Essay about TD Centre An Architectural Mini-Utopia in...

The TD Centre is a landmark of Toronto. It is one of the most recognizable elements of the downtown core. It has gained this status for two main reasons. The first one concerns its historical significance: the complex was one of the first of many skyscrapers built in the international style. The second reason is personified by the individual behind the planning and realization of the project: Mies van der Rohe. The building was the last high-rise the world-famous modernist created and therefore it embodied all of his concepts and beliefs on the international style. The complex as a whole stands out in the multitude of high-rises of the downtown core because of its typical, recognizable and repeated style. The original three point†¦show more content†¦In the public square north of Wellington Street one is enclosed by 4 towers. Two are Miesian creations while the other two are the most faithful reproductions by Bregman and Hammond. The four stylistically identical towers have a synergic effect on one another. The repetition which is obvious in their faà §ades extends into the cityscape. While there are hundreds of international styles towers spread throughout the world this is the only place where one is encircled by 4 Miesian towers. The repetition seems to affect everything in the street. Traffic seems more regular, the trees seem to conform to a hidden order related to the buildings, and everything around seems in perfect sync. It briefly feels like a perfect modernist utopia before being pulled back into reality by the acoustic cacophony of city life. This unique feature of the TD Centre is something refreshing which transports the viewer to the dreams of the modernists: Mies’ glass towers or Corb’s City of Three Million. Walking through the complex this feeling persists. The views towards the towers from within the Banking Pavilion can pretty much serve as frames for the architectural movement that is modernism. This initial feeling i s only reinforced by delving deeper into the specific buildings. In looking at the towers individually it seems appropriate because of the space allotted, to focus on the original three point

The Imprint of Words Essay - 1294 Words

The Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary defines the word hate as; â€Å"to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward someone or something† (Dictionary.com). A more significant definition to the term hate would be, having a strong dislike towards someone or something, because of the race, actions, or accomplishments. Do words hurt? The perpetrator may say oh they are just words and I did not really mean it. However, once an individual allows hurtful words to escape from their mouth the damage has already been done, whether they meant to say it or not. The acid tongue burns, words are extremely potent and individuals tend to be careless when using them. Only taking note of the smiles and laughter†¦show more content†¦Thousands of children are mocked, teased, bullied, and ridiculed at the playground every day, and many of them are told to just put up with the verbal abuse, that being teased is a part of life and i s something everyone has to suffer through. However, there is a certain point when so called innocent, harmless, teasing can leave a child or anyone for that matter with lifelong scaring. Overtime, words begin to sink in and wear away at a person’s self worth. People use words everyday; it is the basic means of communication between humans. Without words, society would be left with only gestures and grunts. Since freedom of speech is something that is so greatly cherished amongst people living in America, people are more inclined to say what they want not caring who they offend the process. In â€Å"Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean?† Gloria Naylor states â€Å"The spoken word, like the written word, amounts to a nonsensical arrangement of sounds or letters without a consensus that assigns the ’meaning’ and building of what we hear. We order reality† (Naylor 510). I completely disagree with Naylor’s theory. Yes, words can be a powerful apparatus of expression when effectively applied, but they can also be of treachery when abused. Life can either be enjoyed or destroyed by the power of someone’s tongue; the choice of words can cause people to perceive situations differently. When obscene words are dicta ted to an individual, they can cause a great deal pain. When peopleShow MoreRelatedBond Free Analysis856 Words   |  4 Pagesimagery of â€Å"dauntless wings† which would symbolize brave freedom. In stanza two, Frost extols that he has seen that Love has left its imprint on his life. He has born witness to this fact himself. Footprints have been left in snow and sand by Love. Snow would indicate the coldest of hearts and sand would symbolize warmer hearts. Frost has seen love leave an imprint on those, but what is significant is that in both cases, Love can be swept away and it is impermanent. Snow will melt away and sand canRead MoreEating disorders amongst teenagers900 Words   |  4 PagesDeakin library’s login services. After typing my username and password in, I was able to view the full record of the book. By clicking onto the contents category at the top of the page, I was able to successfully obtain the front cover as well as the imprint page of the book relating to my topic. This was achieved by a screen shot of each page required. I then followed the same procedure with the following three books, excluding the final step of the screenshots of course as it was not needed. AfterRead MoreThe Impact Of Imprinting On International Firms927 Words   |  4 Pagesidentified categories of imprinting sources in prior research. There are several potential weaknesses or limitation to this proposed research. First, the research might be limited due to the use of pre-determined constructs and content analysis words and phrases. Next, there is a potential bias on the part of the interviewees and interviewer. Finally, the findings may not be generalizable. The constructs that were identified by Mathias et al. (2015), which will be employed by this study includeRead MorePuritanism And Salem Witch Trials1332 Words   |  6 Pagesbetween February 1692 and May 1693. The Salem Witch Trials started due to a group of young girls from Salem Village, Massachusetts. Poeple oftenly put Puritans and Pilgrams in the same category. Puritans and Pilgrams are pretty different actually. The word Pilgrim is a modern term for a 17th-century. Englishman who believed in having absolutle separation from the Anglican church. Pilgrims settled oftenly in the Plymouth Colony (Grenander). The Plymouth Colony is south of Boston, and is known to beRead MoreFriends, Family, Co-Workers, Have Heard These Words â€Å"True956 Words   |  4 PagesFriends, family, co-workers, have heard these words â€Å"True love is hard to find† and even a poem by A.C. Bradley echo the words: â€Å"True â€Å"Tis; better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.† Friends will say these words and phrases to their dear friend whom is heart- broken to offer comfort and to express the empathy of what love’s bittersweet intangible imprint has caused. Regrettably, only a fortuitous miniscule number of the world population may boast the discovery of an all-encompassingRead MoreDavid Hume on Human Being and Human Knowledge Essay801 Words   |  4 Pagesall a priori judgments. In other words, there are no connections between any of them. Hume does not believe a priori judgments are viable. In fact, he does not even believe all a posteriori judgments are viable, as was noted above. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Let us take a moment to talk about Hume’s origin of ideas. Hume believes in the classic theory of the blank slate – that when we are born, we come into the world with no ideas. Impression is an imprint, meaning that it is something outsideRead MoreImmorality Of The Pagan Gods And Goddesses Essay1262 Words   |  6 Pagescrop up in 1-3 John and Revelation as well. John expounds these themes skillfully alternating narratives and discourses so that the words of Jesus bring out the inner meaning of his works. Thus much of the action becomes symbolic.† He then goes on to write on page 290, â€Å"The theological themes in John begin under the category of revelation. Jesus is the revelatory Word (logos) of God. As such he reveals the truth, which is more than veracity.† John tends to repeat some of his main themes, but sinceRead MoreSonnet 73 Poem Analysis1138 Words   |  5 Pagesscheme. In the first quatrain, summer changing into autumn and the natural process of death in nature is representative of the speaker’s aging and impending death. Images of â€Å"yellow leaves† as well as the subsequent â€Å"none† and â€Å"few† (2), eloquently imprint this succession. Additionally, the mention of â€Å"where late the sweet birds sang† (4) suggests a nostalgic reflection of the speaker’s youth. Enjambment is utilized in the following quatrain, requiring further reading after the phrase â€Å"such day† (5)Read MoreSignificance of Literary Devices in Child 44 Essay1144 Words   |  5 Pagesno crime†. In the meantime, a war hero and MGB member, Leo Demidov, is set out by his superiors to cover up, what is known to be a railway accident; when in reality, it was a certain murder. Conversely, when more bodies are found dead and the same imprints are left; their mouths stuffed with tree bark and their stomachs expurgated from their bodies, Leo cannot help himself bu t onset to believe that there is a cold hearted murderer travelling around the Soviet Union and killing innocent individualsRead More Writing with Technology Essay1488 Words   |  6 Pageswith Technology The task was seemingly straightforward; create a piece of writing without using a single form of technology. I didn’t think this would be much of a problem. I figured I could hand-write something instead of typing it or using a word processor and that would meet the requirements of the project. However, according to Dennis Baron in his essay From Pencils to Pixels the pencil is, in fact, a form of technology. Evidently, it was invented â€Å"by joiners, woodworkers specializing in

Christmas Carol Persuasive Free Essays

Scrooge has changed after the three spirits showed him what happened, what was happening and what was going to happen. Before the three spirits casted by Jacob Marley came, Scrooge was a selfish, dismal man, he thought that Christmas was a waste of time and money. Scrooge after the haunting however has turned into a jolly and generous man, Scrooge treated Christmas like it was beyond a great holiday. We will write a custom essay sample on Christmas Carol Persuasive or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Ghost of Christmas past changed Scrooge because she showed him all the bad things he has commited.The events that was showed to Scrooge made him realize what he has already done. He was taken to the town where he grew up, he saw himself as a young schoolboy and felt bad for the young Scrooge because he saw what he turned into. The Ghost of Christmas Past also showed the argument with his long lost love and Scrooge slightly older, Scrooge felt ashamed of himself since he got in that argument back then. This effected Scrooge which caused him to change but yet there is still more to come.The Ghost of Christmas Present showed Scrooge the events that were going on, Scrooge touched his robe and the went on a journey. He first was taken his buisness partners Crachits home, Scrooge sees that they are going through tough times because Tiny Tim is trying to recover from a physical disease. The Crachits talk about Scrooge and how he treats Bob Crachit. The Crachits in honor of Scrooge gives a toast to him, and the Spirit takes Scrooge away into another place.Scrooges nephew and his wife were sitting, like the Crachits they were talking about Scrooge and how he treats him. Then the nephew just like the Crachits gave him a toast. The Ghost of Christmas present showed him of what other people did for him, this made Scrooge feel bad of what he has done. The Ghost of Christmas Future is what Scrooge feared the most. Although the Spirit was silent it gave Scrooge a strong message of what is going to happen. When the spirit appeared Scrooge went on his knees and begged mercy for himself.The Spirit took him to a place where he saw Mrs. Dilber, Old Joe and a woman. They were selling Scrooge’s possesions, he did not realize that they were his own possesions and he thought it was Jacob Marley’s possesions. He then sees the Crachits all sad and waiting for his father, Tiny Tim died because he did not recover from his disability and Bob Crachit then came back from his funeral the family mourned, this made Scrooge feel horrible. The Ghost of Christmas Future then points to the grave of Scrooge himself. Scrooge then begs and cries for mercy but then wakes up. This showed The changes that Scrooge made were clearly noticable, he was jolly and happy instead of being selfish and anti-social. He even proved that he has changed by having kids do him a favor and paying them. Scrooge really proved his generosity by noticing Bob Crachit was late, but instead of firing him Scrooge told him that he would raise his salary. So Scrooge learned and changed a lot from the three spirits. How to cite Christmas Carol Persuasive, Essays

Curriculum Development and Design free essay sample

These programs arose from the thinking of a group of pioneers who believed that the educational approach that had been developed by medical education innovators at McMaster University was also most relevant for the preparation of occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Consequently, a group of educators from both institutions, Mohawk College and McMaster University, combined their skills and created a vision that became the diploma programs in occupational therapy and physiotherapy. This approach was problem-based learning, and was used as the foundation for both programs from their inception to the present day, across three different iterations of curriculum. One of the key innovations to the way in which the college programs were taught was the combination of using faculty from both the university and college to teach all courses. In the 1980s, a degree completion program was launched that provided graduates of the diploma program a chance to upgrade their qualification to a bachelors degree from McMaster University. This was particularly important since the minimum credential for entry to practice had been raised to the baccalaureate level by the professional associations. In 1989, the program moved completely into the university setting and the graduates were granted a BHSc(PT) or BHSc(OT), a bachelor degree in health sciences. Ten years later, in 2000, candidates were admitted to the entrylevel masters programs in occupational therapy and physiotherapy. The Pedagogical Framework: Problem-based Learning As briefly referred to above, the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs at McMaster University have a strong history with and legacy of problem-based learning. While the initial curriculum models were strongly influenced by the inaugural undergraduate medical curriculum, time and confidence presented opportunities to create our own models. These models reflect the special nuances of each discipline. Problem-based learning is recognized as having begun at McMaster University, in the medical curriculum, and was in response to critical concerns about the nature of more traditional learning models in medical curricula. The intention was to create an approach to teaching and learning that was learner-centered, yet based upon clear objectives and evaluation criteria. The key difference was the expectation that learners would be facilitated and guided rather than taught (Barrows and Tamblyn 1980; Neufeld 1983; Saarinen and Salvatori 1994). Both the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs at McMaster University have embraced these ideas, although with differing degrees of connection and commitment to the original model. In fact, true problem-based learning models should naturally emerge from each individual context and culture. There is no â€Å"right† way although there is a growing recognition of a common set of principles and elements that can be applied to determine the â€Å"problembased-ness† of a learning environment (Maudesley 1994; Walton and Matthews 1989). Problem-based learning principles tend to become grouped in two distinct categories: first, the values upon which problem-based learning is based and second, some characteristics that are held in common understanding as being critical to the core of problem-based learning. Underlying values include: partnership, honesty and openness, mutual respect, and trust. Core characteristics incorporate: Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 13 i Learning which is student/learner-centered i Faculty roles that are those of facilitator and guide i Learning scenarios which form the basis, focus, and stimulus for learning i New information and understanding that is acquired through self-directed learning (Baptiste 2003 p. 17) Consequently, there is a continuum of problem-based curricula from pure through hybrid models. The masters entry-level physiotherapy and occupational therapy programs at the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University continue to be based upon problem-based principles. Although both programs are very different one from the other, there are also many common elements and approaches that are celebrated. Examples of these similarities are cited throughout this book, particularly in the chapters focusing on evidence-based practice and ethics education. Approaching the Task of Curriculum Renewal Perhaps one of the most overwhelming, yet exciting, tasks with which to be confronted is the opportunity and challenge of developing a new curriculum. This task is made even more daunting when circumstances provide a chance to do something different based on external forces and not a need to change because â€Å"something is broken†. Over the past few years, and in several years to come, many educational programs in rehabilitation science are facing this situation. The changing nature of the entry-level credential for occupational therapists and physiotherapists demands that faculty undertake a detailed review of curricula, to determine the optimal approach to moving toward graduate-level preparation, or, at the very least, complete a review of existing curricula models to identify their responsiveness and congruence with emerging practice expectations and demands. Approaches to such a massive task can vary from ensuring the preservation of what is good from the existing curriculum to making a total shift and adopting a radically Table 2. 1. Principles for curricular change and innovation Rationale should be articulated explicitly Overall goals should be reiterated constantly throughout the process Continuing communication is essential, coupled with a clear rationale Ensure that the intended change is in response to a defined and recognized need or purpose Ensure that the innovation is seen as a high institutional priority Focus on pedagogy and not on resources for implementation Foster strong leadership support Identify incentives for faculty participation Gain faculty buy-in for the curricular blueprint Involve the active teaching faculty throughout the process Anticipate potential barriers to change and develop strategies to address them Recognize the potential need for and value of negotiation Adapted from Guze (1995) 14 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 new approach and design. To have an optimal effect, options to be considered should bear relevance to the pervading culture of the institution and environment within which the curriculum is to thrive. Also, decisions must be made concerning the pedagogical choices of how learner-centered the curriculum should be, and what particular educational modalities are the best for the circumstances. This chapter will address the entire picture of curriculum development and design, from the first conversations about how to engage in the renewal process through making decisions about methods of teaching, approaches to learner assessment, and preparation of entry-level practitioners for the emerging practice contexts. Guze (1995) provided a clear and succinct discussion of several core principles that can guide curricular change and innovation (Table 2. 1). The following is an overview of these principles. Where to Begin? Motivation for curriculum renewal can come from both internal and external forces. External expectations from regulatory and professional bodies are tending to impose standards for new practitioners that require: i Preparation at an advanced level of clinical reasoning and judgment i The ability to assume roles that require autonomy and a strong sense of professional ethics i Engaging in their professional role from the first day of practice, in a conscious nd moral manner that requires reflection and self-awareness Regardless of whether the motivation for curricular change stems from a desire to do something differently or better, or from outside influences, the task is one that requires careful planning. However, it is imperative that any planning process recognizes the need to dream and envision what could be, to create a model that will exemplify those visions, and to produce a graduate who is well prepared to face the complexities and challenges of emerging practice. When developing a curriculum, four general questions must be asked: i What is the purpose of the curriculum? i What educational experiences can be created to fulfill this purpose? What is the most effective manner in which to organize these educational experiences? i How can we determine that the purpose has been fulfilled and the goals attained (Wiers et al. 2002)? Another very critical element of any change is the recognition that the cultural context is a key in managing change successfully. Hafferty (1998), when reflecting upon the realities of a medical school curriculum, discusses the existence of informal and hidden curricula as well as the formal curriculum. He posits that, in order to induce a lasting change, the entire organizational culture needs to be engaged to facilitate stud ents and faculty alike in embracing and working with change. When facing the task of curricular reform, redesign has to occur not only in terms of content, but also in relation to the Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 15 educational processes that enable the learning to take place. This is the difference between reforming the syllabus and reforming the curriculum; the overall learning environment of the educational program and institution is changed (Burton and McDonald 2001). Once the decision has been made to reform the curriculum, a first step is to complete an environmental scan and situational analysis that explore the educational and organizational environment within the institution, to determine what will facilitate the proposed changes. By defining a clear and newly articulated set of riorities and guidelines, changes that are being made within the curriculum will be given the vehicle through which impact can be made upon the surrounding environment (Genn 2001). This strategy is part of the first overall phase, the planning p hase. This is when the need for change is established and the vision for change is designed. It is during this phase of development that the non-negotiable elements of structure and process are determined. For example, within the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, both the Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Programs were already designed as two-year, twenty-four-month, curricula. Also, the province of Ontario mandates that all masters programs are two years in duration. Therefore, the decision was readily made, based on these graduate program regulations and history, that the new masters entry-level curricula would be twenty-four months long. One key commitment was clear and that was to the foundational philosophy of problem-based, selfdirected learning utilizing the application of these principles to small group, large group, and skills-based learning experiences. Wiers et al. (2002) provide a clear and helpful outline of ten general steps of curriculum design within a problem-based learning context (see Table 2. 2). While this rubric is structured around the specific processes inherent within problem-based learning development, most of the guidelines can apply broadly across any curricular development process within any pedagogical framework. From the onset, all faculty members at McMaster University were on board regarding the need to undertake the development of entry-level masters curricula in both occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Both disciplines had undergone dramatic changes in the preceding two decades, largely focused upon the growth of foundational science and evidence for practice. Professional practice models had emerged for both professions and provided a strong backdrop against which to create fresh ap- Table 2. 2. Ten general steps in curriculum design for a problem-based learning (PBL) environment 1. . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Give rationale for the curriculum and form a planning group Generate general educational objectives for the curriculum Assess the educational needs o f future students Apply general principles of PBL to the curriculum Structure the curriculum and generate a curriculum blueprint Elaborate the unit blueprints Construct the study units Decide on student assessment methods Consider the educational organization and curriculum management model Evaluate the curriculum and revise as appropriate Adapted from Wiers et al. (2002) 16 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 proaches to the preparation of graduates for entering practice. While both the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs undertook curriculum renewal at the same time, the physiotherapy program had engaged in an ongoing process of change across the preceding five years. Many of the issues, concerns, and changes addressed and implemented by the occupational therapy program had already been addressed by physiotherapy. Therefore, this chapter will focus predominantly upon the initiatives inherent within the curricular shift within occupational therapy, although reference will be made to processes within physiotherapy as appropriate. Designing Our New Programs Deciding upon the overarching constructs that would determine the final curriculum model was a complex and dramatic process in many ways, and one in which everyone was eager to participate and have a chance to have input. At the onset of the development of the occupational therapy program, three faculty retreats were held that progressed from a totally unstructured brainstorm of what would be perfect, to a detailed accounting of core curricular elements in the context of a delivery structure. In the initial retreat, all full-time faculty members together with some part-time members participated in a â€Å"blue-skying† day-long session during which everyone spoke of their dreams for the perfect curriculum. What if we could do what we wanted? What if we did not have to be concerned with logistics like room bookings? – and so on. This exercise provided us with a high-level ppreciation of the values and elements that were important to us as a collective. It was from this beginning â€Å"fantasy† that the next level of planning emerged. The second retreat was more structured and focused upon the creation of a continuum for learning that resulted in the overarching framework for the cur riculum, together with the delivery methods. A process was followed whereby we decided upon a central construct around which the whole curriculum would evolve, namely, â€Å"occupation†. To support this core notion, there were several longitudinal conceptual threads that represented continua of thought such as: wellness to illness, simplicity to complexity, local to global, and unifaceted to multifaceted. Through this process, we were able to identify the starting place for the first study term, and to create a high-level framework for the progression of the total curriculum (see Table 2. 3) In physiotherapy, the process began similarly with a faculty retreat; however, the focus varied slightly. Initial discussions identified elements of the curriculum that we Table 2. 3. Occupational therapy curricular framework Term 1 2 3 4 5 6 Content theme Wellness, health, and occupation Person, environment, and occupation Development, disability, and occupation Youth and the development of self Adulthood and disability Complexities of contemporary practice Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 17 alued and wanted to maintain and those needing less emphasis. Through ongoing curricular evaluation and feedback, we identified new areas that needed to be included in the emerging curriculum and other areas that needed to be enhanced. These areas were discussed within the context of the changing practice of physiotherapy and the knowledge and skills required by the physiotherapist in the new millennium. The decision was made to use a curricular framework that incorporated a modified â€Å"body systems† design, as current physiotherapy practice and clinical specialties were aligned with this model. Inclusion of a Community Practice/Community Health unit allowed or a focus on emergent health care roles in the community and on integrating health promotion and disease prevention into practice. The faculty recognized that while many physiotherapists identified their practice in an area related to the body systems, increasingly clinicians were faced with more complex patients with multiple system involvement. Hence, the final unit of study focused on integrated practice dealing with clients with complex multisystem health care problems. Following the initial planning process, it is now time to initiate the plan. It is during this time period that the â€Å"unfreezing† of old organizational patterns and the introduction of innovations into the educational environment take place (Burton and McDonald 2001). Often, while there is a strong commitment to engaging in the conversations that lead to the design of a changed reality, it is a very different matter to start â€Å"doing† and actually making that changed reality come to life. A cooperative internal environment is essential for the realization of that initial dream and therefore it is well worthwhile for planners to engage in a transparent and collaborative experience that enables maximum participation and open debate. A process of this nature is characterized by collaborative problem solving, effective communication, abilities in conflict resolution, and a cultural expectation of working together in harmony that guides the overall enterprise (Burton and McDonald 2001). Therefore, it is of importance to determine at the onset the values and behaviors by which the development experience will be approached to set up structures and processes that will ensure that the best attempts at making it so will be expended. During the initiation period, we experienced intense interest and levels of emotion from all participants regarding the manner in which the planning and the visions for the two disciplines would be evolved and realized. As mentioned previously, we had determined that the existing problem-based learning principles would remain but that the key changes would be realized through the manner in which the content was introduced to the students and through which the continuum of learning would evolve. Similarly, we were committed to maintaining a student-centered approach. One core difference was to be the manner in which the experiential component of professional preparation would be integrated more centrally into both curricula. Previously, the curricula were designed in a more traditional fashion whereby the clinical fieldwork experiences were placed at the end of each study term and were linked directly to the area of academic focus for the preceding learning block. By definition, once the overarching concepts of the curricula were determined to be different from the previous models, then fieldwork placements would become less strictly aligned. This was reinforced more heavily in the occupational therapy program which was originally designed around developmental stages and central practice populations. Students would face a more eclectic approach in their clinical learning; therefore, both programs determined that learning around professional issues and practice expectations should be interwoven through the longitudinal axis of the curriculum. 18 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon Redevelopment Within a Problem-based Learning Culture 2 As with any problem-based learning system, the small group learning unit is the nucleus of the whole curriculum. However, the success of problem-based, small group learning is supported by the strategic use of large group interactions for the imparting of theoretical and expert knowledge, while still maintaining a problem-based learning philosophy. Similarly, the application of problem-based learning principles is a critical piece of one-on-one learning and synthesis of knowledge and information throughout the academic and clinical components of the curriculum overall. Both the physiotherapy and occupational therapy programs elected to continue to utilize problem-based learning methods in a manner that celebrated the development already achieved over twenty-five years of curriculum development. This has evolved over time very differently in each program. For example, during the planning process for the occupational therapy curriculum, efforts were made to define new models for tutoring and many were identified and put into place. During the second year of the occupational therapy program, the problem-based tutorials occur only once weekly. This allows additional scheduling time for including the evidence-based practice courses and is also in response to the difficulties many practitioners are experiencing in gaining release time from employers to participate as tutors. In this new tutorial model, tutors are required to participate in only one weekly session with two or three tutors’ meetings across the term instead of weekly. Application of problem-based learning principles in large groups has been maintained and, in fact, enhanced particularly in the clinical skills sessions. Students often are placed in small groups (different groups from their core tutorial group) and provided with opportunities to explore assessment tools and intervention methods. Through these group experiences, the students apply a problem-based learning approach to the identification of learning issues, the uncovering of essential information and resources, and the synthesis of their understanding of the tool or technique. Integration of Experiential Practice Preparation Within a Problem-based Learning Framework As mentioned earlier, both the physiotherapy and occupational therapy faculty groups were committed to ensuring the integration of academic and experiential learning into the curricula from the beginning, and were focused on developing innovative models for the synthesis of practice preparation into the core academic units. It is important to note that the work related to integration commenced at the very onset of the curriculum planning process. In the case of the occupational therapy program, there had always been sessions held throughout the full curriculum that provided opportunities for the Clinical Placement Coordinator (now Professional Practice Coordinator) to inform, advise, educate, and monitor students in preparing for their practice experiences and in checking in with them following these experiences. However, a greater focus on such integration was placed within the masters entry-level curriculum model in order to ensure that students were being prepared to meet the enhanced expectations of a graduate program. Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 19 Evaluation Within a Graduate Problem-based Learning Framework There should be clear and close linkages between how students learn and how that learning is assessed. Therefore, some information will be presented here relative to the evaluation methods developed at McMaster University in the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs. Student Evaluation. In the preceding years, the two programs at McMaster University had been very involved in designing evaluation/student assessment tools that reflected the principles of problem-based learning and provided students with opportunities to integrate their academic learning with their growing professional awareness and identity. Most of these tools are built around the basic problem-based learning process of exploring a learning scenario that has been developed to address the objectives for the particular learning unit. Essentially, problem-based evaluation needs to be congruent with the underlying values and principles of problem-based learning. Traditional methods of assessing students’ knowledge tend to be contradictory to these principles and therefore should not be applied out of context. Problem-based learner assessment should: i Be congruent with the underlying problem-based learning process illustrated by the development of learning scenarios based on real life practice situations i Mirror the problem-based learning process of reflecting on a practice scenario, efining learning issues, researching, synthesizing, and synopsizing the learning with application to the defined case i Involve personal reflection and enhanced awareness of individual critical think- ing and clinical reasoning skills F aculty Evaluation. As with student assessment, the evaluation of faculty is central to the maintenance and enhancement of a problem-based learning culture. And, similarly, faculty evaluation is built into the roles played in any given learning context. In the case of the small group tutor role, faculty members are evaluated by each student and provide a self-evaluation to students during the course of the group process. Following the completion of the small group experience, students evaluate the faculty member as well as the overall course, and these ratings are provided to faculty and placed in their file for attention at times when promotion, tenure, and merit increase decisions are made. For those faculty members, practitioners, and others who facilitate large group sessions in both theory and practical skills, similar evaluations are completed. This process has been in place over many years and has not changed since the advent of the new curricula. However, the items being evaluated have altered to reflect the expected level and scope of graduate teaching. Student Self-assessment: Development of the OTPPI. Students admitted into the occupational therapy program are not expected to have any prerequisite courses completed during their undergraduate education. This has been the case from the very beginning. In the program itself, there are no formal courses that provide students with basic knowledge related to the foundational sciences that underlie occupational therapy practice such as anatomy, physics, biochemistry, sociology, psychology, and anthropology. It has been the long-held belief that in a pure problem-based learning 20 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 environment, the learning is accomplished through the horizontal meshing of various areas of knowledge and information; that through the integration of these sciences and bodies of knowledge, students can gain the understanding they require by using real life situations as springboards for integration and synthesis of all inputs. Consequently, recent efforts were expended to develop the Occupational Therapy Personal Progress Inventory (OTPPI), a tool that was developed from the experience of the undergraduate medical program over the past few years (Blake et al. 1996; Cunnington 2001). The OTPPI focuses on foundational knowledge that our students need in order to become practicing occupational therapists. It is not a test of the application of that knowledge in practice. The examination consists of 90 multiple-choice questions developed with the expectation that a â€Å"star† student would be able to answer by the time of graduation. There are three main domains included in each examination: biology (this includes anatomy, physiology, etc. ), social sciences (this includes psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. ), and research (this includes statistics, research methods, ethics, etc. ). The breakdown of each examination is 40 percent biology, 40 percent social science, and 20 percent research. The examination is generated each term and students in both years have the same examination, with the expectation that the students in second year will achieve a higher result than those in the first year. Students receive a detailed report with their scores and a profile of how they have progressed over time. They are provided with information about their total score as well as a breakdown on each of the three domains. They also receive a zone score, which is an indication of how well they have performed on the test in comparison to the other members of the class. Students in the yellow or red zones may want to review their scores in more detail and make learning plans to address gaps that may have been identified through the examination. This tool is designed as a self-assessment measure, the individual results of which are known only to each student. We have made a conscious choice that results are not used in the summative evaluation of the students, and are intended to provide the learners with a sense of how they are progressing in accumulating knowledge relative to the basic sciences of their discipline. The students are expected to use that information to set plans in place to address weaknesses (e. g. , through problem-based tutorials, individual assignments, etc. ). The OTPPI has been a pencil and paper test so far, but steps are being taken to convert it to a web-based format. While the occupational therapy program has undertaken this initiative on a pilot basis, initial responses would indicate that students are finding the process helpful to them, although this is very new at the time of publication. Integration of Evidence-based Practice Skills into the Curricula. The integration of skills related to practicing in an evidence-based manner is seen to be critical to both programs. A detailed description of the models adopted by the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs is found in Chapter 5. In both programs, there is a strong commitment to evidence-based practice as a central onstruct for the curriculum and a natural partner for client-centered and problem-based principles. Conclusion Since their inception, the masters entry-level programs in occupational therapy and physiotherapy have presented opportunities to revisit our history and legacy in health sciences education. In order to reflect on the overall process, the general steps for curriculum design offered by Wiers et al. (2002) will be revisited (see Table 2. 2). Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 21 For us, the rationale for the curriculum was clear both from an internal and an external perspective, and the notion of forming a planning group was a natural approach to the task. Our profound commitment to involving our broad academic community was illustrated through the involvement of a wide range of individuals encompassing full-time, part-time, and sessional faculty members as well as members of the wider practice community. Such involvement was realized throughout the planning process and continues through such individuals’ representation on our Education, Curriculum and Admissions committees. The need to define clear general educational objectives for the curriculum was also recognized at a very early stage. We found that being able to determine the goals and directions from the outset served to facilitate the planning that followed. Assessing the educational needs of future students was assisted by our own knowledge concerning the entry-level competencies demanded by our professional regulatory colleges. Also, the connections we have with our practice communities and past graduates were invaluable in providing a background for determining the shifts necessary within the curriculum to fulfill practice expectations. Similarly, the same thoughtful reasoning was used to consider the differences of teaching and learning between undergraduate and graduate approaches to education. Applying general principles of problem-based learning to the curriculum was not a concern for us, given our long history of internalizing this philosophy. Specific difficulties arose when converting the undergraduate courses and assessment tools to the needs of a graduate program. Nevertheless, problem-based learning in many ways is a gift for this transition since it resembles closely the natural proclivities of graduate work – smaller groups, self-directedness, learner autonomy, and a degree of freedom to determine learning directions. Structuring the curriculum and creating a blueprint became different experiences for physiotherapy and occupational therapy. As mentioned previously, while the planning processes looked ostensibly similar, the manner in which the final curricular models were derived was very different (see Tables 2. 3 and 2. 4). However, after the master models were created, the processes for elaborating the blueprints and constructing study units were again very similar. Methods of student assessment tended to remain grounded in the familiar processes and tools that we had developed across our history with problem-based learning. However, as each curricular element emerged throughout the planning (e. g. , evidence-based practice, ethics, clinical skills, fieldwork) so did innovative ways to enhance the student assessment processes that were already strong. Details of these innovations will be discussed in the book chapters relating to these specific areas. Consideration of the educational organization and curriculum management model required particular attention since our lines of accountability had shifted, with the Table 2. 4. Physiotherapy curricular framework Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 Content theme Fundamentals of physiotherapy practice Fundamentals of musculoskeletal practice Fundamentals of cardiorespiratory and neurological practice Advanced neurological practice Community practice Integrated practice and professional transition 22 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 move to the School of Graduate Studies. Two slightly different models of governance emerged, with the Admissions Committee being the only shared group between physiotherapy and occupational therapy. However, both governance models reflect a central group responsible and accountable for curriculum and another group that oversees general program functioning. Curricular evaluation remains an ongoing responsibility and expectation. Chapter 13 provides a particular model for curriculum evaluation that was used by the occupational therapy program, the Program Logic Model. However, there are many ways in which faculty members can retain a clear image of what makes up a curriculum and what indicators are critical to evaluate for the success of the program overall. The three years of planning and launching the new curricula at McMaster University were years of extremely hard work, high energy and output. As we see each student cohort graduate, and receive feedback concerning our students and graduates in practice settings, we feel heartened that we appear to be on the right track. We know, however, that curriculum development is an ongoing process.

Small businesses failure in the UK

Introduction According to the Federation of Small Businesses (2012), â€Å"there are 4.5 million small businesses in the UK†. Their significance in the country’s economy is confirmed by statistics from the same organization, revealing that small business account for 99% of all the businesses in the United Kingdom.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Small businesses failure in the UK specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They account for more than 48% of the private sector turnover and employ 58.8% of the people working in the private sector. London is leading with the highest number of small businesses approximated at 748,000. The South East is second with 745,000 registered small businesses. The number has been on the rise in the recent past with over 87,000 small business registered in2010 alone. Even as this number goes up, the rate of failure is still alarming, and a cause for concern. In 200 4 alone, small businesses in the UK registered a 43% failure rate (Small Business UK, 2012). According to Federation of Small Businesses (2012), â€Å"the government recognizes that small businesses are the backbone of the United Kingdom’s economy†. Combining the public and private sectors together, each year, the small businesses represent over 90% of the employer firms. In the last 15 years, 64% of all the news jobs created in the UK have come from the small businesses. Furthermore, â€Å"small businesses produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms; these patents are twice as likely as large firm patents to be among the one percent most cited† (Federation of Small Businesses, 2012). The sectors significance in the country is further proven by the fact that they create more than half the country’s non-farm gross domestic product comes from it. Half the country’s high-tech workers are employed in the small businesses. Thes e include the computer programmers, chemical analysts, engineers and scientists. Small businesses in the UK offer income and convenience to a big percentage of the investors.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More More than half are home-based, while 2% are franchises (Small Business UK, 2012). According to the same statistics, small businesses made up more than 97% percent of all registered and identified exporters in the country in 2007. In the same year, 30.2% of the known export value in the United Kingdom was from them. Other than the financial benefits that they offer the country, small business have a political and social importance both domestically and internationally. They have been found to make significant contributions to the economical and foreign relationships between the UK and other nations, especially with most of the industrially advanced and developin g nations including the United States. Small businesses are considered as one of the major driving forces of socio-economic development in the country. Because small businesses stimulate private ownership and entrepreneurship skills they generate more innovative opportunities (Repa, 2010) They offer stability since they are flexible and adapt themselves to changing market demand and supply situations easily. Review of relevant literature indicates that many international agencies and governments have identified the importance of maintaining healthy and supportive growth standards in small businesses (Kakkar, 2009). However, there exist very few details of the strategies recommended by prior research. Provision of services, information and support for small businesses is not well defined in most of the past studies. Nature of small business, changing patterns of employment and changes in economic environment are found to be some of the reasons for lack of focus in the research (Trevi no and Katherine, 2011). Nature of small businesses The contribution to modern economic life by the small enterprises is significant and cannot be ignored. In many of the advanced industrialized nations, the enhanced share of contribution to the economic growth is the strong evidence for their prominent place in changing the economic profile of these nations. Available information from government statistics has shown that failures are more common in small businesses than in larger companies, perhaps from the fact that big businesses have the capacity to handle risks and potentially dangerous uncertainties. â€Å"It is acknowledged that such high incidence of failure is not mainly because the small enterprises undertake more dangerous business tasks; but because of unsatisfactory management and implementation arrangements in small businesses† (Koeng and Root, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Small businesses failure in the UK specificall y for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Effective management of strategy in small businesses faces considerable challenges from the fact they are more vulnerable and exposed to uncertainties and changes in the markets. As far as management is concerned, the owner is regarded as the central and dominant actor in relation to any proposal for changes in the structure or operations of small businesses. Many researches point out the personal values and priorities of the owners as the determinants of culture, social relations and attitude of the small enterprises. Based on such characteristics, small businesses could be described as organizations that have to fight for survival. These organizations have the owners as the responsible persons to handle several issues affecting the business at the same time (Tsai and Wen, 2009). The owner-manager gets significant part of his identity from the enterprise. The personal values and beliefs of the owners form the gu idelines for the development of small businesses. The management style of owners of small businesses is often a patriarchal one, and hence it is ego-centric and action-oriented (Longenecker, 2010). Causes of failure among small business Cash flow problems The most significant challenge among small entrepreneurs is having a healthy and managing cash flow. Daily (2011) points out that â€Å"many businesses struggle through poor cash flow management†. Even where good skills are available, less than enough financial resources make it hard for them to bear any fruits. A common mistake among small business people is going into business with the exact amount needed to start up, and sometimes even less. When the business is not profitable immediately, there is no money to cater for expenses and cater for the day-to-day expenses of the business. The results are either accumulated debts at an early age of the business, or failure at an early stage. Poor business planning Daniels (2010) advices that â€Å"a business plan should cover aspects such as marketing, finance, sales and promotion plans, as well as detailed breakdowns of costs and profit predictions†. Unfortunately, small businesses lack a comprehensive plan and more often leave out the important aspects of a business.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, a plan that lacks direction on costs and expenses may not be able to sustain itself regardless of how well marketing and sales were planned. In the UK, a considerable number of small business owners are young and may lack the much needed level of experience to address some of the challenges that arise from poor planning. The result is the inability for small businesses to go through any challenges that arise. Poor marketing Understanding a market is paramount for businesses that intend to establish a long-lasting presence in any market. For a business to be successful, they have to understand and meet the needs of their clientele. When this is lacking, resources spent to introduce products and market will not bear any positive results for the business. Furthermore, small businesses in the UK suffer from stiff competition since most industries are quite competitive. Lack of sufficient funds makes it even more difficult for them to invest in understanding markets and even compete effectively. Most of them also lack proper distribution channels and are unable to create a consistent flow of goods or services to the targeted clientele. Lack of finances According to Barreto (2007), â€Å"insufficient finance often means that businesses are unable to take opportunities available to them, or have to compromise-going for high cost solutions to problems, rather than lower cost ones that would yield greater competitive advantage†. In the UK, the government recognizes the significance of the small businesses by offering different kinds of support. This is through grants, financial advice and information, as well as making loans more available to small entrepreneurs. Grants are today more available through the government and other non-governmental organizations. Information and advice are essential since most small businesses suffer from poor financial management, bad credit and inability to sustain the high costs in the early days of business. Failure to embrace new technologies Inability to embrace new developments and technologies arises from a lack of financial resources. At an age when technology is evolving so fast, dragging behind may cause more harm than a business could anticipate. In a fast changing world, leading investors are those that access to modern solutions and know how to use them to their advantage. Young business may suffer weak and inexperienced capacity to manage changes that occur too fast as far as their technological needs are concerned. Issues of safety â€Å"The issues that surround running a business are more pronounced in small enterprises by virtue of their sizes act to restrict the initiatives for meeting the health and safety standards for their workers† (Armstrong, 2009). The issue of safety is especially important for those businesses in high risk industries such as production. Issues of safety can further be categorized into management, finance, compliance and environmental practices. All these issues are inter-linked, are dependent on each other, and operate as a total force. Based on this premise, the key factors that affect the occupational health and safety in small businesses can be grouped under these heads. They are (a) low or lack of management and training skills; (b) lack of financial and human resources; (c) burden of statutory and regulatory compliance; (d) relationship with regulatory agencies and the use of consultants; (e) dependent relationship with large businesses; and (f) employment and occupational health and safety practices. Poor management Management in small businesses differs largely from that of a large undertaking with formal structures. As against large businesses, in small business enterprises, the lines of communication are shorter with simple organizational structure (Bohlander, 2010). The small enterprises feel the commercial pressures almost instantaneously and severely. In the small businesses, management practices are intertwined w ith other aspects of running the business and it is not possible to separate them for higher focus. According to (Bohlander, 2010) â€Å"a shift in one area of functioning will have immediate consequences on another because of the inter-relationship between the functions of operating a small business is tightly knit†. In most cases the employer has to consider the provision of even basic management measures based on the cash flow. Human resource management Most of the small enterprises face the challenge of training and skill development. This is especially so in the area of business communication and management. Small businesses mostly lack both the management attainment and adequate resources to meet their commitments on human resource requirements of the industry (Clutterbuck, 2007). The small business owners generally do not understand their obligations and responsibilities as far as their workers are concerned. Small business employers are often specialized in their part icular trade rather than on the business management practices. They can frequently be characterized by a norm of independence and a shared belief in their personal values. The small business owners are keen in their individual autonomy and hence do not take much care of what the rest of the team thins or requires. The tension between the role of management and the rest of the team in the small business also act to distance the owner-managers from meeting the requirements of the employees. Statutory and regulatory requirements The burden of compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements is a challenge that the small businesses have to face continuously. While medium and large sized firms are able to keep their knowledge up to date on the changes in business laws and regulations, small businesses have not. Unlike large businesses, meeting the regulatory requirements may often place considerable financial burden on small businesses. This is because the smaller businesses are una ble to spread the cost of compliance over large number of products as it is the case with larger firms. This inability may put the small businesses at a significant disadvantage. Studies also indicate that small business owners consider that government regulations may affect their profitability and ultimately lead to the closure of the business (Vance and Yongsun, 2011). This presumption that the cost of compliance will negatively affect the profitability of small businesses has led a large number of small businesses to find ways in which they could opt out of their legal obligations in the country. Viable solutions to reduce failure rates In consistent with the previous researches, Longenecker (2010) suggested that the small and medium enterprises in the UK have slowly evolved their management systems to make them better. Steingold (2009) found that with the increase in the organizational size the quality of business issues management increased. Lack of resources has been identifie d to be one of the major reasons small businesses are failing in the UK. Schneider and Pietra (2010) found more evidences to prove that small business organizations had resorted to more preventive activities such as insurance and compensation when challenges occur. Putting this into consideration, it is notable that availability of resources will be very helpful to the small entrepreneurs. The first resource that small businesses need is education and training. This is in areas of cash flow management, health and safety, marketing, and compliance with laws and regulations, among other areas. Santos, Fatima and Joaquim (2011) studied health and safety systems in small construction companies in the Asian region. The authors reported that newly hired construction workers in the small organizations are particularly at risk of occupational injuries because of insufficient safety education and training. This is important for small businesses in such industries where safety issues could co llapse a business. It is also important for small businesses to learn how to receive and send important information on issues that affect them. For example, full compliance to the law would require being fully updated on any new changes and new requirements. Another area in which small businesses need help is managing human resources. Many times small businesses employ less qualified personnel in an attempt to cut cost. Low level of literacy among the workers then makes it hard for them to be trained or adapt to new and challenging business environments in the UK. Because of their lack of knowledge, the workers are unaware of how different factors affect the business. In small enterprises, controls are normally decided by custom and practice and not by an exact risk assessment of the work practices. Reason (2008) found that the owners cited number of barriers including limited resources, lack of in-house expertise and competition as to why they were failing in human resource managem ent. It is therefore important that small business use everything they have to improve their human resource, as well as seek help on those issues that they cannot address. Another significant area of concern for small business is attitude towards their relationship with the government and law enforcement bodies. Small businesses are characterized by their indifferent attitude towards and their unwillingness to cooperate with regulatory agencies, as well as a common tendency to use consultants who may not be qualified for regulatory advice (Delgado, 2011). The same author observed three major reasons for the small business owners resorting to external consultants to assist them in compliance issues rather than dealing with the government agencies directly. First reason is that many small business owners feel alienated from the state. As a result, small business owners choose not to approach government agencies and relevant authorities directly for advice or guidance on matters that a ffect occupational, safety and health at work. Secondly the small business enterprise owners always presume that they might be prosecuted by the government for not meeting the regulatory requirements. The result is that small business owners are not in direct contact with the government, and will instead be more comfortable to use the services of small business advisors. The intermediaries may not relay all the information to both stakeholders, creating a communication breakdown. Thirdly when the small business owners do not have the competence to understand their obligation and do not seek advice from small business advisor. It is important that all relevant stakeholders put effort to fill the gap in their management knowledge. It is important for businesses and the government to note that by relying on the advisors to guide them on managing regulatory requirements, small businesses may not have access to all the relevant information. Important subjects such as financial, tax and l egal issues may not be fully addressed. For this reason, the government must ensure easy access of such information by reaching the small business instead of waiting for them to reach them. Compliance can also be improved by making it affordable for the small businesses. Financial challenges are obviously challenges that stakeholders cannot afford to ignore. Small businesses are at a higher risk of closing down due to lack of sufficient funds to run their day to day expenses. Financial related challenges can be solved through education, training and making funds available for small businesses. The UK government can get involved by having subsidized interest rates for small business loans, making the process of accessing funds easier, and encouraging non-governmental organizations to get involved through grants and training. The UK government in the recent past has put in place measures to encourage small entrepreneurs through government funded grants. Budgetary allocations for small businesses further need to be increased to help more start-up access financial support. Even though the government plays a major role in the problem, every stakeholder needs to be involved aggressively for failure rates to be reduced. â€Å"Businesses need to put a plan ahead to know what the most likely risks are in a given workplace environment and prepare for them to avoid them altogether† (Shane, 2008). To avoid stagnation and the consequences that arise when they happen, it is important for businesses to have a specific plan and regularly train employees on how to avoid being in such situations. It is also paramount for businesses to train employees on how to react when hardships occur so that they do not panic and aggravate the problem further. The size of the small business may not really be an important factor in the provision of workplace support. The assumption of high risks, poor assessment and high incidence of failure in small businesses compared to larger once has not been supported by empirical evidences. The right information is paramount in ensuring that the right policies and measures are installed correctly and that irrelevant assumptions are not made. Information at the employees’ level is also crucial in helping employees avoid any areas where they may easily expose themselves the business to risks that hurt the business. Employee and public education can be carried out through training at the workplace, government forums and annual awareness week, usually addressing different types of challenges. As discussed earlier, issues of safety are a significant problem for small businesses which may not have the resources to manage damages that arise when incidents occur. For manufacturing businesses, and those that use hazardous substances, health and safety should be addressed comprehensively. It is important to ensure that chemicals do not mix or come into contact with each other accidentally. The cleaning of production and stora ge facilities must be done in accordance with procedures that ensure safety and protection. Many industries in the region adopt mechanisms such as continuous process cleaning (CPC), to avoid any contact with the contaminated water during cleaning. Other mechanisms adopted from other regions such as Japan allow employees to arrange offices, stores and other facilitates in a way that allows easy exit in case of emergencies. Another important step for proper management and protection management of small businesses is compiling a highly skilled team in the businesses. A proper team is important for preparation, prevention and response when problems and risks that could lead to closure occur. The team must have access to every part of the business, meaning that a business must have the right teams in all its departments from the executive to the ground level. Since it is very easy to make the wrong decisions in panic, procedural manuals for incidents such as cash shortages, damaged goods and low sales must be in place to prevent such happenings. It is important for the new businesses in the United Kingdom to seek external help from bigger and more mature businesses who may have been exposed to significant crises and business threatening incidents in the past, and were able to manage it effectively. To fully benefit from new technological innovations, companies must also consult to benefit from each other’s new ideas. Consultations are made possible by fine tuning a company’s communication style and establishing good relationships with fellow investors. Such initiatives prove very helpful when a company needs help in times of trouble. Setting timeline for important projects will help the small businesses improve their preparedness. It also helps manage its workers in a timelier manner. â€Å"Each process scenario must be highlighted in the timeline to ensure that teams don’t spend unnecessarily long times on one aspect of a crisis† (Reuvi d, 2010). Timeliness allows order and organization during an incident management mission, an initiative that could go a long way in saving lives and minimizing damage. Waste management and environmental challenges should be accorded the right attention in a business right from its inception. For those who make products from raw materials, reactivity and toxicity tests can be used to further determine whether waste should be considered hazardous or not. All wastes must go through these tests to determine how hazardous they are to the environment and human health before disposal. When collecting waste, it should be segregated and collected according to different waste categories depending with how they test for different parameters. Waste should be not be mixed and should be collected in containers with secure lids securely sealed thereafter to avoid spillage. When these measures are not addressed, small businesses find themselves in trouble with environmental organizations and may en d up paying hefty fines that will eat into its capital base. Small business should have the capability to test the level of risk and exposure in the markets they venture into. The level of interaction with risks allows the analysts to determine the amount of damage that may have occurred in a business (Haddow, Jane and Damon, 2011). In case of Therefore, it is important for small businesses to be equipped with the necessary tools and kits to perform these assessments and minimize negative effects on its operations. The other important step is identifying the most fundamental success factors for safety in their business strategy. These are factors that must be available if sustainability initiatives have to work out and give results. They include things such as technology requirements, availability of resources, tools for measuring performance and the how the process will be aligned. Conclusion In conclusion, a proper workplace management plan can help small businesses in the United Kingdom preserve their reputation as the backbone of the country’s economy. The first step towards a proper management planning is having the right information (U.S Small Business Administration, 2011). Any company intending to perfect their art of survival must have the right data and information about their population, level of threat, climatic trends, and rates at which risks occur in the industry region and causes. False facts can lead to wrong decisions in the face of a crisis and could cost more losses than should have happened. In the country, small businesses have done much to ensure their survival rates increase. There needs to be more awareness and training for small entrepreneurs, especially those in high risk industries. The general view of planning is to create a specific response to economical, physical, social, psychological and environmental challenges. The effectiveness of the plan is influenced by both local and external factors. Particular circumstances suc h as the economic environment, human resources conditions, accessibility of business papers, number of people involved and many other parameters may also influence the outcomes of a new business. When all these factors are put into consideration, all small businesses in the United Kingdom will be in a position to develop a more effective strategy. Reference List Armstrong, M., 2009. Armstrong’s handbook of management and leadership: A  guide to managing for results. London; Kogan page. Barreto, H.V., 2007. The engine of America: The secrets to small business  success from entrepreneurs who have made it. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Bohlander, G.W., 2010. Managing human resources. Mason: South-Western. Clutterbuck, D., 2007. Coaching the team at work. Boston: Nicholas Brealey International. Daily, F.W., 2011. Tax savvy for small business. Berkeley, Calif.: NOLO. Daniels, O.O., 2010. The small business guide (U.S). Evanston: The Small Business Zone. Delgado, M., 2011. L atino small businesses and the American dream:  Community social work practice and economic and social development. New York: Columbia University Press. Federation of Small Businesses, 2012. Small business statistics. Web. Haddow, G.D., Jane, A.B. and Damon, P.C., 2011. Introduction to emergency  management. Burlington, MA: Butterworth Heinemann. Kakkar, A., 2009. Small business management concepts and techniques for  improving decisions. Global India Publications. Koeng, S. and Root, H., 2006. The small business start-up guide: A surefire  blueprint to Successfully launch your own business. Naperville, III: Sourcebooks, Inc. Longenecker, J.G., 2010. Small business management: Launching and growing  entrepreneurial ventures. Australia; Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Reason, 2008. The human contribution: Unsafe acts, accidents and heroic  recoveries. Farnham: Ashgate, cop. Repa, B.K., 2010. Your rights in the work place. Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo. Reuvid, J., 201 0. Managing business risk: A practical guide to protecting your  business. London; Kogan page. Santos, G., Fatima, M. and Joaquim, B., 2011. Certification and integration of management systems: the experience of Portuguese small and medium enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(17): pp. 1965-1974. Schneider, S. and Pietra, C., 2010. Read about it: The role of the media in improving construction safety and health. Journal of Safety Research, 41(3): pp. 283-287. Shane, S., 2008. Startup failure rates. Web. Small Business UK, 2012. What is the percentage of success of small businesses in UK? Web. Steingold, F., 2009. Legal guide for starting and running a small business. Berkeley, CA.: Nolo. Trevino, L.K. and Katherine, A.N., 2011. Managing business ethics; Straight talk  about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley. Tsai, W.H. and Wen, C.C., 2009. Selecting management systems for sustainable development in SMEs: A novel hybrid model based on DEMATEL, ANP, and ZOGP. Exper t Systems with Applications, 36(2): pp. 1444-1458. U.S Small Business Administration, 2011. Advocacy for small business  statistics and research. Web. Vance, C.M. and Yongsun, P., 2011. Managing a global workforce: Challenges  and opportunities in international human resource management. Armonk: Sharpe. This critical writing on Small businesses failure in the UK was written and submitted by user Juliet E. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Exams Are Over Time to Recover

Exams Are Over Time to Recover Now that finals  are over, you’re probably distressing in whatever way you can. Unfortunately, a long night of drinking and debauchery may not be what your body and mind need to let go of the chemicals that your stressful exams have left in your brain. Instead of getting drunk and getting into trouble, it might be wise to understand exactly how stress affects you and learn some healthy (and fun) ways of relaxing from your exams. Stress Effect According to Nicky Hays, editor of Foundations of Psychology, exam stress effects can be intense, leading to worry, poor sleep habits, and decreased memory function. In fact, the more stressful the exam is, the more your body will produce adrenaline-related hormones to help you â€Å"fight† your fear. Extended periods of stress can have an effect on your body, too. The adrenaline hormones released during these times can cause your immune system to weaken, making you more susceptible to illness. It has even been shown to change the color of your hair. Post-Exam Stress: The Unsung Killer Unfortunately, just because your exams are over doesn’t mean that the stress is. In fact, recent research from the Journal of Behavioral Medicine shows that your cells may be less able to repair DNA after your exams are completed. In addition, there is a correlation between fear about the future and depression after a stressful exam week is completed. Wrong Way to Distress What’s the point of all this? The truth is, after you have completed stressful exams, your body is in a precarious position. Your immune system is lowered, your cells can’t respond as quickly or as well as you expected, and you are at a higher risk of becoming sick. This is the worst time to weaken your system even further with alcohol, drugs, or other risky behaviors. In fact, finals are a particularly bad time for both alcohol and drug-related â€Å"celebrations† and are statistically more likely times for college students to be victims of alcohol poisoning, violence, and rape. Not only that but recovering from exams with these kinds of behaviors can lead to suspension or expulsion from your school. Make Stress Go Away Here are some great alternatives to relieving finals’ stress that won’t hurt your pocketbook or your liver. Go on a short road trip with a few friends. You can get away from the campus, focus on doing something you love, and let your brain unwind.   You might be interested to check the list of  the cheapest summer destinations for students. Start an exercise program. This relieves the excess adrenaline that is trapped in your muscles and releases positive endorphins that won’t leave you hung over. Join a city sports club. Being involved in a sports team has all the benefits of exercising, but you also get to meet people who are interested in things you like to do, too. Go to a funny movie. Research from the University of Maryland has shown that laughter decreases stress levels and lowers blood pressure – especially if you’re watching it on the big screen. Listen to classical music. Soothing music has found to relieve stress on both the body and mind. Several studies have shown how it can lower blood pressure, improve mood, and even facilitate creativity! Make something crafty. Recent research from the Journal of Academic Medicine touts the de-stressing benefits of repetitive creation in activities such as knitting. These actions can release muscle tension, lower heart rate, and let the mind focus on something that is entirely stress-free. Perhaps, youll find these weird hobbies more exciting than regular knitting. Eat a banana. Researchers have found that eating these Vitamin B-infused fruits can alleviate the stresses on your nervous system. In addition, the natural sugars in bananas give your brain a small dose of endorphins, which staves off depression. See an old friend. A study published in Developmental Psychology stated that people who go through stressful situations with a good friend aren’t as damaged by it. That means, seeing a friend after exams might help alleviate your stress and make you feel better about yourself. Summary No matter how bad your final exams felt, remember that they are not the end of the world. Take care of your mind and body by relaxing in ways that will keep you healthy and safe. Not only will your body and mind feel better, but you won’t have any regrets to feel stressed about the morning after your last day of exams. How do you recover from stress and recuperate after exams? Share your tips in the comments below!

Should the gun laws be strikter Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Should the gun laws be strikter - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, many people support strict gun control that includes background checks and mandatory handgun registration; even though, it may hinder law-abiding citizens from owning guns. There is need for strict regulation of firearms manufacture and sale in order to intensify gun safety and limit delinquents from obtaining firearms and includes also policies aimed at preventing youngsters from accessing guns to lessen their violence with guns(Gallup Summary 10). Proponents of firearm restriction believe that it improves public safety since it encourages great responsibility among gun owners and offer police great method of tracing stolen firearms (Newport 11). However, antagonists maintain that the scheme is not viable stating that it forms an expensive and additional federal bureaucracy. In July 2012, Colorado experienced dreadful mass killing in a movie theater, and many of the guns including assault weapons and semiautomatic handguns used by recent mass murders were obtained lega lly, similar to the AR-15 assault rifle used to blast victims in the dark movie theater. Many people support strict gun control since most of the reported, violent gun shootings occur in the public place (Newport 6). Majority of the public favor restriction of guns to people convicted for publicly displaying firearms in ways that are threatening; moreover, people favor restriction for concealing and carrying a firearm without permit. The support for strict firearm restriction has been strong in the past few years; with majority of people endorsing police permit for a person who needs to purchase a gun. Thus, the promising response for the shooting would be one that emphasizes the keeping of guns away from criminals and dangerous people. Furthermore, a wide range of measures that regulate firearms and strictly punish people who violate gun laws should be put in place, especially after the unthinkable nightmare at Connecticut elementary school (Carlson 2). Even though, strict gun cont rol has high chances of succeeding if framed as crime control instead of gun control, the NRA (National Rifle Association) lobby thrives on controversy and does not compromise. Tightening faulty federal background checks ought to be top priority, since no serious individual would object to coordinated and computerized record checks that hinder the sale of firearms to domestic-violence misdemeanants, felons and people formally deemed to be mentally ill. Enactment of reforms may not deter determined school shooters from accessing weapons from the black market. Even with an improved background check system, the system could have failed to hinder the Newtown shooter from accessing his mother’s legally obtained gun, since mass killers tend to be young men with deranged minds but who prepare carefully. Moreover, according to Barrett (41) some of these criminals have clean records prior to committing such offences with some obtaining guns from friends and relatives; nevertheless, fi xing background checks are worth doing, since they may deter some criminals and imposition of the 2nd Amendment rights would be minimal. The wake of elementary school massacre in Newtown Connecticut, there was a renewed ban on assault weapons with proponents

A letter of apology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A letter of apology - Essay Example The differences between high school and college present challenges to every student, but I believe those challenges may be more easily overcome if one moves straight to college from high school and doesn't suffer the consequences of spending an extended period of time away from that routine. Now that I am back into that routine, I believe I will be capable of performing far better academically. Further contributing to my difficulties in readjusting to being a student is that I was also under the supervision of Dr. as well as the school's counselor, Dr . As part of this supervision I was prescribed medication that, unfortunately, served to make me quite drowsy. The challenge has been to treat both my medical needs and my academic needs in a balanced way and the best approach to this, according to my physicians, was to allow the medications to work while taking steps to make sure the side effects were not too severe that they impaired by scholastic endeavors. The advice I was given was to create a schedule that allowed me to study and go to classes at those times when the effects of the medication were at their least severe.

Protection and Indemnity Clubs Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Protection and Indemnity Clubs - Article Example Ninety percent of shipowners in modern times is a part of one of these clubs. These clubs also cover the shipowner from liability to third parties, as well as coverage against injury or death of the crew-members. (Finnern, 2007, p. 5). The shipowner becomes both the insured and the insurer, because claims are paid out of the Clubs funds, and these funds are collected from all the members of the Club. (Finnern, 2007, p. 6). A normal clause of most, if not all, of the PI Clubs, is the â€Å"pay to be paid† rule. This rule states, in a nutshell, that if a shipowner has a claim for which he wants the club to reimburse him, he must first settle the claim with the injured party on his own, with his own means. (Hawkins, p. 3). He can then seek reimbursement from the Club for the money he spent out of pocket. (Finnern, 2007, p. 7). The reason for the â€Å"pay to be paid† rule is that the PI Clubs only provide indemnification for their members, as opposed to regular insurance. The difference between regular insurance and indemnification is that, with regular insurance, all claims against the insured are paid, whereas, with indemnification insurance, only the claims for which the insured has already paid are covered. With regular insurance, the insured does not have to suffer an actual financial loss to collect, and advanced payment is not necessary; with indemnification, the insured does have to suffer an actual financial loss to collect, advanced payment is necessary, and the amount that he collects from the indemnity insurance is only as much as he has already paid out. (Finnern, 2007, pp. 8-9). Further, the third party generally has to have a judgment against the insured, otherwise, the PI does not kick in. In other words, if the insured gives money to a third party to settle the claim, but the third party did not first obtain a judgment, the PI may not pay the claim, even though the insured has fulfilled the requisite requirement of payment.

The Media During Communal Riots

The Media During Communal Riots Communalism is a pervasive phenomenon in the public life of India and communal riots are the ugliest expression (Krishna, 1985). Communal riots have become an integral part of communalism in India. An event can be classified as a communal riot on two grounds. Firstly, if there is violence. Secondly, if two or more communally identified groups confront each other or the members of the other group, at some point during the violence (Varshney, 2002). The reason behind such communal riots can be superficial and trivial; though deep within there are political reasons behind such events (Varshney, 2002). India is not new to communal riots; the first recorded riots were in the year 1714, 1715, 1716 and 1750 in Ahmedabad (Rajeshwari, 2004). Bipin Chandra in his book Communalism in Modern India writes that the maximum communal riots in India took place during 1923-26. Communal riots in India are not spontaneous and are rarely due to any religious animosity. They usually arise due to conflicting political interests, which are often linked to economic interests (Rajeshwari, 2004). During the 1960s till the late 1980s, the local political and economic factors played a significant role in instigating the riots in major parts of India (Engineer, 2002). However, since then the emergence of Hindtuva1 politics has been the major cause of communal riots (Engineer, 2002). The role of news media in reportage of communal riots in India is a major area of concern. Everything is reported in the media, so are communal riots. The role of the news media has grown in recent years, perhaps because of the centrality of the news media in communal violence and conflicts (Wolfsfeld, 2007). Even the most casual of observers wont deny the increasing significance of news media under such crisis situations. The influence of the news media in peace processes is more subtle, in part because what is not reported in the media is in some ways more important than what is reported. This paper would look at the way Indian media covered and reported the two most horrific incidents of communal violence in India the 1984 Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat (Godhra) riots. On both occasions the media drew criticisms. The paper would discuss if the media has been objective in covering both riots and also as to what should be medias role in coverage of such future communal riots in India, if any. The Changing Face of News Media The global media sphere is changing with each passing second. New communications technologies such as camera enabled mobile phones and laptop computers are giving journalists an opportunity to gather and disseminate information with normal ease. This digitization of the news industry has led to compression of time and space and thus enabled us to see news and images of conflicts as and when they happen. The images broadcasted in our living rooms are not only informing the global audience of the horrific happenings but might also instigate further violence in an existing violent situation. As a result, the medias reporting of a conflict situation has become as central to the unfolding of the conflict itself. With the evolution in technology the tyranny of distance might have reduced but various hidden realities and factors still affect the reporting of conflicts. This is proved by a study done by Virgil Hawkings, who explains that the conflict in Africa which has been in the post-Cold war world responsible for nearly 90% of the worlds war deaths suffered a complete media blackout. Similarly, the coverage of the massive war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which resulted in over one million deaths in the year 2000, was almost insignificant (Hawkins, 2008). Since the media has a powerful ability to reach large number of people. It ignites the opinion building process and impacts the political decisions and audience reactions in the society. This eventually shapes the course of prevalent crises and conflicts (Ballantine, 2003). The Media, Religion and Politics With the planes hitting the Twin Towers on 11 September, 2001 the relationship between media and religion changed forever. Karim (2003) suggested that religion would become an important topic for the media and the way media covers events would be influenced by the religious undertones. It is arguable if the world and its religions have changed or not, but the media coverage of the same surely has. Within India, religion has a large impact on the personal lives of millions of people. The country practices almost every other religion known to the world and this is one of the most important facets of the country, so is politics. The politicians play on the religious issues every now and then, and media is used as the platform. The politicians communicate with the common mass through the mass media. The way in which we know and find about our politicians is through the media. It is the media that serves as the main channel of communication between the politicians and the public. Religion is one of the subjects in India which the politicians intelligently use to their advantage. Academic literature has covered the representation of conflict in religion as well as media and religion but not much has been researched on media, religion and conflict situations in context with each other, especially within an environment like India. It would be difficult to understand the relationship between religion, its construction, presentation and conflict situations covered in the media, without some reference to the broader political context within which it takes place, because in a nation like India, religion is certainly driven by political motives. In order to understand the role media plays and should play during communal clashes in India, let us analyze the two worst communal riots India has ever seen the 1984 Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots. The 1984 Sikh Riots 4.1 The Events On 31st of October 1984, the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. What followed was a complete mayhem and it led to a lethal anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi, India. Sikh homes were systematically singled out in the capital and brutally destroyed (Tatla, 2006). The Sikhs were hounded, tyres were put around their neck, and petrol doused on their faces and bodies set ablaze to brutal death (Mohanka, 2005). More than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in New Delhi itself. Two hundred Gurudwaras, the place where Sikhs worship, were burnt down and many Sikh owned shops were looted (Bedia, 2009). The situation worsened when the newly elected Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the son of Indira Gandhi was quoted, When a big tree falls, the ground beneath is sure to rumble. This gave a sense as if Rajiv Gandhi was giving a boost to the killers who were assassinating hundreds of Sikhs in the streets of New Delhi (Mohanka, 2005). Mrs. Gandhis assassinators were avenging the killings of Sikhs during the Operation Bluestar. In the June of 1984, Mrs. Gandhi, wanted to flush out few terrorists, led by Jamail Singh Bhindranwale, who were hiding in the precincts of the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs in India. On the 3rd of June, 1984 a 36 hour curfew was imposed in the Sikh dominated state of Punjab. All methods of communication and travel were suspended. Electricity supplies were interrupted, a total black out was created and Punjab was cut off from India and rest of the world (Brar, 1992). On the night of 5th of June, the Indian Army under the command of Major Gen. Kuldeep Singh Brar stormed into the Golden Temple. By the morning of the 7th of June the Indian Army had full control of the temple. The militant leaders were killed in the two day battle but along with it a large number of pilgrims, civilians and children also died (Ahmed, 1996). The Sikh community were agitated. Their holiest shrine was turned into a bloody battlefield and innocent lives were lost. Saran Singh, a retired bureaucrat and a famous member of the Sikh community in India quotes It was sacrilege to send troops inside, open fire and in the process kill innocent devotees gathered to observe the martyrdom (Mohanka, 2005). From June to September 1984 most members of the Sikh community nursed a festering wound only to blurt out in Indira Gandhis assassination. 4.2 The Indian Medias Coverage of Operation Bluestar and the Riots Media by its nature plays an extremely important role for any socio-political situation irrespective of the boundary it holds (Mohanka, 2005). The medias role in the riots of 1984 is an interesting case. Scholars believe that media can play a role in focussing on a cause much before it takes an ugly turn. In the case of Punjab in 1984, the local media was not supportive of the Sikh causes. Moreover, since the beginning of the problems in Punjab, the government had a strict control on the media and imposed a heavy censorship. Since independence until the invasion of cable television in India, the electronic media had served as the mouthpiece of the government (Das, 2009). Similar was the role of the electronic media in Punjab during the riots. The Government had such tight control over the media that the foreign correspondents trying to capture the horrific events were not even allowed in the local land. The Indian Government acted as a strict visible gatekeeper and made it impossible to approve journalist visas for foreign correspondents. The events of the 1984 riots thus suffered not only from biased media coverage but also selective coverage which projected one sided selected perspective (Das, 2009). The media blackout during the Operation Bluestar is a prime example of the same. The day before the actual invasion by the Indian Army, the Government ordered all press out of the state and restricted press coverage in Punjab. The press was allowed only a week later on special organised guided tours. The aftermath was later described by the press, as involving a small gang of criminals disliked by the majority of Sikhs and Indians. The press described the militants as petty political agitators, rather than leaders of a movement for a greater Punjab autonomy, as believed by a majority of Sikhs. Similarly, during the reportage of the 1984 riots there were discrepancy between the press release of data and images and the actual severity of the violent situation that prevailed in the streets of New Delhi (Das, 2009). This usage of selective information in the Indian media only contributed to the ambiguous image of Sikhs throughout the nation and failed to bring out their plight in the light. During the Sikh Movement the Government of India had passed the National Secu rity Act (1980), the Punjab Disturbed Areas Ordinance (1983), The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1983) and the Terrorists Affected Areas (Special Courts Act of 1984). These acts provided the police and army with sweeping powers. They could charge and curtail to the right to life under specific situations. The approach of the media during the crisis had been partisan to take into account all types of multidimensional problem, historical, political, socio-economic and ideological. The media only focussed on special restricted information and ignored a careful examination of all the issues and processes that had led to the mayhem, the riots. During 1984, Indian leaders were free to make up non-existent stories and broadcast through Government controlled radio and television channels. Since there was a major restriction on the foreign press, all foreign news correspondents were left with no choice but to take the twister news of the local government controlled media. The United States of America, The House of Representatives had a view point on the same. It said: As a result the outside world receives a biased one side view of what goes on in Punjab because the Indian Government has control over most of the domestic media. This contributes to the stereotype that all Sikhs are extremist radicals who are terrorising the predominantly Hindu nation and that is just not the fact. If the Indian Government has nothing to hide it should remove the news blackout and permit outsiders into Punjab. The free flow of information is essential to the prevention of rights and liberties in a democratic society and India claims to be the worlds largest democracy. So, they should act as the worlds largest democracy. This is the foundation for a democratic nation and is not too much to ask of India to respect the rights of all its people and not just the Hindu majority. It is not right for any government to deny 16 million of its own people the basic political and civil rights. India has a moral obligation to protect the Sikh community.2 The national newspapers reporting on the Sikhs made no distinction between a regional political party, a handful of militants, and the entire Sikh community. Even the senior editors and columnists of the national newspapers considered all Sikhs accountable for the assassination of Indira Gandhi and provided no sympathy to the community during the riots. Through the critical years of political crisis in Punjab before the horrific riots, the national dailies had not help resolve the issue. The Times of India, one of the leading national dailies and The Hindustan Times did more to incite hostility between Hindus and Sikhs than perhaps any other national English language newspaper (Das, 2009). The media was a part of the misinformation carried out in the public. The best example of the same would be when a national newspaper carried out an article reporting that huge quantities of heroin and drugs had been recovered within the Golden Temple complex and the same had been used by the militants to illegally fund their operations. Since, the foreign press was banned in Punjab; they picked up the story based on the 14th June Press Trust of India (PTI) news report from the government sources. This news was carried out in the major international newspapers. One week into the incident, the government retracted the official report on the grounds that the drugs had been recovered from the India-Pakistan border and not the Golden Temple complex. This retraction by the government was not picked up by most international news agencies and the damage done by the initial report falsely remained amongst the mass.3 Many scholars believed that the Indian media forgot to prioritize issues and failed to act upon them. Senior Indian journalist, Manoj Mitta along with H. S. Phoolka in the book When a Tree Shook Delhi writes that the media focussed on the assassination of Indira Gandhi and did not care enough about the Sikh murders during the riots. Mitta says: The media by and large went by the official line on the carnage. It focused on the happenings at Teen Murti Bhawan, where Indira Gandhis body lay in state and where from people around the world had come to pay respect. So photographers were flocking to that place and the killings that were simultaneously going on in the capital did not get recorded at all. Its bizarre but true. Not all were pleased by the Indian medias coverage of the 1984 Sikh riots. The 2002 Gujarat Riots The Events On the 27th of February 2002, the Ahmedabad bound Sabarmati Express train reached a small town in Gujarat named Godhra (Yeolekar, 2002). Instead of the usual stoppage for 5 minutes the train stopped for 25 minutes and then moved out of the platform. Before the train could run at its normal speed, the alarm chain was pulled to stop the train at Signal Falia, a Muslim inhabited locality. No one clearly knows what really happened but after few minutes the compartment S-6 was on flames. 58 passengers including 26 women and 12 children were burnt to death (Yeolekar, 2002). Among the passengers were the Kar Sevaks5 travelling from Ayodhya. There have been different theories believing that Muslims were behind this barbaric act. If this wasnt barbaric enough, what followed in the days to come shook the entire secular nation of India. During the next three days, from the 28th of February to 2nd of March, 2002 Muslims were butchered, massacred and burnt alive. Out of the 24 districts in Gujarat, 16 were entangled by organized mob attacks in which over 2,000 Muslims were killed, 200 mosques and religious and cultural monuments were sent to rumbles (Sawant et al, 2002). The Muslim community of Gujarat suffered an enormous economic blow with an overall loss of Rs 35 billion. 5.2 The Indian Medias Coverage of the Riots 5.2.1 The Television Coverage For the first time in the history of communal clashes in India, violence was carried live on television (Ninan, 2002) as the cameras brought across the horrific images to viewers home in Gujarat and elsewhere. There was no live coverage of the attacks against the Sikhs back in 1984 or during the Babri Masjid fiasco in 1992. Those were the era of print media and television was limited to Doordarshan, a state owned channel. It was only in 1996 when, Rupert Murdoch ventured into India with the STAR network and STAR News happened Indias first 24 hour news channel (Page Crawley, 2001). This addition to the television spectrum of India added a new visual dimension to politics, violence and public sphere in India. In 2005, the television newscape had turned dense with a large number of players entering the market; several 24 hour news channels were launched. This led to intense competitive brand of journalism, which was evident during the Gujarat riots. There were a large consortium of jo urnalists and television crews from various channels on the streets in Gujarat, each trying to outdo each other. When the Gujarat violence happened, the private television in India had been broadcasting for about 8 years and was easily accessible by 40 million amongst the 81.6 million Indians who owned television sets4. This option offered by the private television gave the Indian viewers unprecedented access to independent broadcasting. When the first pictures of Gujarat riots were telecast on Indian screens on 27 February, the three major news networks in India Star News, Aaj Tak and Zee News did not follow the guidelines formulated by the Press Council of India, a quasi-judicial watchdog organization (Mehta, 2006). The guidelines mentioned not to reveal the identity of victims or attackers in the news reports but all the news networks carried blaring headlines about the killing of the Kar Sevaks. The guidelines were against the mentioning of victims or attackers as Hindus or Muslims because they feared it could inflame passions and lead to revenge attacks. The television news networks with its striking visual images made this guideline redundant. While covering the riots in Gujarat, the television journalists openly identified the victims and the attackers. Varadarajan argues for the naming of communities. He states that not naming the communities increases a sense of suspicion and anxiety amongst the ordinary citizens not only in the riot affected area but throughout the nation. Then people tend to assume that the victims are their own while attackers are the other (Varadarajan, 1999). Famous Indian journalists, Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt of STAR News justified their stand of naming the communities. Barkha Dutt stated, Naming the community under siege in Gujarat was moot of the story. In fact it was the story, revealing as it did a prejudice administrative and political system that was happy to just stand by and watch. (Mehta, 2006). The bold and independent media coverage by the television media during the riots invited flak from the political actors in powers who were shown in bad light. Criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Hindutva approach in the riots got STAR News and English newspapers like The Times of India and Indian Express bad press (Sonwalkar, 2006). The BJP was in power in the state of Gujarat and at the centre in New Delhi. After the initial violence, when the news coverage of the attacks against the Muslims in Gujarat started to reflect badly on the state and central government, the leaders came down heavily on the journalists and media personnel. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the nation a day after the attacks, regretting the disgraceful violence. He later on added that the news media were presenting an exaggerated account of the situation in Gujarat6. The BJP and the state government under Narendra Modi singled out STAR News and banned cable operators from showing the channel in the state. The viewers in Ahmedabad, one of the worst affected regions in the riots, were left with blank television screens, unaware from the reality happening on the streets (Mehta, 2006). Cable operators received calls from local officials in Ahmedabad and other cities to completely black out STAR News, Zee News, CNN and Aaj Tak6. Dossiers and hitlists on journalists were reportedly prepared while the channels which dared to reveal the truth and were critical of the Chief Minister and his plan of actions were not invited to the press conferences and hence were denied the basic right to information by the state itself (Sardesai 2004). The main complaint of the BJP and its allies were that the news media did not cover and criticize those who were responsible for the Godhra train tragedy in which 58 Kar Sevaks were victims. This however remains untrue as the every news channels and major newspaper had covered the Godhra train tragedy exclusively, but the follow ups did not remain as the story of the day because the Union Budget followed on 28 February. The budget coverage was pushed aside when the mass killings and large scale retaliation against Muslims started in various parts of the state (Sonwalkar, 2006). Another criticism was that, the national media inflamed communal passions by providing graphic television coverage of the dreadful events. The journalists and the news professional came out against the criticism and said that the level of violence would have been much worse if only the news media brought out the real picture by the graphic images. The BJP and its allies also christened the media as Marxist-Mullah combine and the Secular Taliban for criticising the attacks against the Muslims. Members of the Editors Guild of India visited the affected regions in Gujarat and were told by a group of Hindutva supporters that the Hindu community has been defamed with the coverage only being from the Muslim perspective: They only listen to Muslims and ignore the Hindus (Patel et al, 2002). Sardesai explains the predicament faced by journalists in covering the riots: (If ) any reporter, whether print of television, sees large-scale violence being committed, is the journalist to ignore the hard reality and merely present the facts as seen through the government binoculars? If the Chief Minister says that the situation is returning to normal even while reports are streaming in of continuing violence in several parts of the state, are not the lies to be exposed? And if the government insists that the army is out on the street when the fact is that the army has been kept on stand-by and is waiting for transport trucks, whose version is to be broadcast? (Sardesai, 2002) 5.2.2 The Press Coverage If the graphic coverage by the television channels hit the headlines and raised criticisms, the nature of the press coverage also came under the hammer. The coverage by the print media makes an interesting study. There were two different approaches followed by the local and the national media. The local section of the press, including the Gujarati dailies Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar, covered the events from a pro-Hindutva stand and justified the killings of hundreds of Muslims. While the national media, including The Times of India and the Indian Express, were overtly critical of the channelized attacks against the Muslims (Sonwalkar, 2006). The team of Editors Guild of India met several journalists, correspondents, editors, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others to conclude that the English-language national press played an exemplary role in coverage of the riots. BJPs allegations of media playing an aggravating role in coverage of the riots have been dismissed by many scholars. Patel argues that the allegation was specious, self-serving and must be dismissed (Patel et al. 2002). The Editors Guild of Indias team observed that: Our finding is that the prompt and extensive portrayal by the national media of the untold horrors visited on innocent people in the wake of the Godhra carnage was a saving grace. The exposure of the supine is not complicit attitude of the State and manifest outpourings of communal hatred, stirred the conscience of the nation, compelled remedial action, howsoever defensively and belatedlyHowever, the role of the sections of the Gujarat media, specially the Gujarat Samachar and more notably Sandesh, was provocative, irresponsible and blatantly violative of all accepted norms of media ethics. This cannot be lightly passed over. (Patel et al, 2002) Gujarat Samachar is the largest selling daily in Gujarat with a circulation of nearly 810,000 followed by Sandesh with 705,000 (Sonwalkar, 2006). These two newspapers have a large readership and dominate the print market in Gujarat. A study by PUCL in 2002 found that there were several instances of distorted and false reporting in these two newspapers and also the circulation of Sandesh rose by 150,000 due to its pro-Hindutva stand. The coverage analysis found that when Muslims were at fault, their names were clearly mentioned and the perpetrators identified. However, when the Muslims were the victims of murders, loots, arsons, and other heinous crimes the attackers were unnamed. The study concluded: No sources were quoted for headlines, even when they were simply lifted from speeches by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (one of the Hindutva polical parties in the state). Headlines were also misleading, and often followed up by reports that did not substantiate, and even negated the headlines completelyThe anti-minority stand was obvious in the slant in news reporting. (PUCL, 2002) Sandesh was extremely provocative in its reporting. PUCL states Sandeshs usage of headlines was to provoke, communalize and terrorise people (PUCL 2002). On the 28th of Februrary, Sandesh carried a headline saying, 70 Hindus Burnt Alive in Godhra. Another report on the front page read, Avenge Blood with Blood, which was a quote from a statement made by one of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders, but the newspaper used the words as a headline without mentioning the leader (Sonwalkar, 2006). On the 6th of March, the headline read, Hindus Beware: Haj Pilgrims return with a Deadly Conspiracy, when the fact remains that hundreds of Haj pilgrims were terrified by the happenings in the state and had retuned under police protection. PUCL emphasized in its study that most news in Sandesh post-Godhra violence began with the sentence, In continuing spiral of communal rioting that broke out as a reaction to the demonic/barbaric, etc Godhra incident. The comminatory adjectives used in describing the Godhra incident were strikingly absent when covering the post Godhra Muslim annihilation (PUCL, 2002). One of the reports mentioned that the breasts of two Hindu women had been chopped off by Muslim mobs during the crisis. This report turned out be false and the editor countered by saying that the information had been provided by the police. The papers editor told that it was against the policy of the newspaper to carry out corrections and clarifications for previously published articles (Patel et al, 2002). The Press Council of India later censured the newspaper for the fault (Prerna, 2003). Gujarat Samachar also heightened the tension through its pro-Hindutva stand in coverage of the events. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi openly praised Sandesh for its work, which was publishing false and rumoured reports with a pronounced pro-Hindutva and an anti-Muslim stance. In a letter to the newspapers editor, Modi writes: The newspapers of the state played a decisive role as a link between the people and the government. You have served humanity in a big way. It is the state governments primary duty to restore peace and security. It is noteworthy that the newspapers of Gujarat gave their full support to the state government in undertaking this difficult task.I am grateful to you. (Varadarajan, 2002: 286) The one regional newspaper that stood out amidst the Hindutva ideology was the Gujarat Today, notably started by few liberal Muslims in the state. The report suggested Gujarat Today regularly carried out positive news items highlighting interdependence of the communities involved (PUCL 2002). The two English-language national newspapers in India, The Times of India and the Indian Express were critical of the state government in their articles. However, these two newspapers also publish editions from Gujarat and a clear divide was evident between the two English-language dailies and the two regional editions (Sonwalkar, 2006). While the English-language version was sharp in its criticisms of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his policies, the two Gujarati dailies propagated the need of Hindutva. Desai, an Ahmedabad-based correspondent of the Indian Express writes: Today, all the people who once used to look at me with respect question me and abuse me. They do this because I represented a publication whose medium is English and because I reported human misery in its right perspective.A friend said: All of you from the English language media have tarnished the image of Gujarat. Today, the common man in Gujarat hates the English language media. Even a section of the English language media hates the English language media. (Desai, 2004: 228) We find that there was a demarcation between the coverage of the national media and a section of the regional press. The national media did a commendable job but were criticised by a few. The Role of the Media during Communal Riots: The Road Ahead The result of multiple and complex interests of regions, states and/or various types of groups within them leads to economic, social and political conflicts. Such conflicts are difficult to handle and requires negotiations between the parties involved and in this amorphous age of media the governments are finding extremely difficult to handle such situations (Terzis, 2008). Despite the increased importance of communication, very few governments can speak about successful communication during conflicts because they fail to take into consideration the perception of the conflict in the minds of the common mass, the scientific analysis of the causable factors, the agendas of the parties involved and the changing nature of the conflict itself (Ballantine, 2003). The role of mass media in covering and resolving conflicts, especially those involving religious differences that leads to frequent communal riots in India, is extremely crucial. We are in the age where the basic principles of reportage of facts are sacred, comment free, get both sides of the story, double check your facts before writing, are not enough in reporting communal riots. There are enough challenges faced by a journalist and media personnel in such a situation. The guidelines for a reporter in covering communal riots should be to lookout for detailed background information, not continue with the stereotyping of communities, find residents who deal with both the communities, talk to victims from both sides, corroborate victims as well as polices accounts, discover the role of the police, the politicians and the media