An Argument on Education Essay Example for Free

An Argument on Education Essay Abstract Education is important to have with today’s economy in the shape that it is in. However, there are different ways that people define education. Some people believe that to be considered well educated they need to have the top education in the United States, the highest GPA, and the highest standardized testing scores! I firmly believe that your knowledge first comes from the Lord and that he will bless you in whatever area he has for you! There are many examples that we can use to see both sides and not just judging someone as well educated only through grades ad excellence in school. An Argument on Education Education is important for everyone to have growing up if they want to make it by in today’s modern world. However, everyone seems to determine how well educated someone else is in a different ways such as: their test scores, papers that they write, their grade point average, and their knowledge of knowing how to do things. In Alfrie Kohn’s Article (2003), â€Å"What does it mean to be well –educated† he cites a quote from an Alred Whitehead stating, â€Å"A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God’s earth. . .  . Scraps of information† are only worth something if they are put to use, or at least â€Å"thrown into fresh combinations. † There are parts of this quote that I agree and disagree on. I agree with Alred saying that men on this earth that just have bits and pieces of information are useless unless it can relate to their job that gets them by. Acquiring knowledge isn’t a bad thing, its just not always needed. I only disagree because I believe that if someone does know a large amount that it is not pointless, it just should not determine whether or not they are educated or not. Throughout the years I have had the chance to be in school I have learned and observed much through my own personal experiences as well as being surrounded by my peers at school and at home. Personally, I am one of those students who can learn the material I am asked to learn but when it comes to taking tests I freeze up and get extremely anxious, which allows me to do poorly on the tests. I had extremely low SAT scores and low-test scores from any big test, but I was also an honor graduate and gradated in the top one hundred out of six hundred students. Many people would consider me uneducated just because of low standardized tests when they do not think of other factors that could reason for why I get low scores. High-test scores alone and high GPA’s cannot determine whether or not someone is well educated. At the beginning of Alfrie Kohn’s article he gives a superior example of this by telling us that his wife who went to Harvard and does not even know her math or English well. â€Å"She will, however, freeze up if you ask her what 8 times 7 is, because she never learned the multiplication table. And forget about grammar (â€Å"Me and him went over her house today† is fairly typical) or literature (â€Å"Who’s Faulkner? †). Harvard is known as One of the top prestigious school in America, and because of that most people would assume that who ever goes to that school is well educated. This is example is similar to how it is with anything but what people do not realize is some of the world’s well-educated people did not even graduate from high school. I believe that being well educated means being able to put what you know to use and being able to use that knowledge to glorify the one who created me. As a strong believer in Christ, I believe my relationship with God and spreading his word is more important than knowledge. However, that does not mean that I believe a person should be uneducated. I believe that if given the opportunity to learn we should not take it for granted and that we should bring glory to God through it. I just believe that at the end of your days that God does not care about what degree you have in your hand but he cares about how you lived your life for him. â€Å"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life† (Proverbs 9:10-11). Our good lord explains that education is first gained through God himself and that your purpose is to live solely for him. Gaining knowledge in Christ is the most important first and he will Bless you in every other area in your life that he feels you need. However, I do believe that getting a degree in something that God is calling you to do. For me, God is calling me to be a missionary Nurse overseas. I know in order to do that I have to get an education on how to be a Nurse in order to carryout God’s will for my life. Most people believe that you need to go to a good school to be considered well educated. I was going to a community college back at home and was learning much when people were questioning why I was going to a community college and that I could get a better education at a different college or university that was away from home. Alfrie Kohn’s wife attended Harvard and still did not know her multiplication tables and wasn’t good at grammar or literature. I believe this is a good example to my previous statement about how it shouldn’t matter what school you go to and that it should not determine how well educated he or she is just because of the title the school has. Everyone has his or her own view on what they believe is a well-educated person, but I feel as if not everyone looks at every viewpoint. They just go off what they know and what first comes to mind. Today because of the way our economy is set up people believe that the only way someone can be considered well educated is if they go to a college to further their degree. There are other ways that someone can get jobs such as enlisting in the military or even through taking over a family-owned business. Determining whether or not someone is educated through tests, and by what schools he or she attended is absurd. You can see that from taking a glance at the people in the world that are huge successes to back that statement up. If we determined whether or not someone was well educated by whether or not he or she graduated college than something is wrong. Bill Gates is a wonderful example because if it were not for him then a lot of today’s popular gadgets such as the Mac Books, iPhones, and iPods would not exist today. He is an intelligent man and has brought on huge changes in todays society. It is not our place to judge who is and who is not educated based on these assumptions References Kohn, Alfie. What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated?. Alfie Kohn author teacher lecturer www. alfiekohn. org. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. http://www. alfiekohn. org/teaching/welleducated. htm. Proverbs 9:10-11 ESV The fear of the LORD is the beginning Bible Gateway. BibleGateway. com: A searchable online Bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages.. N. p. , n. d. Web. 4 Feb. 2012. http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? search=Proverbs%209:10-11version=ESV. Outline 1. What does it mean to be well educated? * Definition * Articles definition * Personal definition 2. Test scores * Personal grades to back up statement * Quote insert from article * Wife from Harvard 3. Educated * Other ways to be educated 4. Knowledge thru Christ * Proverbs 9:10-11 * Living for Christ first * Honoring his will for out lives 5. Well-educated. * Bill Gates (Did not graduate high school and was still successful) Thesis Education is important for everyone to have growing up if they want to make it by in today’s modern world. However, everyone seems to determine how well educated someone else is in a different ways such as: their test scores, papers that they write, their grade point average, and their overall knowledge of knowing how to do things. In Alfrie Kohn’s Article (2003), â€Å"What does it mean to be well –educated† he cites a quote from a Alred Whitehead stating, â€Å"A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on.

Operational Management Analysis | British Airways

Operational Management Analysis | British Airways British Airways and British Airport Authority managing Heathrow Airport at London, which has four terminals , terminal1, terminal2,terminal3, and terminal 4 built a new terminal 5 in 260 hectare land, with sophisticated and advanced infrastructure designed to handle thirty-five million passengers per year which costed  £4.3 billion with 19 years of hard work involving totally 60,000 individuals. the construction finished its last phase in march 2008 after the 68 trails by 15000 volunteers the terminal 5 was ready for business on march 2008. Her majesty The Queen opened the terminal 5 on March 14th 2008, and was ready for business for passengers on 27th march 2008. But instead of grand opening the terminal 5 opening went as a disaster, resulting in cancellations of about 38 flights, and misplaced luggage, operational and technical problems. Why this happened? Why the opening day became a disaster? Why it has become as a night mare to passengers? The following data deals with what actually happened on the opening day and why British airways failed on the day of opening. MANAGING OPERATIONS: British airways Heathrow airport INTRODUCTION: British airways British Airways plc or BA is the UKs largest international airline in the world, based at Heathrow airport in London and serves about 95 million passengers a year using 441 airports in 86 countries using more than 1000 planes through its own operations and its alliance partners like TAT European airlines in France, Qantas in Australia, and USAir in United states. In last financial year to march 31, 2008 it carried about 33 million passenger worldwide and 805,000 tonnes of cargo, (www.bashares.com) and is considered as one of the worlds longest established airlines. Heathrow and Gatwick airports are the two main operating bases of British airways. It earned  £9 billion in revenue in the year 2008/2009; passenger traffic accounted for 87.1 percent and 7.5 percent came from cargo and 5.4 percent from other activities. Heathrow airport which is owned by BAA is 15 miles from central London and is the worlds busiest international travel hub and now operates terminals 1,2,3,4 and terminal 5. When we go back in to little history of this airport it was started officially in 1946 as an army surplus. In 1951 plan was developed to build terminals. In 1955 Heathrow terminal 2 was ready for business a d considered as Heathrows first rear terminal. In 1960 construction of terminal 2 took place and was expanded in 1970 and in 1969 terminal 1 was officially opened by queen, in 1976 Heathrow became supersonic being services operated by British airways and air France . In 1986 terminal 4 was opened by prince and princess of Wales which was worth of  £200 million. About  £1milloin a day was spent in developing infrastructure of Heathrow. On 20th November 2001 the government gave approval to build a 5th terminal (t5) after a longest public enquiry in British planning history. The company aimed to move all its operations to terminal 5. Over the past few years terminal 5 is the largest building project in Europe costing  £4.3 billion to BAA. It was a big challenge to construct such a immense size building. it has a capacity to serve around 30 million passengers per year. The main terminal building has 1,100 piles. There are 5 tunnels serving terminal 5 with a length of 14km. The building has 96 checks in kiosks, a high glass cascade of 40 metre, and the terminal 5 lounge has a space for 2,500 passengers, and has 4,000 car parking spaces. This terminal will be used only by British airways .it took six years to finish the project, within time and within the budget. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM: British airways opened the terminal 5 for business on 27 march 2008, by her majesty the Queen describing it as a 21st century gateway to Britain. The opening ceremony was attended by hundreds of airport authorities and workers. The BAA and airline British airways who built the terminal for many years forecasted that new facility would give a fresh start for Heathrow and millions of premium passengers. But the Heathrows new  £4.3billion terminal 5 suffered a disastrous opening resulting cancellation of flights, long queues and delays in luggage system. British airways was forced to cancel 34 domestic flights, one problem was followed by other problem on the day. There was a problem to the staff in finding the car park. Then a technical problem has arisen which resulted in some flights departing without luggage on aboard. The first flight of the day coming from Hong Kong arrived eight minutes early and passengers off the building got their luggage quickly. But very soon the baggage reclaim system failed leading the passengers to wait more than two hours to collect their baggage. By lunch time due to continuous problems the British airways cancelled 20 flights in the beginning and later to 34 flights. One of the terminal 5s departure lounge the luggage belt failed. The road signs were not clear outside the terminal. A delay occurred in security screening of staff. The computers did not recognise the baggage handlers IDs and the handling system failed to log on because of these three flights took off without luggage. Live examples: taken from media resources Sir George martin a famous producer of the work Beatles was one among them said he was first impressed to see terminal5 but it led him to wait many hours and the flight has been cancelled. Mr Matt Duffy who was coming from Glasgow to terminal 5 was struck in the flight for more than one hour. Mr kerb a wheel chair user couldnt get in to the building without getting up a step, and he added its totally unbelievable. These are few examples of the chaos caused by British airways in terminal 5 on its opening day. Relationship with operational management: On the operational side there are many errors like little system testing, mechanical failures, technical errors. On the management side there was poor communication, a refusal to listen to the experts and staff, arrogance, complacency, poor training of staff with the new systems. What went wrong on the day: Logistics and planning: On the opening day staff arrived to work couldnt find the car parking, the signs to car parking was unclear, it took long time for the staff to park their car, because of this reason staff arrived very late to work, staff were almost two hours late to work. Even when the staff entered the terminal 5 building there were no clear signs to navigate within the building , union representatives told the workers didint understand where to go,some of the staff couldnt enter through security gates. Because of the communication problem staff couldnt navigate within the building , they were given no telephone numbers to contact. The luggage handlers couldnt get in to the terminal because of improper training and less knowledge on the building. They were just shown the whole building which cant be remembered because of its massive size and therefore arrived late to work. Technical and human errors: The computer system in the terminal didnt recognise the staff IDs, so that staff couldnt log in to the systems. This resulted in making only two desks working instead of 28 desks present. Even when the staff logged the systems displayed error messages showing access denied to logon to do their actual work. About 17 terminal lifts jammed and failed, because of this passengers faced difficulty in getting in to the stairs of difficulty and disabled customers could not enter in to the building. The transit system broke down hence failed to move passengers from main terminal to satellite terminal, which led to cancellations of flights. Doors which should be kept open were locked so that staff and passengers couldnt be able to navigate in to the building. The electronic screens, walkways, escalators, and carousels were failed. Due to technical errors they failed to work and staff couldnt log in to systems and there was no information displayed on the screens. The baggage handling system failed to work after first flight arrived resulted in baggage misplace. Staff due to lack of training overloaded the belt and it stopped working, because of this reason some flights even left without any luggage. Low morale and good will: from the sources it is come to know that most of the staff didnt turn up for training. Because of this reason the baggage handlers and ground staff were unhelpful when the problem occurred. There was not enough staff working on the day to volunteer. BA didnt recruit an extra staff and just asked the present staff to help on their day offs and without paying them. Lack of communication and crisis management: there was no proper communication from the BA to passengers this led most of passengers feel frustrated. There were no announcements and no information was seen on monitors and websites. On the very first day by 5:30am about 200 passengers were queued up for information about cancellations. There were about 26 operational desks on that day but only 2desks were seen working. Results: As a result within in five days about 250 flights have been cancelled and still there is a backlog of 15000 bags, the bags were sent to USA and Paris to identify the original owners of the baggage. It disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers and British airways were unable to find any hotel rooms to passengers.Even though the hotel rooms were found they gave compensation of only  £100 where the hotel rooms costs  £200, an extra burden to passengers. About tens of thousands of customers vowed they will never use the airline again, as they faced many difficulties like standing in queues for about two hours for information, the luggage has been misplaced, and no help was available. The opening of terminal 5 is considered as a most embarrassment for British Airways and British Airport Authority. Because of this chaos the shares of British Airways felt down by 3% which accounts for about  £9million of the income and lost its reputation. Discussion of relevant operational theory: Any success of organisation depends up on people and their perception of success or failure, and staff willingness to anticipate to the vision of organisation as defined by management. In the same way the failure of an organisation depends up on poor integration of different parts of change for example the implementation is poorly executed even though the build and develop phase goes well. High complex technology infrastructure becomes inaccessible to those who use it regularly. And the management has to recognise that the success criteria should be broader than bottom line considerations: The business driver is not only the share holder value but the staff working and customer satisfaction. Organisations should be socially beneficial behaviour and mission and vision should include social responsibility and sustainability as their parts. The management has to focus on the state of art infrastructure that is introduced in the large projects. Now a days the managers are more focused on multi disciplinary projects to re engineer business which provides competitive advantage. Rather than spending more time on traditional line management responsibilities the managers are spending time on project work. New projects tend to be exciting in first few years of the project life cycle. But some important project personals often show interest on the finishing stages of project. the operational management should be the key driving force of the project from the beginning, but go live phase of the project is in danger as it didnt receive attention. The terminal5 in a successful project delivered on time and in the budget allocated .the architectural design won awards. It is believed that customers will get great service and satisfaction from terminal 5 when compared to terminal4 and 3. Here the operations management followed properly go live phase in project life cycle as a planned construction programme for six years, it included 400,000 hours of man power and software engineering to built conveyors for 17 kms., 66 trails has been made by 15,000 volunteers, staff were given a training and support of six months, before opening the terminal the baggage system was fully loaded and tested for about twenty times. Even though all these attempts were made the opening of terminal5 went as a disaster to customers and public. Sources taken from media showed that there were long queues in terminals, about 15000 baggage went missing, about 500 flights has bee cancelled in fist two weeks of its opening. There was big problem in sorting out the luggage to its actual owners , this luggage was sent to USA and Milan for sorting out. Even the insurance company didnt compensate the lost luggage saying this is a known risk. The management in companies should be fully aware of the prominence of the operational planning. And should be well prepared for go live phase of the project. In Heathrow terminal 5 the transport select committee was advised by chief executive officer of British airways that the building programme was not finished completely and this made to compromised the testing many time before opening. It was not that about 28 lifts are not working on the opening day, and there were discussions whether to delay the opening schedule of terminal 5, but it was neglected as the officials thought the potential risk will be low. Later the Chief Executive Officer admitted it was their fault to compromise on testing before opening. Application of TQM: According to Joel E. Ross and Susan Perry (1999) was cited in his book about the TQM is total quality management is the set of management processes and systems that create delighted customers through empowered employees leading to higher revenue and lower cost The main principals are customer satisfaction, employee involvement, and continuous improvement in performance. Customer satisfaction: the customer satisfaction factor has been lost on the opening day of terminal 5, where customers have to wait in long queues, loss of baggage, flights cancellations, and British Airways couldnt find the hotel rooms to customers. Employee involvement: employee involvement plays a crucial role in success of any organisation. On the day of terminal5 opening, staff arrived about two hours late to work and the baggage handlers were unable to through the building as there were no clear signs. Even the staff working on the ground didnt help them in any way. There were no announcements about the cancellations. Staff felt they were not responsible for the chaos going on. There was no one to volunteer the situation. Continuous improvement in performance: the testing has been compromised by the British Airport Authorities. Staffs were not trained properly, only six months of training was given. There was no improvement in the training statistics. The luggage handling systems were checked about twenty times before opening but on the day of opening it failed to work. Critical approach: Terminal 5 is a complex building with advanced infrastructure which was built with a goal of improving customer experience and to prove Heathrow airport as world class airport. To achieve this a smooth opening was required but unfortunately the opening was disaster and terminal 5 stood in all headlines of media and was a hot topic in the whole world. The problem was caused by combination operational and technical failures. But there are some issues regarding risk management whether they performed rehearsals or not, of so why they couldnt identify the problems before opening day. They would have hired some extra staff for the beginning days of the terminal. They would have tested it several times before opening it. If they would have tested they would have found all possible failures and would have rectified it before opening. If they would have done so we would have seen a good risk management system in operational management. According to media sources the airport staff was unable t o give answers to difficult questions. When the issue raised the British airways would have focussed a heavy spokesman so that the customer and the whole world have felt the British airways took the issue seriously. British airways would have given free food and hotel rooms when the issue happened so that they would have managed the long-term damage of company with minor compensation. Teething problems may be difficult to avoid for any major projects, but one of the oldest rule in business is anything can go wrong, will go wrong and the second oldest rule is the judgement is passed on recovery but not the mistake, and the third rule is when something goes wrong in an organisation the best thing is to admit it. In terminal5 there was no one with strong leadership skills, people with knowledge, and authority to sort it out ad it didnt go according to the script. It is not excusable for staff for not being able to find car parking and not for being able to get through security, and not for being able to login in to the systems to start their work, they would have gone a series of complete training, testing and rehearsals there is no excuse for the BA and BAA for saying the baggage system failed to work as they tested it only with few bags and assumed that it would work properly with 40,000 baggage, and tested escalators when it was empty but not when it is loaded. CHANGES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OR CUSTOMER SERVICE: The construction of Heathrow terminal 5 was very successful project as it was finished on time and in the budget given. But on the opening day it encountered technical problems and operational problems it would have been prevented it BA and BAA would have been followed some simple steps: There should have been clear signs outside the terminal 5 for car parking, as it is known from the problem that staff couldnt find the space for car parking they were about two hours late to work, so if correct signs and signals were given the staff would have arrived to work on time. There should be clear signs in the building, as the terminal5 is massive in its size with advanced infrastructure, they should have been provided with clear signs to navigate within the building, as we came to know from the problem that staff and luggage handlers couldnt find their designated places, they couldnt navigate within the building. The staff would have been trained several times before the opening day. Because on the opening day staff were unclear about using the new resource management system. When the disaster took place staff looked unhelpful, as they didnt understand what was really happening, they couldnt even answer to the customer standing in queues about the faults occurred. The management would have asked staff to arrive a bit early to work to encounter potential delays in entering in to the building which they never entered before. British Airport Authority and British Airways would have recruited some additional staff to volunteer the work on the opening day. The baggage handlers were not given enough training to handle the new unfamiliar highly sophisticated luggage handling system, they would have given some extra training . That new baggage system looked to have no backup system to recover when technical defaults occurs. And the staff keep on loading it even though it stopped working which resulted in sever delays in reclaiming back the luggage. It was seen there were no announcements made and system stopped working, and the system couldnt recognise staff ids. This is lack of testing done before opening. BA and BAA agreed it compromised on testing phase, if it would have been done several times before opening they would have avoided this disaster. WHAT BA AND BAA DONE TO IMPROVE: At London Heathrow terminal 5 after a one year of its opening day everything looks to be flowing smoothly, with more than 90 percent of flights departing and arriving punctually. And more than 16 million customers have now used the terminal 5 facilities properly. New high tech equipment has been installed in security gates which make customers to pass through them quickly and pleasantly. This reduced the waiting time near the security gates. A new system has been developed where passengers do not have to unpack their laptops as trays are available automatically and passengers dont have to take shoes and belt as the security scanning system is very sophisticated. The distance to the passenger gate is reduced to five minutes by walk and 45 seconds using unmanned shuttle. This reduced the time lapse between the entry and passenger gates. The baggage performance was increased significally, the baggage is arriving the carousal before the passenger arrives saving time of passengers for reclaiming baggage. And when there is a connecting flight between destinations the luggage transfer will be done automatically, and luggage arrive quickly than passenger comes out. BA has now more than 90 percent of flights arriving and departure on time. Hence keeping the chaos in mind the BA and BAA is following punctuality in departure and arriving times of the flight. Staffs has given more training and daily regular meetings to make them familiar with the infrastructure. So that the BA and BAA want to give its customers the best service. The building is designed in a way that BAA works closely and naturally with BA making them to interact and meet more often in contingency mode. So the two managements are under one roof now. BA and BAA are using customer feedback to improve the quality and got positive feedback from most of the passengers. Hence it used these feedbacks to improve its quality service to its customers. When compared to other airports and other Heathrow terminals the time taken to check in and drop baggage has been greatly reduced. This saves passengers time and increase the time for shopping and spending. British Airport Authority reduced the time of waiting at security search in terminal 5 with queue less than 5 minutes. BA moved all its staff and flights in to terminal 5, and made signals promising. Now it uses powerful satellite signalling system to manage air traffic of flights and another satellite is under construction which is due to finish by 2011. After the management accepted its faults that it compromise in testing they applied many principles of management and rectified the whole mistakes and now terminal 5 is working properly, with 4000 car parking space, including car finders and help desk to find out lost cars, it has now its own railway station with six platforms connecting London underground and Heathrow express and lifts are working excellently handling 50 persons in one go all together, it has now automated kiosks where a passenger can cjesk in automatically and select seats and 140 desk are available for check in, and it has highly sophisticated single terminal baggage handling system whic is the best in Europe, and has major brands like Harrods, Hughes and Hughes, Links, Mapin, Paul smiths, Smythson, Cafe Nero, Starbucks, Gordon Ramsey, Giraffe, and Wagamama for customer service. Hence the Heathrow Terminal 5 is definitely a successful project.

Criminology Theories Strengths And Weaknesses

Criminology Theories Strengths And Weaknesses The classical school of criminology was developed in the eighteenth century, where classical thinking emerged in response to the cruel forms of punishment that dominated at the time. It is considered that writers such as Montesquieu and Voltaire encouraged perhaps the emergence of this new classical thinking, by becoming involved in campaigns for more enlightened approaches to be taken towards crime and the punishment given by the justice systems at the time. Also the development of society craved new forms of legal regulation due to the fact that there needed to be predictability in the system, as technology and properties in particular needed legal protection and workers needed to be disciplined in a consistent way. There were two main contributors to this theory of criminology and they were Jeremy Bentham and Cesare de Beccaria. They are seen as the most important enlightenment thinkers in the area of classical thinking and are considered the founding fathers of the classical school of criminology. They both sought to reduce the harshness of eighteenth century judicial systems, even though coming from different philosophical stances. Benthams contribution to classical theory is based on the fact that he was a utilitarian, interested in the happiness and well being of the population and therefore believing that punishment, in the form of the infliction of pain, should always be justified in terms of a greater good. At the heart of Benthams writing was the idea that human behaviour is directed at maximising pleasure and minimising pain, (the pleasure-pain principle). Bentham believed that crime was committed on the outset, by individuals who seek to gain excitement, money, sex or anything of value to the individual. Beccaria (1764/1963: 93) stated that; It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. This is at the heart of the classical school of criminology. Beccaria believed that laws needed to be put into place in order to make punishments consistent and in line with the crime. He believed that crime prevention in its effectiveness is down to three main ideas, these being the certainty of the crime and how likely it is to happened, the celerity of the crime and how quickly the punishment is inflicted and also the severity of the crime, and how much pain is inflicted. Beccaria thought that the severity of the penalties given should be proportionate to the crime committed and no more than what is necessary in order to deter the offender and others from committing further crimes. Classical thinking says that criminals make a rational choice, and choose to do criminal acts due to maximum pleasure and minimum pain. The classical school says criminals are rational, they weigh up the costs and therefore we should create deterrents which slightly outweigh what would be gained from the crime. This is the reason behind the death penalty being viewed by classical thinkers such as Beccaria and Bentham as pointless, because there would be no deterrent. However when considering manslaughter, as Bentham also believes, if the severity of the punishment should slightly outweigh the crime then surely capital punishment should be used, there doesnt seem to be any stronger a deterrent to other criminals thinking of undertaking the same criminal behaviour, than seeing another eradicated due to their actions. Classical thinking has had a significant impact on criminological thinking in general and perhaps a greater impact on criminal justice practise. In Europe and America the idea of punishments being appropriate to the nature of the crime has become a foundation for modern criminal justice systems. Since the introduction of the classical school of criminology and classical thinking, the use of capital punishment, torture and corporal punishment has declined. Neither Beccaria nor Bentham believed in the death penalty, apart from, Bentham argued, in the case of murder. The second half of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also saw the establishment and growth of the prison, as a major system of punishment, the idea and concept of prison was to take punishment away from the body and instead punish the mind and soul, and these are the keys to changing a persons outlook and views of their criminal behaviours. Many elements of classical ideas are very useful in modern society and these show the strengths that the theory does have. Deterrence continues to underlie all judicial systems and indeed underpinned the principles of the first commissioners of Sir Robert Peel, in the creation of the Metropolitan police. Prisons are also used as major deterrents and also to try and reduce rates of crime. However a great weakness of the classical school of criminology is, the idea stemming from classical thinking that all criminals are rational is not generalisable to the whole population nor is it entirely valid, due to the fact that there may be biological factors stopping an individual from being able to think and behave rationally. Therefore it may not be the particular choice of the individual as they may have been born that way; they may not have the ability to make a rational decision due to a mental illness such as schizophrenia. They may be disorientated or even drugged which affects the brain functioning and therefore any behaviours, resulting in an individual becoming irrational. Also, if people act due to principles of rationality and free will then why is it that the poor are predominating in the criminal justice system, classical thought doesnt include factors of necessity in order to survive. As Jeffrey Reiman (1979) said; the rich get richer and the poor get prison White and Haines (2004) said that the classical school of criminology has 3 main challenges to it. Firstly; how to make such ideas serve the interests of justice and equality when faced with a particular defendant in court. (Not all criminals appear to be acting rationally and of free will) Secondly; that for criminal justice bureaucracies such as the police, growing efficiency may not always be compatible with an emphasis on equal justice, as their gain is to decrease crime rates. Thirdly a power issue, the rationalisation of the legal system potentially means some reduction in their power, which may backfire in terms of being a deterrent. In late 19th century the classical school came under criticism by a form of scientific criminology which emerged due to Darwins great works being published between 1850 and 1870, this therefore had a profound effect on scientific thought and individuals views of human behaviour. Classicism defines the main object of study as the offence. The nature of the offender was defined as being free-willed, rational, calculating and normal. The classical thinking response to the crime was to give punishment that is proportionate to the offence. The Positivist school of criminology however opposes this classical school of thinking, positivism states that the object of study is the offender, and that the nature of the offender is driven by biological, psychological and pathological influences. Their response to the crime is that of giving a treatment of an indeterminate length, depending on individual circumstances. Unlike classicism, positivism views criminal behaviour as irrational and perhaps due to a problem (biological, physical or psychological) that an individual has, therefore they are partially relieved of the crime they committed. Cesare Lombroso is related to much positivist thinking, as a psychiatrist he looked at criminals as being throwbacks to a more primitive stage of human development, he compared physical features of criminals and related them to more primitive stages of mankind and formed a prediction based on measurements of skulls and main physical features, of how certain criminals look. Lombrosos thinking clashed with that of classical thinking, saying that criminals were born not made, and they are not rational as they reproduce thoughts similar to that of inferior humanity. The differences between the thinking behind both the classical school of criminology and the positivist school of criminology highlight the strengths and weaknesses that are associated with both. The classical school has much less biological fact and figures backing up its views, however it has proven successful in reducing crime rates and in providing a deterrent and a way in which to successfully contain individuals who rebel against the system. Unlike positivism which doesnt have any form of punishment, just a form of treatment, the classical school shows criminals that they cannot behave in certain ways in order to maximise their pleasure and minimise pain if it involves breaking the law, it does this successfully because the punishment that is given is more than that of the pleasure that they would receive. Therefore as rational thinkers, individuals contemplating criminal behaviours would not do so due to the laws set in place to deter the behaviour. However the main weakness of the classical school of criminological thinking is that it considers all criminals to be rational and make decisions by free will, but not all individuals are rational and not all their behaviours are free, as if an individual had a mental illness or a physical defect, this may totally change the way in which they act and think. The social construction of crime has changed over time; feudal and religious influences have changed, and affected the criminological theory used. When the Classical school developed it was in a time of major reform in penology, there were many legal reforms at the time due to the French revolution and the legal system was developed in the united states, which would have had an effect on the united kingdom making an increased effort to set laws on crime in stone. As modernity has progressed so has the development of the judicial systems, if positivism was used as the main criminological thinking then these systems wouldnt exist because positivism uses treatments to the criminal in order to solve crime. This could be why the classical school of criminology has been so influential and still is, because it protects various organisations set out to remove crime and it also provides a good theoretical basis on which more recent theories have been developed.

Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Friend My name is Rick. I live in Carmel, California, a place also known as paradise. I work at the US Naval Postgraduate School, as chairman of one of the largest operations research departments in the country. I completed my PhD degree in OR here at Georgia Tech, in 1975. John White (then new to Tech, now Chancellor of the University of Arkansas) gave me the kernel of an idea and, more importantly, he administered the one stiff kick in the rump that I needed to start my dissertation. From then on, I was nurtured and guided by Donovan Young. The Don – don’t ask me why, but I remember graduate students referring to Professor Young as "the Don" – was in many ways the old fashioned, romantic ideal of a college professor. He was so smart, he was so energetic and entertaining, and he was incredibly attentive to students’ needs and interests. He cared about the currency and applicability of what he taught, preparing new notes for each class, devising extremely inventive homework and test problems, always dreaming up new applications. He cared not only about the students’ learning. He cared about them as people. He had passion and compassion. Let me talk about his intellect. Does anyone remember having a childhood fantasy about spying on your elementary school teachers out of school? Usually, those fantasies involved some role reversal. I’ll confess to a fantasy I imagined as a 24-year-old graduate student. I dreamt that all the professors of Georgia Tech’s Industrial and Systems Engineering department were locked in a classroom taking a comprehensive exam. This exam covered every ISyE subject at a fundamental level, and each problem demanded clever insight and creativity. The rules of engagement were simple: closed-book, no time limit, you can’t leave till every question is answered correctly. Got the picture? Quite a scene. Well, guess who left the room first? Yes, I think Don was that smart. My image of the scene even includes the Don’s exit: can’t you picture that big bear of a man who somehow managed to move with lightness, his eyes sparkling, a big Texas grin on his face, and he’s whistling! Has there ever been another person on this planet who could whistle two tunes at a time, out of both sides of his mouth, harmoniously? You have to admit Don’s physicality was impressive. And that voice! If a big Delta jet was flying over the old ISyE Building and Don was lecturing with the windows open, he would drown out the plane. Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy Eulogy for Friend My name is Rick. I live in Carmel, California, a place also known as paradise. I work at the US Naval Postgraduate School, as chairman of one of the largest operations research departments in the country. I completed my PhD degree in OR here at Georgia Tech, in 1975. John White (then new to Tech, now Chancellor of the University of Arkansas) gave me the kernel of an idea and, more importantly, he administered the one stiff kick in the rump that I needed to start my dissertation. From then on, I was nurtured and guided by Donovan Young. The Don – don’t ask me why, but I remember graduate students referring to Professor Young as "the Don" – was in many ways the old fashioned, romantic ideal of a college professor. He was so smart, he was so energetic and entertaining, and he was incredibly attentive to students’ needs and interests. He cared about the currency and applicability of what he taught, preparing new notes for each class, devising extremely inventive homework and test problems, always dreaming up new applications. He cared not only about the students’ learning. He cared about them as people. He had passion and compassion. Let me talk about his intellect. Does anyone remember having a childhood fantasy about spying on your elementary school teachers out of school? Usually, those fantasies involved some role reversal. I’ll confess to a fantasy I imagined as a 24-year-old graduate student. I dreamt that all the professors of Georgia Tech’s Industrial and Systems Engineering department were locked in a classroom taking a comprehensive exam. This exam covered every ISyE subject at a fundamental level, and each problem demanded clever insight and creativity. The rules of engagement were simple: closed-book, no time limit, you can’t leave till every question is answered correctly. Got the picture? Quite a scene. Well, guess who left the room first? Yes, I think Don was that smart. My image of the scene even includes the Don’s exit: can’t you picture that big bear of a man who somehow managed to move with lightness, his eyes sparkling, a big Texas grin on his face, and he’s whistling! Has there ever been another person on this planet who could whistle two tunes at a time, out of both sides of his mouth, harmoniously? You have to admit Don’s physicality was impressive. And that voice! If a big Delta jet was flying over the old ISyE Building and Don was lecturing with the windows open, he would drown out the plane.

The Life and Times of Multivac :: Literary Analysis, Isaac Asimov

Humanity is threatened by the overwhelming growth of science and technology. People are expanding their knowledge through observation and experiment, oblivious to the consequences that result from improper motive. Isaac Asimov—author of The Life and Times of Multivac—uses the science of numbers, or mathematics, as a solution to the fear that arises in a world controlled by a human-like machine. What human beings are afraid of is losing the very word that separates them from everything else in the world—human, and they will do whatever they can to keep that title to themselves. What makes a human being different from a machine that possesses human characteristics? The idea that there really isn’t any difference here is a startling thought. Human beings retain the need to be different, especially from machines. People want to be distinguished as human and not like any other species, but Multivac is given a voice of its own, â€Å"†¦with a beauty that never quite vanished no matter how often it was heard,† (Asimov 160). Multivac is distinguished from human beings and can be defined as human because of its qualities. â€Å"It was becoming constantly more aware of is own worth and less likely to bear trivialities with patience,† (Asimov 162). Multivac was growing and becoming more intelligent; it was learning. When Bakst speaks about Multivac it sounds like he is talking about another person: â€Å"Yes, I will have to talk to Multivac,† and â€Å"Bakst had to depend on Multivac’s good will,† (Asimov 162). Bakst kn ows that he needs to treat Multivac like a friend; to get on its good side so he can later kill it. Bakst follows the rule of â€Å"keep friends close and your enemies even closer.† Multivac is made by the people, for the people. At first, he (see how I refer to the overpowering computer as being enough like an actual man to be referred to as he) is thought to be the savior of human beings, but then as Multivac becomes less dependent on humans he is seen as a vice on independence for the people left on earth. One of the remaining 15 people from a self-appointed Congress, Noreen, states â€Å"We live worthlessly now,† (Asimov 161). She feels like nothing matters anymore because anything she strives for is pointless. â€Å"Whatever we choose, as long as it’s unimportant†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Asimov 161). Noreen probably feels like Multivac is laughing in her face every time she tries to be independent.

Spirituality & Story

While growing up in an environment that was more conducive to pain and suffering than to enjoying life it was easier to challenge believers to show me God then to actually see Him around me. I’d say, â€Å"close your Bible and prove to me God exists. †I always received one of three responses. Usually, I would get a bewildered stare. The second response was for me to just look around because God was all about me. Finally, the believer might tell me that God moves in mysterious ways. I truly hated this final response.If I had been born two-thousand years ago, I would have persecuted and thrown stones at Christians. As suggested I would look around, and I could not have faith or believe in a God that allowed so much pain and suffering to exist in the world.I would hear people say after surviving some great tragedy, or natural disaster, or loss of life that God was watching after them. My question was, â€Å"where was God when the hurricane was blowing your house away? â⠂¬  It didn’t make sense that God would be with one person but not their neighbor who drowned in the storm.Epicuras’ question concerning God and evil seemed legitimate: â€Å"Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent? He is both able and willing? Whence then is evil. † (163) Of course this delves into the freewill/theodicy argument. Within the Christian tradition people are free to make their own choices. And there are negative or positive consequences associated with freewill. Just as there are negative and positive consequences associated with rejecting or accepting Christ.During a particularly despondent time in my life, a friend offered me a Bible, some rather persuasive advice, and a pastor’s phone number. She said Christ would help me, but I needed to ask him into my life and for him to help me. So I began reading the Bible, and I called the pastor. If I asked a question, he answered it knowledgably.And I began praying. Gradually my mood and outlook on life did change. God is everywhere, but he first has to live in the heart. Works Cited Pojman, Louis. â€Å"THE PROBLEM OF EVIL. † Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1994. 163.

Dear Diary

A few days ago, I ran into these strange-looking witches that had brought forth a prophecy that I hadn't believed. The prophecy stated that I shall replace Duncan, my King, from his title. This news was indeed compelling but Just the thought of ever replacing the King was something I could never do. I had to share this news with someone, so I went to the one person I trust more than anyone in this world, my wife. She was delighted to hear that I could be named King, but seemed devastated that I was hesitant on taking a type of action that could gain me the throne.I had been persuaded by my wife into assassinating the king and taking his crown. Ever since then my life has changed enormously. These past few days have been like a nightmare for me, a nightmare that I have to live in until my last breath. In order to remain king and keep the title in my family, I must take action towards the people who have the ability to that away from me. Therefore, my best friend, Banquet, and his sons must be eliminated because the prophecy from the witches had stated that his sons will be the true heir of the throne rather than my sons when they are born, which I can't let, happen.I can't kill again; the circumstances this time around are different than before. I am the king now, and after everything I had gone through Just to get this title I can't Jeopardize that. Due to the choices I had made, I need to be the most patient and kind king the world has ever seen, I need to remain calm at all times, and under no circumstance may I ever tell a soul of the actions I had taken to be where I am today. This Is what my future lays for me. This Is what my life shall look like from here on.