Language Of Race Essay

(Review of Lawrence Blum, â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ : The Moral Quandary of Race (Ithaca; Cornell University Press, 2002). Theory and Research in Education 1(3), pp. 267-281. ) Lawrence Blum’s book, â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ : The Moral Quandary of Race, is excellent and thought-provoking. It is a model of moral philosophy done well, and, as importantly, done with a purpose. At no point does one wonder, as one does with all too much moral philosophy these days, â€Å"Why does this matter? † Blum makes it clear from the start why we should care about the language and concepts of race and racism, and he does a brilliant job of integrating careful philosophical analysis with contemporary examples, historical explication, and creative thought experiments. Blum’s purpose is basically two-fold: first, to fight against racism and racial injustice by proving that the notion of â€Å"race† is both descriptively false and morally inimical and replacing it with the more accurate and useful notion of â€Å"racialized group†; and second, to enable and promote productive dialogue about racism and racial inequality, especially between members of different racialized groups. He is explicit only about the second of these aims — as he comments in the preface and reiterates in similar terms throughout the book, â€Å"If we agree that racism is so important, don’t we need to know what it is? How can we talk intelligently, especially across racial lines, unless we do? † (p. viii) — but the first aim clearly determines the structure and content especially of the second half of the book. In both cases, Blum suggests that language is a key: we can both move forward in the fight against racial injustice and promote cross-racial dialogue about racism and other racial ills, he suggests, if we analyze and clarify what we mean by certain words that are often used too loosely (such as â€Å"racist† and â€Å"racial 2 discrimination†); recapture other terms that have inappropriately been divested of moral weight (such as â€Å"racial insensitivity† and â€Å"prejudice†); and abandon the language of â€Å"race† altogether because its history of use has made it inherently misleading. This is the primary thrust of the book. In this essay, I will question Blum’s emphasis on language and naming. I will suggest that disagreements about the racial language we use, such as about â€Å"what racism is,† are integral elements of the debate about race and racial injustice, rather than something that can and should be resolved ahead of time. Although Blum characterizes his analysis of racial language as being merely clarificatory, therefore, and designed to advance cross-racial dialogue from the outside, as it were, I will argue that instead he is doing something far different. At best, he is staking a partisan position within the debate itself; at worst, he is cutting it off from the start by building the answers to most of the important questions about racism and racial discrimination into his definitions. In addition to these methodological concerns, I also will query the practical results of implementing the linguistic shifts Blum proposes. I will argue, first, that implementation of â€Å"racialized group†-talk will be harder than Blum suggests (even among people who fully accept his arguments and are willing and even eager to abandon â€Å"race† in favor of â€Å"racialized group†), and second, that it is unlikely to have the social psychological effects Blum predicts. In both of these cases, I will consider teachers’ practices in implementing anti-racist curricula as an important test case, since teachers (along with parents and the media) play a crucial role in shaping the racial language and attitudes of the next generation. i Before I tackle these issues, however, a brief summary of (and a couple of quibbles with) â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  are in order. 3 Blum establishes the moral and conceptual grounding for his project in his first and longest chapter, â€Å"‘Racism’: Its Core Meaning. † In this chapter, Blum provides a deft historical, moral, and conceptual analysis of â€Å"racist† and â€Å"racism. † He is concerned to construct a definition that preserves the strong moral opprobrium that attaches to â€Å"racism† while avoiding the â€Å"conceptual inflation,† â€Å"moral overload,† and â€Å"categorical drift† that have come to characterize the terms â€Å"racism† and â€Å"racist† — i. e. , the indiscriminate application of these terms to a wide variety of categories (such as motives, beliefs, acts, and people) encompassing any and all â€Å"racial ills† from bigotry to prejudice to racial discomfort, as well as even to non-racial ills such as discrimination based on age, religion, nationality, or physical appearance. By contrast, Blum limits the application of â€Å"racism† to things stemming specifically from antipathy and/or an inferiorizing attitude toward a racial group. He shows why antipathy and inferiorizing are both sufficient and necessary to his definition — for example, one may feel benevolent toward blacks in part because one feels superior to them, but feel antipathetic toward Asians because one assumes they are smarter than oneself; both attitudes would be properly classified as racist, and he argues persuasively that all other examples of racism could fit into one or both of these broad categories. Hence, Blum shows, although racism can be attributed to motives, acts, people, symbols, beliefs, images, epithets, remarks, attitudes, individuals, societies, and institutions (all categories that Blum discusses in detail), each attribution must be independently justified; one cannot just assume that a person who displays a racist symbol, for example, is a racist herself, or even that she necessarily has racist motives. In this respect, Blum is sensitive to the mitigating (although still morally suspect) issues of individual ignorance, unreflective adoption of social norms and behaviors, and unconscious attitudes, any of which may cause an individual to appear but not to be racist, or alternatively to be racist in fact, but to have adopted these racist attitudes 4 subconsciously or even unconsciously. ii Finally, in this chapter Blum gives significant attention not just to racism’s definition but also to its particular moral character. He argues that racism is morally evil not just because it violates â€Å"general moral norms† such as equality, respect, and good will, but also because of its â€Å"integral tie† to historical â€Å"race-based systems of oppression† that were clearly evil. â€Å"‘ Racism’ draws its moral valence from this historical context in two ways. First, the mere fact that these historical systems were based on race provides some of that opprobrium, even if current instances of racism no longer take place in the direct context of, for example, segregation, apartheid, or slavery. . . . [S]econd . . . we continue to live with the legacy of those systems† (Blum 2002: 27-8). In chapter 2, Blum asks â€Å"Can Blacks Be Racist? † and answers in the affirmative. No matter what preconditions one places on racism (e. g. that it must be ideologically embedded, or combined with social power), Blum argues, there will be (and are) some black people (as well as members of other minority groups) who meet these criteria and hence must be judged to be racist. Insofar as the denial that blacks can be racist is motivated by a desire to highlight the inherent inequalities among different racist acts and beliefs, however, Blum would agree — and argues that — there are important â€Å"moral asymmetries† in racism. Because of such acts’ â€Å"historical resonance† (p. 44), â€Å"greater power to shame† due to minorities’ positional inferiority (p.46), reflection of on-going patterns and prevalence of racism (p. 48), and contribution to maintaining â€Å"systematic racial injustice† (p. 49), â€Å"Everything else being equal, greater moral opprobrium rightly attaches to racism by whites against people of color than the reverse. This is the most important moral asymmetry in racism† (pp. 43-4). Chapter 3 catalogues â€Å"Varieties of Racial Ills,† which are acts or attitudes that deserve some (often substantial) degree of moral condemnation but do not rise to the level of â€Å"racism† as 5 such. These include racial insensitivity, racial ignorance, racial discomfort, white privilege,exclusionary same-race socializing, and racialism (a term used here to mean â€Å"conferring too much, or inappropriate, importance on people’s racial identity† (p. 59), but which Blum confusingly reuses with a different meaning in chapters 5-9). Chapter 4 then moves into an extremely careful and thoughtful discussion of â€Å"Racial Discrimination and Color Blindness. † He deduces four reasons that discrimination may be wrong: â€Å"(1) it unfairly excludes a qualified individual on the basis of a characteristic irrelevant to the task for which selection is being made; (2) it is done out of prejudice; (3) the prejudice is pervasive and (for that or other reasons) stigmatizing; (4) the discrimination helps to sustain the group whose members are discriminated against in a subordinate position† (p. 89). Hence, he argues, the term â€Å"racial discrimination,† which automatically carries with it the implication of moral condemnation, should be confined â€Å"to forms of discrimination involving race that either stem from race-based prejudiced [sic] or that disadvantage an inferiorized or stigmatized group† (p. 95). In contrast, he argues, forms of racial differentiation that avoid the four pitfalls listed above may be tolerated or even embraced: for example, racial egalitarianism, which does rely to some extent on racial differentiation but not on discrimination as defined above, is preferable to color blindness. Chapters 5-7 form an undesignated second section of â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , focusing specifically on the concept, history, and science of â€Å"race† in order to debunk it. Blum analyzes the empirical outcomes of thinking in racial terms in chapter 5, â€Å"‘Race’: What We Mean and What We Think We Mean. † He identifies four moral dangers of racial thinking: (1) â€Å"a moral distance among those of different races — an intensified consciousness of a ‘we’ of one race counterposed to a ‘they’ of another† (p. 102); (2) the â€Å"imposition of false commonality on all those classified as members of the same race† (p. 103); (3) the suggestion of â€Å"an inescapable 6 ‘racial fate’† (p. 104); and (4) â€Å"associations of superiority and inferiority of value† (p. 104). These lead into chapter 6’s fascinating discussion of â€Å"‘Race’: A Brief History, with Moral Implications,† in which Blum shows the historical contingency and relatively recent vintage of racial thinking, at least in the West. (Although Blum’s language about race’s recent arrival on the scene is fairly global, his examples are almost entirely confined to ancient Greece and Rome, Europe, and North America; this leaves the reader a bit confused about the intended scope of his historical analysis and claims. ) Finally, chapter 7 boldly asks, â€Å"Do Races Exist? † and marshals a fair amount of scientific evidence (in conjunction with the historical evidence from chapter 6) to answer a resounding â€Å"no. † This outright rejection of race sets up the challenge he confronts in the final two chapters (and unstated third section) of the book: how simultaneously to rid ourselves of the inimical concept of â€Å"race† while still promoting the causes of racial justice and equality — causes which, as Blum showed in chapter 4, require for their achievement that we name and pay attention (as opposed to blind ourselves) to differences among racial groups. iii In chapter 8, â€Å"Racialized Groups and Social Constructions,† therefore, Blum proposes to replace the concept of â€Å"races† with â€Å"racialized groups,† arguing, â€Å"The term ‘racialized groups’ is preferable as a way of acknowledging that some groups have been created by being treated as if they were races, while also acknowledging that ‘race’ in its popular meaning is entirely false† (p. 160). Blum further justifies use of the term â€Å"racialized groups† in chapter 9, â€Å"Should We Try to Give Up Race? † He argues that racial justice and even a positive sense of racial identity can be promoted by â€Å"racialization†: â€Å"its recognition supplies a more accurate understanding of the character of the racialized social order, encourages a stronger recognition of commonalities of experience and of political and moral commitments across ‘racial’ lines, and, arguably, would in the long run be 7 more politically effective in mitigating racism and racial injustice than would a belief in the reality of race† (p. 170). But Blum recognizes that merely transforming our language is not enough; this act will not itself transform the unjust social structures that inform and shape our language: â€Å"In the real world, ridding ourselves of the myth of race can not be severed from the politically more challenging task of changing the structural relationships among racial groups† (p. 178). Hence, he concludes by implicitly urging a two-pronged approach to promoting racial justice and equality: altering our language, on the one hand, and engaging in direct social action (especially integrationism), on the other. Critique I find most of Blum’s arguments compelling taken on an individual basis. â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  convinces me that the term â€Å"racism† should be reserved for race-related, morally egregious beliefs/motives/acts/etc. , that there’s a wide range of racial ills, that pursuit of racial equality does not amount to racial discrimination, that â€Å"race† is a morally inimical concept, and that â€Å"racialized group† better captures the historical genesis and conceptual construction we call â€Å"race. † I am not convinced, however, that these arguments taken together satisfy the central articulated aim of the book: namely, to promote cross-racial dialogue about race. This is not, as I’ve said, because I question his reasoning or his conclusions; rather, I question whether his method, of using substantive moral philosophy, is consonant with this aim. First, some reminders about Blum’s stated aim. As I noted at the beginning of this essay, Blum asks in the preface of â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , â€Å"If we agree that racism is so important, don’t we need to know what it is? How can we talk intelligently, especially across racial lines, unless we do? . . . . We need to clarify what racism is, to find a basis in history and current use 8 for fixing a definition† (p. viii). He reiterates this concern at the beginning of chapter 2: â€Å"My goal of an adequate account of racism is entirely antithetical to race-based attachment to definitions of ‘racism. ’ I am seeking an account that will facilitate communication between groups about the character, forms and extent of racism (and other race-related ills). For that we need some agreement on what racism is, and from there we can attempt to settle differences about its extent† (p. 35). Blum’s aim is clearly to establish a baseline for discussion — to foster productive communication by providing moral and conceptual clarification and then to get out of the way in order to allow the now â€Å"intelligent† and â€Å"facilitated† debate to proceed on its own. This is an admirable goal, but I don’t think that â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  achieves it — nor do I think that it could achieve it in its current form. This is so for a few reasons. First, it is misleading to suggest that moral philosophy is necessary to fix a definition of â€Å"racism. † So long as there’s an agreement, or at least mutual comprehension among the interlocutors, as to what each person means in using various terms, then that is sufficient to promote dialogue. For example, if all people accepted that only whites could be racist, then â€Å"cross-racial dialogue† could proceed on that basis; there’s no reason that Blum’s definition of racism (which asserts that all people can be racist) is necessary to promote dialogue. Of course, one of Blum’s implicit points is that there isn’t agreement about what racism is, and that such agreement, or even mutual clarification and comprehension, is very unlikely to arise on its own. Rather than revealing a troubling weakness or gap in the discussion, however, this reveal instead the essential nature of the debate about race and racism: namely, that debating the meaning of these terms is part and parcel of debating the things themselves. In other words, fixing a definition is not a neutral act. It is a partisan act. This is because much of the dispute about racism is bound up in how one defines the problem. If individuals unintentionally benefit 9 from the legacy of racism (e. g.via â€Å"white privilege†), are they morally responsible in some way? Is it racially discriminatory for an association serving mostly Latino youth to try to hire mostly Latino staff? Is it racist for a small business owner to hire people she â€Å"feels comfortable† with, if it turns out she tends to feel comfortable only with people from her own racialized group, since that’s among whom she grew up? These questions lie at the heart of the â€Å"conversation about race†; they cannot and should not be settled ahead of time. Thus, Blum’s second methodological mistake is to think that setting a neutral baseline for discussion is even possible. Blum’s approach is inevitably partisan — simply in trying to clarify meanings, he takes stances on a number of controversial issues — and hence he is within rather than above the fray. This is perfectly appropriate — taking and defending particular stances about how we ought to live our lives is what moral philosophy is, or at least should be, about — but it is not what Blum professes to be doing. Furthermore, Blum’s approach is at least partly opposed to his stated aim of promoting cross-racial dialogue about race and racism, insofar as to the extent that readers accept Blum’s positions as given, their avenues for debate about race and racism will be cut off rather than expanded. I hope (and expect) instead that readers will be drawn to engage with and debate the arguments themselves, as any good work of social and moral philosophy should inspire people to do; they do not, however, provide a neutral starting point for others’ conversations. iv My concerns about the match between Blum’s stated objective and the content of his book are irrelevant to my assessment of his arguments or his conclusions, most of which I think are generally on target. I do wonder, however, about the concrete, â€Å"on the ground† implications of his conclusions, especially but not solely for those responsible for educating the next generation. I will address two especially pressing questions: (1) How would one use the 10 language of â€Å"racialized groups† in a way that was clearly distinct from using the language of race, especially in institutional contexts? (2) Is there convincing psychological evidence to support Blum’s claims about the results of redescribing social and identity groups? For example, is there convincing evidence that thinking of oneself as being a member of a socially constructed racialized group has more positive psychological effects than thinking of oneself as a member of a biologically-determined race? These questions raise issues that are significant for assessing the practical import of Blum’s arguments in general; they are also crucial for determining how his conclusions would alter anti-racist curricula and pedagogy in the classroom, which presumably will be central to the realization of Blum’s moral philosophy. First, Blum’s claim that we can combat racism (at least to some extent) by altering our language about race has moral purchase only if there is some way to â€Å"operationalize† — and especially to institutionalize — this linguistic adjustment. Blum seems to acknowledge this, and to be optimistic about its potential: â€Å"Appreciating the difference between race and racialization, and at the same time attempting to do justice to the unreality of race and the reality of racism, may point us toward new ways of thinking and new forms of institutional practice† (p. 166). He gives one (and only one) example of how one might adopt â€Å"new forms of institutional practice† in relation to the Census, which is a key tool for tracking racial patterns and disparities in society — but also hence for seeming to legitimate racial categorization. In response to this dilemma, Blum suggests, â€Å"Were the federal government to encourage a broad understanding that the purposes for which the Census is now explicitly used do not require a commitment to the existence of races in any form, but only to racialized groups, the legitimate discrimination- monitoring function of Census racial categories could be severed from any implication of racialism† (p. 167). But then frustratingly, Blum gives no specifics about how the Census could 11 do this. Would Blum hope for a statement of disavowal of race? If so, where? Just in the preamble (which already includes a â€Å"baby step† in that direction (see p. 227, fn. 11)), which nobody reads? Or in the census itself, which seems impractical since it is intentionally kept as short as possible in order to maximize response rates? Instead of a statement of disavowal, the Census could replace â€Å"What is this person’s race? † (the question currently asked) with â€Å"What is this person’s racialized group? †, and then use quotation marks (or â€Å"scare quotes†) around terms such as â€Å"black,† â€Å"Spanish/Latino/Hispanic† (which is currently kept separate from the â€Å"race† question), and â€Å"white† to reinforce their constructed status. This is also unsatisfactory, however, for two reasons. First, â€Å"racialized group† will likely be either greeted with confusion or treated as a synonym of â€Å"race,† especially in the absence of an explanation of the term; in the latter case, it is likely to end up acquiring the separatist, hierarchical, and essentialist connotations or â€Å"race† (just like â€Å"disabled† and even â€Å"differently abled† acquired those of the maligned term â€Å"handicapped† they were designed to replace). Second, many of the choices given are not (yet) â€Å"racialized groups,† at least not in the United States, but are nationalities: Samoan, Filipino, Native Hawaiian, Asian Indian, Japanese. Should these terms all be in scare quotes? I would think not — but then how would one deal with the presence of scare quotes some places and their absence others? One could add â€Å"nationality and/or ethnicity† to the â€Å"racialized group† question, and then surround everything with quotation marks — but this then gets cumbersome, to say the least, and is likely to raise other dilemmas. As the Census example shows, institutionalizing â€Å"racialized group† language is hard in print, particularly when it comes to naming and labeling the racialized groups themselves (â€Å"black,† â€Å"white,† â€Å"Vietnamese,† â€Å"Native American†). It is substantially harder in conversation, 12 such as in the oral give-and-take of a classroom. Consider Ellen, a teacher of ten and eleven year-olds, who is eager to incorporate anti-racist education into her teaching. Ellen reads â€Å"I’m Not a Racist, But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  over the winter holiday and then sits down to revise her January lesson plans, which include a unit on non-violent protest designed both to fit into the school’s conflict resolution initiative and to lead up to the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s birthday. As she reads over her plans, she quickly inserts a mini-lesson on â€Å"racialized group† at the beginning of the unit and converts â€Å"race† to â€Å"racialized group† throughout the unit. She adds in a two-day lesson called â€Å"What is Racism? †, and develops an interactive group activity for near the end of the unit designed to help students decide when it’s okay to refer to or take someone’s racialized group membership into account and when it’s not. Reviewing her social studies lessons on Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr. , and the March on Washington, D. C. , she is pleased. She also thinks her English lesson on an excerpt of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail will prove challenging but inspiring to her students. But then Ellen suddenly gets worried. Throughout her lessons are references to blacks, whites, Indians, British, Hindus, Christians, Jews. Which of these are racialized groups and which are not? How can she help her students figure out the difference? How can she talk about â€Å"blacks† and â€Å"whites† to her class without her students falling back into racial thinking? She can hand-signal scare quotes each time, but will that just turn into a joke among the students? And which groups would she use the hand signals for? All of these concerns are predicated on the conclusion that language matters — that it influences how we think, reason, behave, and interact with one another. This brings us to my second question about implications of Blum’s conclusions: is there social psychological evidence in favor of them? Throughout the book, Blum clearly operates on the assumption that if people recognize the socially constructed, rather than biologically inherent, nature of racialized groups, 13 then they will better be able to fight against the â€Å"hierarchical† and â€Å"inegalitarian† (p. 107) assumptions inherent in racial thinking. This is partly because racial identity then becomes in some way a matter of choice. â€Å"Whether a group is racialized is a matter of its treatment by the larger society. Whether the group takes on a self-identity as a race is a different matter† (p. 148). In recognizing their racialized treatment, rather than believing themselves defined by an immutable racial identity, individuals who are members of racialized groups can decide how to respond. Will they embrace their racialized identity, as those do who proudly join the Asian- American club, volunteer with La Raza, or wear t-shirts proclaiming â€Å"It’s a BLACK thing — you wouldn’t understand† or â€Å"Hot Latina Mama†? Will they reject it, declaring â€Å"that’s not who I am† and/or trying to assimilate? Or will they try to subvert it in some way, say by reclaiming the term â€Å"nigger† (or â€Å"queer† in the [non-racial] case of gays) and defiantly using it as a term of affection for others inside the group? By choosing the extent and nature of their racial identities, Blum seems implicitly to be arguing, individuals and groups are empowered; whether they choose to appropriate, reject, or subvert the characterizations thrust upon them by racializing others, the very act of choosing liberates them from the racialist (and racist) assumptions of innate difference, inferiority, and/or stigma. Two substantial bodies of work in social psychology, however, cast serious doubt on this claim. The first is system justification theory — the theory that â€Å"psychological processes contribut[e] to the preservation of existing social arrangements even at the expense of personal and group interest† (Jost and Banaji 1994: 1). The second is the notion of â€Å"stereotype threat† — the idea that in certain situations (those posing â€Å"stereotype threat†), members of stigmatized groups worry about confirming a negative stereotype about their group through their performance on a task, and then, precisely because of this anxiety, end up performing worse on 14 the task than they otherwise would (and than others do) — thus paradoxically performing true to negative stereotype (see Steele and Aronson 1995; Steele 1997). I will address each in turn. According to system justification theory, people implicitly support the status quo, including hierarchy differences between low- and high-status groups, even when they are members of low-status groups, and even when they reject the distinctions on a conscious level. Thus, in studies done under both â€Å"authentic† and experimental conditions, women ask for lower wages than men do for the same work (or they work 25 percent longer than men if offered the same wage (Cite forthcoming)); individuals rate even initially unwanted outcomes (such as tuition increases, or a member of the opposing political party winning an election) more desirable the more likely they are to occur (Kay et al.2002); And they rationalize the legitimacy of existing inequalities (e. g. , if told that graduates of University B earn more on average than University A graduates, University A students will rate University B students as being smarter and better writers than they; if told the opposite, however, then University A students will express the opposite prejudice and rate themselves higher (cite forthcoming)). Even individuals who explicitly articulate egalitarian beliefs tend to demonstrate moderate to strong implicit attitudinal biases toward higher-status groups (whites, young people, men); this is true regardless of the individual’s own group membership(s) (Greenwald and Banaji 1995; Banaji 2001). In other words, individuals internalize prejudice, discrimination, racism, and/or oppression (Jost and Banaji 1994; Jost et al. 2002; Kay et al. 2002). â€Å"[M]embers of disadvantaged groups internalize negative stereotypes and evaluations of their own group, to at least some degree† (Jost et. al. 2002: 598). Thus, even if people know that they are members of a group that is treated (merely) as if â€Å"there were inherent and immutable differences between them; as if certain somatic characteristics marked the presence of significant characteristics of mind, emotion, and 15 character; and as if some were of greater worth than others† (Blum 2002: 147), they are still likely to believe, subconsciously at least, that these are accurate assessments of their group membership. It takes a great deal of inner strength to stand up to stigma, discrimination, and prejudice. Even those who consciously reject racialist presumptions may respond differently subconsciously. This may be because of internalized oppression, as discussed above. But it may also be a result of rational adjustments in motivation or expectations. Knowing that one â€Å"is discriminated against, stigmatized, or inherits a history of racial† disadvantage (p. 177) may very well (and rationally) lead one to adopt a presumption of disadvantage — a belief that one’s effort will not be rewarded because of on-going discrimination and racism, and hence a reduction in effort, motivation, and/or aspirations. There is clear evidence of both effort reduction (Stone 2002) and aspiration reduction even among people who consciously reject stereotypes, such as women who profess a liking for mathematics (Nosek et al. 2002). This lowering of expectations is clearly compounded if individuals accept, whether implicitly or explicitly, the idea that they really are inferior in some way (as system justification theory suggests). Furthermore, as Claude Steele’s acclaimed work on â€Å"stereotype threat† shows, there are significant psychological and performative costs even simply in knowing that one is a member of a group that is perceived in a negative light. For example, research over the past few years has consistently shown that black students do worse on verbal tests if told the test is a measure of ability than they do if they are told the test is non-diagnostic (Steele 1997); the same is true for women’s performance on math tests (Keller 2002). Similarly, white students do worse than controls on tests of athletic skills if told that the their performance will indicate their â€Å"natural athletic ability,† but black students do worse if told their performance indicates their â€Å"sports 16 intelligence† (Stone, et. al. 1999). This response to â€Å"stereotype threat† is evident even among very young children (ages six to ten): children above seven years old demonstrate high levels of stereotype consciousness (awareness of others’ stereotypes about various groups), and children who are members of stigmatized groups perform worse when they think they are being measured along stereotypic lines than they do on the exact same test when their stereotype awareness (and hence sense of stereotype threat) is not activated (McKown 2002). These results pose a serious challenge, I believe, to Blum’s claims about the practical import of his moral philosophy. Although it is true that this research has all been done under conditions of â€Å"race† rather than â€Å"racialized groups† being salient (insofar as â€Å"racialized groups† has not become a popular or widespread term), it strikes me as being highly unl.   

International Journal and Communication Technology Research

Volume 2 No. 2, February 2012 ISSN 2223-4985 International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research  ©2012 ICT Journal. All rights reserved http://www. esjournals. org Cloud Computing for Academic Environment Ajith Singh. N1, M. Hemalatha2 2 Department of Computer Science, Karpagam University, Coimbatore, India Department of Software Systems & Research, Karpagam University, Coimbatore, India 1 ABSTRACT In traditional computing, we install software programs on system (computer) update the hardware as per our requirements.Documents we create or save are stored in our computer. Documents are accessible on our own network, but they can’t be accessed by computers outside the network. Using of cloud computing, the software programs aren’t run from one’s personal computer, but are rather stored on servers accessed via the Internet. Cloud Computing provides resources and capabilities of Information Technology (e. g. , applications, storages, communi cation, collaboration, infrastructure) via services offered by CSP (cloud service provider).Cloud Computing has various characteristics as shared infrastructure, self-service, pay-per use model, dynamic and virtualized, elastic and scalable. Cloud computing in academic environment will be benefitted by every student and staff where lots of collaboration and safety of data is needed in academic. Academic has various departments and many semesters where lots of students need to access the computing a need for highly available up-to-date software and hardware is must. Cloud computing has the capacity of scaling and elasticity which is perfect for such an environment.Keywords: Cloud Computing, Web service, Virtualization, Grid Computing, Virtual Computing Lab, higher education institutions I. INTRODUCTION Cloud computing growth has taken all the attention of various communities like researches, student, business, consumer and government organization. Big data is the main reason for comi ng of cloud computing in the show, everyday lots of data in the size of PETA bytes are uploaded in the digital world which required lots of storage and computing resources.Cloud Computing is a marketing term which is also known as utility computing deliver the service as software, platform and infrastructure as a service in pay-as-you-go model to consumers. Berkeley report says on this services as â€Å"Cloud computing, the long held dream of computing as a utility, has the potential to transform a large part of the IT industry, making software even more attractive as a service. Education has been gradually expanded, and the education object has slowly turned to social staff.The teaching method from black board to online is growing fast than ever. An online tutor which helps has to take class in any hour is an advance of learning using technology. E-learning and online solution is what we required in education environment. With the increasing number in receiving education, a series of new problems have emerged. For example: As teaching methods change, the existing teaching-learning methods cannot meet demand; and with the constant expansion of education, the existing teaching facilities also need to constantly update.When Cloud Computing appears, it provides a new solution to establish a unified, open and flexible network teaching platform and reduce the hardware input [10]. Internet is the resource where we can transform cloud computing, it can deliver the most advanced software and educational materials, hardware resources and services to students and educators in even the most impoverished or remote school districts in the state, without the need for advanced IT expertise at those locations. At the same point, it does more for significantly less, providing needed relief for currently strained education budgets [12].IT companies are eager to encourage educational adoption of cloud computing; for example, Google Apps for Education Suite comprises Google Mail , Calendar, Talk, Docs, Sites and Video with zero cost and without advertisements [1], According to a Forrester cost analysis [9], Google Apps is more effective than a Microsoft Exchange e-mail. Based on CSU research, the costs of software licensing, server hardware and staffing to support 50,000 users by using Microsoft Exchange e-mail (the number of undergraduate e-mail accounts at CSU) would be $9,774,000 per year [2].The cost of Google Apps for businesses is $50 per user per year, or with 50,000 users, $2,500,000 per year. The cost of Google Apps Education Edition, however, is $0 per year [2]. As we can see from this example, the industrial cloud computing solution for the educational institution already gave an estimated savings from about $9,774,000 per year to $2,500,000 per year in the â€Å"businesses version† or to zero cost of licensing and equipment in the â€Å"educational version†.Taking into account the last two examples, we can see that both approaches, industrial (or commercial) and non-commercial cloud computing solutions can be successfully employed within educational institutions and another example, IBM launched IBM Cloud Academy that 97 Volume 2 No. 2, February 2012 ISSN 2223-4985 International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research  ©2012 ICT Journal. All rights reserved http://www. esjournals. org s provide a global forum for educators, researchers and IT professionals from education industry to pursue cloud computing initiatives, develop skill and share best practices for reducing operating costs while improving quality and access to education. In this way users do not need to buy a server, only need to purchase related â€Å"services† can create an efficient network teaching platform [10]. Using of cloud computing in academicians in universities are not aware of benefits and characteristic of minimizing the cost of cloud computing.From an ITmanagement view, it radically reduces resource man agement costs —including electric power, cooling and system management personnel, while driving up the utilization of servers and software licenses, which in turn reduces purchasing requirements [12]. Lab Problem The maintenance of dozens of computers in the labs becomes a burden for the system administrator. This paper proposed diskless cluster computing environment in a computer classroom and the development of teaching network management system in computer classroom.In this paper we discuss the â€Å"Cloud Computing† paradigm and characteristics, service and deployment models, implementations of cloud services at universities, and various opportunities and benefits of Cloud Computing for universities & academic institutions. Finally, we suggest a design prototype of Cloud Computing for Academic Environment. IV. Benefits of Cloud Computing †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Reduced implementation and maintenance costs Increased mobility for a glo bal workforce Flexible and scalable infrastructures Quick time to market IT department transformation (focus on innovation vs.Maintenance and implementation) â€Å"Greening† of the data center Increased availability of high-performance applications to small/medium-sized businesses [3] Cloud Computing II. RELATED WORKS Invent of Internet changes the way we use of computer. From mail to shopping we all depend on this huge group of network computer. Cloud computing has entirely changes what the internet means. Powerful of desktop application is available on net and storage is available online wherever we go from any device. ELearning and web 2. 0 learning totally changes of education system.Teacher and student work together in online project not in school or colleges but from home also. Teaching has never been easy without cloud computing [10]. Definitions of cloud is defined by many expert, but the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) definition is a generally accepted standard: â€Å"Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (such as networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. 4 More simply, a cloud can be considered to be a collection of hardware, software and other resources that can be accessed over the Internet, and used to assemble a solution on demand (that is, at the time of the request) to provide a set of services back to the requester. When analyzed the definitions, there is a consensus on few key points; (1) Cloud Computing ensure on-demand access to a pool of computing resources, (2) dynamically scalable services, (3) device and media independency, and (4) easier maintenance of applications due to do not need to be installed on users’ computers.Cloud computing should be elasticity and scalability. Figure (1) [5], adapted [4] shows six phases of computing paradigms, from dummy terminals/mainframes, to PCs, networking computing, to grid and cloud computing. In phase 1, many users shared powerful mainframes using dummy terminals. In phase 2, stand-alone PCs became powerful enough to meet the majority of users’ needs. In phase 3, PCs, laptops, and servers were connected together through local networks to share resources and increase performance.In phase 4, local networks were connected to other local networks forming a global network such as the Internet to utilize remote applications and resources. In phase 5, grid computing provided shared computing power and storage through a distributed computing. III. PURPOSE OF RESEARCH Students’ learning is no longer confined within the classroom in the era of e-learning 2. 0[11]. The environment of IT education could be improved to let student access learning resources anywhere. IGNOU (Indira Gandhi national Open University) is the good exa mple of e-learning.The free software can be adopted for constructing the cloud computing service for the environment of IT like OpenOffice. org such as word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Only a browser is needed for students to connect to the cloud computing service for learning. 98 Volume 2 No. 2, February 2012 ISSN 2223-4985 International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research  ©2012 ICT Journal. All rights reserved http://www. esjournals. org Figure 2. Cloud computing service models VI. CLOUDS COMPUTING IN UNIVERSITIESA Cloud-computing service that will let universities and colleges build custom private clouds that can be integrated into public cloud services [10]. Three main factors interests in Cloud Computing: 1) rapid decrease in hardware cost and increase in computing power and storage capacity, and the advent of multi-core architecture and modern supercomputers consisting of hundreds of thousands of cores; 2) the exponentially growing data size in scientific instrumentation/simulation and Internet publishing and archiving; and 3) the widespread adoption of Services Computing and Web 2. applications. For example, a university student taking a college math course could access a cloud from his or her door room, to obtain a physical or virtual server (with the necessary storage) and a copy of Maple or MATLAB software running on it to use for homework or a class project. Likewise, an elementary school teacher could access the same cloud to request one virtual machine for each of his or her students running Mathmedia software, as part of his or her classroom instructional activities [12]. Figure 1. Six computing paradigms Image source: smart-cloud-computing. logspot. com V. CLOUD PLATFORMS AND SERVICE DEPLOYMENT MODELS A. Essential Cloud Characteristics ? On-demand self-service ? Broad network access ? Resource pooling ? Location independence ? Rapid elasticity ? Measured service B. Cloud Service Models ? Software as a Service (SaaS) ? Use provider’s applications over a network ? Platform as a Service (PaaS) ? Deploy customer-created applications to a cloud ? Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) ? Rent processing, storage, network capacity C. Cloud Deployment Models ? Public-Sold to the public, mega-scale infrastructure ?Private-enterprise owned or leased ? Hybrid-composition of two or more clouds ? Community-shared infrastructure for specific community VII. PRIVATE CLOUD FOR UNIVERSITIES Private cloud (also called internal cloud or corporate cloud) is a marketing term for a proprietary computing architecture that provides hosted services to a limited number of people behind a firewall. Advances in virtualization and distributed computing have allowed corporate network and datacenter administrators to effectively become service providers that meet the needs of their â€Å"customers† within the corporation.Marketing media that uses the words â€Å"private cloud† is designed to a ppeal to an organization that needs or wants more control over their data than they can get by using a third-party hosted service such as Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) or Simple Storage Service 99 Volume 2 No. 2, February 2012 ISSN 2223-4985 International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research  ©2012 ICT Journal. All rights reserved http://www. esjournals. org (S3) [6]. Fig. 3 Represent the private cloud of an organization. be enabling on university campus to safeguard of student, staff, and lecture data. Business Applications Figure 3: Example of Private cloud in organizations Hosted in the cloud are probably the most promising cloud service and the most interesting topic for computer science education because it can give businesses the option to pay as they go while providing the big-impact benefit of the latest technology advancements [7]. The involvement of students in such type of projects with real customers is mutually beneficial to students, fa culty and businesses. †¢ Personal Productivity Applications VIII. PROPOSED EDUCATIONAL CLOUD INFRASTRUCTER PROTOTYPEDesign of Cloud Infrastructure needed the following service and application †¢ Collaboration Application Moving email and PIM (personal information manager) to managed service providers. IDC says that 67 percent of survey respondents believe collaboration applications such as email, chat, conferencing and collaborative file sharing solutions such as SharePoint are a great fit for the cloud because they reduce costs in the short term [7]. For collaboration application GMAIL apps come in handy without any charges. For our International conference I have uploaded spreadsheet for collaboration work here any person involves in maintaining the office work is done online. †¢ Web Serving CIchannelinsider. com predicts that hosted mobile applications through carriers and mobile software providers as well as document-editing applications like those from DataViz an d Quick office are also expected to gain traction [7]. Mobile phone is widely used among student and staff application or service develop in university campus can be used in mobile device also which means every time we are connected to university campus. A university mini Facebook would be a great deal to share and update news among the student and staff.IX. SUGGESTED ACADEMIC ENVIRONEMNT CLOUD Moving web servers, management and analytic tools to the cloud is also at the top of the prioritized list, because this will reduce maintenance costs and reliance on subscription models as well as improve rapidness of deployment [7]. Cloud Sever is the key part of the computing platform to ensure its scalability. All the resource can be store at this cloud server which includes online videos, audios, pictures, and course wares etc. This web server infrastructure in cloud computing can share resources for educational and research purposes. Cloud Backup Some companies like Asigra are moving dis aster recovery and back-up to the cloud. As IDC says, in spite of cloud security concerns, 60 percent of enterprises are still considering moving back-up off-site to the cloud to protect against natural disasters, IT mishaps, power outages and other unforeseen catastrophic events [7]. Drop Box is a free service to take back up of our data in cloud environment it enable synchronize with any device wherever drop box is install. A cloud backup service can The study aims to suggest a cloud environment for academic purposes.Academic environment is where lots of computer is uses and many of them are not in use which lead to malfunction of computer and maintenance is highly complicated due to lack of staff. The propose cloud computing environment will be of storage infrastructure, development platform, and software delivering. Changing of hardware resources and lots of storage capacity is required in academic environment computing lab [11]. Many universities and colleges started using thin client technology to reduce the cost but thin client is not suitable for high performance computing.Office applications, programming language, and multimedia developing courses are not only for IT department but too many departments also. Also every year, the new versions of applications were used for courses with respect to the needs of industry. As a natural result of this progress, new software cause new hardware costs [11]. Installing and maintaining will be free from everyone. Whenever any new software appears many of hardware don’t support and everyday many bytes of storage are required where loss of data is very high due to improper handling of computer by many student. Student mistakenly or unknowingly deletes other data.By using cloud computing in academic environment collaboration among the staff and student will be more like using Google docs or any other private 100 Volume 2 No. 2, February 2012 ISSN 2223-4985 International Journal of Information and Communicatio n Technology Research  ©2012 ICT Journal. All rights reserved http://www. esjournals. org collaboration design on office 635. Cloud Computing will be of great help. By giving a virtual machine to everyone and a secure password student and staff will work on their own virtual machine and if anything happens will only crash the virtual machine not the entire system.Below Fig. 4 represents the proposed cloud computing for academic environment. By this way, lecturers will focus their basic tasks and not lose their workforce. With this cloud computing environment student can work from their lab as well from home. Where there data and application will be available always. [2] Dan R. Herrick. 2009. Google this! : using Google apps for collaboration and productivity. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGUCCS fall conference on User services conference (SIGUCCS '09). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 55-64. DOI=10. 1145/1629501. 1629513 http://doi. acm. rg/10. 1145/1629501. 1629513 [3] Rittinghouse,J. W. , & Ransome,J. F. (2010). Cloud Computing Implementation, Management, and Security. New York: Taylor and Francis Group. [4] http://www. cmlab. csie. ntu. edu. tw/~jimmychad/CN20 11/Readings/CloudComputingNewWine. pdf [5] Furht,B. , and Escalante,A. (2010). Handbook of Cloud Computing. New York: Springer http://searchcloudcomputing. techtarget. com/definition /private-cloud [6] http://www. channelinsider. com/c/a/CloudComputing/Top-5-Cloud-Applications-for-2010319995/? kc=EWWHNEMNL02262010STR2Cloud computing. http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://w ww. google. com/a/help/intl/en/admins/pdf/forrester_cl oud_email_cost_analysis. pdf [7] Khmelevsky,Y. , and Voytenko,V. (2010). Cloud Computing Infrastructure Prototype for University Education and Research. Proceedings of the 15th Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education. Kelowna, Canada: ACM. [8] Personalized and self regulated learning in the Web 2. 0 era: International exemplars of innovative pedagogy using social software, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2010, 26(1), 28-43 [9] http://code. google. om/appengine/docs/whatisgooglea ppengine. html [10] The Research and Application of Network Teaching Platform Based on Cloud Computing, Zhang Tao and Jiao Long, International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 [11] Cloud Computing For Distributed University Campus: A Prototype Suggestion, Mehmet Fatih Erkoc, Serhat Bahadir Kert, http://www. pixelonline. net/edu_future/common/download/Paper_pdf/ ENT30-Erkoc. pdf [12] The Transformation of Education through State Education Clouds, www. ibm. com/ibm/files/N734393J24929X18/EBW0 3002-USEN-00. df Figure 4: Academic Cloud Computing Image source: Erkoc. pdf http://www. pixel-online. net/edu_future/common/download/Paper_pdf/ENT30- X. CONCLUSION Cloud computing is a solution to many problem of computing. Even we are in IT ages complication of computing has created much disaster to computer world. Lots of crisis has happen in business world as well as in academic environment. Data security, storage, processing power is limited while using traditional computing. Data are also in risk and not available all time. But by using of cloud computing the entire problem is solve.Computer in academic environment must have the latest hardware and software. Due to cost many couldn’t fulfill the availability of resource to student and staff by using cloud computing in academic environment we can solve all the issue. Cloud computing is new technology suitable for any environment. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We thank Karpagam University for motivating and encouraging doing our Research work in a Successful. REFERENCES [1] Behrend,T. S. , Wiebe,E. N. , London,J. E. , and Johnson,E. C. (2011). Cloud computing adoption and usage in community colleges. Behavior & Information Technology, 30 (2), 231–240. 101

B minor Mass Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

B minor Mass - Essay Example His positive position in the society had offered him opportunities to improve with his craft, including Mass in B-Minor. The composition is greatly influenced by the composer’s religious views, his personal connections and traditions of his time. About Mass in B-Minor The Mass in B minor was composed by Bach for the Roman Catholic Church. Although it is quite peculiar to think why a devout Lutheran would compose a song for the Catholics, Bach’s relationship with the rest of the society and his roles on it could justify this contrasting idea. The work is consisted of 27 sections divided into four major sections, and six of them are distinctively unchanging and all of which were written in different periods of Bach’s life. Therefore, it is logical to assume that the work is basically â€Å"an anthology† of music written by Bach in the late years of his life (Towe, 1991: 46). The major sections, â€Å"Kyrie,† â€Å"Gloria,† â€Å"Symbolum Nicen um or the Credo,† and â€Å"Sanctus, Hosanna, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei† were written for different purposes in different times; although all of which have a lot to do with the religious proceedings of the Catholic Mass. As how Spitta (n.d.) reviewed the composition, the work is â€Å"the ideal and ‘concentrated presentiment’ of the development of Christianity from Sin (Kyrie), through Atonement with Christ (Gloria), to the Church proceeding from him (Credo) and the memorial supper - the culmination of the doctrine (Sanctus...)† (as cited in Jenkins, 2001); while a lay-man observation would notice the pattern of life Christ followed: birth, death, and resurrection. Kyrie and Gloria Initially, the Kyrie and Gloria were written separately; it was not until 1733 that the two collections were put into one and played in a single setting and became the â€Å"two fifths of the entire work† (â€Å"History,† 2007). Kyrie and Gloria served as a à ¢â‚¬Å"presentation piece to the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland† with whom Bach had indulgence of being the Court Composer (Towe, 1991: 46). The Kyrie is presented to have charming duets of sopranos and interplay or strings and organ (Aylesbury Choral Society, 2004), of which Bach first gained his fame. It started out with a group of choral sopranos, where the ambiance can be best described as an act of awaiting for a predestined suffering; an event where Jesus Christ is particularly famed for. Talbeck (n.d.) noted that the second part of the Kyrie has â€Å"fugal style weaves all voice parts beautifully around the text, portraying a community grounded in hope.† The major sections were divided into several cantatas, which probably were composed also at different times. Most notably, his â€Å"Gloria,† as how the Aylesbury Choral Society (2004) predicts, â€Å"was probably reworked from a now lost instrumental movement.† The cantatas have duets of teno rs, sopranos, a combination of both, and an exploration of other voice ranges to suit the purpose. Symbolum Nicenum The introduction of the â€Å"Symbolum Nicenum† has a slower tempo, where the strings were audibly significant, compared to that of â€Å"Gloria† and denotes ascendance to the throne. The original text is in Latin, but if translated into English, it is known to be the Apostle’s Creed (e.g. Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem as I believe in one God, Father Almighty in English). Thus, the Symbolum Nicenum is also known as the â€Å"

Prepare a report presenting the results of the analysis of recent Statistics Project

Prepare a report presenting the results of the analysis of recent trends in sales, costs and profits of a chosen company - Statistics Project Example The Coca Cola Company is the largest beverage company in the world accounting for about 1.3 billion servings of the 50 billion servings consumed each day. There are over 500 nonalcoholic beverage brands consisting of sparkling beverages and still beverages. Sparkling beverages include Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. The still beverages are water, enhanced waters, juices, ready to drink teas and coffees, energy and sports drinks. The company makes huge profits but notable it made loss in 2006 and 2008 financial years as indicated by the consolidated statement of income (CE-AR, 2006 and CE-AR, 2008). The company is however doing the best to correct mistakes that lead to losses witnessed earlier and prevent such eventuality. The sales of these products tend to be seasonal. The second and third quarters normally accounts for higher unit sales than the first and fourth quarters. The second and third quarters accounts for over 60 percent of the annual net operating income. The seasonality of the sales volume affects the results on quarterly basis. The changes in weather patterns, selling times/days and the shifts in holidays influence the results on annual or quarterly basis. (The Coca Cola Company 2006 Annual Report) The emergence of new companies that deal in beverages have presented a case of stiff competition for Coca Cola. Market research becomes an important determinant of attracting customers. The company hires research experts to facilitate such. In order to counter the steps made by their competitors, the company watches over them. The company has several branches across the world. Although the major branches are in the United States, sales volume outside US exceeds them. Given the marketing strategies used in other parts of the world, the products sell a lot (Breneiser & Allen, 2011). The Coca Cola Company operates in socially and environmentally friendly manner. That remains a long-term priority of the company. It is committed to

Assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Assignment - Case Study Example They can manage their products from one area to the next and capitalize on the most viable opportunities present in the industry. When doing the feasibility study, it found out that the retail business was growing at an exponential rate (Hill and Jones, 2013). This means it has a chance to capitalize on it and use the acquired knowledge over the years to meet its goals. Despite the financial crisis that triggered a price discount for its products, the expansion after the recovery of the economy will be a good way of dealing with an increased demand that will open up new markets both at the retail and wholesale sections. If the company escapes from continued need to expand, it will miss out on opportunities that would have cemented its position in the market. As such, it should proceed with its plans and capitalize on the expected vibrancy of the market. This will also streamline its efficacy in dealing with its supply chain management process in whichever area they operate in. the expansion, therefore, was a good economic and strategic opening for the

Anatomy of a Olympic Team Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Anatomy of a Olympic Team - Research Paper Example Unfortunately, the British Swimming Team turned up with only three medals, rather than the expected target of five to seven medals. This paper is all about researching and analyzing the various factors related to how the British Olympic Association’s systems and culture, the external influences on the team, individual athletes’ characteristics and the overall elements influencing the team, had an impact on the performance of the British Swimming team. From this analysis, one can discover how successful the British Swimming Team has been in achieving its targets, satisfying its swimmers’ needs, and preserving its team’s survival on an international level (Parliament UK 2010; Pullbuoy 2012; Swimpsych 2012). One of the first things related to this analysis that should be considered is the goal that the British Olympic Swimming Team was aiming to achieve; a target of five to seven medals for the 2012 Olympics. This goal was not an unrealistic one, as it was ba sed on various statistics. For instance, the number of finalists that had qualified for the Games was almost four times the number of finalists that had qualified back in the 2000 Olympics. Also, if the average number of medals won by the British Swimming Team in global swimming events in the last nine years is considered, the number comes up to approximately five. Furthermore, the number of swims was greater than it had been since 1992 and it is noted that 40% of the swimming team had swum faster in 2012 than in 2011. These statistics, along with the record of the highest number of swimmers in Britain’s Olympic history to qualify for the finals, prove that, in theory, a target of five to seven medals was certainly a realistic one. However, even though there were promising signs about the team completing the target, issues have been raised concerning the level of performance achieved. True, the statistics stated above are not the only factors that can control the team’ s performance. Nevertheless, the performance of individual swimmers can certainly be controlled; estimates were made using the best swimming times of individuals in relays from 2006, 2007 and 2012-2012. If, hypothetically, it is assumed that a swimmer can produce their best time in the heats, semis and finals, it was found that only 4 out of 49 swims produced personal best performances, while 8 out of 49 swims produced textile best times. This low quota of best times rightfully proves that the British Swimming Team was not sufficiently prepared, resulting in it facing a high level of difficulty. Had it been so, the results of the 2012 Olympics would have been greatly improved, as their targeted goal was an easily achievable one (Pullbuoy 2012). Another aspect that should be considered is the characteristics of key swimmers in the Great Britain Swimming Team. The team has a record breaker in their midst, in the form of Michael Jamieson, a first class Scottish swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics after competing in the 200 meter breaststroke and has broken the British record at least 3 times. His skill set comprises mainly of the breast stroke technique and the butterfly technique. Jamieson’s coach, David McNully, speaks highly of him and is always on his toes to help Jamieson improve his technique. Jamieson has always been taking swimming seriously, always improving and very self-motivating. They might not have done so well in the 2012 Olympics, but with Michael Jamieson in

Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Thinking - Essay Example Only a few databases can offer these services (ERIC, 2012). ERIC, however, has its own disadvantages. At times, research through ERIC can be time consuming. This is due to the large library of information that ERIC has to offer (ERIC, 2012). Hence, locating information can be tiresome. Another disadvantage of using ERIC is that there is a cost incurred in accessing the database. Even though, one pays for using ERIC, it still has a broad variety of data that cannot be accessed anywhere else. Locating and reading original articles rather than just using the abstract source is vital due to a number of reasons. The reasons are that: the original article has the original and full information. The original article is of higher standards than the abstract, and is up-to-date and complete. The original article represents the original information of what the article is about (ERIC, 2012). Unlike the information found on abstracts, which might just describe the original study, the original arti cle has full information of the topic matter without biasness. Also, in most cases, people find that original articles are of higher standards than the abstract. This is because the original article is examined for quality before it is published, unlike abstracts. Finally, original articles are always up-to-date. They comprise of the most recent information, unlike abstracts (ERIC, 2012). It is advantageous to start with secondary sources of information since these secondary sources are produced by individuals who have examined the primary source and enhanced its information. Secondary sources give assurance that the primary source is viable (ERIC, 2012). They also summarize the primary source so that on could know what is contained in the primary source. Some of the valuable traits of secondary sources are: secondary sources are gathered from diverse databases. They also provide a summary of primary sources (ERIC, 2012). Gathering information for secondary sources takes less time t han a primary source, and secondary sources provide a greater database of information. Secondary sources have quite a number of limitations as compared to primary sources. Some of these limitations are that the quality of the information is low, and information may be incomplete. Library holdings that are considered as primary sources are articles that offer first-hand testimonies, as well as direct evidence regarding a topic that is being investigated. These holdings are created by recorders or witnesses who experienced the event itself (ERIC, 2012). Library holdings that are primary sources refer to the sources that were created at the period of the event. They can, however, comprise of memoirs, autobiographies, or oral histories that were recorded later. Library holdings that are primary sources are distinguished by content, irrespective of whether they are available in original format, in digital format, in microfilm or published format. They can also be found in many libraries across the United States (ERIC, 2012). Articles differ in format, but in general have a reasonably similar scheme. They begin with a segment that looks at the background of the research, and a clarification of why the authors chose to do the research. It is followed by enlightenment of how the researchers did the experiment, and their results, plus conclusions. However, in order to assess a report and determine whether it is viable for the research, there are three ways of assessing an article to

Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Nursing - Essay Example Interest in professionalizing the nursing occupation emerged in healthcare organizations in 1970s. This stemmed from the need to provide a substitute motivation for workers with blocked access to structures of mobility and that the ideological draw of professionalism offered the promise of higher degree of control. (Barker 2008, p. 9) Here, it is important to underscore that profession through their scientific credibility becomes a source of power and prestige. Indeed, it arises out of self-interest and provides a means by which occupational groups exert influence to advance their own interest in society. By professionalizing the nursing profession, it was expected that traditional collective action such as unionism would be countered and that nurses, being educated as professionals in colleges and universities, were expected to exercise their knowledge and skills without bureaucratic constraint. The classical criteria that make a field or profession professional were posited in 1915 by Abraham Flexner, an imminent sociologist, who outlined several qualities. The most important of which follows: Flexner’s qualities for professionalism stressed rationalism, scientific standards and objectivity. These criteria were addressed by the model that conceptualized nursing professionalism, the Miller’s Wheel. In the wheel model, the center represents the essential foundation of nursing education in an institution of learning and, according to Miller: Each of the eight spokes represents other behaviors deemed necessary in maintaining or increasing nurses’ professionalism. They are competence and continuing education; adherence to the code of ethics; participation in the primary and referent professional organizations, i.e., ANA and state constituent member associations; publication and communication; orientation toward community services; theory and research development and utilization; and

Protein Extraction and Gel Electrophoresis Lab Report

Protein Extraction and Gel Electrophoresis - Lab Report Example The sodium dodecyl sulfate coats the proteins in proportion to their molecular weight and then confers the same negative electrical charge across all proteins in the sample. The rate of migration of a polypeptide in SDS-PAGE is inversely proportional to the logarithm of its molecular weight. This means that the larger the polypeptide, the slower it migrates in a gel. The molecular weight is determined by comparing the migration of protein spots to the migration of standards. Plots of log molecular weight versus the migration distance are reasonably linear. The proteins separated by SDS-PAGE are often recovered in a procedure that involves localizing the protein of interest on the gel following SDS-PAGE, eluting the protein from the gel, removing the sodium dodecyl sulfate from the eluted sample, and finally renaturing the protein for subsequent analysis. Proteins that are eluted from gels are used in varied downstream applications successfully, such as protein chemistry, determinatio n of amino acid composition, identification of polypeptides that correspond to specific enzyme activity, and other purposes.The analysis of protein concentrations is a significant assay in biochemistry research. The Bradford assay is one of the most widely used methods to determine concentrations of protein, relative to a standard. The technique is based on the formation of a complex between proteins in solution and the dye. This assay is commended for overall use, particularly for assessing concentrations of proteins for gel electrophoresis.... The proteins separated by SDS-PAGE are often recovered in a procedure that involves localizing the protein of interest on the gel following SDS-PAGE, eluting the protein from the gel, removing the sodium dodecyl sulfate from the eluted sample, and finally renaturing the protein for subsequent analysis. Proteins that are eluted from gels are used in varied downstream applications successfully, such as protein chemistry, determination of amino acid composition, identification of polypeptides that correspond to specific enzyme activity, and other purposes. The analysis of protein concentrations is a significant assay in biochemistry research. The Bradford assay is one of the most widely used method to determine concentrations of protein, relative to a standard. The technique is based on the formation of a complex between proteins in solution and the dye, Brilliant Blue G. This assay is commended for overall use, particularly for assessing concentrations of proteins for gel electrophores is. It is based on observations that absorbance maximum for acidic mixtures of Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 that do shift from 465 nm up to 595 nm at a time when protein binding occurs. The assay is effective because of the extermination coefficient of the albumin-dye complex solution is usually constant over a range of 10-fold concentration (Westermeier, Naven & Ho?pker, 2008). The dye reacts mainly with arginine residues but less with histidine, lysine, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine residues. Seemingly, this examination is not all that perfect for acidic or basic proteins. However, it is somewhat sensitive to the bovine serum albumin, even more than most proteins, by a factor of two. Gamma globulin (IgG) is the protein standard of preference. The objective of this

Managing Creativity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Creativity - Essay Example I have been always a lover of art and thanks to my older sister I grew up by going as often as we both could go to the High Art Museum of Santiago, Chile. She loved to take me to this rather small museum if we compare it with some of the European ones, but loaded with some extraordinary paintings that till today are some of the best to me. We were then delighted with the works of such talented Masters as Pedro Lira (1845-1912), Camilo Mori (1896-1973) and Alberto Valenzuela Llanos (1869-1925), among so many other ones. Lately, in 1994, the Museum showed for the first time an exhibition that made us to be breathless with the perfection of paintings from Claudio Bravo (born in 1936). I was living in Spain at that date, but she told to me about this great exhibition and I immediately took interest by knowing more about him through the newspapers and related literature I was able to get. I must admit that I have always consider myself with a much more classic and conservative tendency th an modern on art feelings. It is still somehow difficult to me to understand the so called beauty of avant-garde or ultramodern paintings with abstract figures that symbolize whatever the viewer wants to see. However, my husband had reason when telling me about the great artist I could found on the non-classic but surrealist Master Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Even though I lived for 3 years in Spain, I never really took the trip to Figueras, to his Museum and natal city in the province of Gerona. But today I live in USA and knowing how famous Dali has always been and loving the idea of a small trip from our home in Greenville (SC) to the Salvador Dali Museum, St. Petersburg (Fla), we prepared ourselves for this adventure on art. It was then and there, three years ago when my eyes were opened to his work. I was tremendously impressed with his paintings. I truly never expected I was going to fall in love with them. They are not the classic style I am always looking for. The subject of his paintings is not obvious to my eyes and senses as the ones I know what I am seeing at the first sight of them for the first time. In contrast, they are very liberal figures and shapes, colors, symbols, several paintings and ideas in one canvas, but mixed in a way that captivated my full attention till today. Since then I cannot ignore how splendid this eccentric artist was. He was eager for the new, not only for the subjects that he picked up to paint, but for the new ways of presenting them to the world. Always using different tools, from brushes to everything else that could allow him to accomplish what he had on mind at the time he was painting (Descharnes and Neret, 1998). Creativity and Business At this point you might be wondering what this brief talk about my personal feelings on art has to do with business. But believe me, it is related. According to Wikipedia, the free web encyclopedia, creativity by definition is a mental process that involves the generation of new beliefs, ideas, observations, or new associations between existing ones. And Dali is just one

Winning isnt evrything Essay Example for Free

Winning isnt evrything Essay Vince Lombardis famous saying Winning isnt the most important thing. Its the only thing is unfortunately the motto of too many athletes today. Although winning is important and sports are, and should be taken seriously, by far, winning isnt the only thing. Putting everything you have and giving one hundred percent to the effort is also very important to competition. A team that puts everything they have into a game and comes out the losers, has a lot more to be proud of than a team who comes in first but only gave some effort. Over the years many teams have lost important games due to a few inches, one pitch or a strike of bad luck although these teams lost, they take it into the next game and gave one hundred and ten percent. Last month at the Erie Mayors Cup 10K and 5K race, competitors from around the tri-state area were in competition. Trophies and plaques were to be awarded to the first, second and third place runners. A 10K is a 6.2 mile long race across the streets of downtown Erie in 85 degree heat and humidity. Runners who are running in the 10K have to show tremendous determination, stamina, speed and physical agility not to mention surviving in grueling temperatures and humidity. Great Olympic and Boston Marathon runners have dropped out of a 10K due to its intense strain. I was on hand to witness the race and saw many great athletes finish the race with great times. These are runners who put every day into running and run every race. Soon after these runners had crossed the finish line and been handed their trophies, the last runner in the race came through the finish line with his hands in the air and to thunderous applause. He was 87 years old, and had taken up the sport after his doctors told him he had a cholesterol problem when he was 67. The runner in this story was not out to win the Mayors Cup 10K, he wasnt out to set a record time or come in first. He came in dead last, but finished the race. If he would have listened to Vince Lombardi and say Oh, I cant win, their are professional runners from colleges and high schools competing against me! he wouldnt have completed his life long goal of running in a 10K. Better late than never. The most important thing is for all who participate is to have fun and do it with pride and determination, to set a goal and reach it. Two good sayings that contradict Vince Lomabardi stateIt doesnt matter if you win or lose, its how you play the game and If at first you dont succeed, try, try again Words to live by.

Customs and traditions in the USA Essay Example for Free

Customs and traditions in the USA Essay Customs and traditions are important part of our culture, of our lives. Customs and traditions unite, build community. They provide identity. They tie us to our ancestors and heritage. They remind us of where we came from. Every country and every nation has its own traditions and customs. Its very important to know traditions and customs of different people. It will help you to know more about the history and life of different nations and countries. Custom is a traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a particular society, place, or time; a thing that one does habitually. Tradition is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way; long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another All countries have their social customs and peculiarities, and the US is no exception. The first group of custom which is worth speaking about is connected with meeting someone. When meeting someone for the first time, it is customary to shake hands, both for men and for women. Hugs are only exchanged between close friends. Kissing is not common. Among friends, it’s common for men to kiss ladies on one or both cheeks. Men don’t usually kiss or embrace each other. Americans usually introduce themselves by their first name and last name (such as â€Å"Hello, I’m John Smith†), or, if the setting is very casual, by their first name only (â€Å"Hi, I’m John†). The common response when someone is introduced to you is â€Å"Pleased to meet you.† Americans generally dislike formality or any sort of social deference due to age or position, and most quickly say ‘Please call me Rick (or Rita)’. To Americans, informality shows no lack of respect. Because of the rise of women’s liberation in America, women may be introduced with the title ‘Ms’ (pronounced ‘mizz’) and some women object to being addressed as ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’. In some social circles, women are introduced after their husbands, e.g. Mrs Chuck Whizzkid, in which case you shouldn’t address her as Chuck! Americans often reply ‘You’re Welcome’ or something similar when somebody thanks them, and they may think you’re impolite if you don’t do likewise. If someone asks ‘How are you?’, it’s usual to reply ‘Fine thanks’ and don’t complain even if you feel dreadful. Americans don’t have status or inherited titles (e.g. Sir or Lord) but it is necessary to defer to people with a professional title which has been earned. These include foreign diplomats (e.g. Sir), members of the Senate (Senator) or Congress (Congressman/Congresswoman), judges, medical doctors and others with a doctorate, military officers (e.g. General, Colonel), professors, priests and other religious ministers (e.g. Father, Rabbi, Reverend). If you’re invited to dinner, it’s customary to take along a small present, e.g. flowers, a plant, chocolates or a bottle of wine (but nothing extravagant or ostentatious). But choosing flowers you should remember that American people pay attention to the meaning of flowers. For example carnations are associated with bad luck, chrysanthemums are for cemeteries and roses signify love. Guests are normally expected to be punctual with the exception of certain society parties, when late arrival is de rigueur (provided you don’t arrive after the celebrity guest). It’s usual to arrive half an hour to an hour after the official start of a dance. Invitations to cocktail parties or receptions may state 5pm to 7pm, in which case you may arrive at any time between these hours. Dinner invitations are often phrased as 8pm for 8.30pm. This means you should arrive at 8pm for drinks and dinner will be served at 8.30pm. Anyone who arrives late for dinner or doesn’t turn up at all, should expect to be excluded from future guest lists. On the other hand, you must never arrive early. The custom of not taking off the shoes is peculiar to Americans. That is why don’t think of whether you should take off your shoes or not. If it is necessary the host will warn you about it himself. When watching American films I always wondered why Americans did not take off their footwear. The matter turns out to be that there is no much dirty and dust in American streets. Some people who were in America say that it is possible to sit on some pavements and not to make oneself dirty. One more reason explaining this custom is that majority of Americans prefer driving but not going of foot. That is why they are not afraid of dirtying their houses. Some families say grace before meals, so follow your host’s example before tucking in. Table manners are more relaxed in the U.S. than in many other countries. The fork is held in the right hand and is used for eating. The knife is used to cut something. To use the knife, the fork is switched to the left hand. To continue eating, the fork is switched back to the right hand. Don’t overstay your welcome. This becomes obvious when your host starts looking at his watch, talking about his early start the next day. The custom which is also typical for the USA is tipping. Most Americans are shocked by anyone who doesn’t tip or who tips too little. The one you will encounter most often is at restaurants. American restaurants do not add a service charge to the bill. Therefore it is expected that the customer will leave a tip for the server. Common practice is to leave a tip that is equal to 15% of the total bill for acceptable service, and about 20% for superior service. If the service was unusually poor, then you could leave a smaller tip, about 10%. Other professions where tipping is expected include hairdressers, taxi drivers, hotel porters, parking valets, and bartenders. The general rule is to tip approximately 15% of the bill. In situations where there is no bill the tip may range from $1 to $5, depending on the type of establishment and on how good the service was. The custom of tipping came to America from Great Britain. In the 18th century in Great Britain the boxes with the inscription T.I.P.S. which was meant To Insure Prompt Service were on the tables during having tea. Then this term came to America. Baby showers have been a tradition in the US for a long time now, and are growing in popularity here, too. What better excuse is there for getting a group of friends together than to celebrate a new life? Plus, the mum-to-be get lots of great presents for her and her baby, result! The only person who shouldnt arrange a baby shower is the mum-to-be. The whole event should be great fun and completely stress-free for her. Friends, family or work colleagues are the usual organizers. You could either keep it as a surprise for the mum-to-be, or tell her what you are planning. Baby showers usually have some sort of baby theme to get everyone in the mood. Popular themes include: Teddy bears tea party. Get hold of as many teddies as you can and make sure each guest brings one, too! As presents, they could bring teddy bear-related books. The cake could be in the shape of a teddy bear. You get the general idea! Nursery rhymes. Arrange toys linked to nursery rhymes around the room , such as shoes (There was an old lady), a spider (Little Miss Muffet), a bucket (Jack Jills pail), and toy boats (Row row row your boat). Ask guests if they can count how many rhymes are represented. Books. Ask each guest to bring a book that meant something to them as a child. Its a great way for mum to start up her childs library. For decoration, everyone could also bring books to arrange around the room. The cake could be in the shape of a fairytale book. One more tradition connected with babies is to give a baby a birthstone. The Tradition of Birthstones goes back further than written history. People wear jewelry containing stones designated for their Birth Month. In the USA there are a lot of traditions connecting with wedding. It is known that before marriage engagement takes place. As a rule a man invite a woman to the restaurant to make her a proposal. Engagement ring obligatory should have a brilliant. The diamond engagement ring originated with King Maximillian who presented Mary of Burgundy with a diamond ring in 1477 as a token of his love. And the ring is presented unexpectedly. It may found in the glass of champagne by the woman or in the bud of the rose. To my mind this tradition is very romantic. The tradition of a Bachelor Party which is held for the Groom and usually sponsored by The Best Man the night before the Wedding and a Bridal Shower which is usually sponsored by The Brides Maid is very popular in the USA. By the way the number of bridesmaids in America amount from two to twenty. The tradition of bridesmaids dressing the same as each other and in similar style to the bride comes from ancient days when it was believed that evil spirits have a more difficult time distinguishing which one is the bride and putting a hex on her. The tradition of a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner also takes place in America. It is usually celebrated between the immediate families of spouses in the late afternoon the day before the wedding. The Grooms Family traditionally provides for this celebration. The Wedding Ceremony is most often performed as part of a religious ceremony each with its own specific customs and traditions. On the day of the wedding the Groom does not see the Bride until the actual ceremony. As Custom would have it from Victorian Times: the Bride wears Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and a Sixpence in her shoe. The bride and groom exchange their rings to mark the permanent commitment of the new spouses to each other. The rings should be gold. According to history gold rings signified a financial sacrifice on the part of the prospective husband. Ring finger is the fourth ringer which is considered to be connected directly to the heart by a route that was called â€Å"the vein of love.† In the USA tradition of engraving of wedding rings is popular. The kiss on weddings dates back to the earliest days of civilization in the Middle East. A kiss was used as the formal seal to agreements, contracts, etc. In Ancient Rome a kiss was still being used as the legal bold to seal contracts. Hence the obvious use of the custom at the end of the wedding ceremony to â€Å"seal† the marriage vows. After the wedding ceremony newlyweds are covered with rice which is used as a symbol of fertility and as a wish for a â€Å"full pantry†. A Wedding Reception is usually held after the ceremony for all family and friends to celebrate. The Brides Family usually provides for this celebration. Traditionally the groom’s flower, worn on his lapel, usually matches one of the flowers in his bride’s bouquet. This tradition goes back to medieval times when knights wore the colors of their lady in tournaments. All of us know the tradition of throwing bridal bouquet and garter. The history of this tradition is very interesting I believe. In parts of Europe during the 14th contrary, having a piece of the bride’s clothing was thought to bring good luck. Guests would literally destroy the brides dress by ripping off pieces of fabric. In order to prevent this, brides began throwing their bouquets to the unwed girls. And grooms began to throw garter to unmarried men. One more wedding tradition is connected with CARRYING THE BRIDE OVER THE THRESHOLD Traditionally, the bride had to enter her new home the first time through the front door. If she tripped or stumbled while entering it was considered to be very bad luck. And the groom carried her over the threshold les she should stumble. Hence the tradition of the groom carrying the bride over the threshold. They bring us all together, no matter where we are. We can all relate to them and understand each other because we all use them. It is also a great connection for family and friends. There are traditions that are upheld for hundreds of years that are so important in our hearts. It links and connects us to past members of our family and our world whom we may never have gotten the chance to meet. They teach us about ourselves, our families, and the world around us. We can learn our history, why this tradition was started and what it signifies when we follow it today. They can work as the glue that holds us together. They are our culture, our heritage; they are us.

What a Games Designer does

What a Games Designer does What is a games designer? A games designer is a person who designs video games. They use programs to create the characters, they storyboard and the graphics. They also write the programs that allow the users to interact with the game. The gaming industry did not begin to develop 1960s and 1970s, when computer programmers at some large universities big companies, and government labs began designing games on mainframe computers (Ferguson page 57). Over the years the gaming industry has grown at an alarming rate. As technology grows so did the game designing industry. Since the gaming industry is so large, many people that have a dream to make games can do it. When interviewing with Terri Banker, he said the most important professional qualities for game designers is to have an interest in communicating with other people, and developing interesting things as a group. And being thoughtful, creative, and patient. But when some people try to get in this industry, they dont know what it tak es to successful game designer. To become a successful game designer, they have to know the background information, education and training requirements and the daily duties with the profession. The background information is the history of game designing. Steve Russell was perhaps the first video game designer (Ferguson page 56). In 1962, when he was in college, he made up a simple game called Spacewar. The graphics of space ships flew through a starry sky on the video screen, the object of the game being to shoot down enemy ships. Nolan Bushnell, another early designer, played Spacewar in college. In 1972 he put the first videogame in an arcade. It was a game very much like Spacewar, and he called it Computer Space. However, many users found the game difficult to play, so it was not a success. Bruce Artwick published the first of many versions of Flight Simulator. Most games were designed for video machines. Not until the later 1970s did specially equipped TVs and early personal computers begin appearing. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, designers working for Atari and Intellivision made games for home video systems, PCs (computer), and video arcades. Many of these new ga mes had graphics, sound, text, and animation. Designers of games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders were successful and popular. Richard Garriott created Ultima, another major role-playing game. Games began to feature the names and photos of their programmers on the packaging, giving credit to individual designers (Ferguson page 57). Workers at Electronic Arts began to focus on making games for PCs to take advantage of technology that included the computer keyboard, more memory, and floppy disks. New technology included more compact floppies, sound cards, and larger memory. Designers also had to create games that would work on more than just one platform such as PCs, Apple computers, and 64 bit video game machines. In the 1990s, Electronic Arts started to hire teams of designers instead of those who design games from start to finish independently because it was so more sufficient. Larger teams were needed because games became more complex. Design teams would include not only programmers but also artists, musicians, writers, and animators. Designers made breakthroughs such as using more entertaining graphics, creating more depth in role playing games, using virtual reality in sports games, and using more visual realism in racing games and flight simulators. This new breed of designers created games using technique s like Assembly, and HyperCard. By 1994, designers began to use CD-ROM technology to its fullest. At some high school there are game design programs may be offered. Even though a college degree isnt required to be a game designer, most companies are looking for creative people who also have a degree (Ferguson #59). There are many degrees for game designs such as BAGD and BSGD. A BAGD (DigiPens Bachelor of Arts in game design) is an interdisciplinary degree program that prepares students to become designers and artists for the electronic and digital entertainment industries. The BAGD faculty works with companies like Nintendo software technology Microsoft, and EA. The BAGD faculties come from a wide range of backgrounds and include individuals with professional experience in game design, development, and art at companies. A BSGD (DigiPens Bachelor of Science in game design) is an interdisciplinary degree program that stresses the importance of having the technology, ability to write computer programs, and also a solid grounding in the humanities and social sciences. The BSGD curri culum is the game industry requires versatile and knowledgeable personnel, and most game designer job description list skills that include scripting and tuning as well as art design. Graduates of this program are prepared to work in the video and electronic game industry (www.digipen.edu). When interviewing with Terri Banker, he was asked what advice you would give high school students who are interested in this career. He responded if you want to start making games, you dont need anyones permission, start now! Not only make them, study them and play them and play them with people. Figure out what goes right and what goes wrong, then fix it and start over. I would say go to college for computer science, art or any other discipline that interests you. Game design is so broad that most career paths will be able to lead you there, but its always good to have a skill that can get your foot in the door. Do things! Play games, watch movies, go to theater plays, etc. Game design is about c reating meaningful experiences. The more experiences you have the better designer you will be. Experiences do not have to be game related though, just as an example Ive worked at a hotel most of my life doing all sorts of things, also a telecommunications company and even a dredging company. I feel all of those experiences save contributed in many different ways to shape my design philosophies. Game designer have many daily duties. Daily work varies greatly, and it will depend on what type of game youre designing, what type of designer there are and what stage of completion the game is on. Initially, they will be crafting a broad design of the game in broad strokes, what do they want the game to be? As the game moves along they will need to define all the features and make a plan for everything the player will be able to do in the game. Then its their turn to design these activities down to their details, and design the ways activities and features interact with each other. They will also need to design all the games systems, the mechanisms and gears that hold the game together. It will be their job to make sure everything is good enough to put in the game and to make sure that everything fits together nicely. Then theyll need to take point on the polish of the game, so that it feels professionally done and provides a quality experience. Each of these steps is iterative, wh ich means that you wont get any of them right on your fires try. They will have to try different things, test them, to see how they fare, adapt, re-design tryagain. When interviewing with Terri Banker, he said this is another one of my favorite parts, I usually dont know what the day is going to be like! This makes it very exciting. One thing to keep in mind though, is that you still work eight hours a day or sometimes more, have meetings, use excel and send emails just like at any other job. One was the most important professional qualities of a game designer is teamwork, listening, communicating, adapting and compromising. The responsibilities for a game designer is to designing the layout and game play of a video game and to heavy coding and programming skills. In conclusion if they love to play games, understanding how games worked, and trying to mess with the worked then game designing is a perfect career for them. Terri Banker advice for new game designer staring out is to play a lot of game and make a lot of game. To find a job in the industry include going to job fairs where they find recruiters looking for creative people to work at their companies, and checking in with online user groups, which often post jobs on the internet. To have better opportunities to advance their position and possibly earn more money, computer and video game designers have to keep up with technology (Ferguson page 61). They must be willing to constantly learn more about design, the industry, and even financial and legal matters involved in development. With background knowledge, education and training and daily duties of the profession, this is what you need to know to have a profession in game designs.