Career Management Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Career Management Plan - Assignment Example My Career management Plan sets the timeline for achieving this objective by 30th January 2017. While this may be quite an ambitious goal especially when looking at the timeline, my passion for this career path propped by my personality and academic background would play a pivotal role in safeguarding the achievement of the goal. With a thirteen years’ experience and training in animal control, animal handling, animal control code enforcement and supervision, it is imminent that I have the requisite skills, abilities and knowledge for the job. However, this does not undermine the fact that more learning and experience in varied capacities is required to achieve my career objective. Nevertheless, in my 13 years’ experience, I have found out that I derive immeasurable satisfaction in enforcing the provisions of all the applicable ordinances, laws, codes and regulations pertaining to animal control as well as initiating the necessary actions in order to correct violations a nd deviations. My passion for overseeing the compliance of animal control regulations has informed my desire and goal of being a Chief Animal Control Officer by the end of January 2017. Interim Goals My career plan, goals, and objectives are set upon a number of interim goals. The interim goals aid in the pursuit of my career aim of becoming a Chief Animal Control Officer. In essence, my first interim career goal is to possess and maintain a valid Animal Control Enforcement Certification from my state. This will aid in attaining the necessary requirement in my department for becoming a Chief Animal Control Officer. In addition, it would set me on the right path of my career by differentiating my roles in line with the career. My second interim goal would be possession and maintenance of a valid Euthanasia Certification. With this certification, the roles and responsibilities that will be assigned even in my current position will be more in line with my career. My third interim goal is to obtain and maintain a valid Chemical Immobilization Certification from the Drug Enforcement Agency. This is not only a requirement in my Department for anyone who aims at [performing duties and responsibilities in animal control field, but also complements my two previous goals. My fourth interim objective is to play a greater role in the supervision and motivation of subordinates. This interim goal aims at outlining my initiative and passion as an individual in safeguarding quality service provision in the department. In essence, this will be combined with training my subordinates on the various aspects of the animal control field. This would allow for the growth of more enhanced interaction and communication skills necessary in my career as Chief Animal Control Officer. My fifth interim objective is to gain experience as Animal Control Officer in line with the basic animal control course taken. This is in line with obtaining a driver’s license which would enhance my c apacity to execute my duties and responsibilities as Chief Animal Control Officer. In essence, this is the initial step taken by individuals who aim at becoming a Chief Animal Control Officer. Resources Needed There are variations as to the resources required to meet the interim goals, as well as the ultimate goal. The first interim goal will require that I relocate to West Virginia

To what extent should the use of Capital Punishment be a matter for Essay

To what extent should the use of Capital Punishment be a matter for Political & Moral Choice rather than based simply on its Ethnicacy as a deterrent against cr - Essay Example Dramatic changes in the letter and the practice of criminal law inevitably indicate that cultural work is being done, that a paradigm shift is occurring in the understanding of crime, criminals, and police power. The main problem is that the debates about capital punishment and its effectiveness are based on ethical principles rather than political or moral rules. Many critics state that capital punishment should be analyzed and discussed in accordance with moral and political principles rather than a 'common sense', values and traditions. Traditionally, the public discussion of crime and punishment encompasses more than the penal code and debates about courts, judges, and juries. The modern criminal justice system emerged at the same time as the fields of psychiatry, criminology, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. These disciplines purported to apply scientific methods of inquiry to behavior, mental illness, and the social and psychological dimensions of crime. In general, moral arguments can be made both for and against capital punishment (Logan, 1999). Long a key element of the debate, moral arguments also have tended to remain fairly static over the years, and often have been used in conjunction with religious arguments. Two moral arguments have remained particularly important throughout the death penalty debate: retribution and the sanctity of life. Those favoring the death penalty often argue that society must express moral outrage at, and condenmation of, heinous crimes such as murder (Coyne & Entzeroth, 2006). The conscience of society should be educated in the view of such a penalty; if it were not, or when it is not, poor and cheap indeed is the estimate placed upon the sacredness of human life. Conversely, abolitionists often argue that rather than upholding the sanctity of life, the death penalty violates it. Both Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens used moral and political arguments to oppose capital punishment. These same issues have been the subject of even greater attention and controversy in the modern era, as scientific studies have attempted to determine whether capital punishment acts as a deterrent to murder and/or whether it has a "brutalizing" effect on society. In spite of the fact that Fielding supported execution for Bosavern Penlez, he rejected the idea of capital punishment as the only possible measure to prevent crimes (Fielding, 1980). Proponents of capital punishment typically consider deterrence to be one of its fundamental goals. The execution sermons of the early colonies were full of warnings against following in the footsteps of the condemned, and executions were public events designed to instill fear and reverence for the law in the people of the community (Colson 1997). Also, critics admit that such mental state as monomania is an elusive form of insanity manifested itself in a single narrow area. Monomaniacs could thus appear sane and normal most of the time but would become obsessive, wildly irrational, and even homicidal in regard to one particular subject (Coyne & Entzeroth 2006). The rational faculties of the moral imbecile could be entirely intact, but the moral faculties common to normal humans were totally lacking. In court, and in some state penal codes, these new categories sometimes led to an "irresistible impulse" test: For the monomaniacal murderer or the moral imbecile, a single act of explosive violence might expose a lifetime of apparent normalcy as a

Meaning of life - 2006 singles Essay Example for Free

Meaning of life 2006 singles Essay Have you ever wondered what the meaning of life is, the purpose of our existence. Life is truly a mystery we know very little of our own selves. Something beautiful as a life is something amazing to watch. A life is considered priceless. Life is a treasure among treasures. I consider it a miracle that I am alive and talking to all of you today. The chances of me being here is 1in 5 million, and yet I am here. The same goes for all of you present here today. All of us should feel blessed that we get to experience the privilege of living. The miracle of life begins with the love of two people because of this love a life is created. One good thing leads to another. They’re maybe time that we are challenged, but we should never yield instead we take these challenges as an opportunity to grow in life. If somehow you fall all you need to do is simply stand up again and again. Life is not just a bed of roses we need to fight for what we want and stand for whatever we believe in. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings. Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going. Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily. Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Our generation is so attached to technology that we become like machines. We spend so much time on our gadgets that we fail to notice the things around us. We fail to see the beautiful world around us. Living is not simply eating and breathing is if we spend so much time on our cell phones and playing computer games then we were never alive in the first place. Our life is the greatest gift we are given. The memories we make with our friends and family. We laugh, cry, love and hate these are the proof that we are truly alive. Each and every one of us is irreplaceable all of us are one of a kind. Don’t think of your life as something insignificant maybe just by the act of living you are making someone happy. There is one thing to remember Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) Benefits

Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) Benefits 1.1 Background Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) has been identified by various environmentalists and conservationists as the best way to offset human-wildlife conflict which impedes local support for national parks (Hulme Murphree 2002). By channeling tourism revenue to local residents, conservationists hope to offset wildlife costs and improve local attitudes toward conservation. To date tourism revenue-sharing programs have met mixed success (Western 2001).This study looked at the extent to which revenue sharing policies are put into practice and look at what projects funds are distributed across, beneficiaries of revenue sharing and the criteria used to determine them and look at implications for inequality, the livelihood impacts of revenue sharing and determine whether policy makers meet their commitments and the constraints to revenue sharing around Bwindi impenetrable National Park in Uganda. The growth in tourism industry has been one of the most profitable in national and communal economies in the Africa that were recently recognised by international and other global activists of development and environment concern. This has resulted in the need for several governments to transform from their earlier practices of managing tourist areas in conformity with the need to protect the environment and improve peoples livelihoods. As one of the ways to protect the environment and promote tourism, several national parks officials in Uganda like in many other parts of Africa have barred people from using them freely and tourism is now regarded as a tool to promote conservation and provide people with opportunities to improve their economic situations. Tourism in Uganda has been transformed from the traditional trend of activities based only on viewing animals to one that is ecologically oriented and at the same time benefiting the local communities around them. So-called eco-tourism therefore is an environmentally responsible form of tourism to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature, promote conservation, encourage low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of the local population (IUCN 1992). Eco-tourism aids conservation of the natural environmental heritage through sustaining the well-being of the local people through provision of revenue for planning, management, and evaluation, stimulation of economic tourism through tourist expenditures and even creation of markets for local peoples products (Hulme and Murphree 2001). Local communities here, refers to the group of people living in or near the protected area and usually have to gain or lose something as a result of the distant management and access to resources in this area (FAO 1992). Living adjacent to the Park, these people often pay the highest costs in terms of the park existence or pose the greatest threat to them and receive the least benefits compared to other beneficiaries (Adams and Infield 2003) and yet, it is local communities regarded as holding values and preferences compared to state interests embedded in protected areas. The development and success of eco-tourism put much emphasis towards winning local peoples support and even maintaining positive attitude towards ecotourism and conservation. For eco-tourism to succeed there is need for collaboration and full participation of the local communities in both conservation and management of natural resources, upon which eco-tourism is based (Obua 1996). This helps to create good relationship and a sense of ownership on the side of local people. Failure to do this can be a cause for conflict and resentment between the park management and local people (Mutebi 2003). According to Groove (1993), eco-tourism came up as a result of three basic reasons; First, dissatisfaction among tourists with the standard of mass tourism; second, the increased awareness amongst tourists of their potential impact on the host environments and the indigenous societies; and third, the love for adventure and nature by tourists. The origin and development of ecotourism in Uganda was based on the growing awareness that protected areas were alienated from local people and had many chances to fail without local peoples support (UWA 1996). As a result of this, there has been development of eco-tourism as a variant of conservation and revenue generation because it is believed that eco-tourism can generate revenues that may be re-invested in protected areas to facilitate conservation and improve peoples livelihoods. It is argued that ecotourism helps to provide a sustainable tourism option. This is achieved through its emphasis of the areas carrying capacity concept and the possibility of increasing the well being of people residing around these areas through sharing with them receipts from tourism, as is being done at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) In 1991 BINP was upgraded to National Park status. The shift from Forest Reserve to National Park had more implications than just a change in management. It also had a major impact on the surrounding communities; they were no longer allowed to enter the area. This implied that they no longer were able to utilize resources, as they had done traditionally. People who traditionally depended on forest resources for their survival in terms of energy, building materials and non-timber products for their livelihoods were denied access. The Forest Department used to allow free extraction of the non-timber products of the forest (Namara 2006). In addition to loss of access and control over park resources, people residing adjacent to the national parks bear costs related to wildlife conservation in terms of crop and livestock raids. However, despite the losses and costs suffered by local communities to wildlife conservation, tourism revenues were being collected both at national level and on park gates without necessarily scaling down to local people (Hulme and Murphree 1999). In an effort to manage and distribute diverse natural resources, the government of Uganda embarked on policies, regulations and acts through the parliament to ensure adequate implementation and protection of natural resource use (UWA 2001). A revenue sharing scheme was introduced in Uganda to enable local people benefit from forest resources and improve on their livelihoods. The success or failure of this policy is the core concern of this research. This study sought to investigate if the Uganda Wildlife statute of the 1996 policy implementation that requires 20% of park entry revenue to be allocated to the people residing around the park for their development benefits was achieved. According to the literature available, revenue sharing is under pressure and subject to claims from the Uganda Wildlife Authority to meet management costs in several other National Parks that earn little revenue on their own. These claims constrain adequate distribution and use of revenues to compensate for the real and perceived economic costs foregone for Park conservation among local people. This rise the concern for accountability and transparency in setting up sustainable programs needed to improve peoples livelihoods. These research ob jectives set grounds for finding solutions to such problems. 1.2 Problem statement Despite the growing body of literature on revenue sharing, there are still conflicting debates about the success and failures of community conservation in Uganda (Hulme and Murphree 2001). There is however, a paucity of studies on revenue sharing in Bwindi National Park, a situation that warranted research. It is equally perplexing that studies conducted about revenue sharing in various National Parks, have shown that their benefits are far less than the cost and prospective of resource use within the Parks (Hulme and Murphree 2001). This has been attributed to the fact that revenues obtained from tourism are distributed without frequent planning and understanding of social, cultural and economic contexts of areas surrounding the park. Bwindi National Park has a protection status but local people continue to invade the park and carry out illegal activities like pit sawing and snaring to supplement their subsistence activities (Madden 1999). To solve the tension and conflicts around the Park, UWA, CARE and IGCP embarked on programs like revenue sharing, sustainable use of non-timber resources and conservation education. Hulme and Murphree (2001) reported in chapter to that funds obtained from revenue sharing were used in constructing schools, health clinics and road construction. However, it was not known whether and how revenues intended for community development through revenue sharing benefited local people. This was owed to the fact that there was uncertainty of the revenue sharing policy and practice, community and individual level of access to revenues obtained from the park, and how tourist revenues compensate and support the livelihoods and development of local people. There was thus a need to undertake this study to understand how best conservation could meet local community needs and benefit people residing along the Park in line with national policies, while protecting the environment. 1.3 Research Objectives 1.3.1Goal The goal of this study was to examine park revenue sharing and its livelihood impacts to residents around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, western Uganda. 1.3.2 Specific objectives -To examine the extent to which revenue sharing policies are put into practice and look at what projects funds are distributed across. -To identify beneficiaries of revenue sharing and the criteria used to determine them and look at implications for inequality. -To assess the livelihood impacts of revenue sharing and determine whether policy makers meet their commitments. -To identify the constraints to revenue sharing around BINP 1.4 Justification It is believed and evidenced those good relationships between people and parks are a major element of ensuring sustainable conservation. Due to some benefits associated with people residing adjacent to national parks, community attitudes towards national parks have improved over time. According to UWA, the revenue sharing scheme aims at empowering local communities in local resource management and tends to ensure sustainability and improved rural livelihoods. As a development study student, I thoroughly scrutinised how policy impacts implemented from top government levels without the consent of local people can be a big setback in determining peoples development at the local level. The main intention was to look at which extent revenue sharing policies were put into practice. The concern was whether local people benefited from resources available in their localities; and whether these benefits related to revenue sharing. By evaluating the level of benefits obtained as a result of revenue sharing, recommendations on policies suitable for the local community were made. This research is important for both governments and non-government agencies that are involved in implementing conservation policies. This work intends to identify and look at the gaps between policy and practice, and formulated possible recommendations to ensure better sustainable livelihoods of people living around Bwindi National Park. CHAPTER TWO:LITERATURE REVIEW ECOTOURISM, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND PEOPLES LIVEHOODS The chapter provides a documented review of the general concept of ecotourism as a part of environmental conservation and likens it to the livelihoods of local people. The chapter begins with the history of environmental conservation in Uganda and then links it to natural based tourism as a way of combining tourism and protecting the nature, while developing communities residing around such areas. 2.1 Background of environmental conservation and tourism revenue sharing in Uganda In Uganda like in any other tropical areas, people residing adjacent to forested areas normally depend on forest resources for survival. Before changes restricting peoples access and control over these resources were made, they solely depended on such for income, food, energy, medicine and hunting (FAO 1992). Hulme and Murphree (2001) reported that the international and national conservationists claim that forested areas are vulnerable to human activity and a threat to biodiversity. To counter this, new management policies that restrict peoples access and control over these areas are thus normally established. To ensure protection and control over forest losses, major forest reserves including Bwindi were turned into National Parks and put under a single management unit Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) (Archabald and Naughton 2001), Tourism revenue sharing is not a new idea in Uganda. As early as 1950s, the Chief Game Warden declared: African Local Governments should receive a portion of the revenue accruing from game license fees to increase their interest in faunal matters, and thus encourage them to render greater assistance in the preservation of game and the enforcing of game laws (Archabald and Naughton 2002), This encouraged more reserach in revenue sharing Studies in revenue-sharing started early in 1952 and sustained until Independence in 1962. In general, a part of revenue from tourism fees was given to districts. No attempt was made to channel revenue directly to residents neighboring the park. However the Game Department shot wildlife caught raiding farms and offered local citizens the game meat (Naughton-Treves 1999). They further argued that no official facts that linked revenue sharing payment agreements to local communities with conservation policies While there are reports of local chiefs apprehending poachers, other chiefs and kings continued to hunt wildlife illegally despite revenue-sharing programs. One warden concluded that ‘A far greater awareness of the value of game animals has been shown by the Kingdom Governments and District Administrations, but on the whole they have not made any significant effort to stamp out poaching (Tennant 1963, p.33). Revenue-sharing projects continued after Ugandas independence, but in 1971 the country plunged into a 15-year civil war and the government lost control of wildlife and parks entirely (Hamilton 1984). With peace in 1987, Ugandan civil society began to be rebuilt. Eventually the national government endorsed biodiversity conservation and began shoring up the national park system and ‘upgrading several forest reserves to national parks (Sebukeera 1996). Due to the increased pressure by International donors and other non government organizations the government of Uganda recognized the importance of community-based approaches to national tourism revenue-sharing and adopted a new park policy in 1994. To check the viability of the new policy, a pilot project was established in Bwndi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, in which 20% of revenue/income from gorilla tracking permits would be distributed to local communities residing near the park. Local communities welcomed the pilot project optimistically and it ran efficiently. Uganda National Parks (UNP) regulated that all the parks in the country set aside 12% of their total income for revenue sharing (Uganda National Parks 1994) Two-thirds of tourism revenue was to be shared with local communities neighboring the park, while the remaining third was to be divided between the parks home district government and a central pool at national park headquarters designated for communities surrounding those parks that generated very little income. The 1994 national mandate to share park revenue offered only a vague definition of the target beneficiaries as those people living adjacent the parks that are affected by, and affect the park (Uganda National Parks, 1994). Park level managers defined the target community as all parishes neighboring the park, a definition that emphasizes proximity to the park and pre-existing administrative units. In Uganda, parishes are subdivisions of districts governed by local elected leaders. They border three parks involved in the study extending up to 3 km from the park border in Mgahinga, 7 km in Bwindi, and 8 km in Kibale (UWA 2001). According to Archabald and Naughton (2001), the 1994 revenue sharing policy mandated Park Management Advisory committee (PMAC) with the responsibility to administer tourism revenue-sharing funds for each specific park. Although it was not specified in the national policy mandate, the park management committee decided to elect Parish Park Committee (PPC) representing to represent each parish in all the three study sites, to work as a link between local communities and Park Management advisory committee (PMAC). The 1994 tourism revenue sharing policy required that collected funds be used to benefit projects that would serve to improve high number of peoples livelihoods. However, this policy had to change prematurely after the Ugandan legislation merged Uganda National Parks and the Game Department into the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in 1996 (Archabald and Naughton 2001). The newly amended legislation set a change in revenue sharing policy from that of 1994, which included 12% share of all income obtained from the park, to 20% of fees obtained at each park (UWA 1996). Policy makers hoped the increase in tourism revenue-sharing would result into improved livelihoods and park popularity to local communities (Baliikowa 2008, Archabald and Naughton 2001). The change in TRS policy theoretically intended to increase the amount of money distributed to local communities as an alternative forgone for their free interaction with the park. The policy change and change in management from Park Management Authority Committee to a local parish level committee weakened institutional sustainability for TRS and made the 1996 tourism revenue-sharing policy given less priority and the policy saw a decrease in funds due to the exclusion of fees for viewing gorillas and chimpanzee (UWA 2001). According to Archabald and Naughton (2001) TRS scheme process was still bared with irregularities. Revenues generated under the 1994 mandate were later redistributed to local communities in 1998, four years after policy implementation. This slip in redistributing tourism revenue share continued until 2002 when UWA passed out another policy that started to be implemented in 2001 (UWA 2001). 2.2 Ecotourism Tourism is an ancient activity that has become so diverse in its objectives and setting that it is now broken into a variety of sectors of which one of the most and rapidly growing sectors is that of nature based tourism. Obua (1996) referred nature-based tourism to that is directly dependent on the use of natural resources in a relatively undisturbed state. This is contrary to mass tourism whose development in natural areas has often led to the degradation of the very features that first attracted the tourists to the area. Owing to the above, a new concept was developed with an environmentally responsible approach called sustainable tourism. WTO (1993) defined sustainable tourism as any activity managed in a way that enables it to continue indefinitely. As a sustainable program, ecotourism is the fastest growing segment of the nature based tourism sector. 2.2.1 Ecotourism and the local people To be sustainable, ecotourism must involve local people in its planning, development and management (Obua, 1996). Cater (1994) highlighted that tourism can encourage better basic services such as water and electricity; and also create jobs for local people, increase their income levels and support other social and environmental benefits. Cater further stresses that to link sustainable tourism to economic development, its benefits must have an impact on the livelihoods of indigenous communities to warrant improved management of their environment. Cater further notes that, not only should the local, people receive tangible benefits from ecotourism development but their education and, sensitisation on the importance of conservation is of paramount importance. Dueto the fact that most of the remaining natural forests are under the control of the government in Uganda, ecotourism offers local communities opportunities to become more involved in the management of their village forests and see material benefits coming from them. Rea1isation of the benefits from the parks by local people is often accompanied by a decline in deforestation and poaching (Obua, 1996). This has made ecotourism show potential to provide a practical and effective means of providing social and economic benefits to the local people. Obua (1996) notes that, education levels and income influence local peoples attitudes towards ecotourism. This is because education increases ones awareness of the importance of protection and conservation of the environment and natural resources and determine the extent to which the local people depend on protected area for their livelihood. If provision of such services is not properly implemented however, the local people may harm the con servation goals. This therefore stresses a need for continual monitoring of development programs targeting people surrounding the park. 2.2.2 The success of ecotourism The success of the management of protected areas greatly depends on the degree of support and respect accorded the neighbouring communities. Where protected areas are looked at as a burden, local people can make protection and conservation completely impossible. However, when tourism is seen as a positive development, local communities would combine their efforts together with park management in providing protection to the area from external forces and destruction mostly by the locals. Involving local people is a vital factor in reducing infringements of conservation regulations such as poaching and indiscriminate tree felling. Due to corruption however, conflicts develop owing to non-equitable sharing of benefits offered by conservation bodies and the conservation area itself. This physical exclusion from the very resources upon which they depend for their basic needs threatens to ecotourism development (Laudati 2007). It is important to note that there have to be economic incentives for conservation. A major incentive is to secure, restore, and develop the capacity of ecosystems to generate ecosystem services (including food, timber, pollination, seed dispersal) because this capacity constitutes the very foundation for social and economic development (Daily 1997). Conservation science has a major role to play in identifying the role of functional groups of organisms, their redundancy, and their response diversity in relation to ecosystem services and in recommending ways to sustain diversity in this context. 2.2.3 Impacts associated with ecotourism development The viability of ecotourism has received substantial attention among conservationists as a potential tool for sustainable development Debates about Uncontrolled and controlled or restricted tourism has raised a lot of controversy among scholars. The majority of the literature supports the concept behind ecotourism; however, even the supporters like Cater (1994) express caution over the hidden risks inherent to any nature based tourism activity. The potentially negative impacts from tourism have a number of faces. Uncontrolled tourism may lead to ecological disturbances and environmental degradation; create unwanted social and drastic economic impacts as well. The restrictions meant loss of forest resources and land which was once used by locals for agriculture to maintain their livelihoods. Crop raiding is another problem faced by people living around parks. Despite restrictions and damages done on their crops, efforts to compensate local people who depended on forest resources especially land were insufficient (Balikoowa 2007). This has resulted into increased poverty among local people and there is an urgent need among stakeholders and the Uganda Wild life authority to solve this problem. Alternatively, ecotourism has the potential to positively contribute to the development of an area. However, in order for this potential to be realised, a number of conditions must be fulfilled. These include; the regional market, management capacity, ecological and cultural attractions development, adequate infrastructure, access and security, and well-defined linkages between the local residents and conservation activities (Cater, 1994). Whereas some of the conditions are out of control of most tourism stakeholders, certain conditions can be achieved through active management. In the absence of active management, the true ecotourism potential in any given area will not be realised, and it is highly probable that negative impacts will occur. The concept of ecotourism in conservation helps to ensure deliberate and planned policies geared towards reducing the negative impacts of tourism activities on the environment. This is done by minimising impacts in one place by developing new attractions or activities for tourism in different places. Ecotourism here therefore encourages diversification necessary for development. As a form of integrated tourism where all stakeholders are involved (operators in the industry, conservationists, lawmakers, and local people), it encourages cooperation, planning and support for sustainable development. Ecotourism offers the local people the opportunity to improve their livelihood through the various economic activities that are developed and to participate in nature conservation or environmental management. The need for ecotourism development in Uganda has resulted into the initiation of the revenue sharing program. This implies that 20 percent of the profits from park entry fees are given to the communities. Each parish adjacent to the park boundaries is given a share of the money. The money used to be invested in infrastructure benefiting the whole parish, such as schools and feeder roads. It appeared that this strategy did not have the impact UWA was looking for, a big part of the communities did not link these improvements with the National Park. The strategy of UWA therefore changed, they start focusing on directly improving the situation on household level, for instance by buying goats for the villagers (UWA, 2002). In relation to the above, in order to improve the relation between the local communities and the Park Authorities, people are allowed to gather products from the forest in some areas of the park; this can be done in the so called Multiple Use Zones (MUZ). The products that can be extracted in these zones are medicinal plants, craft materials and seed collection for on-farm planting outside the park. The products that can be extracted are all listed, at this moment 36 species of medical plants and 21 species for basketry purposes are listed. In addition, some farmers are allowed to use the park for placement of beehives for honey collection (Plumptre, Kayitare et al. 2004). These MUZ are not accessible for all surrounding communities, only those communities who have signed a MoU can access the park, these are at the moment the communities in fifteen out of twenty parishes bordering the Bwindi. 2.2.4 Community participation and ecotourism development Cater (1994) defined community participation as a situation where people act in groups to influence the direction and outcome of development programs that will affect them. Agencies promoting any community participation program need to deal with organised entities with conventional procedures for making and implementing group decisions. Cater (1994) further notes that much as generating such an entity is hard, working with existing authorities may not be reaching all of the target beneficiaries or all those whose cooperation is essential to the project. Kiss (1991) stressed that local participation towards the development of an ecotourism project involves all people who are directly affected by wildlife from the protected area or have an effect on it. According to Ziffer (1989), increased local peoples involvement in conservation results into low negative impacts on the environment where as low involvement yields high negative impacts by the local people. 2.3 The UWA Revenue Sharing Scheme In an effort to compensate and sustain people residing in areas adjacent to the parks, conservationists and Uganda Wildlife Authority recognize the need for programs that would benefit local communities who affect and are affected by protection policy of the forested areas. Uganda national parks adopted a revenue sharing policy in November 1995 and the government of Uganda passed a legislation under Uganda Wildlife Statute of 1996, which under section 70 (4) stated that the board shall subject to subsection 3 of section 23 pay 20% of the park entry fee collected from a wildlife protected area to the local governments in the area surrounding the wildlife protected area (UWA 1996). From the collections, revenue sharing was one of the means of improving community park relations soliciting support from local communities around protected areas in order to ensure sustainability (Archabald and Naughton-Treves 2001), and indeed the report continued to emphasise that revenue sharing provided a mechanism of attempting to address fair and just distribution of benefits from protected areas to local communities who bear the biggest cost of protected areas (Hulme Murphree, 2001). My research therefore aimed at identifying whether this policy had been put into practice. Its level of success and peoples perception on revenue sharing among communities residing around Bwindi National Park were looked into. 2.4 Attitudes of the local people towards conservation Allport (1935) referred attitudes to a mental and neutral state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individuals responses to all objects or situations with which it is related. Attitudes are thus not born with but learned and have objective reference, differ in valence and like most psychological concepts; can be deduced from the observed antecedent stimulus and the consequent behaviour pattern. According to Lindberg (1991), local peoples attitudes towards conservation are mostly induced by ecotourisms contribution to the local economy. This can be in form of increased incomes by the local people, increased employment opportunities and even general infrastructure without forgetting participation of all stakeholders at all stages (government officials, protected area personnel and the local people). Contrarily, negative attitudes result from the negative impacts that local people acquire from ecotourism development. These may be in form of inflationary pressure on local economies and exclusion of the local people from management and use of resources on which they depended on for their basic needs (Cater, 1992). The involvement of several stakeholders makes it difficult for policy makers and beneficiaries of tourism revenue share fail to meet their intended objectives which justifies Laudats statement that â€Å" Individuals for whom the projects are intended are minimally consulted, and policies are not negotiated with the input of local residents but are determined and evaluated based on institutional core values and foreign parameters of success† (Laudati, 2007), increasing vulnerability of local communities as a result of poor coordination and management between Uganda Wildlife Authority and National policy makers. 2.5 Constraints to revenue sharing Constraints to revenue sharing stats with the vague manner in away which benefactors are defined by some scholars For instance, according to Uganda National Parks (1994) beneficiaries are defined as people living adjoining the parks that are affected by, and affect the park. Thus, Agrawal (1997) arg

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NAME: SHASHEEN POTHULA UMID: 17726116 1.) Zhai and Kristensson identify five motivating principles for their design. Consider T-9 input for entering text on a cell phone keypad, in predictive text mode. How would a proponent of T-9 address these principles? Do all apply? Text input constitutes one of the most frequent computer user tasks. Several input techniques were developed from QWERTY keyboard to the hand writing recognition systems and the virtual keyboards, but all of them have limitations. Shumin Zhai and Per-Ola Kristensson have proposed in their paper a new method that can help in fast typing for large vocabulary. They named their method SHARK which is stand for shorthand aided rapid keyboarding. This method basically offered writing on keyboard by identifying the typing gestures. It also defines and recognizes a symbol for each word by the way of movement pattern that it has been typed without taping on letters. The key five motivating principles involved in SHARK design are: ïÆ'Ëœ Scale and location independency ïÆ'Ëœ Efficiency ïÆ'Ëœ Durability ïÆ'Ëœ Zipf’s law effect ïÆ'Ëœ Transition from tapping to gesturing Predictive text entry is used to try to predict the word a user is typing before they ï ¬ nish entering all its characters. One or more predictions are normally presented to the user as they type, allowing them to select a correct choice before they ï ¬ nish entering their word. When successful, predictive text entry can improve both speed and accuracy. T9 short for Text on 9 keys—was one of the ï ¬ rst predictive text methods, used on feature phones with a number pad, where each number corresponds to multiple letters, identical to the number-to-letter mapping used on traditional landline phones. Prior to T9, users would e... ...ctive to learning stylus keyboarding although the rate of expansion and the unit of training in stylus keyboarding needed further investigation. Speed writing is an old research topic with renewed interest due to the need of using mobile computing devices. To write a significant amount of text, natural writing is too slow and stylus keyboarding is tedious and visually demanding. Usually there are two types of classes namely novice and experts. The novice users may find a little difficult to memorize the gestures but the experts does not feel so. But in the case of SHARK, even the novice users were able to memorize and started using the gestures with in less time and the number of words typed per minute increased drastically. By this we can say that SHARK can be used by every user with less hard work and it is one of the best human interfaces used for words typing.

Pornography and Feminism :: Feminism Feminist Women Criticism

Pornography and Feminism    It is constantly surrounding us. It cannot be evaded. Pornography is an initial part of the entertainment mainstream. Whether it is in magazines, or in music, pornography is gender-prejudiced. The word pornography can be defined as the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement.    Degrasion towards women is its only accomplishment. The poses they take and the acts they perform are all part of the discrimination that women face . The only thing pornography offers is negative effects on women. Pornography, whether on a page, in music, or on screen, is degrading to all females. Magazines, posters, and other materials portray women as something less than human. A women in Florida argued that she was harassed by her male co-workers who put up graphically sexual posters and calendars, some showing women being abused. Among the offensive materials was a poster with a frontal view of a nude women with a dehumanizing USDA choice printed on it. Also , a teacher in Canada asked the Ontario Human Rights Commission to order the removal of pornographic magazines from convenience stores on the grounds that they create a hostile environment for women. Even Playboy and Penthouse , two of the more popular menà ¾s magazines that actually contain insightful articles on current i ssues or events, degrade women. Psychologist Marty Mckay says that the only way to protect womenà ¾s rights is to prohibit the sale of skin magazines in corner stores. Men are not put into the same portion, and there in lies the discrimination. When speaking of pornography in action, X- rated videos are the first thing that comes to mind. A shop in downtown Toronto that sells dirty movies and frightening looking sex toys has Ultra Great Sex tapes for less than $25.30. One scene contains two men performing simultaneous anal and vaginal intercourse on one women. The obscenity law found in subsection 8 of section 163 in Canadaà ¾s Criminal Code says that a work is absence and illegal if one of its dominant characteristics involves the undue exploitation of sex. A Canada court created three rankings for obscenity. The first, any materials that mixes explicit sex and violence , or include children. The second, works that involves explicit sex and degradation that encourage violence or harm toward women. Finally, other sexual explicit materials is permissible because the obscenity law cannot à ¾inhibit the celebration of human sexuality.

Linguistics and Child Essay

Language is a human tendency to communicate with others and this could underlie the emergence of language. Montessori said, â€Å"To talk is in the nature of man. † Humans needed language in order to communicate, and soon, the powers that come with language were revealed. The evolution of the human language began when communication was done through pictograms or pictures and drawings. It then developed into ideograms when pictures began to turn into symbols. Later, these symbols became words, words involved letters, vowels emerged, one symbol came to represent one sound, an alphabet was created, and then came the alphabet we now use today. And just as language evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago, it also changes with each generation. The importance of language is essential to every aspect and interaction in our everyday lives. We use language to inform the people around us of what we feel, what we desire, and question / understand world around us. We communicate effectively with our words, gestures and tone of voice in a multitude of situation. Communication drives our lives. The Language Development of the Child To help the child in his development in language, the Montessori classroom is designed to help the child reach the 3rd period of consciousness. Because the learning of language is not done through subjects as in a normal classroom, the child is learning at his own rhythm. This allows the child to concentrate on the learning of each important step in language so that each progressive step is done easily and without any thought on the part of the child. The special material also plays an important role in aiding the child develop the powers of communication and expression, of organization and classification, and the development of thought. But the most important tool in the child’s learning of language lies within the directress. She must support the child in his learning; give him order to classify what he has learned, to help the child build self-confidence, and to provide the child with meaningful activities. The directress is the child’s best source in language development As the child leaves the Montessori classroom after the age of six, he will have become an articulate person, being able to communication his feelings in well-formed sentences and in writing. He will be able to write these thoughts and feelings in a skillful handwriting. He will have the ability to write in different styles and about a variety of subjects. The child will have total reading and a sense of the home language at a level where he will be the master of his words. How do children acquire language? Number of Children acquires language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not. Although parents or other caretakers don’t teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language. And the language must be used for interaction with the child; for example, a child who regularly hears language on the TV or radio but nowhere else will not learn to talk. Children acquire language in stages, and different children reach the various stages at different times. The order, in which these stages are reached, however, is virtually always the same. An excellent guide to this moment in life is linguist Dr. Charles Yang’s book The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World. Dr. Yang, who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, ably reveals the complexities of the process while also showing us why these complexities are mastered so naturally—and so beautifully—by children all over the world, regardless of the language they’re learning. Following his guided tour of language learning, we can even begin to appreciate the astonishing truth that, as he says, â€Å"Children are infinitely better at learning languages than we are. † -Dr. Charles Yang Montessori Prepared Environment | | | | | The â€Å"prepared environment† is Maria Montessori’s concept that the environment can be designed to facilitate maximum independent learning and exploration by the child. In the prepared environment, there is a variety of activity as well as a great deal of movement. In a preschool classroom, for example, a three-year-old may be washing clothes by hand while a four-year-old nearby is composing words and phrases with letters known as the movable alphabet, and a five-year-old is performing multiplication using a specially designed set of beads. In an elementary classroom, a small group of six- to nine-year-old children may be using a timeline to learn about extinct animals while another child chooses to work alone, analyzing a poem using special grammar symbols. Sometimes an entire class may be involved in a group activity, such as storytelling, singing, or movement. In the calm, ordered space of the Montessori prepared environment, children work on activities of their own choice at their own pace. They experience a blend of freedom and self-discipline in a place especially designed to meet their developmental needs How Is Language Encouraged In Montessori Prepared Environment Language is a communication that human beings have cooperated with each other to solve common problems. This is through communication based on written and oral language in particular that each generation has passed on its accumulated wisdom to the next. â€Å"Language, we may say, grow with human thought. -Dr. Maria Montessori The learning of language is truly the child’s most amazing intellectual achievement, and is remarkably skilled rapidly in a very short period of time. â€Å"By merely living and without any conscious effort the individual absorbs from the environment even a complex cultural like language. † -Elizabeth G. Hainstock .The language explosive happenings and eruptions in his powers of expression the baby is aware that human voices from the mouth and they will cries differently for different needs and smiles when sees us, this things all will happen from birth till 3 months old . While at about 4-6 months old they will start to babbling sounds more speech-like with many different sounds, including p, b and m While they will chuckles and laughs vocalizes excitement and annoyance. At about 10 month old, Montessori believe that children may understood that there is purpose for the voices which coming out from mouth of a human. In conclusion we can say that as the child leaves the Montessori classroom after the age of six, they will have become a communicative person, being able to communication his feelings in well-formed sentences and in writing. He will be able to write these thoughts and feelings in a skillful handwriting. He will have the ability to write in different styles and about a variety of subjects. The child will have total reading and a sense of the home language at a level where he will be the master of his words. The Montessori Teacher and Her Role â€Å"The teacher, when she begins to work in our schools, must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work. She must free herself from all preconceived ideas concerning the levels at which the children may be. The many different types of children . . . must not worry her. . . . The teacher must believe that this child before her will show his true nature when he finds a piece of work that attracts him. So what must she look out for? -Dr. Maria Montessori The Montessori teacher is known as a directress because of her role within the setting. She will guide and direct the children through their studies, and observation is paramount to the approach. She plays more of an active role with the younger children, demonstrating the use of equipment and presenting opportunities for development. She intervenes less and less as the child’s independence grows as he develops. The relationship between a Montessori teacher and a child is very important. Her qualities should consist of a calm, warm, friendly manner and a pleasant appearance. Although we do not aim to be perfect, a lack of self-awareness in a teacher can put barriers between herself and a child, such as anger and pride. Of course we are human and do feel angry at times, but it is down to the teacher to deal with her emotions and put those feelings away safely. Children need to know what to expect from a teacher and feel secure if she is firm, but kind. The Montessori teacher waits patiently, watches the child, anticipating his needs, but neither fusses or interferes; she only does what is appropriate. She must give the child opportunity to lean through doing himself; through this he can construct independence. The teacher becomes a direct link between the child and his environment. She will show him how to use the materials and how to wait to have a turn. The Montessori teacher must care for the environment and uphold a safe, loving atmosphere. She must watch and direct the children down spontaneous learning paths and be responsive to a child’s changing needs, assisting him to acquire independence and self-discipline. The Absorbent Mind and the Sensitive Periods Montessori saw the absorbent mind in two phases. During the first phase, from birth to three years old, the young child unknowingly or unconsciously acquires his basic abilities. She called it the period of unconscious creation or the unconscious absorbent mind. The child’s work during this period is to become independent from the adult for his basic human functions. He learns to speak, to walk, to gain control of his hands and to master his bodily functions. Once these basic skills are incorporated into his schema, by about three years old, he moves into the next phase of the absorbent mind, which Montessori called the period of conscious work or the conscious absorbent mind. During this period, the child’s mathematical mind compels him to perfect in himself that which is now there. His fundamental task during this phase is freedom; freedom to move purposefully, freedom to choose and freedom to concentrate. the physical baby developed in utero, the mental or psychic baby must complete his embryonic growth outside the womb. Montessori said that a man, â€Å". . . is like an object turned out by hand. â€Å"6 Once he is born, the baby’s specific interaction with his surroundings casts his mental life and uniquely shapes him. It is now that he absorbs his mother tongue and comes to love his place of birth. Thus, this spiritual embryo needs a concentrated relationship with his parents and milieu to form his individual self. Montessori observed that adults often fail to do what is essential at this time, † . . . because of the habit we have of thinking the child has no mental life. † -Dr. .Maria Montessori The sensitive period for movement is most intense during the first year of life. Montessori reminds us that, â€Å"(n) o other mammal has to learn to walk. â€Å"18 The baby, unable at birth to control any of his movements, doesn’t even know he has hands and feet. But by about twelve months many babies take their first steps. Walking develops without it being taught. An infant’s need to walk is so strong that he becomes upset if he is impeded. The final sensitive period is that for language. No one teaches the child to talk. His language, â€Å". . . develops naturally like a spontaneous creation. â€Å"Of all the auditory stimulation surrounding the baby, it is the human voice that he deeply hears and imitates. By six months, he’s uttering his first syllables, by one year his first intentional word. By one year, nine months he uses a few phrases, and by about two years old he â€Å"explodes† into language. 26 He talks and talks non-stop. By the time he is three years old he is speaking in sentences and paragraphs with proper syntax and grammar. He can fully express himself to get his needs met. During the period of the conscious absorbent mind he will expand his vocabulary immensely. He wants huge words and funny words and rhyming words and words in songs. Our Montessori environments, rich in vocabulary, meet his word hunger perfectly. . How do the language materials prepare the child and which language materials prepared for writing and reading? Montessori uses to develop these cultural skills are to build on the sounds of which speech is made. The earliest language activities prepare the child for writing and reading by first augmenting the toddler’s existing speaking skills. These preparatory language activities may Begin as soon as the child is talking with meaning in phrases and short sentences. The language activities enhance the child’s attention to and use of words in every speaking and train the child to hear the component sounds in all spoken words example I SPY GAME, at this point, the child is provided with the bridge between the spoken word and the written word: the component sounds in spoken words are individually associated with particular visual and tactile images, that is letters example SAND PAPER LATERS. After this early preparation, the activities that actually introduce writing and reading are conducted simultaneously. The key activities that introduces writing is the use of the MOVABLE ALPHABET, the child applies the lessons of the sand paper letters – that is, the association of specific sound with particular images – to make words. A word is sounded out as in the I SPY activity, and plastic letters, shaped exactly like the sand paper letters, are lined up on a mat represent the sounds. The presentation of the movable alphabets stresses that writing is used to record a thought, and that thought can be written instead of spoken. Introducing writing by means of pre- formed plastic letters allows the child to begin to express thoughts in written form the before fully developing the manipulative skills needed to write with pencil and paper. While the child becomes familiar with the act of written expression, the manipulative skills of handwriting are gradually developed through the tactile tracing of the sand paper letters and the creative use of the METAL INSETS, and other later activities facilities the transition from Movable Alphabet to blackboard writing and then to pencil and paper. It is important to note that at this early stage of learning to write, words that the child writes spelled phonetically, as best as the child can. The adult must refrain from making spelling corrections to the child’s composition in these activities. The child is allowed to misspell because correct spelling will come naturally with reading, and because the effort anxiety connect with learning to spell may be enough to cancel the simple pleasure of expression. In these early stages, it is plenty of time later for refining basic skills. The key activity that introduces reading is the presentation of the OBJECT BOXES. The ‘objects’ these refer to are placed out on a mat, and the child is invited to guess which of these objects you are thinking about. Then the child is given the object’s written name as a clue. This approach clearly stresses that the purpose of reading is to find out another person’s ideas. What makes this first instruction to reading easy for the child is that there are only a few things that you might be thinking of, and all of them are on mat. So when it’s time to sound out the word, the sounding need not be entirely accurate, since the child is all the while looking over things, and looking over things of their names. Staring to read is normally so difficult because the word which the child is struggling to pronounce could be virtually and word in the English language. So writing and reading are introduced as fun and a useful activity to children’s with the language materials, which can also help us understand and appreciate the world, and share ideas and experiences with other people.