Conversations of Nanko and Konan :: Writing Education Communication Essays

Conversations of Nanko and KonanNanko Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nanko. Talking with me is my colleague and friend, Konan. Say hello, Konan.Konan Hello, Konan. Nanko No, I blind drunk say hello to the reader. Konan Hello to the reader Nanko Perfect. Konan Thank you. Nanko Prior to your arrival (your meaning you, the reader,) Konan and I were having a little discussion. In reality, I was doing in all the discussing in this conversation because I was, to put it bluntly, complaining vigorously. Konan Most vigorously. Nanko Yes, thank you for the affirmation, Konan. As I was saying, my complaining was the reality of the discussion. What was the reason of these incessant complaints, you might carry? An English professor from whom I am taking a course entitled Expository Writing. Konan Yes, that was the basis of your complaints. Nanko Of course, these complaints are in no way prescribe at the professor himself. No, no, no. In fact, he seems like an affable man. Rather, t hese complaints relate to his latest assignment given to the students of his Expository Writing class. Konan I would set out to agree that you are in no way slighting this particular professor, only his expectations held for you. Nanko Yes, I like the first half of your statement, but what is meant by the latter(prenominal) half? Konan In saying expectations I refer to the assignment he has given you. Nanko You have confused me. By using the term expectations, do you mean the professors expectation that a paper will be handed-in to him on this exact due date of December 16, and, if not, this paper will go down in its score with every late day thereafter? Or do you refer to a higher form of expectation, such as a instructor to a student and the process of learning and gaining knowledge through stimuli, created by the teacher, of thought? Konan I, uh, would have to agree. Nanko Let us return later to this now, let me tell of this assignment. This professor is asking for a paper writ ten unlike any I, personally, have ever written before. He wants us, as writers, to do away with themewriting raw and write in a different style or form. However, as you can see, I have started to panic. I have never written an turn out or paper in any form other than themewriting. I have no idea where to begin, how to continue, or where to conclude.

The Stereotypical Old-West Hero :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Stereotypical Old-West Hero Gunsmoke was the longest running radio show ever made. It is based on the diachronic city of Dodge. The series is centered around the character of Matt Dillon, who is the U.S. Marshall at Dodge. Each episode is one of his adventures, usually with his fellow helper, Chester, in care the peace and bringing justice in the area. Dillons independence, sense of justice, and keen problem solving ever epitomize the stereotypical old-west hero. No matter what situation arises in Dodge, or the surrounding area, Matt Dillon is able to resolve it most often without the help of anyone else except for his faithful follower Chester. Whenever Dillon hears of a problem, he immediately goes to opine what the trouble is with Chester. He doesnt listen to anyone and only brings more people if it would go better with his architectural plan. In the episode, Tecetta, Dillon boldly asks three gunmen to give up their guns at a bar and then tells them to leave the next morni ng. He says it in such a way that is unquestionable and demanding of respect. And people listen In the episode, The Buffalo hunter, when Dillon and Chester go searching for the villain, Gatloff, they run into one of his skinners whose been shot. Always the independent spirit, Dillon commands Chester to stay with the man saying, Ill ride on by myself. Dillons sense of justice is extremely refined. He always has a keen view on how to solve the problem at hand, and usually it is something that nobody else has thought of. Dillon makes claims such as, I dont think soul would accidentally pour 50-60 lbs. of lead in their own face, to which Chester then replies, Oh Mr. Dillon, I hadnt thought of that. When one of the new bar girls, Tacetta, is kidnapped by Dorgan, Dillon has a plan ready. He decides to take a group of 12 men rather than just himself and Chester so that they will intimidate Dorgan, who has been judged by Dillon as having a weaker character. Dillon withal knows how to deci de when to go after someone and when not to. In The Buffalo Hunter Dillon know that Gatloff killed his own worker, but, since he doesnt have proof, he waits until Gatloff does something else that will suggest him. Similarly, when Dorgan is killed by Horn and Watson in Tecetta, Dillon waits until Watson causes trouble as a drunkard to get the truth out of him.

The Division of Honors and Journeying Among the Gods :: Christianity God Religion Essays

The Division of Honors and Journeying Among the Godsmissing works citedIn this midterm essay I exit discuss why Gods Journey. I believethat Gods journey for two reasons. One reason is to seek out honor forthemselves. The other reason is to regain honors they have lost. Todemonstrate this I will first discuss the journeys of Hades in theHomeric hymn To Demeter comparing it to the journey of Hermes in ToHermes. I fell that both of these companion journeys were attempts bythese Gods to get honors they did not already have. Next I will look atthe companion journeys of Demeter and Apollo. I think that both of theseGods journeyed to regain honors theyd previously had, but lost. ultimately Iwill conclude by showing how all four Gods had to compromise and divide upthe honors amongst themselves. Earth with its wide roads gaped and then everywhere the Nysian field the lord andAll receiver, the many named son of Kronos, sprang out upon herwith his immortal horses...Not an unseem ly bridegroom among the immortalsis Aidoneus, Lord on Many, your own brother from the same rootage to hisshare fell honor when in the beginning a triple division was made, andhe dwells among those over whom his lot made him lord (To Demeter 16-18, 83-87). I think that these two sets of lines show that Hades viewedPersephone as a prize. Honor was one of the things Hades won when he,Zeus, and Poseidon divided up the world. Thus Hades felt justify injourneying up from the underworld to earth to claim Persephone as hisbride. I feel that he felt he deserved to have her, jibe to hislogic, because honor was something he was entitled to as a God.I feel that Hermes journey was similar to that of Hades in that hetraveled in lay out to win honor for himself and for his Mother Maia. Awatcher by night and a gate keeper, soon destined to show forth glorious whole shebang among the immortal gods. Born at dawn, by midday he played his lyre,and at evening he stole the cattle of far sh ooting Apollon...But I shallbe master of whatever skill is best to provide for you and me foreverwe shall not suffer, as you bid me, to stay right here and be the just nowtwo immortals not plied with gifts and prayers.

Rewritten Pyramus and Thisbe Myth :: essays research papers

Pyramus was the cute boy next door, and Thisbe the prettiest girl in the sinless neighborhood. They lived right next door to each different. Their parents were in a dispute over rent money Thisbes father was the manager of the apartments and Pyramuss parents had been after-hours on their payments for a few months now. The kids were not allowed to talk or to see each other. One thing, however, they could not forbid- their young and automobileefree love that pound in each others hearts. They conversed by signs and glances, and the fire burned more intensely for being covered up.In the wall that parted the two apartments there was a crack, caused by the buildings ageing structure. No one had observed it before, but the lovers discovered it. What love can discover. As they stood, Pyramus on one side, Thisbe on the other, they would whisper to each other innocent non-sense. "Damn this freaking wall," they said, "Why do you keep us apart? Such words they uttered on differ ent sides of the wall and when the dark came and they moldiness say goodnight, they would tell the other of how they are kissing the wall and imagining it was other. Next morning, when the sun had resin above the tallest skyscraper, and the city filled with busy noise and smog, they unveil their plan to see each other. They had agreed to sneak out at night, they would wait till the routine police car had passed their block, and then each would pitch and meet at the old winery and wait till the other arrived. All was agreed on, and they waited impatiently for the sun to go down beneath the buildings and night to rise up from them. Then cautiously Thisbe opened her back window- unsuspected by her parents, put a white scarf around her, waited for the police car to pass and escaped. As she sat alone in the dim light under one of the old street lights, she saw a drunk old man approaching her. With a thirst in his eyes Thisbe fled the sight, and sought refuge in the back alleys of the s treets. As she fled she dropped her scarf. The drunken old man was disadvantage and was going to ask Thisbe for some help but just found a scarf on the ground and wiped his wound with it. Pyramus, late only because he had stopped at a local gas station to get some snacks for his dear love, finally arrived at the old winery.

The Gay Marriage Debate :: Legalizing Gay Marriage

Within this essay, the main focus will be to better a thorough analysis and discussion in relation to the topic of homosexual marriage. In order to construct this, this essay will discuss positions in favor of and against gay marriage. In reference to the position alivenessing gay marriage, the discussion will focus on discrimination and equality and respect on individuals rights. The points that will be discussed contraty to gay marriage will be building upon ideas that we rose in the debate as well as incorporating some new material. Throughout this essay, the for and against positions will distinguish between both sides of the argument. Inclusion of scholarly articles will become evident throughout this essay to support the main points that will be made within this argument on gay marriage as well incorporating case studies that support both for and against gay marriage. Overall, this essay will display a thorough representation and discussion on how gay marriage can be positi oned in society with validated points made both for and against. Gay marriage has slowly become a significant factor amongst individuals of todays society. Similarly, this leads to the discussion of homosexuals having the right to get hitched with in society. Ultimately, conflict from the opposing position of against gay marriage may arise that gay marriage can destroy the concept of marriage and mock the richness of procreation. In reference to this everyone in society has the right to marry heedless of gender, thus it should be socially acceptable. However, this is why it is significant to discuss both sides of the argument, regardless of if you are for or against gay marriage in society. In relation to homosexuals, contradiction constantly arises that gay marriage should non be legalised. However, homosexuals do not necessarily want to get marriage but may just want the justification of having equal rights. Thus, in the case if homosexuals do want to marry at some stage of t heir relationship, according to Nagle, people say that banning same sex marriage is not only unfair, but it is also prejudiced (2010, p.31). In society, denying individuals rights due to their gender, race or sexual orientation is consequently classified as discrimination. Alternatively, to go against gay marriage and not allowing either cardinal females or to males getting married to one another can become a form of illegal discrimination towards society. It is simply giving equal rights to homosexuals and not judging or blocking them out of the marriage institution.

Defies Reason through Faith Essay -- Essays Papers

Defies Reason through FaithSt. Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195 A.D. He wanted to live his life above himself as to give gist to his own life. St. Anthony chose to become a member of the Congregation of Canons Regular of St. Augustine at the age of fifteen. At the congregation, he dedicated his life to the pr phone numberice of piety in the Monastery at Coimbra. While in the congregation, some of his fellow friars went to Morocco to preach the Gospel of Christ. In Morocco, the friars were brutally tortured for their faith. Christian merchants consummated in recovering the friars mud and returned in mastery back to Coimbra. When they returned, St. Anthony was seized with an unwavering desire to suffer martyrdom in a like valet de chambrener. St. Anthony then desired to be sent to the missions in Africa, and his request was fulfilled. After setting foot on African land he was stricken with a grave illness. Although he recovered from the illness, he was until now too wea k to go on with his missions. After retiring to the will of God, he boarded a boat back to Portugal. But, a storm drove him to the slide of Sicily, where he joined a group of friars in Italy. Following his mission work in Italy, he then died in 1231 in Vercelli. During St. Anthonys lifetime, he performed many miracles and several acts of God. One of these miracles included the resurrection of a fallen man and child. An act of God included the loss of his manuscript and praying to God for its return, and another act was proving to a man the truth of the sacrament by using his horse. Through miracles and acts of God, St. Anthony of Padua defies reason through faith.1 2 One of the miracles that St. Anthony performed was bringing a young man back to life. The young man... ... 6 Stoddard, Charles W., The Wonder-Worker of Padua (Rockford burn Books and Publishers, Inc., 1971), 56-57. 7 Habig, Marion A., Everymans saint Life, Cult, and Virtues of St. Anthony of Padua (P aterson St. Anthony Guild Press, 1954) 23-24. Bibliography- Cherance, Father Leopold De. St. Anthony of Padua New York Burns & Oates, Limited, 1895. - Habig, Marion A. Everymans saint Life, Cult, and Virtues of St. Anthony of Padua. Patterson St. Anthony Guild Press, 1954. - St. Anthony. 26 January 1997. 25 October 1999 http//www.jump.net/stanthony/tonylife.html. - Stoddard, Charles W. The Wonder-Worker of Padua Rockford Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1971. - The Life of St. Anthony of Padua. 25 October 1999 http//www.stanthonyshrine.org/St_Anthony.html

Greatest Contribution of the Third Republic of the Philippine Presidents

Greatest Contribution of The third Republic of the Filipino Presidents Manuel A. Roxas First presidentf the Republic of the Philippines. A lawyer, he began his political career in 1917. An advocator for Philippine independence from the U. S. , he was a member of the convention that drew up a constitution below the revised Philippine Independence and community Act (Tydings-McDuffie Act 1934). He collaborated with the pro-Japanese judicial system during World War II but was defended in postwar trials by Gen.Douglas MacArthur. He became president of the Philippines when independence was achieved (1946). Roxas obtained replenishment funds from the U. S. but was forced to allow the U. S. to maintain military bases and make other major concessions. His government was marred by corruption and police brutality, panorama the stage for the Hukbalahap Rebellion. Elpidio Quirino His six years as president were marked by notable postwar reconstruction, general economic gains, and increased economic aid from the united States.Basic social problems, however, particularly in the rural areas, remained unsolved, and his administration was tainted by widespread graft and corruption. Ramon Magsaysay As president, he was a close friend and adorer of the United States and a vocal spokesman against communism during the Cold War. He led the foundation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization also known as the manila paper Pact of 1954, that aimed to defend South East Asia, South Asia and the Southwestern Pacific from communism. He was also known for his integrity and strength of character.During his term, he made Malacanang palace literally a house of the people, opening its gates to the public. Carlos Garcia During his administration, he acted on the BohlenSerrano Agreement which shortened the lease of the US Bases from 99 years to 25 years and made it renewable after every five years. He also exercised the Philippine First Policy, for which he was known. This policy hea vily favored Filipino businessmen over foreign investors. He was also responsible for changes in retail trade which greatly affected the Chinese businessmen in the country.Diosdado Macapagal During his presidency, the Philippines enjoyed prosperity and was the second most developed country in the Asian region, next only to Japan and ahead of the future tiger economies of Asia such as Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. Allowed the Philippine peso to float on the free currency exchange market. abolition of tenancy and accompanying land reform program in the Agricultural belt down Reform Code of 1963 which underscored his endeavor to fight mass poverty. Ferdinand MarcosDuring his first term he had made progress in agriculture, industry, and education. Yet his administration was troubled by increasing student demonstrations and violent urban-guerrilla activities. Initially, he had a good record as president and the Filipinos expected him to be one of the best. However, conditions changed i n later years and his popularity with the people started diminishing. Proclaimed Martial Law. Corazon Aquino Despite the euphoria following the overthrow of the Marcos government, Aquino faced the massive challenge of restoring the nation.She established a revolutionary government under the terms of a provisional Freedom Constitution, legally establishing the structure of the government pending the adoption of a permanent, democratically-drafted constitution. Fidel Ramos The first few years of his administration (1992-1995) were characterized by economic boom, technological development, political stability and efficient delivery of basic needs to the people. During his administration, Ramos began implementing economic reforms intended to open up the once-closed national economy, foster private enterprise, invite more foreign and domestic investment, and reduce corruption.Joseph Estrada Idolized by the poor, he campaigned on a combination of policies that are both market-friendly an d knowing to reduce widespread poverty in a population of 70 million. Gloria Arroyo Arroyo, a practicing economist, has made the economy the focus of her presidency. Early in her presidency, Arroyo implemented a controversial policy of holiday economics, adjusting holidays to form longer weekends with the purpose of boosting domestic tourism and allowing Filipinos more time with their families. Benigno Aquino iiiDespite having the privilege of using wang-wang, Aquino maintained he would point the example for his no wang-wang policy, not to use wang-wang, even if it means being stuck in traffic and being late every now and then. Executive high society No. 5 prevents special envoys from using the title ambassadorAquino also ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to support and assist all regional hospitals and health centers and come out their efforts to attend to the needs of dengueinflicted patientsOn September 2, 2010, Aquino signed Executive Order No. , extending the duration of the operations of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness perpetration (PMEPC) to December 30, 2010 On September 8, 2010, Aquino signed Executive Order No. 7, ordering the suspension of all allowances, bonuses and incentives of board members of government-owned and-controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) until December 31, 2010

Army Standards and Ethical Dilemmas Essay

The mismated application of military touchst is leads to un estimable decisions on a daily basis. disrespect an emphasis on multitude values at only levels, military leaders open themselves up to make unethical decisions when they dont cohere to set meters. Despite the phalanx having clear standards on height/weight, APFT, the tat alike policy, and spread abroading requirements, leaders often take it upon themselves to ignore the standard or create their own.Leaders check the indebtedness to maintain and enforce standards which be driven by regulations. If military leaders would consistently enforce these standards, ethical dilemmas and unethical decisions would be significantly reduced. host Standards and ethical Dilemmas Standards are necessary within an judicature to promote discipline, production, and efficiency. Recently, the Sergeant Major of the Army visited the Sergeants Major Academy and the focus of his presentation was really about Army Standards.The Sergea nt Majors mess sequence got me thinking about Army standards and the inconsistent application of these standards throughout the Army, specifically the ethical dilemmas that arise due to this inconsistency. If an memorial tablets standards are applied inconsistently, that organizations culture changes and allows room for unethical application of those standards. In the Army we see this inconsistent application of standards in the areas of height and weight standards, the APFT, the tattoo policy, application of punishment through the UCMJ, and in unit reporting.Standards First, we must define what a standard is. Standards are methods that define what winner is in a training event, such as an APFT or marksmanship qualification. Standards are the rules for conduct in the work place and while off duty. Standards are rules or guidelines for proper wear and appearance in the uniform. In the Army we stir regulations, training manuals, and unit standing operating procedures that spell out the standard for everything we do without exception. The Army even has a standard for organizational values, LDRSHIP.A tool that should make consistent application of standards easy for leaders is the acronym LDRSHIP loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. Despite regulations and despite Army values, our leaders, Army wide, have difficulty in enforcing standards consistently the result for these leaders, often times, is making unethical decisions which have a negative imprint on the force. Our challenge as leaders is to do a much better job of enforcing standards, as well as consistently applying the standards in ramble to reduce ethical dilemmas.Height/Weight and APFT The Army clearly spells out its policy or standard for both(prenominal) height/weight and physical fittingness standards in AR 600-9 and in FM 21-20. In AR600-9, the standard for how much a Soldier can weigh, based on his or her height and age is spelled out. If a Soldier exceeds the height/weight screening table, then the Soldier is put downd to assess the amount of consistency fat the Soldier has. If the Soldier exceeds the allowed body fat percentage, AR 600-9 specifies what actions are to be taken by the commander.Some of the consequences include, counseling by the Soldiers supervisor, nutrition counseling, the Soldier should be flagged and bar to re-enlist until meeting the height/weight standard, ultimately the Soldier should be chaptered out of the Army if he or she is unable to meet the standard. Just like AR 600-9, FM 21-20 specifies the Army standard for both the conduct of the APFT as well as the standard for passing the APFT. Additionally, the Army has specified that a Soldier that doesnt pass the APFT should be flagged and not eligible for promotion until that Soldier meets the standard.One would think that such straight forward standards would be easy to follow and adhere to as an organization, but quite the opposite has been true th roughout the Army the application of standards has been difficult. The first example that comes to mind is the measuring techniques that are spelled out in AR 600-9 that determine a Soldiers body fat. I have been in the Army for twenty-one years and have been subject to the tape test my entire career I can tell you that measurement methods have been inconsistent at best.Sometimes, there are the appropriate numbers of plurality doing the taping, but often times there is just one person doing the taping. Sometimes, the person doing the taping measures the Soldier correctly and other times the person whitethorn tape in such a instruction as to give the Soldier an advantage. As far as the grading of the APFT goes, although FM 21-20 specifies the correct way to do a push-up or sit-up, the actual scoring for these events are wildly inconsistent from grader to grader. Sometimes these inconsistencies hurt a Soldiers score, but often these inconsistencies give an cheating(prenominal) adva ntage to a Soldier over his or her peers.The inconsistencies in grading the APFT and measuring a Soldiers body fat are enlarged by those leaders who dont even bother and just pencil whip the results of both. What a unit or leader does or does not do to Soldiers who fail the APFT or do not meet the standards of AR 600-9 is where possible ethical dilemmas arise. I was the height/weight NCO for a company for some four years, and we never chaptered a Soldier for height/weight. However, it was not because I or any other NCO didnt do what is required by AR 600-9. Soldiers were not chaptered primarily due to end strength, bottom line we needed Soldiers.Commanders were unwilling to adhere to standards in order to retain more Soldiers. This is a virtuous example of inconsistent application of standards that led to the unethical decision of retaining Soldiers that could not meet the Army standards for height and weight. Tattoo Policy Another area of inconsistent application of an Army stan dard is the Armys policy on tattoos. For years, the Armys policy on tattoos prohibited those in the Army or those seeking to enter the Army from having tattoos that were visible below their wrists or visible above the neckline while in uniform.In order to meet recruiting requirements, this policy was elevate and those entering the Army were allowed to have tattoos that were visible above the neckline and below the wrist. Now that the Army is drawing down, the standard is reverting back to the old policy of no tattoos visible above the neckline and below the wrist. If a Soldier with such tattoos desires to stay in the Army, that Soldier will have to pay to have the tattoo re locomote. Personally, I agree with the policy of no visible tattoos and think such tattoos present an unprofessional appearance.However, I dont think the Army should have changed the standard to allow such tattoos in the first place, regardless of the recruiting requirements. What has resulted from this policy c hange or unethical decision is that a significant number of Soldiers who were allowed to join with these tattoos, are now being required to either pay to have the tattoos removed or get out of the Army. If there is no grandfathering in of this policy, then the Army has made an unethical decision to force these Soldiers out or to pay, from their own pockets, to have these tattoos removed.The Army allowed these Soldiers into the Army when the Army needed them, now that the Army is downsize these Soldiers are being forced out or forced to remove the tattoos. Where were the Army values in this decision? Application of UCMJ Having been a first sergeant, I have been a part of many UCMJ proceedings and have witnessed how Soldiers of different ranks are treated differently. I have witnessed First Lieutenants that have been convicted of DUI get moved to a new unit and later get promoted to Captain.I have also witnessed Sergeants First Class get DUIs that have been demoted and forced to reti re. What is ethical in having the same standard, yet having a totally different application of punishment for the same offense? This same argument can be made for twain Soldiers of the same rank committing the same offense, and receiving totally different punishments. This usually happens when the Soldiers chain of command states what a great Soldier they are, request benignity on the Soldier because the Soldier has a family, or is in financial trouble.It is ultimately the decision of the commander to decide punishment of a Soldier, but I contend that it is unethical and unfair to give different punishments to Soldiers for the same offense. Soldiers know what happened when two specialists who went AWOL both came out of their Article 15 hearings and while one is still a Specialist, and the other is now a Private First Class. This type of unequal treatment is unethical and unfair, and has a negative effect on the command climate and unit morale.Official Reporting Another area of une thical activity that is widespread throughout the Army is n official reports, both to the next higher headquarters, clear up to the Department of the Army. A very common occurrence of this false reporting occurs when mechanized or aviation units report their operational readiness rates. Commanders at all levels are under tremendous pressure to report a readiness rate within the Army standard for their type of unit. A commander whose units OR rate is not up to standard, has a high likelihood of being relieved. All too often, these commanders succumb to the pressure and submit false reports to maintain the illusion of preparedness.Conclusion If an organization develops a standard, then those standards should be both enforceable and enforced upon all in the organization. If an organization creates a policy and then changes the policy, the organization should build in exemptions to that policy that prevents the change from being unfair to those already in the organization. If an organiz ations standards are applied inconsistently, that organizations culture changes and allows room for unethical application of those standards.In the Army today and through the years we have seen inconsistency after inconsistency in the enforcement of Army standards. The creation of the Army values and focusing to ensure that all Soldiers know the acronym LDRSHIP was supposed to help with ethical decisions and prevent inconsistent application of Army standards. I think as a whole the Army is getting better in these regards, but we have a long way to go. Continued ethics training from basic training through the war college will help, but consistent application of standards is the disclose to keep leaders from making unethical decisions.

Angels Demons Chapter 66-69

66Chinita Macri was mad. She sit in the passengers seat of the BBC van as it idled at a corner on Via Tomacelli. Gunther Glick was checking his mathematical function of Rome, apparently lost. As she had feared, his mystery c exclusivelyer had phoned back, this time with information.Piazza del Popolo, Glick insisted. Thats what were looking for. on that points a church at that place. And inside is proof.Proof. Chinita s bloomped polishing the lens in her glide by and turned to him. Proof that a cardinal has been murdered?Thats what he said.You believe allthing you hear? Chinita wished, as she often did, that she was the one in charge. Videographers, however, were at the whim of the grisly reporters for whom they shot footage. If Gunther Glick wanted to follow a feeble phone tip, Macri was his dog on a leash.She looked at him, sitting there in the drivers seat, his jaw muckle intently. The mans parents, she decided, must have been frustrated startdians to have given him a name like Gunther Glick. No wonder the guy felt like he had something to prove. Nonetheless, contempt his unfortunate appellative and annoying eagerness to make a mark, Glick was sweet charming in a pasty, Briddish, unstrung come apart of way. Like Hugh Grant on lithium.Shouldnt we be back at St. Peters? Macri said as patiently as possible. We can check this mystery church out later. Conclave started an hour ago. What if the cardinals come to a decision while were gone?Glick did not travel tom to hear. I think we go to the right, here. He tilted the map and studied it again. Yes, if I move back a right and then an immediate left. He began to pull out onto the narrow street before them.Look out Macri yelled. She was a video technician, and her eye were sharp. Fortunately, Glick was pretty fast too. He slammed on the brakes and avoided entering the intersection middling as a line of four Alpha Romeos appeared out of at one timehere and tore by in a blur. Once past, the cars skidded, decelerating, and cut sharply left one block ahead, taking the exact route Glick had intended to take.Maniacs Macri shouted.Glick looked shaken. Did you see that?Yeah, I saw that They al to the highest degree killed usNo, I mean the cars, Glick said, his voice suddenly excited. They were all the same.So they were maniacs with no imagination.The cars were also full.So what? cardinal equal cars, all with four passengers?You ever heard of carpooling?In Italy? Glick checked the intersection. They havent even heard of unleaded gas. He hit the accelerator and peeled out subsequently the cars.Macri was thrown back in her seat. What the hell are you doing?Glick accelerated down the street and hung a left after the Alpha Romeos. Something tells me you and I are not the only ones going to church right now.67The descent was slow.Langdon dropped rung by rung down the creaking ladder deeper and deeper beneath the push down of the Chigi Chapel. Into the Demons hole, he thought. He was facing t he side wall, his back to the chamber, and he wondered how many more dark, cramped spaces one day could provide. The ladder groaned with every step, and the pungent smell of depravity flesh and dampness was al most(prenominal) asphyxiating. Langdon wondered where the hell Olivetti was.Vittorias outline was still visible above, holding the blowtorch inside the hole, lighting Langdons way. As he lowered himself deeper into the darkness, the aristocratical glow from above got fainter. The only thing that got stronger was the stench.Twelve rungs down, it happened. Langdons foot hit a spot that was slippery with decay, and he faltered. Lunging forward, he caught the ladder with his forearms to avoid plummeting to the bottom. malediction the bruises now throbbing on his arms, he dragged his body back onto the ladder and began his descent again.Three rungs deeper, he almost fell again, entirely this time it was not a rung that caused the mishap. It was a bolt of fear. He had descended past a hollowed niche in the wall before him and suddenly lay down himself locution to face with a collection of skulls. As he caught his breath and looked around him, he realized the wall at this level was honeycombed with shelflike openings burial niches all filled with skeletons. In the phosphorescent light, it made for an eerie collage of empty sockets and decaying rib cages flickering around him.Skeletons by firelight, he grimaced wryly, realizing he had quite coincidentally endured a similar evening just last month. An evening of bones and flames. The New York Museum of Archeologys candlelight benefit dinner salmon flambe in the shadow of a brontosaurus skeleton. He had attended at the invitation of Rebecca Strauss one-time fashion model now art critic from the Times, a whirlwind of black velvet, cigarettes, and not-so-subtly enhanced breasts. Shed pre externaliseed him twice since. Langdon had not returned her calls. near ungentlemanly, he chided, wondering how long R ebecca Strauss would last in a stink-pit like this.Langdon was relieved to feel the final rung give way to the spongy kingdom at the bottom. The ground beneath his shoes felt damp. Assuring himself the walls were not going to close in on him, he turned into the crypt. It was circular, about cardinal feet across. Breathing through his sleeve again, Langdon turned his eyes to the body. In the gloom, the image was hazy. A white, fleshy outline. Facing the other direction. Motionless. Silent.Advancing through the murkiness of the crypt, Langdon seek to make sense of what he was looking at. The man had his back to Langdon, and Langdon could not see his face, but he did indeed seem to be standing.Hello? Langdon clogged through his sleeve. Nothing. As he drew nearer, he realized the man was very short. Too shortWhats happening? Vittoria called from above, shifting the light.Langdon did not answer. He was now close enough to see it all. With a tremor of repulsion, he understood. The cha mber seemed to contract around him. Emerging like a demon from the earthen floor was an old man or at least half of him. He was buried up to his waist in the earth. Standing upright with half of him to a lower place ground. Stripped naked. His manpower tied behind his back with a red cardinals sash. He was propped limply upward, spine arched backward like some sort of hideous punching bag. The mans head lay backward, eyes toward the heavens as if pleading for help from God himself.Is he late(prenominal)? Vittoria called.Langdon moved toward the body. I hope so, for his sake. As he drew to within a few feet, he looked down at the upturned eyes. They bulged outward, blue and bloodshot. Langdon leaned down to listen for breath but straightway recoiled. For Christs sakeWhatLangdon almost gagged. Hes dead all right. I just saw the cause of death. The sight was gruesome. The mans mouth had been jammed open and packed solid with dirt. soul stuffed a fistful of dirt down his throat. He suffocated.Dirt? Vittoria said. As in earth?Langdon did a double take. Earth. He had almost forgotten. The brands. Earth, Air, Fire, Water. The killer had imperil to brand from each one victim with one of the ancient elements of learning. The first element was Earth. From Santis earthly tomb. Dizzy from the fumes, Langdon circled to the front of the body. As he did, the symbologist within him loudly reasserted the esthetical challenge of creating the mythical ambigram. Earth? How? And yet, an instant later, it was before him. Centuries of Illuminati legend whirled in his mind. The marking on the cardinals chest was charred and oozing. The flesh was seared black. La lingua puraLangdon stared at the brand as the room began to spin.Angels & DemonsEarth, he whispered, tilting his head to see the symbol upside down. Earth. hence, in a wave of horror, he had one final cognition. There are three more.68Despite the soft glow of candlelight in the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Mortati was on edge. Conclave had officially begun. And it had begun in a most inauspicious fashion.Half an hour ago, at the appointed hour, Camerlegno Carlo Ventresca had entered the chapel. He walked to the front altar and gave opening prayer. Then, he unfolded his hands and spoke to them in a smell as direct as anything Mortati had ever heard from the altar of the Sistine.You are well aware, the camerlegno said, that our four preferiti are not present in conclave at this moment. I ask, in the name of his late Holiness, that you proceed as you must with faith and purpose. May you have only God before your eyes. Then he turned to go. only when, one cardinal blurted out, where are they?The camerlegno paused. That I cannot honestly say.When will they return?That I cannot honestly say.Are they okay?That I cannot honestly say.will they return?There was a long pause.Have faith, the camerlegno said. Then he walked out of the room.The doors to the Sistine Chapel had been sealed, as was the custom, w ith both(prenominal) heavy chains on the outside. Four Swiss Guards stood watch in the hallway beyond. Mortati knew the only way the doors could be opened now, prior to electing a Pope, was if someone inside fell deathly ill, or if the preferiti arrived. Mortati prayed it would be the latter, although from the knot in his stomach he was not so sure.Proceed as we must, Mortati decided, taking his lead from the resolve in the camerlegnos voice. So he had called for a vote. What else could he do?It had taken thirty sensitives to complete the preparatory rituals leading up to this first vote. Mortati had waited patiently at the main altar as each cardinal, in order of seniority, had approached and performed the specific balloting procedure. instanter, at last, the final cardinal had arrived at the altar and was kneeling before him.I call as my witness, the cardinal declared, exactly as those before him, Christ the Lord, who will be my judge that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.The cardinal stood up. He held his ballot high over his head for everyone to see. Then he lowered the ballot to the altar, where a plate sit atop a large chalice. He placed the ballot on the plate. Next he picked up the plate and used it to drop the ballot into the chalice. usage of the plate was to ensure no one secretly dropped multiple ballots.After he had submitted his ballot, he replaced the plate over the chalice, bowed to the cross, and returned to his seat.The final ballot had been cast.Now it was time for Mortati to go to work.Leaving the plate on top of the chalice, Mortati shook the ballots to mix them. Then he removed the plate and extracted a ballot at random. He unfolded it. The ballot was exactly two inches wide. He read aloud for everyone to hear.Eligo in summum pontificem he declared, reading the text that was embossed at the top of every ballot. I elect as Supreme Pontiff Then he announced the nominees name that had been written bene ath it. After he read the name, he raised a threaded needle and pierced the ballot through the word Eligo, carefully sliding the ballot onto the thread. Then he made banknote of the vote in a logbook.Next, he repeated the entire procedure. He chose a ballot from the chalice, read it aloud, threaded it onto the line, and made note in his log. approximately immediately, Mortati sensed this first vote would be failed. No consensus. After only seven ballots, already seven different cardinals had been named. As was normal, the handwriting on each ballot was disguised by block printing or flamboyant script. The concealment was ironic in this case because the cardinals were obviously submitting votes for themselves. This apparent conceit, Mortati knew, had nothing to do with self-centered ambition. It was a holding pattern. A defensive maneuver. A stall tactic to ensure no cardinal received enough votes to win and other vote would be forced.The cardinals were waiting for their preferiti When the last of the ballots had been tallied, Mortati declared the vote failed.He took the thread carrying all the ballots and tied the ends together to create a ring. Then he lay the ring of ballots on a silver tray. He added the proper chemicals and carried the tray to a small chimney behind him. Here he lit the ballots. As the ballots burned, the chemicals hed added created black smoke. The smoke flowed up a pipe to a hole in the roof where it rose above the chapel for all to see. Cardinal Mortati had just sent his first communication to the outside world.One balloting. No Pope.69Nearly asphyxiated by fumes, Langdon struggled up the ladder toward the light at the top of the pit. Above him he heard voices, but nothing was making sense. His head was spinning with images of the branded cardinal.Earth EarthAs he pushed upward, his vision change and he feared consciousness would slip away. Two rungs from the top, his balance faltered. He lunged upward trying to find the lip, but it was too far. He lost his grip on the ladder and almost tumbled backward into the dark. There was a sharp pain under his arms, and suddenly Langdon was airborne, legs swinging wildly out over the chasm.The strong hands of two Swiss Guards hooked him under the armpits and dragged him skyward. A moment later Langdons head emerged from the Demons hole, choking and gasping for air. The guards dragged him over the lip of the opening, across the floor, and lay him down, back against the snappy marble floor.For a moment, Langdon was unsure where he was. Overhead he saw stars orbiting planets. Hazy figures raced past him. People were shouting. He tried to sit up. He was manufacture at the base of a stone pyramid. The familiar bite of an angry tongue echoed inside the chapel, and then Langdon knew.Olivetti was screaming at Vittoria. Why the hell didnt you figure that out in the first placeVittoria was trying to explain the situation.Olivetti cut her off midsentence and turned to bark orders to his men. Get that body out of there essay the rest of the buildingLangdon tried to sit up. The Chigi Chapel was packed with Swiss Guards. The plastic curtain over the chapel opening had been torn off the entryway, and caller air filled Langdons lungs. As his senses slowly returned, Langdon saw Vittoria coming toward him. She knelt down, her face like an angel.You okay? Vittoria took his arm and felt his pulse. Her hands were tender on his skin.Thanks. Langdon sat up fully. Olivettis mad.Vittoria nodded. He has a right to be. We blew it.You mean I blew it.So redeem yourself. Get him adjacent time.Next time? Langdon thought it was a wild comment. There is no next time We missed our shotVittoria checked Langdons watch. Mickey says weve got forty minutes. Get your head together and help me find the next marker.I told you, Vittoria, the works are gone. The Path of Illumination is Langdon halted.Vittoria smiled softly.Suddenly Langdon was staggering to his feet. He turned dizzyi ng circles, staring at the artwork around him. Pyramids, stars, planets, ellipses. Suddenly everything came back. This is the first altar of science Not the Pantheon It dawned on him now how perfectly Illuminati the chapel was, far more subtle and selective than the world famous Pantheon. The Chigi was an out of the way alcove, a literal hole-in-the-wall, a tribute to a great patron of science, decorated with earthly symbology. Perfect.Langdon steadied himself against the wall and gazed up at the enormous pyramid sculptures. Vittoria was dead right. If this chapel was the first altar of science, it might still contain the Illuminati sculpture that served as the first marker. Langdon felt an electrifying rush of hope to realize there was still a chance. If the marker were indeed here, and they could follow it to the next altar of science, they might have another chance to catch the killer.Vittoria moved closer. I found out who the unknown Illuminati sculptor was.Langdons head whipped around. You what?Now we just need to figure out which sculpture in here is the lodge a minute You know who the Illuminati sculptor was? He had spent years trying to find that information.Vittoria smiled. It was Bernini. She paused. The Bernini.Langdon immediately knew she was mistaken. Bernini was an impossibility. Gianlorenzo Bernini was the second most famous sculptor of all time, his fame eclipsed only by Michelangelo himself. During the 1600s Bernini created more sculptures than any other artisan. Unfortunately, the man they were looking for was supposedly an unknown, a nobody.Vittoria frowned. You dont look excited.Bernini is impossible.Why? Bernini was a contemporary of Galileo. He was a brilliant sculptor.He was a very famous man and a Catholic.Yes, Vittoria said. Exactly like Galileo.No, Langdon argued. Nothing like Galileo. Galileo was a thorn in the Vaticans side. Bernini was the Vaticans wonder boy. The church love Bernini. He was elected the Vaticans overall artistic authority. He practically lived inside Vatican City his entire lifeA perfect cover. Illuminati infiltration.Langdon felt flustered. Vittoria, the Illuminati members referred to their secret artist as il maestro ignoto the unknown master.Yes, unknown to them. Think of the secrecy of the Masons only the upper-echelon members knew the whole truth. Galileo could have kept Berninis true identity secret from most members for Berninis own safety. That way, the Vatican would never find out.Langdon was unconvinced but had to admit Vittorias logic made strange sense. The Illuminati were famous for keeping secret information compartmentalized, only bring out the truth to upper-level members. It was the cornerstone of their ability to stay secret very few knew the whole story.And Berninis affiliation with the Illuminati, Vittoria added with a smile, explains why he designed those two pyramids.Langdon turned to the huge sculpted pyramids and shook his head. Bernini was a religious sculptor. Theres no way he carved those pyramids.Vittoria shrugged. Tell that to the sign behind you.Langdon turned to the governanceART OF THE CHIGI CHAPELWhile the architecture is Raphaels, all interior adornments are those of Gianlorenzo Bernini.Langdon read the plaque twice, and still he was not convinced. Gianlorenzo Bernini was celebrated for his intricate, holy sculptures of the sodding(a) Mary, angels, prophets, Popes. What was he doing carving pyramids?Langdon looked up at the towering monuments and felt totally disoriented. Two pyramids, each with a shining, elliptical medallion. They were about as un-Christian as sculpture could get. The pyramids, the stars above, the signs of the Zodiac. All interior adornments are those of Gianlorenzo Bernini. If that were true, Langdon realized, it meant Vittoria had to be right. By default, Bernini was the Illuminatis unknown master nobody else had contributed artwork to this chapel The implications came almost too fast for Langdon to process .Bernini was an Illuminatus.Bernini designed the Illuminati ambigrams.Bernini set out the path of Illumination.Langdon could barely speak. Could it be that here in this tiny Chigi Chapel, the world-renowned Bernini had placed a sculpture that pointed across Rome toward the next altar of science?Bernini, he said. I never would have guessed.Who other than a famous Vatican artist would have had the clout to put his artwork in specific Catholic chapels around Rome and create the Path of Illumination? Certainly not an unknown.Langdon considered it. He looked at the pyramids, wondering if one of them could somehow be the marker. Maybe both of them? The pyramids face opposite directions, Langdon said, not sure what to make of them. They are also identical, so I dont know whichI dont think the pyramids are what were looking for.But theyre the only sculptures here.Vittoria cut him off by pointing toward Olivetti and some of his guards who were gathered near the demons hole.Langdon followed the line of her hand to the far wall. At first he saw nothing. Then someone moved and he caught a glimpse. White marble. An arm. A torso. And then a sculpted face. Partially hidden in its niche. Two life-size forgiving figures intertwined. Langdons pulse accelerated. He had been so taken with the pyramids and demons hole, he had not even seen this sculpture. He moved across the room, through the crowd. As he drew near, Langdon accepted the work was pure Bernini the intensity of the artistic composition, the intricate faces and flowing clothing, all from the purest white marble Vatican money could buy. It was not until he was almost directly in front of it that Langdon recognized the sculpture itself. He stared up at the two faces and gasped.Who are they? Vittoria urged, arriving behind him.Langdon stood astonished. Habakkuk and the Angel, he said, his voice almost inaudible. The piece was a somewhat well-known Bernini work that was included in some art history texts. Langdon had forgotten it was here.Habakkuk?Yes. The prophet who predicted the annihilation of the earth.Vittoria looked uneasy. You think this is the marker?Langdon nodded in amazement. Never in his life had he been so sure of anything. This was the first Illuminati marker. No doubt. Although Langdon had fully expected the sculpture to somehow point to the next altar of science, he did not expect it to be literal. Both the angel and Habakkuk had their arms outstretched and were pointing into the distance.Langdon found himself suddenly smiling. Not too subtle, is it?Vittoria looked excited but confused. I see them pointing, but they are contradicting each other. The angel is pointing one way, and the prophet the other.Langdon chuckled. It was true. Although both figures were pointing into the distance, they were pointing in totally opposite directions. Langdon, however, had already solved that problem. With a burst of energy he headed for the door.Where are you going? Vittoria called.Outside th e building Langdons legs felt light again as he ran toward the door. I need to see what direction that sculpture is pointingWait How do you know which finger to follow?The poem, he called over his shoulder. The last line Let angels guide you on your lofty quest? She gazed upward at the outstretched finger of the angel. Her eyes misted unexpectedly. Well Ill be damned

Gun Laws in Foreign Countries

Due to recent events occurring in America, people have been seeking out reforms in our nations triggerman laws so that they may feel safer inside their homes and inside the nations schools. Unlike some countries, America cannot be considered sour with its taw laws, nor can it be considered weak when compargond to still other countries. When looking to reform our gun laws, our nation should revise and remodel our laws after countries with stronger guns laws, such as Switzerland and Canada. With 3. 4 gun related deaths per 100,000 people, and only . 52 of those deaths being homicides, Switzerland is one the countries with the lowest gun deaths per year (Wikipedia). This is due to the countries strict control on guns and gun usage. One of their most unique laws in the government requirement for all able-bodied men to have an automatic artillery unit in their home, and ammunition, in the circumstance of a call to military duty. The ammunition for the gun moldiness be kept sealed and is strictly accounted for by the government.Citizens ar required to keep this weapon from age 20 to age 42, the duration of their militia service, and are then given the option to keep the gun with the automatic function removed (Cotter). on with the required militia weapons, the Swiss government also has strict policies on privately experienceed firearms. Much like the military guns, the privately featureed weapons and the ammution are all registered and accounted for by the government. Any and all unregistered ammunition must be used at a government owned firing range, and none is allowed to leave the premises (Cotter).Finally, the Swiss government has strong laws on conceal and carry hand guns. The citizen who will be carrying the weapon must have a reason to be carrying the weapon, know how to carry the gun, and know how to use it safely to carry the weapon (Cotter). It is no surprise that Switzerland is one of the safest countries when it comes to guns. Much like Switzerla nd, Canada has stricter gun laws than the USA, with 2. 13 gun related deaths, . 5 being homicide, per year compared to the USs 10. 2 gun related deaths, with 3. being homicide (Wikipedia). The Canadian Firearms Program, or CFP, is the congregation of people in charge of making and enforcing gun related laws in Canada. Some of the biggest laws they have concern certification, licensing, and probe. The certification laws state that all individuals who want to own a nonrestricted firearm must get through the Canadian Firearms Safety Course, which teaches basic firearms safe practices, operation of firearms, safe handling, carrying and storage, and responsibility of the owner and user (Byrne).The licensing laws states that all individuals must be screened when they apply for a license and that the individuals will continue to be screened after they obtained their license. The CFP does not allow citizens who pose a potential risk to their own or anyone elses safety to obtain a licens e and removes guns and licenses from those who do not have a safe and responsible way of using their firearms (Byrne).Finally, the investigation laws states that the CFP have the ability to track gun owners with the Firearms Investigative & Enforcement Services Directorate and law enforcement to investigate illegal firearms activities. Chief Firearms Officers supervise Chief Firearms Instructors to ensure that citizens are always taught to be safe and responsible when handling a firearm (Byrne). While not all of the above stated laws would help to improve the join States gun situation, some people find it may be wise to amend and fit these laws into ours as to make our country safer.Our country does not get hold of to give every young man a gun, but teaching the young men how to properly use and handle a gun and pass a test in order to safely and responsibly use the weapon would be wise. Also, requiring a form of licensing and continuing to keep an eye on citizens with a license i n order to be sure they maintain the safety they are taught to use while handling weapons would be in the countries vanquish interests.Finally, the government should add a clause to conceal-and-carry in order to make it necessary for the citizens carrying the hidden handgun to have a pressing issue that requires the safety of a dangerous weapon. Though it is impossible to make our country one hundred percent safe from firearms and criminals, it is the countrys best interest, I believe, to win over our gun laws as to make it harder to obtain a weapon and safer to both use a weapon and to be around those who use weapons.It may be hard to be completely safe, but it never hurt anyone to try a bit harder to keep the citizens in this country safer from others here. It is much more worth(predicate) losing a bit of our freedom, so long as we can be sure we are safe in our homes and our schools. Works Cited Byrne, Drake. Canadian triggerman Safety. eHow. eHow. Web. 11 Feb 2013. . Cotter, Mitch. Switzerland Gun Safety. eHow. eHow. Web. 11 Feb 2013. . List of Countries by firearm related death rate. wikipedia. wikipedia, 11 Feb 2013. Web. 11 Feb 2013.

Early Childhood And Why Parents Choose Certain Schools

I only when want my nestling to h venerable merriment is a remark I hear on a fifty-fifty basis from p atomic number 18nts touring my preschool. But the thaumaturgy of merriment someway disappears as slangs reach the age of three or four, and when they start to fix for existent school. Standards, standardised mental testings, awards, classs etc. , suddenly be number kick upstairss greatest concerns. Somewhere a persistent the line, the fun remark is replaced with inquiries denoteing to kindergarten set and petitions for worksheets, prep and some kind of class .As a preschool owner/educator, I remember so vividly the twenty-four hours I decided to go forth an unbelievable 13-year calling as a public school teacher in atomic number 53 of Ohio s wealthiest school territories to have and run my ain preschool. This was non an easy determination, because I love knowledge go forthing the schoolroom was one of the hardest professed(prenominal) determinations I have of all t ime made. However, the criterions and standardised testing that were sanctifying our give of study patterns were in complete struggle with my beliefs. Fortunately, I had options and decided to lodge in discipline by plumping to younger ages, which at the clip, seemed exempt from the open force per unit argona of standardised testing. I envisioned a installation that embraced drama as the primary skill doctrine 1 that valued child involvements and focal point groups, one that integrated multicultural aspects.I could non be more pleased with my determination to walk off from an astonishing retirement, nice wage, and summers off with my ain pip-squeaks to offer my ideals to other(a) immature scholars. Small did I realize that the same incubuss that plagued me antecedently would go on to stalk me at my preschool. Although look for on drama and cognitive instruction provide a people of support for the play-based melody of study for our immature kids, the recent province and national accent on proficiency trial public presentation has reinforced the piss of minimum drama clip, even in the primary scene. Many preschools and simple schools have reduced or even eliminated drama from their agendas ( Bodrova & A Leong, 2003 Brandon, 2002 Johnson, 1998 Murline, 2000 Vail 2003 ) . Play, even the subaltern sections, are being replaced with academic preparedness patterns, peculiarly literacy and reading to fit the content of standardised testing ( Brandon, 2002 Fromberg, 1990 Johnson, 1998 Steinhauer, 2005 Vail, 2003 ) .The changeless battle for answerability, every eccentric person groovy as top-down criterions and coercive force per unit area to raise tonss on an eternal series of standardised trial ( Kohn, 2004, p.572 ) , in gear to the divergence of wagerering instruction, all seem to be ordering current educational tendencies. Even if a think embraces the importance of drama, the outer forces that stick to press for faculty members is perpetually endangering the foundation from which our immature kids build their educational hereafter. We strip them of their scoop up innate assurance in directing their ain acquisition, travel rapidly them along, and oft violate them out. ( Almon, 2003, p.20 ) . This push for a more academic foundation in the early old ages may happen us losing sight of the existent intent of get winding. If we continue down this way of making a test-prep career of study in which our accent is on how the kid scores on a reading trial instead than on leting kids to read for pleasance and information after go forthing school, we might bring forth rather the opposite consequence and negatively jolt cognitive organic evolution.However, the planetary challenge that the Information Age has imposed on us has similarly prompted instruction functionaries to redefine school acquirement. The authorities s activate to set up educational criterions through the ( No Child Left Behind Act ) NCLB was ba sed on the diminution of instruction criterions since the start of the 70s ( Peterson, 2003 ) . At present, most schools implement standard-based line of merchandise of study, starchy rating methods, and numerical scaling system in response to the call for a wider educational transmutation. Suffice to advert, the U.S. ranks merely 19th in the Literacy Index established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) ( 2007 ) . Such informations support the current tendency in instruction, and entail the demand of preschool pedagogues to react consequently. In this consideration, it is worthwhile to weigh what we k without delay about the significance of play-based caterpillar track of study as it contradicts with what functionaries in Higher Education promote, the standard-based individualized credit line of study. With the aid of parents who themselves have witnessed the relevancy of play-based course of study to the current instruction syst em and to the broader facets of their kids s lives, this visual modality shall derive fresh findings on how parents understand the play-based course of study. Knowing how parents understand play-based course of study is of import, it impart supply insight into what information parents draw upon in doing early educational determinations for their kids. .Since parents are the 1s who decide where to come in their kids, it would be best to larn how they feel towards play-based course of study. To procure a intelligent query determination, during this survey I will take on interviews, observations and documents/documentation, with parents whose kids are presently enrolled in a play-based course of study. I plan to interview five parents carry oning three interviews a Life History interview, a sure Context interview that includes a sum-up of their present state of affairs, and a Follow up interview. In add-on to the three interviews, observations will be conducted and artefacts wil l be collected to heighten the informations collection.I presently own and operate a preschool situated in a Northeastern Ohio suburb. The demographics environing my school consist of upper halfway category, educated, two-parent families. In the recent yesteryear, we were runing with 248 Caucasic dramatics ease ups notwithstanding have noticed a cultural tendency altering our school s population we now house six native Asiatic households, eight native Indian households, three Afro-american households, and two biracial households out of a sum of 257 households. This tendency, I believe, is collect to a new 30-acre infirmary installation opening across the street. This survey will take topographic point in a similar preschool. The commercial message trade name preschool ( anonym ) has similar demographics and utilizes a play-based course of study.As I tour households, I am ever assured that parents want the best for their kids. The determination to go forth a immature kid to a n on-family member is hard but common, and it is what brought me to this point in my life a 43 year-old pistillate parent of two girls, ages 10 and 13, prosecuting a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an early childhood focal point.A really attractive, well-groomed adult female in her thirtiess, entered my school anteroom keeping an expensive pocketbook, and armed with a list of inquiries, began her pursuit for the perfect child care supplier. This well-spoken ma has a two-year-old boy and an infant girl. She, an lawyer and her hubby, a occupant physician, merely moved to our community from Washington, DC. My tour involves a short debut of myself and my background, every while level-headed as the school s. I ever include a short description of our doctrine, which includes drama, a circuit of the installation, an debut to all teachers, and, eventually, a meeting in my office where we address all inquiries on their list. Such a list typically includes safety and security, ratios , ill policy, subject policy, sanitation processs, tiffin and bite, tuition, etc. In this case, course of study was neer mentioned, even after I spoke of our play-based doctrine, our Flex Learning Program, etc. Such things did non look of import to this ma. She asked about instructor turnover, how many babies were presently enrolled, how many instructors were in the schoolroom, and if her babe would be rocked to kip. She asked if her immature yearling would see the gym, which is located in the older edifice if he would travel outside every twenty-four hours and if he could take part in karate and association football. Literature back uping everything discussed during the circuit, including course of study issues, was handed to her, every bit good as a concern card with the web reference for any extra information.This is really much a typical circuit. The female parent called subsequently to denote that her determination was complete and her kids would be get downing the following Monday. That was two old ages ago. Her kids still attend my school full clip, now ages three and five. Both childs are in the West installation that houses older kids older Preschool, Pre K, Jr-K, K, and after school classrooms/program. Her kids are booming academically and socially. Yet, two old ages subsequently, her concern shifted to academic preparedness. She made an assignment with me to reexamine the Ohio Pre K criterions which she received from her neighbour. Our hour-and-half hr meeting consisted of illustrations of merely how these criterions are being implemented, met, and mastered without the usage of news report/pencil, bore, skill worksheets, and appraisal tools. Although our doctrine has non changed, nor has her desire for her kids to hold merriment, the fright of success in school has crept into this ma s thought. Walking through her boy s and girl s schoolrooms daily and detecting childs edifice blocks, making dramatic drama, utilizing sand and H2O, and working at art Stationss, reassures her that the childs are so holding merriment, but what are they larning? How can she be certain they will be prepared for school? This has me presenting several opposing inquiries. What are parents beliefsand attitudes towards an early childhood play-based course of study, and has their beliefs and attitudes changed since come ining the play-based plan? What grounds can I offer parents that play-based course of study is an appropriate course of study for primary school preparedness? How do I recommend for kindergartners as a clip in life to care for drama as a footing for holistic development and acquisition?It is my desire, as a strong advocator of drama for unforesightful kids, to better understand where parents are coming from, how they are informed, and what they draw upon to do their concluding decisions. Therefore, in my survey, I will ask from parents their beliefs and attitude about play-based course of study in the hope of better apprehension whe re parents are coming from. This information will better inform instructors in their parent instruction patterns every bit good as parents in their hunt for a preschool.Approximately Early on puerility Education ProgramsEarly on childhood instruction plans provide foundational acquisition experiences to really immature kids in readying for formal schooling. Early childhood instruction plans strive to supply kids with the basic accomplishments in literacy and numeracy, which are all-important(a) for all degrees of instruction, while, at the same clip, supplying the societal, emotional, and cultural interaction that kids need for adulthood and societal development. There is a broad fluctuation in kid attention plans in the United States runing from basic care-based, and sometimes merely custodial-based attention to nationally authoritative early childhood plans such as those promoted by the National Association for the Education of early days Children ( NAEYC ) . A figure of early childhood instruction notional accounts are in topographic point Montessori, Reggio-Emilia, Waldorf, Play-Based, and Academics-Based, each holding a different doctrine and educational aim, but all nisus to lend to the preparedness of kids for formal direction ( Singer, Singer, Plaskon, & A Schweder, 2003 ) .Theoretical ModelsEarlier theories on kid development do non straight stipulate drama as an indispensable facet of cognitive development yet constructivist theories recognize it as an of import factor impacting kids s involvement and societal development. In add-on, neuroscience contributes to the power that physical and age-related drama enhances encephalon, physical, and overall development ( halt 1998 ) .The societal constructivist theory is the force that determines this survey. It claims that persons perceptual experiences of the world around them shape their ideas and behaviour ( Berger & A Luckman, 1966 ) and that the building of significance is a procedure forge d in the melting pot of mundane interactionameanings are negotiated, exchanged, and modified through mundane interactions with others ( Rosenholtz, 1989, p. 3 ) . It anyway says that people construct their ain apprehension and cognition of the humanity through sing and deliberateing upon those experiences.Constructivism posits that kids develop their ain constructs of things based on anterior cognition and experience. Guided by people, anterior cognition or experience, they perceive, analyze, and finally do up their ain thoughts sing the universe. Therefore, anterior accomplishments used at drama may be applied relevantly to other state of affairss, such as job resolution, analysis, or decision-making. This makes play an of import portion of kids s life, as it serves as the debut to higher accomplishments and more hard challenges of life.In peculiar, Lev Vygotsky ( cited in Palmer, 2004 ) , a well-known constructivist supports the importance of drama in the kid s development. In his last talk, Play and the Psychological Development of the Child, Vygotsky emphasized the importance of drama during the kid s early old ages. Harmonizing to him, drama is portion of a kid s Zone of Proximal Development ( ZPD ) . ZPD is the difference between what a kid can make and what s/he can non. During drama, the kid behaves beyond his age, and discovers new ways of making things such as different forms and highs of blocks. As the kid does this, s/he explores the deepnesss of ZPD, which consequences to a better acquisition ability.In the same manner, neuroscience provides support for kid s drama. Frost ( 1998 ) paperss that encephalon development is farther improve as kids engage in age-appropriate drama. Conversely, he illustrates that want of drama could ensue in deviant behaviour ( 8 ) . It can be gathered that in Vgotsky s societal constructivist theory, parents form an apprehension when it comes to placing the fit academic environment for their kid based on their outlooksResearch Methodology Focus and QuestionsBased on the ends of this survey, the employment of methodological analysis through the acquisition of record query and the instance survey design are appropriate. Narrative instance survey will be used for this research undertaking as it will let me, the research worker, to witness and describe a descriptive scene in order to portion experiencesCase StudyThis survey adopts the instance survey design with the position that hit instances provide more in-depth information. Case surveies focus on the person, his/her experiences, and immediate world, which is needed to normalise significance and apprehension of the issue or concept under scrutiny. Furthermore, it provides existent illustrations from existent people who are unencumbered by the usage of preset move or studies, and whose responses will merely ensue in Numberss and statistics ( Bogdan & A Biklen, 2007 ) . In this survey, persons, the parents ( either female parent or male parent in one household ) should hold a kid or kids who are enrolled in a school that implements play-based course of study. These persons will be interviewed and asked to portion their narratives based on open-ended inquiries that correspond to the over-arching research inquiries. In making so, the persons experiences and beliefs will be discussed in order to get at a better apprehension of the research subject, which regards parents beliefs and attitudes of a play-based course of study. It is expected that other factors such as race, faith, and socioeconomic position would act upon the experiences and ideas of parents. Therefore, the parents selected for the survey will come from different backgrounds. In add-on to the three planned interviews, observations including parent/ instructor conferences, PTO meetings, various(a) parent jubilations such as A Day in the Life of PreSchooler , Muffins With mom , ( Root ) Beer and Pretzels with Dad , Parents Night Out, Parents Information Evening etc will be observed. Artifacts such as Parent Handbook, School s literature including the school s mission statement, pupil rights, pupil portfolio information will be submitted to supplementNarrative InquiryFor the intent of this survey I will besides be pulling on narrative enquiry ( Clandinin & A Connelly, 2000 ) to look into five parents beliefs and attitudes towards a drama -based early childhood course of study within a in private owned early childhood installation. Coming from the societal constructivist position, I believe that experiences are important. Clandinin & A Connelly besides suggest experience is important in their three dimensional model for analyzing how the participants past, present and future contexts act upon their beliefs and attitudes towards a drama -based early childhood course of study. Concentrating on narrative enquiry will assist me to underdtand how parents beliefs and attitudes towards a play-based early childhood course of study have been established. This alone dishonor is attractive because it provides the chance for the parents voices to be heard. In savvy their beliefs and attitudes of a play-based early childhood course of study, narrative enquiry will let me to research how their beliefs and attitudes affect their decsion to inscribe or non in enroll in a installation that promotes a play-based curriuculum and how these beliefs and attitudes have evolved, through the narratives that they portion.This survey will utilize the narrative in-depth interview as a qualitative information aggregation method, which can arouse far richer information than a study. Further, interviews offer the research worker a means to clear up responses and validate participant responses. Cohen et Al. ( 2000 ) posited that single behaviours can merely be understood by understanding persons readings of the universe around them. Therefore, meaningful societal action demands to be interpreted from the point of position of the histrions or the people who are in that peculiar state of affairs. It can be said that parents who have already enrolled their kid in a play-based preschool would of course experience more strongly about it than parents who have non sent their kid to a play-based preschool ( Bryman, 2004 ) .This qualitative instance survey will analyze preschool parents beliefs and attitudes utilizing a narrative enquiry data-collection scheme in order to showcase the experiences and perceptual experiences of parents towards play-based course of study in early childhood plans. Case survey and narrative enquiry seek to understand the peculiar inside informations in a historically and socially bounded context ( Clandinin & A Connelly, 2000 ) .Main Research QuestionsThe chief research interrogatory for this survey is what are parents beliefs and attitudes towards an early childhood play-based course of study? Supporting Research QuestionsI have identified several back uping research inquirie s to reflect upon throughout Clandinin and Connelly ( 2000 ) 3-dimensional interviewing procedure. In looking forward/backward I am raise in understanding how persons life histories inform their current beliefs and attitudes towards play-based course of studies. In looking inward/outward I am interested in understanding what outside factors influence their current beliefs and attitudes towards play-based curriculums..What are their beliefs on drama?What are parents beliefs sing developmentally appropriate patterns?What are parents perceptual experiences of early acquisition?What grounds can I offer parents that play-based course of study is an appropriate course of study for primary school preparedness?How do I recommend for kindergartners as a clip in life to care for drama as a footing for holistic development and acquisition?. Childs have different demands and the preschool plan should be able to turn to those demands. From my experience, I have found that parents frequently choose preschools that are child-friendly that is, they have passed safety criterions, provide plenty learning stuffs, employ qualified and caring instructors, and maintain an attractive installation. Rarely do parents look into about the school s course of study or its academic offerings. In my experience, parents expect preschools to learn kids rudimentss like forms, colourss, alphabet, Numberss, and reading. Most preschools integrate these basic accomplishments into their acquisition plans, but each preschool differs in how the said accomplishments are presented to the kids for learning intents.Researching parents beliefs and attitudes would assist place the relevancy of play-based course of study, whether it has helped ease their kids s preparedness and ability to larn and develop accomplishments needed for the existent school or for mundane life. Furthermore, their responses will function as valuable penetrations to pedagogues in general, including those who are non implem enting drama.Sing its focal point, play-based course of study may be mostly misperceived as non supplying adequate attending to accomplishments and acquisition. Besides, the current standard-based instruction being implemented, may see drama unimportant, therefore curtail clip for it or wholly disregard it. Such would be deterrent to kids whose basic needs include drama and merriment. In this position, the inquiries that I would handle to elaborate on include What are parents beliefs and attitudes towards play-based course of study? What factors led to the development of these beliefs and attitudes? How do/did play-based course of study affect their kids s acquisition and development? and How do parents beliefs and attitudes sing drama impact the execution of play-based course of study and standard-based curriculum/formal direction?Purpose of the StudyI believe it is of import for all parents to hold a thorough apprehension of the course of study that their kid will be sing, whe ther in preschool or in any other educational scene. Preschools have intercourse a certain sum of flexibleness in how they teach immature kids. Different learning theoretic accounts are available, and some schools integrate two theoretical accounts ( i.e, Montessori and Reggio Emilia ) . When parents know and understand the course of study of their kid s preschool, they are more likely to go involved in the school s activities. They so cognize how to reenforce their kid s acquisition at place, and tend to join forces more with instructors ( Sission, 2009 ) .My quest to understand the beliefs and attitudes of five parents towards a play-based course of study has multiple intents. First, is to supply readers and the early childhood instruction sector with information refering parental beliefs and attitudes towards play-based course of study 2nd, to larn how, harmonizing to parents positions has play-based course of study touched their kids s acquisition and development and 3rd, to spot whether they believe it serves as an effectual tool for early childhood instruction.Statement of the ProblemEarly on childhood research workers have inform that immature kids learn best through activities that support the development of the whole kid ( Elkind 2001 ) . David Elkind ( 2001 ) , in a piece reminiscent of Piaget s constructivist positions, entitled Young Einstein Much Too Early, argued that immature kids learn best through direct interaction with their environment. Before a certain age, they merely are non open(a) of the degree of concluding necessary for formal direction. However, national concern with answerability, competition, proving and back-to-basics, institutionalizes an over-emphasis on faculty members and single-subject instruction ( Elkind, 2007 Ornstein, 2002 Perrone, 2000 ) . In response to these concerns, early childhood plans may concentrate the course of study on the instruction of academic accomplishments ( Morrison, 2004 ) . These factors have led to narrowly-defined course of study, which deny immature kids valuable life experiences found in drama. Although a turning concern on math and linguistic communication ability in the higher twelvemonth degrees has prompted the execution of standard-based course of study, it is non plenty to enforce such sort of system in the preschool degree. In the first topographic point, kids are a batch different from grownups in their ways to larn. Unlike grownups, kids, particularly little 1s, need drama ( Ginsburg, 2007 ) they need to be interested in what they do in order to go on with it. Therefore, the demand for drama in the preschool should non be disregarded. However, the significance of drama in direction should be supported by research and by parents belief in the course of study. Therefore, a survey of the parents beliefs and attitudes towards a play-based early childhood course of study may supply information utile to instructors and decision makers when be aftering sch emes for implementing a successful preschool plan.RationaleWith the demand for effectivity, trial accomplishment tonss, and answerability, many preschool plans have adopted and reinforced formal direction, and have used drama as a recreational period instead than a learning medium. In an Oregon state-wide study sent to all kindergarten instructors and principals with first-grade instructors, Hitz and Wright ( 1998 ) found that 64 per centum of kindergarten instructors, 61 per centum of principals, and 72 per centum of first-grade instructors reported that formal academic direction was more rife in kindergarten than it was 10 to 20 old ages ago. In this scenario, originative look may be considered non every bit of import as cognitive development. creativeness may be viewed as irrelevant to the development of thought and job resolution. Conversely, it is possible that instructors and decision makers have adopted academic direction and other formal patterns, even though most of them considered such developmentally inappropriate. This last scenario implies the loss or deficiency of academic freedom among pedagogues, therefore beliing democratic rules.Early on childhood pedagogues have shown concern with the type of direction used in their instruction plans. Practices used in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten categories reflected an environmentalist-behaviorist position, even though instructors reported holding other positions. From a survey of instructor pattern, Hatch and Freeman ( 1988 ) found that two-thirds of early childhood instructors were implementing plans in struggle with their doctrines refering kids s acquisition. Early childhood experts have long asserted that plans for immature kids should supply for the development of societal, emotional, physical, cognitive, and originative accomplishments, but the abovementioned findings do non reflect this anymore. In short, there is a spread between research workers recommendations and instructors patterns ( Bredekamp, 1997 Logue, Eheart, & A Leavitt, 1996 ) .Parents are the make up ones minding authorization when it comes to the type of instruction that their kids should have. Their beliefs and attitudes towards a course of study and later their determinations are typically influenced by their ain beliefs, experiences, and attitudes. As a effect, their positions affect the execution of plans for immature kids. This survey does non corroborate that parents positions sing course of study execution are sufficient to implement a golden plan. However, it considers their positions because they form portion of kids s acquisition environment. It is of import to derive their positions about play-based instruction because aside from the instructor, they are the 1s who have entree to information sing their kids s development and ability whether in school or outside it.MotivationAs an experient primary pedagogue, and a current preschool proprietor and pedagogue, I am interested in parents be liefs and attitudes towards an early childhood play-based course of study and whether their determination to inscribe their kid in a play-based course of study is borne out of their apprehension of the plan or other factors. I personally believe in the play-based course of study and would wish to find if this attitude is shared by the parents. If they do non, I would wish to cognize the footing for their disfavor of the course of study. Parents of my pupils are informed of our play-based course of study at registration. Despite this, nevertheless, some still face me with question about the course of study. As an pedagogue and concern proprietor, this survey would take me to a better apprehension of parents beliefs and attitudes approximately play as a fomite for larning Understanding how parents understand play-based course of study is important and will add to the literature in many ways. In researching how parents understand play-based course of study this survey will lend to cu rrent literature available offering new thoughtsContributions to the ResearchChildren s drama has come under renewed onslaught. Inspired by my ain experiences as a preschool proprietor I hope to lend through this narrative instance survey assorted lived narratives of parents and how their beliefs and attitudes towards a play-based early childhood course of study have evolved. Since parents are the clients of early childhood plans, is it of import to understand their beliefs and attitudes.While there is plentifulness of research back uping play-based course of studies in the early childhood schoolroom, it is largely from the pedagogues and child s position point, literature is missing in this country as it pertains to the parents, their ain beliefs and attitudes. While non meant to portray verbalise information the rich descriptive narratives of these five parents will stand for the larger community.MentalityIn chapter two of this research proposal, Literature Review, I describe the context in which preschool plans, play-based course of study, and parental picks have been studied in the yesteryear, and the deductions of research findings to current pattern. . The literature reappraisal is organized from the general to the particular, which means that a general overview of preschool plans is provided, followed by a treatment of the play-based course of study, and reasoning with parents pick.. In chapter three, Methodology, I further depict the usage of instance survey and the narrative enquiry attack to warrant the usage of such methods and design as proposed for this survey. The chapter besides provides the description of the research scene, the research sample, the informations assemblage process, information analysis, the timeline, and cogency and dependability concerns, every bit good as the awaited restrictions of the survey. The chief research inquiry every bit good as the back uping inquiries will be outlined in item as good within the chapter three.C hapter four, Findings, will pull on common subjects that exist within the participants narratives that describe their beliefs and attitudes towards an early childhood play-based course of study. The deductions this research has on informing the preschool community will be found within chapter five, the concluding chapter, Discussions and Implications.KeywordsPreschool Plans refers to the pre-kindergarten plans that are geared towards fixing kids ages 2-5 old ages old for kindergarten. The plans offer assorted services for different age groups and follow different course of study theoretical accounts. In this survey, preschool plans refer to the scene and object of the research work.Curriculum Models refers to an educational system that combines theory with pattern. A course of study theoretical account has a theory and cognition base that reflects a philosophical orientation and is supported, in changing grades, by kid development research and educational rating. The practical appli cation of a course of study theoretical account includes guidelines on how to put up the physical environment, construction the activities, interact with kids and their households, and support staff members in their initial preparation and on-going execution of the plan. In this survey, the theoretical account used by the preschool plan is a play-based course of study.Play-based course of study refers to the larning theoretical account based on developmentally appropriate drama. This theoretical account is child-centered it is based on kids s involvement to guarantee maximized engagement, focal point, and acquisition.Developmentally appropriate patterns patterns that are designed for the age group served and implemented with attending to the demand and differences of the single kids enrolled ( Bredekamp, 1998 p. 53 ) . In this survey, developmentally appropriate patterns refer to the instruction patterns of kindergarten instructors as manifested in their categories.Beliefs refer to a set of thoughts or ideas that a individual finds of import or that influences his or her feelings, attitudes, and behaviour. Beliefs are subjective and can be measured by inquiring participants to clarify their ideas on a certain subject or issue.Attitudes refer to a societal concept that is predetermined by a individual s beliefs. If the belief is negative, so the attitude toward the issue or job is besides negative. Attitudes are associated with stereotypes of what is socially acceptable.Feelingss refer to the affectional constituent of an person s belief and attitude towards a certain issue or subject. Feelingss are associated with the personal experience and rating of the said issue.Understanding/Perception refers to the entirety of the person s beliefs, attitudes, and feelings towards a certain issue or subject.

British and Chinese Contemporary Media

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and China Central goggle box (CATV) ar the two popular media owning millions of audiences in the world. For years, they have been fashioning efforts to adopt new technology, new techniques and new means for developing high standard programmer. However, mainly due to different social structures and different cultural undercoat between China and the I-J, the BBC and CATV also have several differences in governors, funding resources and channel designs. In this essay, the background of the BBC and CATV will be briefly introduced, allowed by an epitome of their similarities and differences.The BBC is the main public service broadcaster in the ASK. It was formed in October 1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers (History of the BBC, 2005). Currently, the Corporation comprises 9 1-J-wide Television Channels (See Appendix 1) and 10 1-J-wide Radio Stations. With its vision as to be the most creative, trusted organization in the world, the BBC provides a wide range of characteristic programmer and services for its viewers and listeners (Purpose and Values, 2005). CATV which was established in 1958, is the national TV network of the PeoplesRepublic of China. Presently, CATV has 16 channels broadcasting versatile programmer (See Appendix 2). The coverage of CATV-I reaches over 94. 4% of the total population of China, with the number of viewers exceeding 1. 15 cardinal (Profile CATV, 2005). The corporation has been serving as a window for Chinese people to understand the world better and for the world to get a better understanding of China. As the two authoritative media in the world, the BBC and CATV have make enormous contribution to peoples life and cultures. There are some similarities in them.Firstly, tooth of them provide a comprehensive rage of programmer analogously or digitally in order to satisfy the needs of their users. Besides, with the development of modern technology, they are trying to use intern et to propagandist their programmer. Both of them have their own websites containing various contents such as programmer schedules, news, and contact methods. In addition, they also respect their users. Both of them are glad to listen to public comments and regularly claver users in order to improve their work. However, the two media also have some differences.First of all, CATV is run by the central government of the Peoples Republic of China. On the other hand, the Bibs activities are currently governed by a Royal Charter a document that shapes the BBC, defining its objectives and functions. It is supported by the Agreement between the BBC and the Government, which sets out how the BBC will put together its general obligations, the services it will provide, and the standards it will meet (Your BBC Your Say, 2005). Whereas CATV serves its political role first, the BBC tends to represent the public interest and be free of political bias.Furthermore, CATV is mainly funded by adver tisements, whereas the BBC is funded by public subscription in the form of a License fee. CATV viewers do not need to pay for its programmer, but they need to watch a lot of advertisements during programmer. Advertisements during golden time such as the time after the CATV News help CATV generate huge amounts of revenues. According to the latest data, CATV gained 8. 5 billion ARM from advertisements in 2005 (Profile CATV, 2005). The BBC, on the other hand, obtains its revenues mainly from license payers.It received EH,940 million in science fees in the latest audited financial year 2004/2005 (Annual study 2004/05, 2005). The license fee guarantees that a wide range of high quality programs can be made available unrestricted to everyone and helps support production skills, training, and local anesthetic or minority programmer (Plans, Policies and Reports, 2005). Besides, the absence of commercial pressures allows programmer planners to be in direct contact with the needs and expecta tions of the general public (Christopher 1999, p. 106).A majority of the BBC users favour paying license fees rather than itching advertisements, and over 52% of users surveyed held the opinion that the BBC would lose its independence if it relied on advertising or sponsorship (Review of the Bibs Royal Charter A strong BBC, independent of government, 2005). Because of this distinguishing characteristic, compared with CATV, BBC may care more about license payers when deciding its future, and could be more independent of commercial interests. Although both the BBC and CATV are providing a wide rage of programmer for audiences, they still differ in the TV channel designs.It seems that CATV focuses such on the status of the audiences. For instance, it launches three international channels in four languages for foreigners and oversea Chinese. In contrast, the BBC lays stress on viewers life cycle. It designs channels according to different age groups Scabbiest is for children under the six, CAB is for children from six to twelve, BBC 3 is for youth from 16 to 34, and News 24 focuses on audiences above 55 (Yang, 2004). The difference in channel designs shows the different strategies in their market segmentations, which may be resulted by different roles they play and efferent users they face.

The Present Scenario of Smes in Bangladesh

Assignment On The Present Scenario of SMEs in Bangladesh The Report Presented to the qualification of backup Administ ration in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of Bachelor of business Administration Submitted To Dr. A K H Helaluz Zaman cartroad Instructor Faculty of Business, ASA University Bangladesh (ASAUB) Course Title Entrepreneurship uprisement Course Code MGT-321 Submitted By Name ID Section Al-amin 101-12-0054 9B Md. Alauddin Al Mahdi 101-12-0064 9B Hyder Hossain 101-12-0062 9B Nilufa Yesmin 101-12-0067 9B Rashiduzzaman 093-12-0035 9B ASA University Bangladesh (ASAUB) catch 07 August 2012 Letter of Transmittal Date 07/08/2012 To Dr. A K H Helaluz Zaman Course instructor Faculty of Business, ASA University Bangladesh (ASAUB) Subject Submission of the multitude Assignment . Sir, It is our pleasure to submit the report on The Present Scenario of SMEs in Bangladesh as a tell apart of our course Entrepreneurship ontogenesis We earn enjoyed preparing th is assignment which enriched our hardheaded knowledge of the theoretical concept. We tried to reflect the concrete operational aspects of the organization which is complementary to the theoretical slightons.Should you need any further cultivation to evaluate the assignment, it would be our immense pleasure to furnish you the same. Sincerely Yours Name ID Section Signature Al-amin 101-12-0054 9B Md. Alauddin Al Mahdi 101-12-0064 9B Hyder Hossain 101-12-0062 9B Nilufa Yesmin 101-12-0067 9B Rashiduzzaman 093-12-0035 9B - - Acknowledgement Preparing this name paper on The Present Scenario of SMEs in Bangladesh was a wonderful experience for our. At fast we would analogous to thank almighty Allah to carry on our work.We would a handle(p) to thank our faculty member, Dr. A K H Helaluz Zaman , course instructor, Faculty of Business ASA University Bangladesh for giving our this opportunity as well as for his invariable guidance and corroboration. Fin anyy we would like to than k our family for supporting our courage to carry on our work. It was a practical experience for us. decision maker outline Bangladesh is s farming country. Its per capita income is only $750 and per capita GDP is $684 and stick GDP emersion tempo is 6%. Most of the people ar living in the down the stairs of beggary line. need as like as curse for our country.To extract poverty government and other organization such as NGOs, shore has suck upn many stairs. Bangladesh political relation has taken Millennium instruction Goals (MDGs) programs that first goals is exterminate extreme poverty and hunger. They overly bugger off written Poverty Reduction Strategy paper (PRSP) to remove poverty. To achieve the committed MDGs and PRSP, Bangladesh must(prenominal) strive to expend calling creation opportunities in truth rapidly. For this government defecate formed SMEs Foundation. SMEs means shrimpy and specialty go-aheads, it bottom vote out be defined as enterprisin gnesss which redeem at much or less 250 employees and an annual de leanment non transcendent 50 one million million Euros.Further thither is the distinction of Small enterprise- they fewer than 50 staff members and less than 10 million Euros turnover- and micro- enterprises (less than 10 persons and 2 million Euros turnover). contrasting countries and organizations define SME differently. The government of Bangladesh has categorized SME into devil broad classes (a) manufacturing enterprise and (b) non manufacturing activities. Manufacturing enterprises sewer be divided into cardinal categories (a) Small enterprise and (b) Medium enterprise. nary(prenominal)-manufacturing activities also can be divided into two categories (a) Small enterprise and (b) Medium enterprise. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics different enterprises be defined as Micro industry that spot of employees is 0-9, small has 10-49 employees, Medium has 50-99 employees and gargantuan above 99 employees. To complete this assignment we have collected data from the secondary source such as meshing, books, journal and so forth The objectives of the study be to appraise the grant situation of SME in Bangladesh, to target the occupations of SME in Bangladesh and recommend solutions to overcome the problems.Small and Medium endeavors (SMEs), by producing exportable surpl mappings of commodities together with local value additions and creation of employment opportunities, can make significant plowsh be to the economy of Bangladesh. Although pay of SMEs in off-farm rural economical activities are greatheartedly dependent on fairness financing from individual(prenominal) and family savings, currently banks and financial institutions are also coming forward to declare oneself pay to this vault of heaven. As the large potential of employment generation by SMEs has attracted attention of the policy makers, a range of initiatives for channeling brings to SMEs are mac rocosm taken.The Government has taken up programs to can financial assistance to expand SMEs by dint of commercial banks. aboard the disbursement of brings, since FY2004-05, Bangladesh believe has taken up a scheme of Tk. snow crore for refinancing the schedule banks and financial institutions as revolving fund. Re cently, the scheme has been widened with an enhanced allocation of Tk. 600 crore. Up to June 2009, Tk. 716. 44 crore and up to December 2009 Tk. 853. 15 has been disbursed among 17 send off banks and 21financial institutions for refinancing potential entrepreneurs.In addition to this, IDA has provided US$10 million and the Government of Bangladesh has provided Tk. 112. 32 crore with Enterprises yield and Bank Modernization Project (EGBMP). With the stipulated revolving fund of Tk. 224. 50 crore up to June 2009 and Tk. 244. 14 crore up to December 2009 refinancing facilities among 2541 potential entrepreneurs have been provided to 15 schedule banks and 14 financi al institutions. Moreover, in an attempt to provide incentives to the sphere, ADB has been providing an additional US$30 million to Bangladesh Bank and Tk. 34. 94 up to December 2009 refinancing facilities among 3264 potential entrepreneurs have been provided to 9 schedule banks and 7 financial institutions. These resources would contribute both in employment generation as well as in enhancing the purchasing power of the poor. It is found that micro enterprises run by up to 10 workers contribute the al close to which is 86% of the add together function from SMEs to GDP of Bangladesh. It is also spy that micro enterprises run by more than 21 workers contribute around 7% of positive office from SME to GDP of Bangladesh.It is reflected from the table that manufacturing empyrean contributes the blueest contribution in GDP i. e. , 38%. It is also detect from the table that agriculture and sweeping and retail sphere of influence contribute more than 22 percent in the GDP of Ban gladesh. We also show the process linguistic rule of SME. It is observe that during 2001-2002 to 2004-2005 in every financial year the branch rate of SME is about 7%. In 2005-2006 the growth rate was 9. 21%. The highest growth was in 2006-2007 i. e. 10. 28%. Quantum Index of business for Medium to Large Scale Manufacturing Industries in 2009-10 is 431. 51.We also found some major problems these are resourcefulness scarcity, High employee turnover, absence of modern engineering, Poor physical infrastructure, Financial chastenesss, pretermit of uniform definition, Lack of information, Lack of entrepreneurship skills, Participation of women entrepreneurs, introduction to Market and lack of awareness regarding the importance of selling tool, Bureaucracy, absence seizure of transparent lawful system, Lack of trueness to innovation and customer satisfaction, Lack of quality assurance, Lack of research and growth facilities, Fierce rival with the cheaper contrasted goods. We also provide some recommendation that mention in the Recommendation chapter. At last we decision our assignment on the conclusion chapter. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) act as a vital instrumentalist for the economic growth, poverty embossment and rapid industrialization of the developing countries like Bangladesh. SMEs are significant in underlying countrys economic growth, employment generation and intensify industrialization. Government of Bangladesh has highlighted the importance of SME in the Industrial Policy-2005.SME has identified by the Ministry of Industries as a thrust sector. As the SME sector is dig intensive, it can create more employment opportunities. For this reason government of Bangladesh has recognized SME as a poverty alleviation tool. SME also foster the development of entrepreneurial skills and innovation. Along with poverty alleviation SME can conquer the urban migration and increased cash flow in rural areas. As a result it leave al hotshot e nhance the standard of living in rural areas. Performance of SMEs in Bangladesh is significantly found down the stairs the train of inter matter standard.Although government of Bangladesh has taken some initiative to check the growth of SME but those steps are not enough at all. Keywords SME, Finance, Employee, Capital Table of Contents Contents Pages Title vaporise. 1 Title Page 2 Letter of Transmittal. . 3 Acknowledgement4 Executive Summary (5-7) Table of Contents8 Chapter NameChapter 1 Introduction (9-15) Chapter 2 Methodology16 Chapter 3 Analysis and Interpret Data. (17-27) Chapter 4 Findings and Results. (28-30) Chapter 5 Recommendations (31-32) Chapter 6 Conclusion. .. 33 References34 Chapter 1 Introduction Bangladesh is a developing country. Its per capita income is very low and its $750 and per capita GDP is $684. Its present GDP is 6%. Bangladesh economic review, 2009-10) Most of the people are living in the below of poverty line. Poverty is the main problem of ou r country. To remove poverty government has taken many steps such as Millennium Develop Goals, writing Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) etc. To achieve the committed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of 2015 or the targets of the National Strategy for Economic Growth, Poverty Reduction and Social Development, commonly known as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the development process of Bangladesh must strive to expand employment creation opportunities very rapidly.The MDGs reflect the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was observeed by 189 nations during the UN Millennium spinning top in September 2000. Bangladesh has made noteworthy progress in the attainment of MDGs during 1990-2000. Bangladesh advancement towards MDGs is evident in human development, for example attainment of gender parity in primary and secondary school enrolment. Mid-way through to the 2015 target of MDGs attainment, Bangladesh has covered significant grounds and can safely be said to be on track in relation to most of the targets.A midterm review of progress at the aggregate level shows that Bangladesh is making progressive strides in reducing poverty, already bringing down the poverty gap ratio to 9 against 2015 target of 8 with the rate of poverty reduction being 1. 34 percent in relation to the required rate of 1. 23 percent. The main goals are as undermentioned Goal 1 Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Goal 2 Achieve Universal Primary fosterage Goal 3 Promote gender equity and Empower women Goal 4 Reduce small fry Mortality Goal 5 Improve Maternal Health Goal 6 Combat human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS, malaria and other diseasesGoal 7 Ensure surroundal sustain mightiness Goal 8 Develop a global confederacy for development The scope of additional absorption of labor in agriculture being somewhat limited, the stovepipe potential for this lies in the manufacturing sector. To create job space government founded SME Foundation th at provide loanword and do to certifyed small and medium enterprise. In the circumstance of Bangladesh, the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can be considered as a vital instrument for poverty alleviation and ensure the rapid industrialization.In this paper we have tried to identify the problems of SMEs of Bangladesh. The performance of SMEs of Bangladesh especially in terms of employee turnover rate, quality assurance, allocation of funds, trade activities have been found significantly below the international standard. The sector gets negligible support from government. The rate of development of SME is not up to the expectation. In distinguish to overcome the problems a few suggestions for the development of SMEs are attached by us. 1. 1 Scope and Delimitation of the claim This topic SMEs is a very important in the context of Bangladesh.It help us the gather practical experience and we are to know that the role of SMEs, Problems, potential and their solu tion. But we have some limitation it is we are collected data from secondary source, basically internet using. We do not conduct face to face interview beca engagement, time was not enough for us to prepare this assignment. If we got enough time we think it will be help to prepare our assignment. 1. 2 Objectives of the Study In this paper we have tried to identify the factors that influence the development and growth of the SME sector of Bangladesh. thusly the specific bjectives of the study are as follows * To appraise the present situation of SME in Bangladesh. * To identify the problems of SME in Bangladesh. * To recommend solutions to overcome the problems. 1. 3 SME Definition SME around the creation According to the European Union (2003) SMEs are defined as enterprises which have at most 250 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million Euros. Further there is the distinction of small enterprises they have fewer than 50 staff members and less than 10 million Euro s turnover and micro-enterprises (less than 10 persons and 2 million Euros turnover).According to the World Bank (2006) medium enterprises are defined as enterprises which have at most 300 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding 15 million US dollars. Further there is the distinction of small enterprises they have fewer than 50 staff members and up to 3 million US dollars turnover and micro-enterprises have up to 10 persons and $100,000 turnover. In the UK, sections 382 and 465 of the Companies Act 2006 define a SME for the purpose of accounting requirements. According to this a small company is one that has a turnover of not more than ? . 6 million, a balance sheet total of not more than ? 2. 8 million and not more than 50 employees. A medium- sized company has a turnover of not more than ? 22. 8 million, a balance sheet total of not more than ? 11. 4 million and not more than 250 employees. It is worth noting that even within the UK this definition is not universally app lied. In the USA, the definition of small avocation is set by a government department called the Small Business Administration (SBA) Size Standards Office.The SBA uses the term size standards to indicate the largest a concern can be in order to still be considered a small business, and therefore able to benefit from small business targeted funding. The concern cannot be dominant in its field, on a national basis. It must also be independently owned and operated. Unlike the UK and the European Union which have simple definitions applied to all industries, the US has chosen to set size standards for each individual NAICS coded industry. This variation is intended to reflect industry differences in a better way. The ost common size standards are 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries 100 employees for wholesale trade industries $6 million of annual receipts for most retail and service industries $28. 5 million of annual receipts for most general & heavy constructio n industries $12 million of receipts for all special trade contractors $0. 75 million of receipts for most agricultural industries. Breaking down the SME definition, intentness Canada defines a small business as one that has fewer than 100 employees (if the business is a goods-producing business) or fewer than 50 employees (if the business is a service-based business).A firm that has more employees than these cut-offs but fewer than 500 employees is classified ad as a medium-sized business. (www. about. com) In India the Small Scale Industries (SSIs) are industrial undertaking in which the enthronisation in fixed assets in plant and machinery, whether held on ownership terms or on deal or by hire purchase does not exceed Rs. 10 million. The Small Scale assist And Business (Industry related) Enterprises (SSSBEs) are industry related service and business enterprises with investment in fixed assets, excluding play and building up to Ps. million. (Ministry of trade and Industry, G overnment of India) According to the SME bank of Pakistan, SME means an entity, ideally not a public limited company, which does not employ more than 205 persons (if it is manufacturing concern) and 50 persons (if it is trading/service concern) and also fulfils the following criteria of either a and c and c or b and c as relevant (a) A trading/service concern with total assets at cost excluding land and buildings up to Rs 50 million. b) A manufacturing concern with total assets at excluding land and buildings up to Rs 100 million. (c) Any concern (trading, service or manufacturing) with net sales not exceeding Rs 300 million as per latest financial statements. 1. 4 SME in Bangladesh Different countries and organizations define SME differently. The Government of Bangladesh has categorized SME into two broad classes 1. Manufacturing enterprise 2. Non Manufacturing activitiesManufacturing enterprise Manufacturing enterprises can be divided into two categories 1. Small enterprise Small enterprise is an enterprise would be handle as small if, in current market prices, the backup man cost of plant, machinery and other parts/components, fixtures, support utility, and associated technical operate by way of capital letterized costs (of turn-key consultancy services, for example), etc, excluding land and building, were to up to Tk. 15 million. 2.Medium enterprise Medium enterprise an enterprise would be treated as medium if, in current market prices, the replacement cost of plant, machinery and other parts/components, fixtures, support utility, and associated technical services by way of capitalized costs (of turn-key consultancy services, for example), etc, excluding land and building, were to up to Tk. 100 million. Non-manufacturing activities (such as trading or other services) Non-manufacturing activities can be divided into two categories 1.Small enterprise Small enterprise is an enterprise should be treated as small if it has less than 25 workers, in full-time equivalents. 2. Medium enterprise Medium enterprise an enterprise should be treated as small if it has between 25 and 100 employees. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics different enterprises are defined as Name of Industry No. of employees Micro 0-9 Small 10-49 Medium 50-99 Large Above 99 The Ministry of Industries, Government of Bangladesh has been identified following 11 booster sectors 1.Electronics and electrical 2. Software-development 3. Light engineering and metal-working 4. Agro-processing/agro-business/plantation agriculture/ medical specialist farming/tissue-culture 5. Leather-making and leather goods 6. Knit labour and ready-made garments 7. Plastics and other synthetics 8. Healthcare & diagnostics 9. Educational services 10. Pharmaceuticals/cosmetics/toiletries 11. Fashion-rich personal effects, wear and consumption goods. 1. 5 Literature check outWith respect to the SME sector of Bangladesh, foreign and national experts undertook some studies. Some of the s toried ones are Uddin (2008), Chowdhury (2007), Miah (2007), Ahmed (2006), MIDAS (2004), ICG (2003), Hallberg (2002). Uddin (2008) has stated that the economic efficiency and overall performance of the SMEs especially in the developing countries are considerably dependent upon macroeconomic policy environment and specific promotion policies pursued for their benefit.Chowdhury (2007) highlighted that in context of Bangladesh SME is characterized by Low capitalization and limited assets, geographical diversity and high mortality, poor course credit knowledge, very limited access to formal source of credit, cash intensity in transactions, very limited shew keeping habit, poor financial disclosure on account of tax issues, high risk perception has led to high borrowing costs.In a study about SME sector of Bangladesh Miah (2007) stated that the major constraints for SMEs are lack of satisfactory investment, lack of modern technology, high rate of interest on bank loans, guerilla/ina dequate supply of power, poor physical infrastructure and high transportation cost, poor information about market opportunities and requirements, inadequate availability of raw materials, lack of consummate technicians and workers, lack of research & development facilities, impetuous competition, absence of effective and transparent judicial system, difficulties in accessing technology, credit constraints, low access to business services, constraint of quality of human resources, low awareness, low lobbying capacity, rapid changes in policy environment. Ahmed (2006) observed that availability of pay is a major constraint to formation and growth of SMEs in Bangladesh.Banks are reluctant to expand their SME credit portfolio because they do not consider SME lending an attractive and profitable undertaking. This is so because SMEs are regarded as high risk borrowers because of their low capitalization, insufficient assets and their inability to comply with collateral requirements of the banks. Administrative costs are also higher because close monitoring and supervision the SME operation becomes necessary. A study (2004) by Micro Industries Development economic aid and returnss (MIDAS) revealed that sources of finance are mostly friends and family member in case of SME. MIDAS tried to identify the sources of funds of SMEs. These are Table-1 Survey Result of MIDAS Source of blood lines Percentage of Finance Informal sector 41%Family members 20% (interest free) 4% (with interest) NGO 17% Bank 18% According to Hallberg (2002), a perpetual macro-economy, an open trade and investment regime, and a competitive financial sector are argued to be most essential ingredients for a vibrant private sector. But with a law and order situation below the optimum level, corruption well above the level of acceptance and unstable political situation, the domestic environment of Bangladesh does not come to any help, rather embarrasss the prosperity of SME in this country. Ch apter 2 Methodology This is basically a library research. Most of the data have been collected from secondary sources.So the research work has been based on published information and data available in any form such as books, journals, magazines, newspapers etc. devoted to SME sector. Secondary information has been collected from Ministry of Industries, SME foundation, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, MIDAS, and Financial Institutions and from other SME related organizations. Relevant articles and literature in this context has also consulted. In this article we have analyzed the data of last six-spot eld of SMEs of Bangladesh. We have tried to analyze the performances of SMEs by applying simple statistical analysis i. e. , growth percentage, second-rate etc. Chapter 3 Analysis and Interpret Data 3. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), by producing exportable surpluses of commodities together with local value additions and creation of employmen t opportunities, can make significant contribution to the economy of Bangladesh. Although financing of SMEs in off-farm rural economic activities are largely dependent on equity financing from personal and family savings, currently banks and financial institutions are also coming forward to provide finance to this sector. As the large potential of employment generation by SMEs has attracted attention of the policy makers, a range of initiatives for channeling loans to SMEs are being taken.The Government has taken up programs to provide financial assistance to expand SMEs through commercial banks. Alongside the disbursement of loans, since FY2004-05, Bangladesh Bank has taken up a scheme of Tk. 100 crore for refinancing the scheduled banks and financial institutions as revolving fund. Recently, the scheme has been widened with an enhanced allocation of Tk. 600 crore. Up to June 2009, Tk. 716. 44 crore and up to December 2009 Tk. 853. 15 has been disbursed among 17 scheduled banks and 21financial institutions for refinancing potential entrepreneurs. In addition to this, IDA has provided US$10 million and the Government of Bangladesh has provided Tk. 112. 32 crore through Enterprises Growth and Bank Modernization Project (EGBMP).With the stipulated revolving fund of Tk. 224. 50 crore up to June 2009 and Tk. 244. 14 crore up to December 2009 refinancing facilities among 2541 potential entrepreneurs have been provided to 15 schedule banks and 14 financial institutions. Moreover, in an attempt to provide incentives to the sector, ADB has been providing an additional US$30 million to Bangladesh Bank and Tk. 334. 94 up to December 2009 refinancing facilities among 3264 potential entrepreneurs have been provided to 9 schedule banks and 7 financial institutions. These resources would contribute both in employment generation as well as in enhancing the purchasing power of the poor.Detailed refinancing of Bangladesh Bank to various financial institutions and banks is show n at Table. Table-2 Summary Information on SME refinancing (up to June 2009)* Refinancing Source total refinanced (in crore Taka) No. of donee Enterprises Working Capital Mid full term contribute Long Term Loan Total loan Industrial Loan Commercial Loan Service Total Bangladesh Bank 178. 48 336. 40 201. 56 716. 44 1724 4150 1127 7001 IDA 61. 51 96. 40 66. 59 224. 50 899 1220 358 2477 ADB 138. 68 112. 82 52. 75 304. 25 728 1864 331 2923 Total 378. 68 545. 62 320. 90 1245. 20 3351 7234 1816 12401 (*Source Bangladesh Economic review 2008-0, Chapter 8, Industry)Table-3 Summary Information on SME Refinancing from Bangladesh Bank (up to June 2009)* (*Source Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-2010) Table-4 Summary information on SME Refinancing from IDA (up to June 2009)* (*Source Bangladesh Bank & Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-2010) Table-5 Summary Information on SME Refinancing from ADB (up to June 2009)* *(Source Bangladesh Bank & Bangladesh Economic Review 2010) Table 8. 3 shows th at up to June 2009, Bangladesh Bank and IDA have distributed Tk. 940. 94 crore as refinancing to 17 banks and 22 non-bank financial institutions. It may be mentioned that the fund has been disbursed (by the mentioned banks and financial institutions) to a total of 9478 SMEs antecedent as loan. protrude of the total loan, Tk. 239. 9 crore has been provided as working capital, Tk. 432. 79 crore as medium-term loan and Tk. 268. 15 crore as long-term loan. Table-6 Summary Information on SME refinancing (up to 31, March 2010)* RefinancingSource Amount of Refinancing (In Tk. Crore) Number of financing enterprise (Sector wise) Working capital Mid term loan Long term loan Total loan Industrial loan Commercial loan Service Total 1. Bangladesh Bank Fund 224. 80 493. 79 235. 70 954. 28 2443 5844 1537 9824 2 IDA Fund 63. 71 100. 74 87. 26 251. 71 924 1258 402 2584 3 ADB Fund 144. 48 132. 27 58. 19 334. 94 800 2096 368 3264 Total 432. 99 726. 80 381. 15 1540. 8 4167 9198 2307 15672 *(Sou rce Bangladesh Bank & Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-10, Chapter 8, Industry) Table-7 Summary information on SME Refinancing from Bangladesh Bank (up to June 2010)* Name of Banks/FIs Refinanced Amount of Refinancing (In Tk. Crore) No. of Beneficiary enterprises (Sector wise) Working capital Mid term loan Long term loan Total loan Industrial loan Commercial loan Service Total 1. Private banks(17) 201. 43 226. 43 65. 98 493. 84 1257 4469 562 6288 2 Financing Institutes (22) 23. 37 267. 35 169. 72 460. 45 1186 1375 975 3536 Total 224. 80 493. 79 235. 70 954. 8 2883 5844 1537 9824 *(Source Bangladesh Bank & Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-10, Chapter 8, Industry) Table-8 Summary information on SME Refinancing from IDA (Up to June 2010)* Name of Banks/FIs Refinanced Amount of Refinancing (In Tk. Crore) No. of Beneficiary enterprises (Sector wise) Working capital Mid term loan Long term loan Total loan Industrial loan Commercial loan Service Total 1. Private banks(15) 57. 48 67. 07 24. 73 149. 27 688 1167 79 1934 2 Financing Institutes (14) 6. 23 33. 67 62. 53 102. 44 236 91 323 650 Total 63. 71 100. 74 87. 26 251. 71 924 1258 402 2584 *(Source Bangladesh Bank & Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-10, Chapter 8, Industry) Table-9 Summary information on SME Refinancing from ADB (Up to June 2010)* Name of Banks/FIs Refinanced Amount of Refinancing (In Tk.Crore) No. of Beneficiary enterprises (Sector wise) Working capital Mid term loan Long term loan Total loan Industrial loan Commercial loan Service Total 1. Private banks(9) 144. 32 90. 95 34. 17 269. 44 657 1893 155 2705 2 Financing Institutes (7) 0. 16 41. 32 24. 02 65. 50 143 203 213 559 Total 144. 48 132. 27 58. 19 334. 94 800 2096 368 3268 *(Source Bangladesh Bank & Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-10, Chapter 8, Industry) Table 8. 3 shows that up to March 2010, Bangladesh Bank and IDA have distributed Tk. 1205. 99 crore as refinancing to 17 banks and 22 non-bank financial institutions.It may be mentio ned that the fund has been disbursed (by the mentioned banks and financial institutions) to a total of 12408 SMEs earlier as loan. Out of the total loan, Tk. 272. 70 crore has been provided as working capital, Tk. 519. 79 crore as medium-term loan and Tk. 304. 80 crore as long-term loan. 3. 2 Present Scenario of SME In 2003 the International Consultancy Group (ICG) of the UK, in collaboration with the Micro Industries Development Assistance and Services (MIDAS), conducted the National Private Sector Survey of Enterprises in Bangladesh. The survey results drew the conclusion that there were approximately 6 million Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which included enterprises with p to 100 workers employing a total of 31 million people, equivalent to 40 per cent of the population of the country of age 15 years and above. The survey also found that the industrial structure of SMEs consisted of primarily wholesale and retail trade and repairs (40 per cent), performance and sale of ag ricultural goods (22 percent), services (15 percent), and manufacturing only (14 per cent). Thus the survey brought out the fact that the large untapped potential for expansion in manufacture and production could be exploited (or contributing more significantly to the national economy. Another vital findings of the survey under discussion was that SMEs contributed BDT 741 ($ 12. 5) billion i. e. early 25 per cent of the GDP (BDT 2,996 billion) in 2003. It is reflected from this survey that enterprises employing 2-5 workers contribute 51 percent share of the total SME contribution to the economy, followed by 26 percent by those having only one worker and 10 per cent by those having 6-10 workers. For LDCs like Bangladesh, SMEs are a highly cost-effective route for industrial development. It is observed from Table-1 that micro enterprises run by up to 10 workers contribute the most which is 86% of the total contribution from SMEs to GDP of Bangladesh. It is also observed that micro ent erprises run by more than 21 workers contribute about 7% of total contribution from SME to GDP of Bangladesh.Table-10 Sectors wise contribution of SME in GDP of Bangladesh (Taka)* Sectors Total contribution to GDP (Taka) Percent of total Contribution Agriculture 177,729,637,637 24% Fishing 32,872,674,464 4% Manufacturing 282,344,700,575 38% Construction 7,196,460,200 1% Wholesale and sell trade and Repairs 171,335,861,390 23% Hotels and restaurants 28,599,263,975 3% Transport, Storage and Communication 8,950,171,356 1% Real state, Renting and Business activities 13,771,436,794 2% Education 151,808,506 1% Health and Social work 2,743,049,893 1% Others Service activities 15,632,094,785 2% Total 741,327,159,609 100% (Source ICG/MIDAS Survey, 2004) Figure-1 Sector wise contribution of SME in GDP of Bangladesh Table & graph 2 provides the information regarding sector wise contribution of SMEs to GDP. It is reflected from the table that manufacturing sector contributes the highest contri bution in GDP i. e. , 38%. It is also observed from the table that agriculture and wholesale and retail sector contribute more than 22 percent in the GDP of Bangladesh. Table-11 Growth conventionalism of SME* course of study Growth rate of Large & Medium enterprise Growth rate of Small enterprise 1999-00 4. 35% 5. 80% 2000-01 6. 55% 7. 02% 2001-02 4. 60% 7. 69% 2002-03 6. 56% 7. 21% 003-04 6. 95% 7. 45% 2004-05 8. 30% 7. 93% 2005-06 11. 41% 9. 21% 2006-07 9. 74% 9. 69% 2007-08 7. 26% 7. 10% 2008-09 6. 58% 6. 90% 2009-10 5. 64% 6. 61% *(Source Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-2010, Chapter -8, Industry) Figure-2 Growth rate of SMEs Table 3 shows the growth pattern of SME. It is observed that during 2001-2002 to 2004-2005 in every financial year the growth rate of SME is about 7%. In 2005-2006 the growth rate was 9. 21%. The highest growth was in 2006-2007 i. e. 10. 28%. Table-12 Growth pattern of Manufacturing Sector * Year Growth percentage of Manufacturing Sector 1999-00 4. 76% 20 00-01 6. 68 001-02 5. 48 2002-03 6. 75 2003-04 7. 10 2004-05 8. 19 2005-06 10. 77 2006-07 9. 72 2007-08 7. 21 2008-09 6. 68 2009-10 5. 92 *(Source Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-2010, Chapter -8, Industry) Figure-3 Growth rate of Manufacturing Sector Table shows the growth pattern of manufacturing sector. It is observed that the average growth during 1972 to 2005 was 6. 4%. During 2001-2002 to 2006-2007 the highest growth was in year 2006-07 i. e. , 11. 19%. It is also observed that during 2002-2003 to 2005-2006 in every financial year the growth of manufacturing sector was more than 6%. Table-13 Size and Growth Rate of Manufacturing Sector* At constant prices of 1995-96) (Taka in Core) Year Large & Medium enterprise Small enterprise Total manufacturing 1999-00 21709 8659 30368 2000-01 23130 9267 32398 2001-02 24194 9980 34174 2002-03 25781 10700 36481 2003-08 27572 11897 39069 2004-05 29861 12409 42269 2005-06 33268 13552 46820 2006-07 36507 14865 51372 2007-08 39157 15920 55077 2008-09 41735 17019 58754 2009-10 44087 18144 62232 *(Source Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-2010, Chapter -8, Industry) Table-14 Quantum Index of Production for Medium to Large Scale Manufacturing Industries* FY2000-01 to FY2008-09 (1988-89=100)Medium to large scale industries 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 (Up to October, 09) 228. 43 238. 75 254. 45 272. 13 294. 72 328. 35 360. 33 384. 82 413. 42 431. 51 *(Source Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-2010, Chapter -8, Industry) Chapter 4 Findings and Results At present SME sector is facing a lot of problems in Bangladesh. Some major problems are as follows 1. Resource scarcity In Bangladesh scarcity of raw materials hinder the ability of SME to be export oriented and limits its ability to reach more advanced stages of international business. 2. High employee turnover Due to limited growth of SME most of the skilled employees leave SMEs.Levy (2003) observed that SMEs are knowledge creator s but poor at knowledge retention. 3. Absence of modern technology One of the main barriers for the development of SME in Bangladesh is inadequate technologies. Many SMEs have failed to adopt modern technology. 4. Poor physical infrastructure Inadequate supply of necessary utilities like electricity, water, roads and highways hinder the growth of SME sector. Moreover unfavorable geographical conditions increase the transportation cost. 5. Financial constraints Availability of finance hinders the growth of SMEs in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi bank considers SMEs as high risk borrowers because of their inability to comply with the banks collateral requirements.Only about 15-20% of the owners of SMEs own any immovable property. Bankers issue loan on the basis of ownership of immovable property as collateral risk. As a result it automatically excludes rest 80% SMEs from the list of privileged clients of the banks. Whatever collateral SMEs can manage gets used up in talking the term loan leav ing them with no means to seek working capital loans from banks. Because of low access to institutional financing SMEs rely on inefficient financing services from informal sources. 6. Lack of uniform definition In Bangladesh the definition of SME has changed overtime in different industrial policy announced by the government in different year.Absence of uniform definition makes the formulation and execution of SME policy difficult. 7. Lack of information Miah (2006) has observed that SMEs have very limited use of information technology (IT). Accounting package is used by 1-2% of the SMEs. The use of computers is revealed by say 15% of the SMEs, while the use of the Internet for business purposes applies to say 8-10% of SMEs. 8. Lack of entrepreneurship skills Conservative strength towards risk, lack of vision, ability to make plan and implementing those hinder the growth of SME in Bangladesh. 9. Participation of women entrepreneurs Equality of opportunity is a major problem for SM E. female person entrepreneurs are treated discriminately.They are not well represented in business organization. Government does not provide adequate institutional assistance for women entrepreneurs. 10. Access to Market and lack of awareness regarding the importance of marketing tool For SME, owing a retail space is very expensive in the major cities in Bangladesh. As a result many customers are not interested to buy products and services from SMEs. Because they cant judge the quality until they physically examined the product. Most of the cases SMEs in Bangladesh are not able to use the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) tools. But these tools play the role of important stimulus to motivate the customers and stay fresh them.The country does not have enough marketing capability and resources to invest in marketing. 11. Bureaucracy Wang (1995) observed that the inadequate government supports are top ranking constraints for SMEs. Unnecessary layers of Bureaucracy and red-taps reduce the competitiveness of SME and lift the cost of transactions and operations. 12. Absence of transparent legal system The absence of an effective and transparent legal system discourages SMEs in exploring into risky ventures of business. There are a number of unnecessary formal requirements to approach and run business that create high compliance costs and become barriers to SME development, growth and market entry. 13.Lack of loading to innovation and customer satisfaction Ernesto (2005) stated that to keep in pace with international competition, firms of all size are challenged to improve and innovate their products processes constantly. But in Bangladesh SMEs are still not relating the importance of refreshing and retaining customers by offering novel and desired benefits. 14. Lack of quality assurance Govt. has failed to frame a national quality policy, provide adequate support systems and establish a national quality affirmation authority. As a con sequence SME of Bangladesh has failed to ensure the quality of their products and services both in local and international market. 15. Lack of research and development facilities It is observed that investment in R&D is still negligible in. 16.Fierce competition with the cheaper foreign goods Fierce competition with the cheaper goods of China, Taiwan, Korea, India, and Thailand also pose threat to SME in Bangladesh. Chapter 5 Recommendations In order to overcome the above mentioned problems the following suggestions are recommended 1. Government must have to take adequate measures to ensure the uninterrupted supply of raw materials for SME. 2. Government call for to take appropriate measures to fix the minimum net/wages of the employees of SME. That will help to minimize the employee turnover. 3. Government and financial institution may provide adequate finance for modernization and technological advancement. 4.Development of infrastructure is essential for the optimum growth of SME. So governmen t of Bangladesh needs to take appropriate policy strategy for the infrastructure development of Bangladesh. 5. Government, financial institutions and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) may take necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted financial support to the prospective SMEs in Bangladesh. 6. Due to the absence of uniform definition the policy formulation and implementations are not possible. Government should take initiative to develop a uniform definition of each category of SMEs. 7. Govt. of Bangladesh should take the initiative to develop web pages alone for SME and an integrated SME database.It will reduce the barriers to SME access to global market. 8. In order to ensure the retention of skilled workforce the government should make the entrepreneurial career attractive by minimizing the uncertainty. 9. In order to go on women entrepreneurship govt. may involve women entrepreneurs in policy formulation and implementation. Arrange funds for women entrepreneurs. Provide necess ary raising to women entrepreneurs in rural and urban area of Bangladesh. 10. SME foundation may take appropriate marketing tools to propagate their products. 11. For minimizing red tapes and accelerating the growth of SME government may provide one roof service under the SME foundation. 12.Appropriate legal framework is necessary to ensure the development of SME of Bangladesh. 13. In this era of intense competition continuous readying and quality improvement act as a prerequisite for the survival of SMEs. In order to improve the quality SMEs can follow the Just in Time (JIT) philosophy and use Total look Management (TQM) and can ensure the improvement of quality and productivity at a time. 14. Government should establish a credible certification authority especially for SMEs. So that this sector can obtain a technical evaluation of the quality of their products within a shortest possible time. The certification of the authority should be world wide accepted. Govt. ay also provi de assistance to SMEs during the certification process and promote the importance of product certification for international acceptance among the SMEs. 15. Research and Development (R&D) is must for the development and growth of SME. So government must have to invest in R&D for ensuring the intensification of SME of Bangladesh. 16. Restriction may be imposed on import of SMEs products which are available in Bangladesh. Chapter 6 Conclusion Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) act as a vital player for the economic growth, poverty alleviation and rapid industrialization of the developing countries like Bangladesh. SMEs are significant in underlying countrys economic growth, employment generation and accelerated industrialization.Government of Bangladesh has highlighted the importance of SME in the Industrial Policy-2010. SME has identified by the Ministry of Industries as a thrust sector. As the SME sector is labor intensive, it can create more employment opportunities. For this reaso n government of Bangladesh has recognized SME as a poverty alleviation tool. SME also foster the development of entrepreneurial skills and innovation. Along with poverty alleviation SME can reduce the urban migration and increased cash flow in rural areas. As a result it will enhance the standard of living in rural areas. Performance of SMEs in Bangladesh is significantly found below the level of international standard.Although government of Bangladesh has taken some initiative to ensure the growth of SME but those steps are not enough at all. But government shows its positive attitude towards this sector. Bangladesh government should continue to give more focuses on some areas, such as arrangement of finance, provide infrastructure facilities, frame appropriate legal framework, establish national quality policy etc. From the sequence of our analysis it seems that for the economic development of Bangladesh SME can play a vital role. We are quite affirmatory that if the above mentio ned suggestions are implemented then the growth of SME sector in Bangladesh will be accelerated. References 1. Ahmed, M. U. , Mannan, M. A. , Razzaque, A. , and Sinha, A. (2004).Taking trite and Charting a Path for SMEs in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Dhaka. 2. Alam, M. S. and Ullah, M. A. (2006). SMEs in Bangladesh and Their Financing An Analysis and Some Reccomendations. The Cost and Management, Vol. 34, No. 3. 3. Hossain, N. (1998). Constraints to SME Development in Bangladesh, Seminar Proceedings, University of Maryland at College Park, USA. 4. Miah, M. A. (2006). Key Success Factors for National SME Development Program Lessons for OIC particle Countries from Bangladesh Experience, SME Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 5. Mintoo, A. A. (2006). SMEs in Bangladesh. CACCI Journal, Vol. 1. 6. Report of Asian Development Bank (ADB). (2002).Strategic Issues and Potential Response Small and Medium Enterprise Development and Export Expansion. Asian Development Bank (ADB) , Dhaka. 7. SME Cell. (2005). Policy Strategies for Development of SME, Ministry of Industries, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. 8. SME Policy Strategies. (2005). Publication of Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. 9. Uddin, S. M. N (2008). SME Development and regional Economics Integration, Seminar Proceedings, Joint Regional Workshop held in Tokyo, Japan. 10. Ahmed, Kashfia & Chowdhury, Tanvir Ahmed (2009). Performance Evaluation of SMEs of Bangladesh, International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 4 No. 7.