes

Should I Take a Gap Year 6 Reasons the Answer Is Yes SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Not excited about the idea of starting another year of school in the fall? What if you could instead take a break from school and spend a year backpacking around Europe, volunteering for a cause you care about, or getting paid to work on a cruise ship? With a gap year all those things possible! Have you heard of gap years but aren’t sure what they are?Do you know other people taking gap years but aren’t sure if they’re a good idea for you? What are the benefits of taking a gap year anyway?In this guide, I use my own gap year experience to explain the major benefits of gap year programs and why they’re such a great choice for many students. I end with some tips to ensure you get the most out of your own gap year. My Gap Year Experience By the time I finished my Master’s degree, I was 24 years old and burnt out from years of non-stop studying, writing papers, and taking tests. I was applying to all sorts of jobs, but I wasn’t excited about any of them.After years of spending all my time and energy on school, my life had become boring, and I felt like I was just going through the motions without actually enjoying myself or doing the things I cared about or was interested in. I kept going because I felt like I didn’t have any other choice than to jump straight from school to a career. One day, while scrolling through Facebook, I saw pictures posted by a friend currently traveling through Europe. She was on an around-the-world trip, and, while I’d scoffed when she’d told me she was quitting her job to travel, I had to admit that she looked happier than I did at the moment.Looking through her photos, I realized that that was what I wanted to be doing with my life: seeing new places, learning new things, meeting new people. Why couldn’t I do what my friend was doing? Maybe not quite as extreme as traveling around the world (I had students loans to pay off after all), but why couldn’t I change up my life and do something exciting? Why did I have to go straight from high school to college to grad school to a corporate job? I weighed the options for a few weeks, but in the end, choosing between taking a job I wasn’t interested in or spending a year having experiences I’d dreamed of having wasn’t a hard decision to make. I did some research and found that gap years are actually a fairly common experience in certain parts of the world. People who do a gap year can travel, get work experience, take a class they’ve always been interested in, learn a foreign language, do volunteer work, and more. Really anything you think is interesting or exciting could be the basis of your gap year. After looking at numerous options, I decided to spend my gap year teaching English at a high school in northeast France. I also had enough time on the side to volunteer at an environmental organization I was interested in.My parents and friends were largely supportive, but when I told my school advisor what I’d be doing, she was horrified. She told me I was making a terrible decision and warned me that not taking a job in the field I’d studied in would have a serious negative impact on my career. â€Å"Not to mention employers will think you look lazy,† she added. Those comments made me nervous, but I still felt like I was making the right decision. As a matter of fact, not only did I not torpedo my career, I came away with a host of new skills and a better idea of the kind of job I wanted, both of which made it fairly easy for me to find a job I was happy with once my gap year ended.More important though, was the fact that I finally felt like I was doing what I wanted with my life. I look back on my gap year now as one of the best decisions I’ve made, and many others who’ve taken gap years would agree. 6 Reasons To Take a Gap Year It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of taking a gap year, but you may also still have a lot of doubts about actually doing it. Your parents or teachers may also need some more convincing before they get on board with the idea of you taking a gap year. Whatever the case, here are six of the biggest gap year benefits. Read through them and you’ll see that a gap year can have all sorts of benefits for you academically, professionally, and personally. #1: It Can Boost Your GPA If you’re worried that taking a year off from school will cause your grades to suffer once you go back, don’t be! Studies of gap year students have shown that people who take a gap year actually get higher grades in college compared to their peers who don’t take a gap year. Why is this? There are several potential reasons. Many students, especially at those at risk of academic burn-out, benefit from taking a year off studying so they can return with more energy and motivation. Taking a gap year that relates to your future career can also help you get more excited about your studies so you’re more interested in your classes and motivated to do well. Planning and carrying out a gap year also often increases your organization skills, maturity, and confidence, all of which can help you do better in school once you return. If I could change one thing about my gap year, I would have done it earlier, either before I went to college or immediately after. By the time I took my gap year, I had been in school for nearly 20 years straight, and I spent the last year of my Master’s program just trying to get my work done as quickly as possible because I was so sick of school. Taking a gap year earlier would likely have helped me reset and go through grad school with more motivation and energy. #2: You Can Get Serious Work Experience A gap year is often a great way to get experience specifically related to the career you want. Many companies and organizations offer half-year or full-year internships or volunteer positions, but most people can’t do them because they are busy with school or work. This means these positions are actually often easier to get than many summer jobs, and since they’re longer you’ll have the benefit of gaining more experience and making stronger connections with the people you’re working with. This can mean better letters of recommendation and useful contacts when you’re trying to get a job later on down the line. If you spend your entire gap year working in the field you want to go into you’ll have experience that few other college students do. That can help set you apart in the future when you’re applying to jobs or grad school.By the end of my gap year, I had a full year of teaching experience, a year of volunteering experience at an NGO, and I had significantly improved my French skills. Any one of those could make me more qualified for potential jobs. #3: You’ll Gain New Skills You may not want to spend your gap year working in the field you plan on majoring in and getting a career in, and that’s also fine. Plenty of people choose to spend their gap year doing something they’d never have a chance to do otherwise, and the good thing is, you’ll still gain useful skills and knowledge, even if they’re not directly related to your future career.So if you’ve always wanted to learn how to survive in the wilderness, explore South America, work at a ski lodge, etc., this is the time to do those things. Also, you may end up using some of those skills in your future jobs, even if you didn’t think you would at the time. During my gap year, I learned all about the ins-and-outs of the French education system, which I thought was interesting at the time, but not something I’d ever need to know again.As it turns out, I later got jobs with a focus on international education, and many of the things I learned in France were still applicable for those jobs. So that information has been useful after all! #4: You Can Make Money This isn’t the case for all gap years, obviously, but if you decide to take a job or an internship during your gap year that pays, you could make a significant chunk of change during that year.Even if your job only pays minimum wage, you can still make about $15,000 in a year if you work full time, and you can put that money towards paying for school or another expense. If you choose to use your gap year salary to help pay for school, not only will you be able to take out fewer loans initially, but because your loans are smaller, they’ll accrue less interest than larger loans would. Student loan interest alone can easily total several thousand dollars by the time you graduate, so if you use your gap year job to pay for more of your school costs upfront, you’ll be saving money in two ways: by taking out fewer loans and by having less interest on those smaller loans. #5: You’ll Meet Tons of New People No matter what you decide to do during your gap year, you’re practically guaranteed to meet new people.Even if you already have great friends, a gap year is an excellent way to meet different kinds of people you wouldn’t normally come across. And in addition to expanding your social circle, you can even use these new friends as networking contacts if they work in a field you want a job in or know someone who can get you a job. Networking and finding useful career contacts is something colleges regularly encourage students to do, and you’ll be ahead of the pack if you start doing this during your gap year program. #6: You’ll Get a Better Idea of What You Want to Do Many students are reluctant to take a gap year because they worry it’ll put them â€Å"behind† their friends and peers, but that’s hardly the case.Taking a gap year can help you get a much better sense of what kind of career you actually want.This can save you years of time and tens of thousands of dollars in tuition money compared to graduating with a certain degree, taking a job in that field, and then realizing it’s not what you want to do with your life. When I was in college, I had lots of friends who wanted to be doctors. Only a fraction of them ended up graduating from med school; the rest realized medicine wasn’t actually the field for them. Many of them only came to this conclusion after graduating college with degrees in human biology, and a few even started med school before changing their career goals and dropping out. It’s not a guarantee, but these students may have had a much better idea of whether medicine was right for them if they’d spent a gap year working in a hospital or shadowing a doctor.Even if this put them â€Å"behind† for a year, it’s much less time and money lost compared to people who don’t discover until after college that they don’t like the career they got their major in and now need to find a different job or go back to school and get a new degree. Taking a gap year early on can actually put you ahead of a lot of your peers because you’ll have a better idea of what you want.Even though I spent most of my time during my gap year teaching English to French students, the part that I thought would be most useful for my future career was the volunteering I did at an environmental NGO since that’s the kind of career I thought I wanted.As it turned out, during my gap year I discovered I didn’t like that kind of work at all, and although it was somewhat alarming to realize I suddenly had to rethink my future, it was much better to figure that out earlier than after returning from the gap year, applying to a bunch of NGO jobs, getting one, probably moving somewhere new, and realizing I hated it. You could also go do a gap year in something you never considered a career in, love it, and end up deciding to get future jobs in that field. I have a friend who was majoring in engineering, but she spent a gap year working as a concierge in a hotel and ended up deciding to pursue a career in hotel management. You really only know if a certain career is a good fit for you after you try it out, and a gap year is a great, low-risk way to get that experience. 3 Tips For Planning a Great Gap Year In order to get all or many of the gap year benefits we just discussed above, you have to put some thought and planning into your gap year. Waiting until the last minute to figure how you’re spending the year could still lead to a positive experience, but in order to get the most out of your gap year, start your planning at least several months ahead of time (many of the most competitive jobs and internships have application deadlines around this time), and follow the three tips below. Figure Out What You Want to Accomplish During Your Gap Year The most important part of planning your gap year is to decide what your goals for it are.Do you want to travel? Earn some money? Volunteer for an organization you love? Gain experience in the field you want to go into? Start with your broad goal(s) for your gap year and gradually narrow them. If you want to travel where do you want to travel to? What do you hope to gain from traveling? Will you need to work to help cover your expenses?If you want work experience, what kind of places would you like to work at? Does it have to be paid, or can you do unpaid or volunteer work? What are you hoping to gain from the work experience? Something to put on your resume, professional connections, both?Keep asking yourself questions about what you want from your gap year until you have a solid idea of exactly what you’re hoping to get from it. Here’s the list I came up with for my gap year goals: Travel to new places Learn foreign language skills Get experience working for non-profits Make enough money to support myself After doing a lot of research, I decided that teaching English in France, while volunteering at a nearby non-profit, was the perfect way to meet each of those goals. Decide on Your Timeline and Budget Early On Figuring out what you want to do during your gap year isn’t the only important decision you’ll make. You also need to figure out early on how much time and money you can put towards your gap year. Most people spend an entire year on their gap year, but you may only be able to spend part of a year due to classes or work. Figure that out early on so you don’t end up applying to jobs or programs you can’t complete.Setting a timeline also ensures your gap year won’t stretch on indefinitely, a fear some parents have for their children. If you’re worried about your gap year going longer than you originally planned, having a firm end date set upfront can help you stick to your schedule, as can choosing gap year programs with their own end dates, such as visas that expire or classes that end after a certain number of months.When I got my job in France, my work visa was only valid for a year, which gave me a nonnegotiable deadline for when I had to leave. Budget is also important. If you’re going to be living with your parents during your gap year, you may have few or no expenses, but if your gap year includes travel and/or a program with admission fees, those costs could quickly add up.Again, figuring out how much you can spend on your gap year early on will reduce the chances of you finding a program or activity you love only to later realize it’s not in your budget.I had a bit of money budgeted for my gap year, but I also knew I’d need to get a job that paid me so I could cover my living expenses and begin paying off my student loans. Keep Yourself Busy If you spend your gap year working, say, ten hours a week at a job or volunteer position, that isn’t the best use of your time. You’ll have so much downtime that the experience will detract from your future college and work applications rather than enhance them.You want to make sure you’re spending your time productively during your gap year, which may mean taking more than one job or doing a combination of classes and work. You don’t need to exhaust yourself, but aiming for about 30-40 hours of work/classes a week is a good benchmark to set. This ensures you’re getting the most out of your gap year benefits and shows schools and employers that you’re a hard worker and who your time productively. My job as an English teacher only took up about 25-30 hours a week, so I used my extra time to take French classes, volunteer at an environmental organization, and travel around Europe on the weekends. Teaching English was the main purpose of my gap year, but filling my time with other activities helped me get the most out of my experience and gave me more to talk about when asked how I spent the year. Conclusion: Should I Take a Gap Year? Is a gap year a good idea? Gap years aren’t for everyone; some people are happy to stick to the path they’re on or can’t take a year away from work or school, and that’s fine. However, for many people, a gap year is a great way to do something you’ve only dreamed of doing, whether that’s traveling to a new part of the world, hiking the Appalachian Trail, working on a cruise ship, or whatever else you’re interested in. Some people dislike gap year programs because they feel students are too young to do them, or they think it’s more important for students to finish their education first and get some work experience before taking a year off. However, there will never be an easier time in your life to take a gap year. As you get older, things like student loans, mortgages, families, and jobs you don’t want to leave begin to pile up, making it harder and harder to achieve your goal of a gap year the longer you wait. Postponing your gap year can often mean it won’t happen at all, so take advantage of one of the few times when you can uproot your life and try something new without lots of things holding you back.Before I decided to take a gap year, I was worried I was going to mess up my life by not following the â€Å"plan† I was told was the way to success, but not only was my gap year a great experience, it put me in a better spot financially and professionally than I had been at before. What's Next? Have you decided to do a gap year?Get more information on how to find gap year ideas and start planning with our complete guide to gap years. Do you have the opportunity to study abroad in high school? This comprehensive guide discusses what it means to study abroad as a high schooler. Thinking about doing a volunteer abroad program?Read our guide to learnif volunteering abroad is really a good idea and what you should look for when selecting a program. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

THE MACHINE AGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

THE MACHINE AGE - Essay Example He is quoted as saying he would not do it again, that the transplant destroyed his quality of life. A $125,000 dollar settlement was given to his wife in 2003 by AbioCor Corporation based on deceit by hospital patient advocates who had encouraged the procedure while actually working for AbioCor. AbioCor was denied FDA approval to sell the heart to extend life. African Americans represent a large number of medical test subjects, even though they are the minority of the population in the US—and they are even less likely to be able to afford expensive procedures tested on them. Historically, African American women were used as test subjects. Consent forms are required for medical testing, and participants can quit any time. With tests like artificial hearts, however, quitting means dying. AbioCor went a step further and request to be able to test on unconscious subjects that had never given consent. This has been done with PolyHeme artificial blood, but never with a life-threaten ing procedure like an experimental heart transplant. African Americans are 20% less likely to select to participate in â€Å"health proxy† treatments like these, therefore giving the artificial heart without consent would affect African Americans more, making it unjust. Three Big Points (Summary of the Summary, non-essay form, per your request). 1.

DCPS_ Short essay answers Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

DCPS_ Short answers - Essay Example Adult learners have a myriad of needs that have to be met in the learning process. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the educator to structure the learning environment in such a way that the learners will find it trouble-free to accomplish the aims and objectives of learning. According to Wagner, adult learning has to integrate the hard work of both the adult learners and the educators. Collaborative efforts between the two parties have been credited for its ability to create retention in the adult learners, an aspect that reduces the adults to a change- referred to as learning. To achieve the goals of learning in the learning setting, it is only possible, with an inclusion of the strategies of goal achievement. First, the ability of the learners to achieve their goals and objectives, allowing the learners set their own goals has been beneficial. Giving the learners an opportunity to set their own goals allows them to be part of the learning process. The adult learners are also in a better position to deal with barriers in the learning process that relate to overestimation and underestimation of their abilities to perform. With the learners being part of the learning process, the educators have an easier time in handling the adult learners. Secondly, continuous and consistent monitoring of the goals and objectives set by the learners is yet another strategy that has seen the attainance of goals by the adult learners.... Collaborative efforts between the two parties have been credited for its ability to create retention in the adult learners, an aspect that reduces the adults to a change- referred to as learning. To achieve the goals of learning in the learning setting, it is only possible, with an inclusion of the strategies of goal achievement. First, the ability of the learners to achieve their goals and objectives, allowing the learners set their own goals has been beneficial. Giving the learners an opportunity to set their own goals allows them to be part of the learning process. The adult learners are also in a better position to deal with barriers in the learning process that relate to overestimation and underestimation of their abilities to perform. With the learners being part of the learning process, the educators have an easier time in handling the adult learners. Secondly, continuous and consistent monitoring of the goals and objectives set by the learners is yet another strategy that has seen the attainance of goals by the adult learners. This is an interpretation of the fact that the educators must always be there to help the learners reflect on their abilities, and help them design the best approach towards attaining their goals and objectives. On another point of view, this allows the educators design the instructional programs in such a way that they will be directed towards attaining the goals and objectives of the learners. The goals set by the learners are indeed, the foundation in which the instruction should be formulated; thus, implementation of the teaching objectives. Soricone, Comings & Parrella (2000) indicate that, retention in the adult learning can only be successful if the

Theme Park Technology Essay Example for Free

Theme Park Technology Essay Introduction New technologies that theme parks utilize or may consider using in the future can help manage crowds, improve child safety, and create thrilling attractions. Theme parks must decide which technologies it should adapt in order to attract the most consumers and increase consumer spending. Innovative technologies improve consumer safety and enhance customer satisfaction. Technologies used in theme parks today include smart phone applications, fast passes or flash passes, RFID tracking systems, 4D attractions, and LED powered wheels. If a theme park considers adapting any of these technologies, it must decide if the technology meets customer needs and if the benefits outweigh the costs. Crowd Control: Theme parks implement measures to control crowds so that certain areas of the parks are not overcrowded while other areas of the park do not have large crowds. Crowd control measures include the use of surveillance cameras, monitoring ride occupancy rates, issuing fast passes for people to come back to rides later in the day and not have to wait in line, and smart phone applications. Theme park technologies that assist with foot traffic flow also enhance customer satisfaction and safety. Surveillance Cameras Disney takes the lead in theme park crowd control. Disney’s Magic Kingdom has a security epicenter underneath Cinderella’s Castle which is equipped with surveillance cameras, video screens, digital park maps, and computer programs to pinpoint where there are traffic backups or problems with rides. Employees monitor to see where crowds are the largest and deploy parades to divert traffic and lead guests to areas of the park that are less crowded. (Brooks) Surveillance cameras also help employees monitor and track suspicious persons, which helps keep parks safe. If parks did not have surveillance cameras, there would need to be a lot more security personal stationed around the park and monitoring the park on foot. Ride Occupancy Theme parks monitor crowd control by ensuring that all seats on rides are filled. If seats are left empty, it takes longer for visitors to get through the lines. Shorter wait times equal happier visitors, and shorter wait times provide visitors with the opportunity to spend more time at restaurants and gift shops which generate more revenue for the parks. FASTPASS ® / Flash Pass FASTPASS ® is a ride scheduling system invented by Disney which allows guests to visit an attraction and receive a ticket to come back to the ride at a later time and not wait in a long line. Attractions that utilize the FASTPASS ® system have the time displayed for when guests can come back without waiting in line. Guests insert their park ticket into the FASTPASS ® machine, and they receive ticket with the time when they can come back to the attraction and not wait in a long line. Disney does not charge guests to use FASTPASS ® machines, but other theme parks do charge for similar services. Many people are willing to spend the extra money in order to avoid long lines at popular attractions. (Disney FASTPASS Service) Theme parks also help manage crowds by displaying estimated wait times for rides. If the wait is too long for a ride, people will go to other rides throughout the park and come back later. Other parks, such as Six Flags Theme Parks , have versions of fast passes that allow visitors to wait in shorter lines, schedule when they will go on rides electronically, and to ride the same ride twice in a row without waiting in line a second time. Six Flags Theme Park visitors can purchase Flash Passes and schedule when they will go on the ride via an electronic scheduling system. Six Flags Flash Passes are more advanced than Disney’s Fast Pass since visitors can schedule when they will go on rides electronically from anywhere in the park instead of having to go to each attraction they want to ride and receiving a time to come back when they turn in a FASTPASS ® ticket. (Flash Pass: Six Flags Magic Mountain) Six Flags allows visitors to purchase Regular, Gold or Platinum Flash Passes which have greater reductions in wait times. The Regular Flash Pass provides guests with a limited number of Flash Passes that allow them to wait in a shorter line. The Gold and Platinum Flash Passes allow visitors to electronically schedule when they will visit an attraction. Visitors are given an electronic device called a Q-Bot, which guests use to check electronically schedule when they will be able to visit the ride without waiting in line. (Q-Bot) The Platinum Fast Pass provides the added benefit of being able to go on the same ride twice in a row without getting off and waiting in line again. Flash Passes bring in additional revenue to parks and prices vary depending on the park. For example, Flash Passes range from $31 $86 per person at Six Flags Over Georgia and $41 to $99 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. (Flash Pass: Six Flags Magic Mountain) and (Flash Pass: Six Flags Over Georgia) Mobile Magic APP Theme Parks are innovative and have technologies that help them learn about customer preferences while making consumers’ experiences at the park more enjoyable. Walt Disney World has a mobile application for Verizon Wireless customers called Mobile Magic. Mobile Magic allows customers to view line wait times, make restaurant reservations, play games while waiting in line, view the weather forecast and events taking place in the park, and find Disney characters for children to get autographs. Disney receives information from Mobile Magic users that allows them to analyze which restaurants and rides are the most popular and can help Disney gain insights as to how to make consumers experiences at its parks more enjoyable. (Mobile Magic Application) Child Safety: RFID Tracking System. Theme parks such as Dollywood, Legoland, and Wannado use RFID bracelets to keep track of guests and to protect lost children. RFID bracelets transmit a signal to computer system which keeps track of each person’s location. If a child wearing a RFID bracelet becomes separated from his parents, then the parents send a text message to guest services stating, â€Å"help. † Parents receive a text message in response with the location of the lost child and directions to get to the child’s location. If a lost child gets too close to park exits, authorities are contacted to ensure the child does not exit the park. (Sturgen) RFID bracelets provide increased safety for children, and they allow groups of people to locate each easily if they are separated. The bracelets also track and store information about what foods people eat, what rides they visit first or most frequently, and what items they purchase. The information helps theme park management tailor the parks to best meet consumer preferences. Some guests may view the RFID bracelets as an invasion of privacy, but others feel that the benefits outweigh the risks. (Sturgen) At Wannado and Dollywood, the RFID technology is taken a step further than at Legoland. Visitors are provided with a bracelet containing a RFID tag. Then, groups of visitors register their names in the SafeTzone Real-Time Locating System which links each group’s bracelets together electronically. Visitors can then track the location of people in their group by scanning their bracelet at SafeTzone kiosks. (Sullivan) According to the New York Times article, â€Å"Disney Tackles Major Theme Park Problems: Lines,† Disney may start to use bracelets and take the technology one step further. Bracelets would store consumer credit card information so park guests can purchase items with the swipe of the bracelet. Also, the bracelets would store information such as the customer’s name, when they last visited the restaurant, how frequently they visit the restaurant, and the customer’s preferences. This technology would lead theme parks to be the best in class in customer satisfaction. However, it may not appeal to some people who may view it as an invasion of privacy and like there is someone watching over them at all times. Ride Technology: â€Å"4D† Attractions Theme parks have implemented a new level of technology to make attractions seem like they are in 4D. For example, Dollywood has a Polar Express ride during the winter that combines a 3D movie with seats that move like you are actually riding the Polar Express train, different smells and temperatures and other effects to make 3D movie scenes seem more realistic. (â€Å"Dollywood’s Polar Express Creates 4D Viewer Experience†) Islands of Adventure also employs â€Å"4D† technology with its Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. Visitors watch a 3D movie screen while riding on magic benches that drop, lean back, spin, twist, and turn to make it feel as if visitors are flying through the world of Harry Potter. (â€Å"The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universals Islands of Adventure†) Kuka Robot Group developed the magic benches which are also known as Robocoasters. (â€Å"Kuka Arm†) Theme Park Technology Summary: Theme parks utilize leading edge technologies to improve customer safety, better understand customer preferences, and make customers’ experiences at the park more enjoyable. RFID bracelets improve customer safety and provide parks with information about customer preferences. Investment in RFID technology would pay for itself, because many parents would be willing to pay extra to rent bracelets in order to keep traffic of their children and people in their group. Traffic flow and ride wait times are improved through video surveillance, ensuring each ride is at maximum occupancy, fast passes, wait times posted by each ride, and wait times and park information transmitted to people’s smart phones via applications like Disney’s Mobile Magic. Disney was able to create a smart phone application in conjunction with Verizon wireless by charging customers to purchase the application. Customers are happier when there are shorter wait times and the park is not as crowded. Theme parks improve customer satisfaction through the use of â€Å"4D† technology on rides. Theme parks work to improve business by utilizing and developing new technologies. Theme park technology constantly evolves. In addition to the technologies mentioned above, Maurer Rides is in the testing stages of LED-powered wheels for roller coasters. The wheels are powered by light emitting diodes (LEDs) and â€Å"rotation of the wheels creates a ‘generator principle’ with the rotating movement being converted into energy, and thus light. The key benefit is that, apart from saving power, no batteries or excessive wiring is needed. † (Theme Park Post Amusement Theme Parks Industry Business News) The LED wheel lights will show up during the day and night and create an interesting visual effect. Maurer plans to install the first ‘firewheels’, which can travel up to 80 mph, at a theme park in Germany. If this technology works, it may be adapted by other theme parks since it creates visual appeal and uses less energy. (Theme Park Post Amusement Theme Parks Industry Business News) The most important technologies for theme parks improve customer satisfaction and the likelihood that guests will return to the parks again or recommend the parks to other people. 4D Technology, RFID tracking bracelets, Flash Passes, and smart phone applications are leading edge technologies for theme parks that accomplish the task of improving customer satisfaction. Technology is constantly evolving, and theme parks are destined to invent more advanced technologies that improve business operations and customers’ experiences. Works Cited Barnes, Brooks. Disney Tackles Major Theme Park Problem: Lines. The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 28 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 May 2011. . Disney FASTPASS Service. Walt Disney World Resort. Disney. Web. 30 May 2011. . Dollywoods Polar Express Creates 4D Viewer Experience Amusement Parks. Amusement Park Industry-Theme Park Business Directory Amusement Park. Blooloop, 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 31 May 2011. . Flash Pass: Six Flags Magic Mountain. Six Flags. Web. 30 May 2011. . Flash Pass: Six Flags Over Georgia. Six Flags. Web. 30 May 2011. . Kuka Arm. Harry Potter Wizarding World Theme Park in Orlando, Florida. Web. 31 May 2011. . Mobile Magic Application | Verizon Wireless | Disney Parks. Mobile Magic | Disney Parks. Web. 22 May 2011. . Q-Bot. Web log post. Theme Park Review. 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 May 2011. . Satchell, Arlene. Wannado City Moves up Closing to Jan. 2 Sun Sentinel. Featured Articles From The Sun Sentinel. The Sun Sentinel, 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 May 2011. . Sturgeon, Will. RFID Chips on Kids Makes Legoland Safer | Protecting Your ID | Silicon. com. Silicon. com | Technology Strategy for CIOs and Business Executives. Silicon. com, 24 June 2004. Web. 24 May 2011. . Sullivan, Laurie. How RFID Will Help Mommy Find Johnny InformationWeek. InformationWeek | Business Technology News, Reviews and Blogs. Information Week, 15 Sept. 2004. Web. 22 May 2011. . Theme Park Post Amusement Theme Parks Industry Business News. Web. 22 May 2011. .

United Nations Security Council Reform :: UN World Politics Essays

â€Å"Chief responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security lies with the Security Council. It is therefore essential to its legitimacy that its membership reflect the state of the world.† – French President Chirac’s address to the United Nations General Assembly. Objective The focus of this paper is on the United Nations Security Council reform issue. It will start by giving some history on the United Nations charter and the Security Council. This background will set up a discussion on the past and present proposals to reform the Security Council. I will also offer analysis on the feasibility of these reform proposals. I will then discuss what the key countries think about Security Council reform. Background United Nations Background The United Nations was born out of the turmoil of two devastating world wars. It was established in the hopes that a strong international organization could foster enough cooperation between nations in order to prevent future conflicts. In 1945, representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the United Nations Charter. Those delegates deliberated on the proposals worked out by the representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks, United States in August and October of 1944. The Charter was signed on June, 26 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 Member States. Since then the United Nations has grown significantly. The United Nations General Assembly now consists of 191 Member States. The predecessor of the United Nations was the ill-fated League of Nations, which was conceived under similar circumstances after World War I. The League of Nations ceased its activities after failing to prevent World War II. Fifty-eight years after the signing of the Charter, the world has changed dramatically. Its universal character and comprehensiveness make the United Nations a unique and indispensable forum for governments to work together to address global issues. At the same time, there remains a large gap between aspiration and real accomplishment. There have been many successes and many failures. The United Nations is a bureaucracy that struggles – understandably – in its attempt to bring together 191 countries. It must come at no surprise, therefore, that a consensus cannot always be reached with so many different competing voices. Security Council Background The Security Council of the United Nations has the primary responsibility under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.

To what extent did Thatcher achieve her aims in foreign policy?

When Margaret Thatcher first came to power in 1979 she had little interest in foreign policy but focussing mainly on economic and domestic policy. However, it was an area where she left a huge impact on. One of Thatcher’s aims was to increase the defence for Britain as she believed the USSR was a massive threat militarily. This meant improving relations with the USA. Her views on Communism helped with this as her and Ronald Reagan both shared the same ideas. She also believed NATO was vital to British and European defence and so to strengthen this relationship was important. She supported NATO’s decision to deploy US nuclear cruise and Pershing missiles in Western Europe and permitted the US to station more than 160 cruise missiles at RAF Greenham Common, even though she knew it would trigger mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Relations improved with the US when Thatcher permitted US F-111s to use Royal Air Force bases for the bombing of Libya in retaliation for their apparent bombing of a Berlin nightclub; this decision wasn’t very popular with the British citizens. Another one of Margaret Thatcher’s aims was to reassert Britain’s position as a major power. Many people will say she achieved this because of the Falklands War. In April 1982, Argentina ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia which were under British control at the time. She successfully retook the islands back by setting up a War Cabinet and dispatching a naval task force against them which in June they surrendered. Even though 255 British soldiers died and the attack on an Argentinian cruiser which sunk and killed everyone on board, people were far more distracted by the victory which took place. This helped her win the 1983 elections. However, she was strongly criticised as to why she didn’t pay attention to the Falklands’ defence that led to the war, in which she could have stopped happening. This in turn would have saved the lives of the British soldiers and the people on the Argentinian cruiser. Some people may disagree that Thatcher achieved the aim to raise Britain’s status entirely because of the Grenada incident. On October 1983, the USA attacked Grenada; a member of the Commonwealth, without consulting Britain to take-over a Marxist organisation. This was an embarrassment for Thatcher because it showed her weakness to defend countries which were once members of the Commonwealth who felt they still needed to be defended. Thatcher also wanted to see the defeat of Communism, which some people argue was achieved and that her role played an important part. She was able to build a working relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev who came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. This placed Britain in a good position to be the peace-maker between the US and the Soviet Union. They ended up meeting a couple of times which led to the agreement to scrap all intermediate-range missiles from Europe, the elimination of tactical and battlefield nuclear weapons and conventional forces. After that many countries in Eastern Europe experienced their own revolution which led to domestic changes and an end to the Soviet domination over them. This was a victory for Britain and all the other NATO countries. Although this aim was achieved, Thatcher feared that because many changes were happening across Eastern Europe, Germany would start to reunify and become strong again which would affect the European balance of power and Thatcher didn’t like this. After discussing the aims of Margaret Thatcher in Foreign Policy, I believe on the whole she achieved them. She managed to reassert Britain’s position as a superpower because of the Falklands war. It was a massive turning point for Thatcher and a defining moment in her premiership which helped her stay in power by winning the 1983 election. Even though many people died during the Falkland’s War, she was considered a highly talented and committed war leader by many people. She also helped defeat Communism by building a relationship with the Soviet leader and making discussions between the US and the Soviet Union easier. This led to nuclear disarmament which helped with Britain’s fear of Russia attacking them.