Free Essays on Lost Momentum

Momentum was founded by Delma Iles in 1982. She is well known through out the state of Florida, and has been awarded many different merits. She’s an M.F.A. recipient from New York University, in Dance. She came to Florida aspiring to change, or add to the growing world of arts here in Miami. Since then she has choreographed around 40 different works, all of which for some reason have been given some positive acclaim. Perhaps because I have not seen these other pieces, I am not so easily persuaded that this show was just a fluke. That this company may in fact be talented and all the merits were well deserved, and not awarded simply for merit’s sake. On December 3, Momentum performed a few different pieces from their own repertoire and a fairly new, bold piece that was exciting to watch. These together were presented as â€Å"Dances for the Holiday Spirit.† Unfortunatly, the piece I enjoyed most was choreographed by another artist, Irmah DelValle, not Delma Iles. Briefly, it is to be said that though Irmah DelValle is the Artistic Assistant, it may someday (hopefully sooner than later) be her bold ideas that sky-rocket this company to a new level in the dance community. The piece choreographed by Irmah DelValle was titled â€Å"An Anguished Cry.† (2000) A very exciting piece that used only women, either due to a lack of men, or more over I feel to make a bold statement. Their costumes were reminiscent of the later 80’s. With hot pink and green shirts that blended splendidly into the shadowy cast background and lighting schemes. The movement was more modern with little to no use of any contemporary ballet technique. It was perhaps this contrast that added something more spectacular to its presentation. The women whom performed this gave themselves whole-heartedly to the choreography, something that was not done in any of the other pieces. There were many moments where the audience was captivated, boldly sitting on t... Free Essays on Lost Momentum Free Essays on Lost Momentum Momentum was founded by Delma Iles in 1982. She is well known through out the state of Florida, and has been awarded many different merits. She’s an M.F.A. recipient from New York University, in Dance. She came to Florida aspiring to change, or add to the growing world of arts here in Miami. Since then she has choreographed around 40 different works, all of which for some reason have been given some positive acclaim. Perhaps because I have not seen these other pieces, I am not so easily persuaded that this show was just a fluke. That this company may in fact be talented and all the merits were well deserved, and not awarded simply for merit’s sake. On December 3, Momentum performed a few different pieces from their own repertoire and a fairly new, bold piece that was exciting to watch. These together were presented as â€Å"Dances for the Holiday Spirit.† Unfortunatly, the piece I enjoyed most was choreographed by another artist, Irmah DelValle, not Delma Iles. Briefly, it is to be said that though Irmah DelValle is the Artistic Assistant, it may someday (hopefully sooner than later) be her bold ideas that sky-rocket this company to a new level in the dance community. The piece choreographed by Irmah DelValle was titled â€Å"An Anguished Cry.† (2000) A very exciting piece that used only women, either due to a lack of men, or more over I feel to make a bold statement. Their costumes were reminiscent of the later 80’s. With hot pink and green shirts that blended splendidly into the shadowy cast background and lighting schemes. The movement was more modern with little to no use of any contemporary ballet technique. It was perhaps this contrast that added something more spectacular to its presentation. The women whom performed this gave themselves whole-heartedly to the choreography, something that was not done in any of the other pieces. There were many moments where the audience was captivated, boldly sitting on t...

Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure

Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure If youre looking to reduce your intake of fluorine and fluoride (one is the element, one is the ion, both are toxic), it may help you to know what everyday products contain them and what steps you can take to limit your exposure: Dont drink unfiltered public water. Assume its fluoridated unless you know otherwise. Most home water filters will not remove fluoride.Dont take fluoride supplements.Try to limit drinking soda because its generally made with fluoridated water. Reconstituted fruit juice, beer, and wine also tend to be made with fluoridated water. Read labels on bottled beverages and look for water purifed using reverse osmosis or distillation. If those processes are not specifically named, assume the water is fluoridated.Read the label on bottled water. Again, look for water purified using reverse osmosis or distillation.Consider using unfluoridated toothpaste.Avoid drinking black or red tea. Black and red tea come from two different types of plants, but both leaves naturally contain high amounts of fluorine. If you drink tea, brew it yourself, using unfluoridated water.Choose organic fruits and vegetables since the US National Organic Program does not permit the use of the pesticides that leave high fluoride residues. Expect tinned fish and canned food items to contain fluoride.Avoid or limit your consumption of mechanically deboned chicken in any form, including chicken nuggets, canned chicken, and baby food. Traces of fluoride (from bones) remain from the deboning process.Fluoride may be used as a preservative in many products.Sometimes you will be able to see this on the product label.Avoid black or red rock salt or items containing black or red rock salt.Avoid using chewing tobacco.Avoid long term use of medications that contain fluorine.If you use a fluoridated toothpaste, rinse your mouth with water after brushing your teeth.If you need anesthesia, ask your doctor about options using drugs that do not contain fluorine.Avoid overheating teflon pans while cooking, as some of the teflon (a fluorine compound) may be released into the air.

Organizational Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizational Analysis - Essay Example From the article, it has been found that in the year 2010, the US Department of Defense had allocated almost US$ 663.8 billion for procurement purposes which had increased to US$ 708 billion in 2011. The article defines that procurement function in defense departments is also termed as acquisition management. With respect to procurement, there is an increased stress upon government, because acquisition in case of security aspect requires efficient preparation, employment, management, direction and vigilant monitoring. The article states that the procurement activities within the US Department of Defense comprise numerous risks which can generate negative outcomes on the national security. The article provides several strategies for controlling procurement risks such as relocating, controlling and avoiding mechanisms. Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. (2011). Procurement data standard and other enterprise initiatives. Retrieved from http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/pdi/eb/procurement_d ata_standard.html The article is developed by US Department of Defense. It is based on the ‘Procurement Data Standard’ (PDS) system and other professional initiatives of the US Military. This article is designed for providing brief description about the PDS system and its specific characteristics. The article includes information about procurement though PDS system and its related aspects. From the article, it has been found that PDS is an e-business system which shares the procurement activities with different defense departments of the US. PDS can enhance the visibility of contract oriented information, empowering employees to make better business decisions with respect to procurement of different products for the US Military. PDS can support future migration and procedures of procurement in the defense departments. The article specifies that PDS accommodates connecting monetary information with contract activities which is termed as ‘Financial Data in Procureme nt’ (FDIP). The article provides information about the concept of FDIP which is also much important for procurement activities. The article is quite useful as it offers substantial knowledge about e-business function of the US Military. United States Department of Defense. (2011). Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Policy. Retrieved from http://prhome.defense.gov/RSI/REQUIREMENTS/INSOURCE/docs/OFPP%20Policy%20Letter%2011-01,%20Performance%20of%20Inherently%20Governmental%20and%20Critical%20Functions.pdf This article is based on the policy on procurement of the US Department of Defense. It is a non-academic article which is designed for providing direction on administering the performance of integrally managerial and critical functions of the US Military about procurement activities. The article includes the actions which must be performed by the US governmental organizations and it also outlines the tasks of the US government which can enforce responsibilities of dif ferent managerial departments. For instance, with respect to procurement, governmental agencies must keep away from any contractual performance and also must prevent over-reliance on particular suppliers. The article commended certain steps for governmental activities in order to guarantee effectiveness of procurement operations and address critical functions. According to the article, the government agencies must abide by all stated policies of procurement to make

Shipping Strategies in Transportation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Shipping Strategies in Transportation - Essay Example Shipping was traditionally viewed as a direct service from port to port, with the misconception that direct shipping represents the most efficient mode of moving goods (Hanley 2003). But increasingly, this is not the case due to a number of converging factors. First, this has to do with the fact that in order to support traffic on a certain route, ports need to be of certain size. Moreover, with direct shipping, routes and scheduling have become very complex, and that complexity has led to inefficiencies. Ports that are able to create mechanisms to improve efficiency in this environment will gain a greater share of the market. An examination of the shipping volumes at major ports conducted by Hanley (2003) shows that a very significant proportion of the trade is handled by a small group of port operators. Lambert's (1999) study illustrates that the top ten ports (1.4 percent of ports) in the world out of a total of 700 ports surveyed handled 38 percent of the global container cargo in 1997. Should this be extended to the top 25 ports (3.6 percent), the volume handled would increase to 56 percent or over half. Formulation of shipping strategies in the complex environment is the focus of Coyle, Bardi, and Novack's (2006) study. The study provides a very useful approach to in a fast-paced and hastily changing industry. The very appropriate scenarios that these authors are focusing on are the metropolitan areas which have been the essential hubs of economic integration, fostering and benefiting from innovations in commercial, manufacturing, communications, and transportation technologies. In the twenty-first century, nevertheless, only those metropolitan areas that adapt to global economic trends and provide the infrastructure and services that support knowledge-based and technology-driven industries will stay geographic nodes of worldwide business transactions. Persistent technological innovation, particularly in globally interconnected digital communications, transportation, and logistics systems, has spawned the fast growth of service and manufacturing industries connected through virtual networks and supply chains, and is increasing the demand for rapid delivery of high quality goods, services, and information in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Globalization, the mobility of factors of production, and advances in information and transportation technology are essentially and persistently changing the economic bases of metropolitan areas and the requirements for attracting and maintaining competitive economic activities. Shipping Strategies: A Review Complexity of Direct Shipping From a global system point of view, the complexity of direct shipping is one facet that is often overlooked but is essentially critical. For instance, sustaining direct point-to-point shipping among ten ports necessitates 100 services from one region to another. Should this be doubled to 20 ports from a region to be connected to another 20 ports in another region, then it will require 400 services. The complexity in ensuring these connections is evident. What is less evident is the need for more ships and consequently, more crowded sea-lanes just to provide the necessary connections. Probably, the most significant point is the need for enough traffic to justify such services. Current trade volume in the

The Great Gatsby in the American Dream Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby in the American Dream Essay The 1920s and 1930s represent two decades in our countrys history that were very much connected to one another but extremely different in the economy. The Great Gatsby takes place during the roaring 20s, a time of extravagant parties and attempts at finding happiness after World War I. On the other hand, The Grapes of Wrath takes place during the 30s while America is suffering from the Great Depression and people are leaving their homes and lives to find success and work in California. Although the times were very different economically, both were taken over by people striving for the American Dream of wealth and social status in an attempt of getting happiness, success, and a better life. During the 20s, people wanted to escape the terrors of the war and during the 30s they were attempting to survive during the devastation of the Great Depression. Both The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath do an amazing job of representing peoples desires for the American Dream and more specifically the failure rather than success that came as a result of their efforts. The American Dream depicted by The Grapes of Wrath is very different from the dream of the 20s and The Great Gatsby. For one, money and wealth is much scarcer and extravagant parties are far from peoples minds. In The Grapes of Wrath there is a very distinct line between the rich and the poor and this separation increases as those who are rich go to all lengths to ensure that they remain in the upper class. Many of the upper class seem to live in California where there is land and opportunity, while much of the lower class consists of dust-bowl farmers who have been forced to leave their land and travel to California in search of work. The land owners in California are afraid that these dust-bowl farmers will eventually take over their property and make it their own, so they are doing everything in their power to ensure that the poor farmers are not successful. Even still, they hire them for their dirty work and treat them poorly as there are many more to take their place. Many of the poor farmers begin turning their backs on their families and friends in an attempt at succeeding as individuals. This selfish attitude is the same attitude held by the California land owners who are unwilling to share their fortune with anyone else due to fear and lack of trust. The Grapes of Wrath builds up several different dreams for the American depending on their background. The California land owners dreams consist of eagerness for wealth and greed to remain in a position of power over the dust bowl farmers that are working their land. On the other hand, many of the poor farmers have simple dreams of just keeping their dignity and not allowing themselves to give up on their families. In the end, it is the Joad familys ability to keep their dignity and hold together as a family that helps them to rise above all of the tragedies they encounter. The Grapes of Wrath concludes with a much more hopeful tone than The Great Gatsby and passes on to the reader the importance of men joining together and doing what is right for all of mankind as opposed to what is most beneficial to the individual. Jim Casys death in Chapter 26 is a perfect example of how the California land owners are threatened by the idea of the poor farmers joining together and revolting. His death is also an example of how a man or woman can make an unselfish decision and risk what is best for them individually to do what is best for all of mankind. Tom is very struck by Casys bravery and finds the power within himself to follow in Casys footsteps and help unite people to fight the injustices of their current situation. His own dream becomes an attempt to do all he can to better life for the common American man. The American Dream was not only different in the 20s than it was in the 30s, but it has continued to evolve and change up through today. Despite the differences in these dreams, there is a central goal to all of them: the pursuit of happiness. In both of these books and much of the world today, people seek and dream of attaining just utter happiness. For centuries, lots of people have been trying to obtain money, careers, success, and more. Although these dreams are separate from one another, they are all just a means by which people feel they may hopefully obtain their dream of being happy. The question is when will people begin to realize that it is not these materialistic goals that will provide them with happiness, but rather things like humility, love, family, and religion? These are true sources of happiness and real answers to the American Dream.

Talking to Ghosts :: Personal Narrative Psychology Essays

Talking to Ghosts During my research, I was reminded of an incident in my psychology class that led me to write about this topic. It was a Friday and I walked into my psychology class thinking we were going to prepare for our upcoming class, but I was all wrong. My professor walked in and claimed he had ESP, which is extrasensory perception. He said that he could read people’s minds and know what we were thinking. My teacher asked us to write anything simple on a piece of paper and fold the paper in half. My classmates wrote a message on the paper and handed the papers to him. One by one he read them and had most of my classmates, including me believing he could do that. To my surprise, what he said was completely false and he went on to say how there is no such thing as ESP and psychics because there were not any tests to prove that there were. By this time I was upset because I couldn’t argue my point and I knew other wise to his theory of there are no psychics and no ESP. If psychics were false and ESP was false than what could be said about a renowned psychic, Sylvia Browne and one of my best friends, who as of right now will be known as â€Å"Bob†. My friend â€Å"Bob† and I have known each other for a year now. I never truly found out about her special gift till we started talking and realized that we were exactly alike. See my friend told me that she can talk to ghosts and spirits. She has instances where she is not herself, but someone else from a different time and a different place. She, my friend, trusted me and knew I wouldn’t treat her like a crazy person who needed psychiatric help. Before I get to her story, I should probably explain the difference between ghosts and spirits and to do that I went to books I own by Sylvia Brown. In Sylvia’s book The Other Side and Back ghosts were explained as people who do not realize they are dead. Ghosts are earthbound because they either committed suicide, have regrets of their mistakes they made, feel the need to stay behind for loved ones or they just died so quickly that they have not realized the truth.

Agree or Disagree: Your Job Has Greater Happiness Than Your Social Life Essay

Society changes at an unprecedented speed. So does people’s views toward their jobs. This has aroused a heated discussion whether people’s jobs own more happiness than their social life dose. From my point of view, compared with working, my social life means more. To begin with, admittedly, there exist some people who relish their job and consider it whole part of their life. For instance, an honorable professor in my university spends all his lifetime with his students and colleagues. He poses all his heart to the studying field of Chinese film. Only by referring to this concerned field, can he have the eyes lustrous. Without any other social activities, he lives a very satisfying life. However, it literally differs person to person. As for me, job is merely one aspect of my life. True, it provides the opportunity to enlarge my vision on profuse communicating methods and help me be seemingly mature. But the vision is limited to certain fields, knowledges without any connections with job still stay in an uncultivated state, such as skills of veraciously making friends, spirits of exploring new areas, kindness to others and so on. Lacking these crucial elements, I wonder whether it can be a happy life. Perhaps even more significantly, social life can help maintain a good health status. People could select a multitude of activities which make benefits for their physical health. For people like me, I play tennis every weekend, resulting in that I have not caught a cold for almost three years. And this offers the requisite basic of a happy life. In addition, social life also could be make advantages of by diverting concentration then assuage spiritual pressure. We could travel and spot various scenery with diverse people, make fun of different circles of friends, experience other’s lifestyles, explore deeper information of beloved fields. In sum, social life could better life quality and life contentment due to many reasons discussed above. Therefore, not only working, but also combining social life, life could be more variegated.

How John Locke Inspired Maria Montessori Essay

Childhood John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, a village in the English country of Somerset. He was baptized the same day. Soon after his birth, the family moved to the market town of Pensford, about seven miles south of Bristol, where Locke grew up in an old fashioned stone farmhouse . His father was a county lawyer to the Justices of the Peace and his mother was a simple tanners daughter. Both his parents were Puritans and as such, Locke was raised that way. His early life was spent at home in the country, where he was taught by his father; this explains why he favored the tutorial form of education. Early Adulthood In 1647, John Locke enrolled in Westminster School in London where he earned the distinct honor of being named a â€Å"King’s Scholar†, a privilege that went to only select number of boys and paved the way for Locke to attend Christ Church University, in Oxford, perhaps Oxford’s most prestigious school . He studied medicine, which played a central role in his life. After graduating in 1656, he returned to Christ Church two years later and received his Master of Arts. He graduated with a bachelor’s of medicine in 1674. Educational Theory In order to fully understand Locke, it is necessary to realize that his aims and methods were largely determined by the place and time in which he lived, and by the schools in which he attended. John Locke’s theories center around the case that the human mind, at birth is a â€Å"Complete, but receptive, blank slate. † It is the experiences placed upon this blank slate throughout life that determine a child’s characteristics and behaviors. Locke rebelled against the traditional theories of original sin and did not agree that children were born into the world as evil beings but instead believed that things could only be added to a child’s blank slate through experience. John Locke believed that â€Å"The well educating of their children is so much the duty and concern of parents, and the welfare and prosperity of the nation so much depends on it, that I would have everyone lay it seriously to heart. † Locke’s Thoughts concerning Education occupy an important place in the history of educational theory. He believed that â€Å"the minds of children are as easily turned, this way or that, as water itself. † For Locke, â€Å"Educating children, required instructing their minds and molding their natural tendencies. Education develops the understanding, which men universally pay a ready submission to, whether it is well or ill informed† Because children are born without a natural knowledge of virtue, early education greatly shapes their development, where even little and almost insensible impressions on their tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences! † Locke’s method of education is meant to be observed by parents even from the time their child is in the cradle, long before the teaching that comes from books. He encourages parents to watch their children, for through observation, parents can understand their child’s distinctive inclinations. Specifically, they should pay particular attention to their child â€Å"in those seasons of perfect freedom† and â€Å"mark how the child spends his time† Once armed with such information, parents can better know how to motivate their children towards the right and can craft their methods of education accordingly. Above all, Locke believed that children could reason early in life and should be addressed as â€Å"reasoning beings† by their parents and not regarded as â€Å"only a simple plaything, as a simple animal, or a miniature adult who dressed, played and was supposed to act like his elders†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Their ages were unimportant and therefore seldom known. Their education was undifferentiated, either by age, ability or intended occupation. † Locke, on the other hand, thought of children as human beings and proposed the fostering of children’s education in a gradual manner. Locke urged parents to spend time with their children and to plan their children’s education according to their individual characters. He suggested using â€Å"play† as the chief strategy for children to learn rather than rote memorization or punishment. How did John Locke inspire Dr. Maria Montessori? John Locke’s theories on education influenced many educational theorists among those was Dr. Maria Montessori. Locke’s theories inspired and helped her to develop the Montessori philosophy of education, over 100 years ago which is still the basis for how children learn in Montessori programs all over the world. Maria was inspired by Locke’s belief that each Child is a Unique Person? and believed that every child is different and has different skills and needs for development. She believed that if an adult watches and listens carefully, the adult can prepare an environment in which a child can thrive. – Locke’s method of education is meant to be observed by parents even from the time their child is in the cradle, long before the teaching that comes from books. Maria Montessori believed that each child possesses a unique individual pattern that determines much of the child’s personality, temperament, skill and ability. Montessori called this pattern, â€Å"a spiritual embryo†, as it is determined before birth. This pattern, she believed is revealed only during the process of development, so a great importance is placed on the quality of a child’s environment, activities and the freedom to develop. – Locke, â€Å"for through observation, parents can understand their child’s distinctive inclinations. Specifically, they should pay particular attention to their child â€Å"in those seasons of perfect freedom† and â€Å"mark how the child spends his time† Once armed with such information, parents can better know how to motivate their children towards the right and can craft their methods of education accordingly. † ?While John Locke’s referred to a child’s mind being of that of a blank slate, Maria Montessori compared a child’s mind to a sponge that absorbs information. Children will absorb everything they see, hear, taste, smell and touch in order to gain knowledge. Every child has different life experiences, however all Montessori activities can build upon each foundation in an individual way to create memories, problem solving, reasoning, understanding and, of course, absorption. – Locke also claimed that all ideas came from experience and that there were two aspects of experiences – sensation and reflection. Sensation informs us about things and processes in the external world. Reflection refers to a human’s internal sense that informs itself about the operations in its own mind. Maria Montessori’s method focuses on the child’s environment and the teacher who organizes the environment and effectively outlined the six components to a Montessori environment as freedom, structure and order, reality and nature, beauty and atmosphere, the Montessori materials, and the development of community life. ? Maria Montessori set forth her philosophy and method as the way education should be presented to all children. She believed that in a Montessori classroom, children could achieve self-discipline and achieve freedom for their own development. Consequently, she saw her method of education as the way to insure that adults in the future would be thoughtful, independent, clear thinking problem solving individuals who contribute to society in a meaningful way. – Locke believed that education â€Å"made† the man. He felt that the impressions made in infancy have important and lasting consequences. Any association of ideas made in childhood has a critical and life-long effect on a person. Hence, negative association would be damaging for an individual. ) Although John Locke influenced Dr. Montessori greatly, they did not always agree on everything for example. Maria Montessori believed that children are empty vessels and learn by sensory. John Locke’s point of view about children is that teachers play an extremely crucial point in teaching. Because of the â€Å"Tabula Rasa† (empty mind) theory, teachers become the only source of information for the children. He also stated that the teachers â€Å"pour† knowledge into the students. This point of view is exactly opposite to what Maria Montessori believed. John Locke believed that children never play an active role in learning, they are just receivers – traditional school system. Yet, Maria Montessori believed teachers or directresses’ are only helping the students by awakening their potential powers and that children are the active learners, teachers are only the helpers. John Locke believed that â€Å"play† has an important strategy in learning. Maria Montessori never used the term â€Å"play† as we always â€Å"work! References 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Plato. standford. edu/entries/locke) 2. â€Å"John Locke,† The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, http://www. iep. utm. edu/locke/, accessed December 27, 2012. 3. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/locke/ 4. http://www. marxists. org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/locke. htm 5. http://oregonstate. edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/locke. html.

Study of the Organisation structure of SICT, business environment, description of projects and activities of Staffordshire County Council The WritePass Journal

Study of the Organisation structure of SICT, business environment, description of projects and activities of Staffordshire County Council Abstract: Study of the Organisation structure of SICT, business environment, description of projects and activities of Staffordshire County Council Abstract:1 Introduction2. Background2.1 Aim2.2 Staffordshire ICT:2.2.1 Organisation Structure of SICT:2.2.3 ICT Delivery Model3 Hardware and Software System3.1 Hardware:3.2 Software System:3.3 Business Environment3.3.1 SAP Services:3.3.2 System Development:4 Work Placement4.1 Job Description:4.2 Daily Basis Tasks:4.3 Responsibilities:5 Project Descriptions:5.1 PISCES Reporting:5.2 ECC6 Upgrade Testing:5.3 In House Applications Development:5.3.1 Time Recording5.3.2 School Crossing Patrol6 Benefits:6.1 Interpersonal Development:6.2 Technical Skills Acquired:7 Conclusions:  References and Bibliography:Related Abstract: This report is delivered in accordance to the experience gained from a year placement at Staffordshire County Council. It includes the organisation structure of SICT, business environment, description of projects and activities involved during the placement period. It also illustrates one’s interpersonal and technical skills acquired from the work experience. The report is produced in conclusion to what was learned and achieved by the end of the placement year. 1 Introduction The role of Industrial Placement programmer was appointed in SCC as a part of sandwich degree for placement year on 21st June 2010. It was a fixed term contract until 21st of June 2011. The unit was ICT under Strategic Core Directorate. The contractual hour of work were 37 hours per week and was under probation period for 6 months. The assigned role was of a student placement Programmer in MIS Team. This offered role provided an opportunity to gain exposure in providing business analysis support, working on technical specification, completing new developments and supporting existing systems within a team environment. A year placement in SCC has turned out to be the first step into a professional world. It was an opportunity to experience a wider variety of work in a diverse working environment and knowledge of an organisation structure. There were opportunities to deal with the business and clients directly and understood the importance of delivering services to them efficiently and within the given timeframe. 2. Background Fig 1: Staffordshire County Council Logo Staffordshire county council first came into existence on 1st April 1974 when the Local Government Act 1972 came into force. During the restructuring of an existing local government structure, entirely new ‘two-tier’ system replaced an administrative counties and county boroughs and created metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. Staffordshire county council is situated in Staffordshire, seventh largest shire county in England which is in the West Midlands with a population of over 800,000. It is a big organisation and Staffordshire’s largest employer with 32,279 jobs. Besides serving the large population its responsibility include more than 400 schools, libraries, a wide range of complex social services in very different urban and rural communities, an extensive road system, and some of the countrys most important natural areas. For the better improvement of the prosperity, health, safety and environment of the whole county, it works with other partner organisations such as district and parish councils, police, and fire and health authorities. Some partner Local Authorities in Staffordshire are as follows: Cannock Chase District Council                                                    East Staffordshire Borough Council  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lichfield District council                                                                      Newcastle Borough Council South Staffordshire District Council                                        Stafford Borough Council Staffordshire Moorlands District Council  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   Tamworth Borough Council etc. The organisation structure of SCC consists of three directorates which are â€Å"Development Services†, â€Å"Children, Young People and Families† and â€Å"Social Care and Health† along with Strategic Core which is made up of the Chief Executive’s Office, Finance, ICT, Communities and Culture and Law and Governance. More focus has been given to Customer Services and strategy by concentrating on ‘People’ and ‘Place’ rather than in current structure providing the needs of customer better than ever before. 2.1 Aim The aim of Staffordshire County Council is to provide high quality services providing value for money and focused on, and delivering around the needs of our customers and communities. To provide better services to the customers, SCC’s new Strategic Plan 2010 – 2015 called â€Å"Staffordshire Unites† has been set which intends to achieve the vision of SCC i.e. â€Å"Through pride and passion in our county we will maximise opportunities for improved wealth, health and well-being. Staffordshire County Council is here for Staffordshire People. 2.2 Staffordshire ICT: SICT is the central unit of SCC. SICT works in collaboration with other council services and partners to improve the delivery of services through the efficient use of ICT. SICT Service Management, SICT Improvements and Staffordshire Learning Technology (SLT) are the three main functional areas identified by SICT for delivering the requirements of the authority in an efficient way. SICT service management takes responsibility of management of ICT infrastructure and its daily services such as Help Desk function, desktop function, desktop equipment, applications etc for the whole SCC, including schools and council’s partner. SICT Improvements develops ICT services such as project management, tendering services and system development of the ICT systems which add value to the business by helping them to transform their services. ICT services are delivered to all County schools and the other education establishments on a trade basis by Staffordshire Learning technology. 2.2.1 Organisation Structure of SICT: The current organisational structure of SICT is mainly divided into three functional areas in order to enable the transformation of the services throughout the Staffordshire by the efficient use of the ICT. All of these service areas report to the Director of ICT Sander Kristel. Refer to appendix E – pg no. 24 2.2.3 ICT Delivery Model Fig 2: ICT Delivery Model (sourced from intranet) 3 Hardware and Software System 3.1 Hardware: The approved hardware packages used in SICT consist of standard equipments such as thin Client devices, laptops and desktop PCs for design application which include 22† inch TFT, keyboard and mouse. Standard printers in use are HP DeskJet 7000(manual), HP LaserJet 3015dn, and HP LaserJet CP3535dn etc. 3.2 Software System: SCIT provides standard SCC Desktop Software Applications for ICT devices which includes software packages that are approved and available as additional cost options. The standard SCC Desktop Software Applications are listed below: Standard Software Name and version of product    Additional SoftwareName and version of product1) Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows XP Professional1) Project SoftwareMicrosoft Project 20032) Office SuiteMicrosoft Office 2003 Professional2) Design softwareMicrosoft Visio 2003 Professional3) Internet BrowserInternet Explorer 83) IXOSIXOS4) PDF File viewerAdobe Acrobat Reader 8.04) TRIMTRIM 5)Anti-Virus ProtectionMacAfee Virus scan Enterprise 8.05) AutoCADAutoCAD6) Desktop Support Remote Control eLANDesk 8.7 The additional software packages downloaded for work purpose are listed below: Software Name and version of product 1) Netbeans Netbeans 6.0 2) Microsoft Visual Studio 1) Visual studio 2008 2) Visual studio 20103) Microsoft SQL Server  Microsoft SQL Server 20084)SAP1) SAP BW (3 environments : development, QA, Production) 2)SAP NetWeaver Portal 7 3)Reporting Tool : a)   Report Designer, b)   BEx Query Designer c)  Ã‚   BEx Web Application Designer and BEx Analyzer 4) ECC6 5) SAP CRM5) Microsoft Visual SourceSafeMicrosoft VSS 2005 3.3 Business Environment 3.3.1 SAP Services: The SCC runs SAP as its corporate ERP and is implementing a SAP Children’s Social Care Solutions which were first introduced in 2003. The core SAP ERP Services of SCC are HR, Payroll, Finance and Procurement whereas the SAP Social Care Solutions are based on CRM, RM, BI and adobe forms. SCC also uses SAP Security based on Roles and authorisation. The SCC runs the following systems which require SAP interfaces; SAP SCUK, ECC6, TRIM, Respond, LG45/SAP CRM, FACE, Trojan, Contact point, Capita One Range of Service. The main objective of integrating these systems with SAP is to provide ‘single source’ of information more system integration in future improving the performance and productivity level of the services provided the customer. Fig 4: SAP Social Care Technical environment (sourced from intranet) 3.3.2 System Development: There are currently over 200 application range of in house written and purchased system used in SCC to provide different services. Among them several application systems are used corporately, within Directorates or for specific group. These applications are designed and created with the effective use of wide range of technologies such as dot NET, Java, Oracle and SQL database. There are several application systems that are used corporately, within Directorates or for specific group. GIS/ Local view – graphical information systems ONE/SIMS- education management system Web- CMS, collaboration Oracle LG45 CRM – CRM system for Staffordshire connects partnership The major system developments are related to SAP, Customer First, Traffic management, Adult and children case management system 4 Work Placement 4.1 Job Description: The job title was Student placement programmer, involved working with senior developers of MIS team and Solution Design team and reporting to the placement supervisor. 4.2 Daily Basis Tasks: The day to day jobs included updating appointed tasks in SharePoint (a web application to record projects and task done or appointed to an individual), recording the hours of work done in Time Recording system, monitoring scheduled data load in BW and updating it in the web portal, helping customer with their problems through remote connection to their machine and reporting the work to the appointed business client. 4.3 Responsibilities: Scheduling Data Loads and Maintaining Process Chains in BW BW is one of the application systems of SCC that are relevant to â€Å"Information†. Extraction, Transformation and Load (ETL) Layer is responsible for extracting data from a specific source, applying transformation rules and loading it into the Data Warehouse. The master and transactional data from different source systems are loaded into BW InfoObjects such as DSO, Info cube, Multiprovider etc. The InfoObjects are used to extract data out for creating reports. The data load in BW is performed by using process chains which need to be scheduled so, that the data load runs automatically on its scheduled date and time. Data load was scheduled every month for daily, weekly and monthly ones and all the jobs automatically get cancelled on bank holidays. Maintaining Consistency between all environment in BW System The SAP BW Solution operates on three tier system as follows: DEV (Development) QA (Quality Assurance and Test) PRD (Production) All the developments were carried out and tested first in development environment before transporting developed objects across QA for further testing. After successful testing in QA, the objects are transported again from development to production environment for publishing live updated data. For better performance and future reference it was necessary to maintain all three environments inline as automatic updates are only available for production system. Consistency between all environments were maintained regularly by manually carrying out data loads in DEV and QA environments and adding missing objects which already exist in production system. Managing BW transport Normally in SAP BW , the objects that are either installed from Business content or developed in DEV systems can be transported from DEV systems to QA and Production systems.SAP BW allows to transport works like configuration, objects, roles, and business Explorer(BEx) objects. Transports can be internal transport i.e. between different systems of BW or external transport which is between source systems such as ECC6, CRM to SAP BW system and takes place using RFC (Remote Function Call) during uploading. Internal transportations are carried out according to the need of the user at anytime whereas external transportation takes place only in certain days and has to be informed b filling the transport request form. Transport packages created in DEV environment has its own transport ID which is needed to identify one’s transport to avoid conflicts. The results of either successful or failed transports are displayed in BW system that enables to manage transport across different system. Meetings with team members, business client and placement tutor Team meetings in MIS team were held normally twice in a month whereas in solution design team it used to be once in a week where team manager will notify the latest happenings and news of the SCC, any projects that is going to be start, any health and safety matters, feedbacks of the customer on the ongoing or released projects and other work related issues The meetings with business clients were attended to discuss about the specification and requirements of the products they requested and the deadlines when they want it to be delivered and feedback of the finished product. The placement visit from our placement tutor took place in the office twice in a year. The visit was very beneficial as the tutor tracked down the progress of our work by consulting with our supervisor and team member. The assessment and the advice from the tutor were very helpful to find the state of one’s capability to carry out job and encouraging oneself to keeping up the hard work. Attending inductions, trainings and demos SCC organises inductions and trainings for all the internal employees for their benefits and to maintain their standard of working. In the beginning of the placement period, induction had to be attended where briefings were given about the organisation structure, health and safety policies, rules and regulation, equality and diversity, security policy and other work related issues. In accordance to the job role, ICT Training centre of SCC also gave ICT induction to provide the information on standard equipments and software, computer security, electronic filing and corporate software which helped to get on with the job during first stage. Any applications developed or changed had to be presented to the customer for which demos were conducted upon the request of customer. Creating, Maintaining and Deploying BW Reports In accordance to report specifications reports were designed and created using BEx query analyser and BEx web designer. The web templates were later published into SAP web portal. Writing new applications and maintaining existing system As a developer’s main responsibility, new application were designed and written upon the request of business and also maintained the ones which are already in use. The maintenance required addition of new functionality and validation, updating the version of software and implement further testing. Reuse of code, performance issues, functionality and robustness were the major points to be implemented whist developing a new application. Implement Testing Implementations of testing were required to ensure the functionality and robustness of the applications and reports created for business clients. Unit testing were done for the block of codes written in java or visual basic for applications in accordance to the test plan designed by the development team. Helping Customer with their problems and issues: Customers were provided all the information and solutions to their queries and problems. If necessary they were given further help through remote connection to their machine or through individual phone calls. The issues like setting up customer’s account in ECC6 system, installation of software and showing how to use application functionality were dealt whist providing customer the easy and effective way to solve a problem. 5 Project Descriptions: 5.1 PISCES Reporting: PISCES is the new Social Care solution for Children’s system which went live on 25th of April 2011 after the successful migration of business partner cases into the system from CISS database system. Reports for PISCES system are produced using SAP BW suite of reporting tools. The reports are accessed via the SAP Portal, using standard Internet Web Browser. Two of major reports of PISCES namely â€Å"Children Subject to CPP Statutory Visits† and â€Å"Looked after Children Statutory Visits† was created in accordance to the given specification from CYP F directorate. The reports were created using the BEx Query Designer and BEx Web Analyser which were later published into Web portal for user access. Refer to Appendix B- pg no 21 5.2 ECC6 Upgrade Testing: SCC upgraded SAP R/3 source system to SAP ERP central component ECC6 which went live on 25th of October 2010. SCC uses ECC6 as the main enterprise resource planning software for Human Resources, Payroll, Finance and Procurement to collect and combine data from these different modules and provide to the organisation under one instance. The main reason behind this upgrade was to enable products to function upon foundation of central component. SAP BW uses ECC6 as one of its main source system and projects the source system changes. It is necessary to ensure that upgrading the source system on SAP BW environment would not impact the data modelling object built-in SAP BW system. To implement the changes in production system, tests were first required to carry out in development environment followed by QA environment. In this project, the assigned role was of a tester and the responsibility was to implement testing in accordance to a test plan designed by BW analysts. The test involved switching of the source system, data reloading to have the initializations and deltas to come from the new system. During test the old source system (both transactional and master) were deleted in the BW system before reloading data from ECC6 to ensure the consistency in the data from a system. After the successful completion of testing in BW Development and QA environment, the upgrade was finally implemented in production system which was also tested after the go live process. 5.3 In House Applications Development: The system development areas involved adding functionality to the existing applications, rewriting codes for the existing system, analysing business requirements, designing, implementing and testing the new systems, writing user guides and technical manuals. The software development team use Agile Software development to develop their new system and maintain existing system. The advantage of Agile based approach is modification of the requirements which is often applicable in a fast changing environment and deliver functionality rapidly to ensure customer satisfactions. 5.3.1 Time Recording The Time Recording application is an electronic time recording system used by SCC’s staff to record their flexi time. It allows user to know the duration of time they have worked, whether they are up or down on their time. Using this application senior managers calculate the average working pattern and needs of their staff of to see the true cost of projects and resources. It provides a central repository of the time recording information and an easy interface with level of functionality to the user. This application comprises of custom frontend developed by using Java programming language making it user friendly and SAP backend architecture providing the scalable and robust underlying architecture. For this existing application, it was required to add a new functionality to the system which allows user to filter the list of products and its related activities from the frontend and restricts user to input any times following the 30th April for any given financial year. A new custom filtering form was created to implement these functionalities. Refer to Appendix C – pg no. 22 5.3.2 School Crossing Patrol School Crossings is an application designed and developed for Road Safety Office to manage the information about school crossings, patrols that staff a school crossing and the physical location of the actual school crossings. It was required to design the new system to replace the existing Access database which did not meet most of the needs of the School Crossings Patrol service and was not supported by ICT. Thus, this application was rewritten as it is crucial to the running of the service both operationally and from a performance management perspective. The new system consists of a web based frontend written in Visual Studio 2010 IDE using ASP.Net and Visual Basic (VB) and the backend uses a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database.   There is an integration of SAP into the new system to avoid data duplication. The database for this system was designed and created which was then integrated with the frontend application. Designing of basic framework, applying windows authentication and validations, adding functionality such as establishing hyperlinks, creating menus for web page, data grid views, adding, editing and removing data from the frontend were the tasks involve during implementation of this project. 6 Benefits: The placement was beneficial in regards to development of personal and technical skills. More self-confidence was build to face any real time problems and challenges. 6.1 Interpersonal Development: During the placement period, working with two teams with a wide range of members enabled to successfully initiate, maintain and manage positive social relationships with them in a range of contexts. Providing good customer services in a manner that customer is provided all the required information and quality products in time. Working cooperatively and effectively as a part of a diverse professional team contributing more effort with best conduct. Improvement of communication skills and ability to communicate confidently with the seniors and other colleagues about the work related problems and query. Ability to prioritise time during work to fit around study commitments and social life. Understanding of the establishment and functions of organisation structure. Analysing business requirements and importance of delivering quality services before deadline. 6.2 Technical Skills Acquired: A year experience in SCC has enhanced the technical knowledge and skills in programming and developing systems. Sound knowledge of SAP software, architecture and its modules such as ECC6, CRM, BI and SAP NetWeaver. Better understanding of Business Intelligence, analytical, reporting and Data Warehousing solution provided by SAP BI System. Efficient use of reporting tool â€Å"SAP NetWeaver BI† and a web browser â€Å"SAP NetWeaver Portal†. Introduction to the ABAP programming language specifically used in SAP modules. Practical experience of using object oriented programming language, utilising the concurrency/multithreading concepts and implementation of Hash table in java for better performance and memory management purpose. Integration of SAP ECC6 with java application by the use of Remote Function Calls (RFC) modules from the java platform. Use of ASP.net programming language to create web based GUI application and adding a windows authentication for security. Creation and population data tables, views using SQL statements and design database diagrams in Microsoft SQL server. 7 Conclusions: In conclusion, an experience of a year placement at SCC has been invaluable and memorable moments of the life. It has been very beneficial providing knowledge of organisation structure, working environment and methodologies, customer services and development of both technical and personal skills. There is a strong belief that everything learned during this period will contribute in final year project on analysing requirements, managing time, selecting the suitable programming language and IDE for developing application, utilising new programming and testing methodologies. It will help in the accomplishment of future career goals i.e. to stand out as a successful developer in any competitive business market.   References and Bibliography: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Staffordshire County Council History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire [accessed 09/04/2011] 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Staffordshire County Council (2011) Organisation Information staffordshire.gov.uk/yourcouncil/home.aspx [accessed 10/04/2011] 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence sap.com/services/education/catalog/netweaver/bi.epx [accessed 10/04/2011] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_NetWeaver_Business_Intelligence [accessed 10/04/2011]

How to Ask for Information - ESL Education

How to Ask for Information - ESL Education There are a number of formulas used when asking for information in English. Here are some of the most common: Could you tell me...?Do you know...?Do you happen to know...?Id like to know...Could you find out...?Im interested in...Im looking for.. These two forms are used for asking for information on the telephone: Im calling to find out...Im calling about... After you study these constructions, take the asking for information quiz to check your understanding. More English Functions DisagreeingContrasting IdeasMaking ComplaintsAsking for InformationGiving AdviceGuessingBeing Imprecise or VagueSaying No NicelyShowing PreferencesMaking SuggestionsOffering HelpGiving WarningDemanding Explanations Construction Formula Question Word Example Finish Could you tell me when the next train leaves? Do you know how much that vase costs? Do you happen to know where Tom lives? Id like to know what you think about the new project. Could you tell me when the next train leaves? Could you find out when she is going to arrive? Formula Gerund (-ing) Example Finish Im interested in buying a boat Formula Noun Example Finish Im looking for information on holidays in Spain. Formula used only on the telphone Question Word Example Finish Im calling to find out... if flight AZ098 will leave on time today. Formula used only on the telphone Noun Example Finish Im calling about... the offer published in todays newspaper.

The Rachel Wade Murder Trial Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rachel Wade Murder Trial - Research Paper Example The prosecutors of the trial were legal representatives for the state of Florida, as well as for the parents and family of Sarah Ludemann. Assistant State Attorney Lisset Hanewicz spoke on the behalf of the victim (Judd, 2010). The defense was Rachel Wade and and her defense attorney, Jay Hebert. The jury of six also played a role - perhaps one of the largest roles - in the trial. Finally, no court situation would be complete without the presiding judge, Joseph A. Bulone. There were two witnesses present during the time of the murder, and they were also present for the trial. Jilica Smith had been in the vehicle with Sarah Ludemann when the girl had driven over to Rachel Wade’s house in the early morning of April 15. Janet Camacho, the sister of the boy in the love triangle, had also been present during the altercation. She had attacked and subdued Rachel Wade after Wade had stabbed Ludemann (Thalji, 2010). Another friend of Sarah Ludemann, Ashley Lovelady, though not present for the incident of April 15, was able to act as a witness for the behavior that had been displayed by both girls in the months prior to the murder of Ludemann. As the arguments between Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann had been lengthy and done most commonly over the Internet or cell phones, evidence against the prosecution and defense was great since most of these arguments had been saved or were easily accessible. Furthermore, the testimonies given by witnesses were able to further confirm that there had been difficulties between Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann. Most of the evidence that had been gathered had benefitted both sides of the trial. Since both girls had been fighting against each other for the past year, the evidence found was capable of speaking for and against both of the girls. Neither of the girls had roles of innocence in the year of fighting that had gone