The Importance of Comprehensive Classroom Management

The teacher is a manger. The organization he or she manages is a group of students from diverse backgrounds and with differing skills and abilities. Some are already eager learners, while others have to be awakened to the joys and satisfactions of learning. Still others have special problems that must be dealt with effectively in order for them to learn and in order to maintain an environment conducive to learning for the whole group. It's important, first, to provide students with opportunities to learn about things that interest them and then, to find ways to introduce the learning that peaks the student's interest. If the teacher can find ways to relate the topic to the student's present experience, and provide interactive learning activities that the student can actively participate in, then the student will gain motivation. The physical environment plays a role in learning too. Some students learn better in different lighting (softer or brighter), sitting at a desk or lying on the floor, with music on or in perfect silence, in a warmer or cooler place, etc. The teacher can establish areas in the room that meet these different needs and styles of learning. Students who learn better lying down, for example, could bring mats to school that can be unrolled for study time. A small tent in the corner could provide the dimmer light some students need. A radio or CD player with earphones could be allowed during study time provided it truly helps the student to learn. The importance of reasonable rules that everyone understands can hardly be overestimated. On the first or second day of school the teacher could initiate an interactive discussion with the students about why rules are needed in the classroom. Let students share a few experiences that happened when there were no rules. Then, ask them to come up with no more than five rules for classroom behavior. They could each write down a rule or two they think is important on an index card, and the teacher could then let each person read what he/she wrote down. A list could be generated on the board. Or, they could start by brainstorming a list of every rule they can think of, then evaluate, eliminate, combine (just the word respect, for example, includes many rules), and whittle them down into three to five good rules. A student with good handwriting or an artistic bent could be chosen to make a large poster with the rules, or a bulletin board for classroom display where everybody can see it. Once the students have set their classroom rules, they are invested in them. I have tried this with grades 4-7 students, and it worked very well to establish an orderly learning environment. The students took the rules more seriously because they had had a say in setting them. It teaches democracy, too. If the students do not think of something the teacher considers important, the teacher can add it to their list and explain why. However, this is unlikely. In my experience, the student's rules tend to be very good-actually, the same rules I would have made myself, only they mean more to the students since they have developed them as a group and the rules are in their own words. Lane and Wehby (2005) report that 1% of school age children have been labeled emotionally disturbed and are receiving special education services because of it. They estimate an additional 2% to 16% of U. S. students who demonstrate anti-social behavior patterns such as defiance disorders or conduct disorders. When a student is oppositional or defiant, the teacher must be careful not to respond angrily and get into a confrontation. Teachers should be aware of their own triggers so that they can control their own behavior. This will help them to avoid a confrontation. It is best to remain calm and to diffuse the student's anger before it escalates into a crisis and/or violence. If a student refuses to do a certain task, offering an alternative choice may help, and it would be a good idea for the teacher always to have alternative tasks ready just in case-alternative activities that are still learning activities. A sense of humor may be a teacher's best defense when students are uncooperative. It is better to prevent escalation than to deal with a crisis later. One way to do this is to reinforce good behavior with praise, a smile, gesture, touch, â€Å"or a pleasant comment when they display unprompted, socially appropriate behavior† (Albin, 2003). Don't wait until students are disruptive to pay attention to them! Teachers should make the effort to notice and praise good behavior and reward it. Punishment is a negative way of dealing with problematic behavior. It may provide reinforcement for bad behavior if the reason the student is misbehaving is because he/she wants attention. If a student misbehaves because he doesn't want to do his work, and then gets sent out in the hall or to the office, then he gets what he wanted, and the bad behavior is reinforced. Rewards for positive behavior, such as time to do an activity the students loves, a toy or candy, or one-on-one time with the teacher (just to talk and visit for a few minutes) makes students happy to learn and to be in school. Punishment often produces resentment, and may make the student hate school. A student who hates school is not an eager learner, so punishment can be anti-productive (Peck & Scarpati (2005). Teachers commonly deal with difficult students by restricting them-the more intense the student's needs are, the more restriction–such as placing a child's desk toward the wall (Duhaney, 2003). However, a needs-based approach is more positive and effective and suggests recourse to greater resources. Perhaps the child needs to learn appropriate ways to handle anger and aggression, more problem-solving skills, or receive feedback for appropriate behaviors. If the child has trouble with self-control, instructional strategies could include modeling, role-play, and feedback to help him stay out of fights, solve problems, express anger appropriately, and deal with frustration. Without intervention students with or at risk for behavioral disorders are liable to experience many negative outcomes both in school and outside such as impaired social relationships, academic underachievement, and discipline problems (Lane, Wehby, & Barton-Arwood, 2005). Social skills interventions have been used and evaluated for more than 25 years, but their efficacy continues to be questioned. Researchers suggest that social skills training makes only a modest impact; however, most educators agree that not doing anything is worse. The ability to adapt and modify instruction is crucial to effectively educating these children. Before starting an intervention, it would be wise to gather information about the student, such as why, where and when he uses the particular behavior. Identify what social, affective, cultural, or contextual elements might be at work, and analyze the information. List the specific behaviors and describe where when and with whom the behavior is likely to occur. What consequences are usually administered? Keep anecdotal records so you can look for patterns and what triggers the behavior. Then figure out what strategies might be effective to avoid the behavior; for example, teach self-talk to students who are impulsive and organize the classroom environment to help hyperactive students. Consider making a contract with the student. Develop personal schedules for students who have difficulty making good use of their time. Consider implementing a token economy in which the teacher systematically awards or withdraws tokens or points for appropriate or inappropriate behavior. The student can redeem the tokens for something he wants such as privileges, desired activities, or food. Conflict resolution is a way to help students express their feelings and communicate better with others. We tend to see conflict as negative because of the disruption it causes in the classroom; however, conflict is neither good nor bad but simply a fact of life. According to Vollmer, Drook and Harned (1999) â€Å"Learning through social conflict is important to all human development† (p. 122). As children develop cognitive reasoning skills, they begin to see that others have perspectives, needs, and desires too. Early training with role plays and simulations will help them develop the social skills they need to maintain relationships. Students can be taught a process for resolution of conflict. One way is to use a large visual of a traffic light which shows the steps to conflict resolution and includes the words Cool down and Ground Rules (RED), Tell your side and Listen (YELLOW), and Brainstorm and Ideas (GREEN). A turn arrow at the bottom has the words Choose solution, and do it and Shake hands. Teachers report that students take more responsibility and often initiate conflict-resolution strategies on their own after learning and practicing this system (Vollmer, Drook & Harned, 1999, p. 124). The teacher should provide a quiet place in the room where students can work things out when they have a conflict. Once they have mastered a structured routine for conflict management, it will be unnecessary for the teacher to get involved. Classroom management is a challenge that requires the teacher to put his or her heart into it. An ancient Chinese proverb states that a student only learns from a teacher who loves home. In other words, a child needs to feel accepted and that the teacher cares about him or her. All children have basic needs–physical needs, safety needs, and social needs–that must be met before they can feel free to learn and develop to their true potential. If their needs are met and a positive learning environment is created, they will learn and be eager to participate. Therefore, the teacher's goal should be, not to fill their heads with specific information, but to make learning possible in a calm, structured, safe, and flexible environment and help them gain the skills to go after knowledge. The Importance of Comprehensive Classroom Management The teacher is a manger. The organization he or she manages is a group of students from diverse backgrounds and with differing skills and abilities. Some are already eager learners, while others have to be awakened to the joys and satisfactions of learning. Still others have special problems that must be dealt with effectively in order for them to learn and in order to maintain an environment conducive to learning for the whole group. It's important, first, to provide students with opportunities to learn about things that interest them and then, to find ways to introduce the learning that peaks the student's interest. If the teacher can find ways to relate the topic to the student's present experience, and provide interactive learning activities that the student can actively participate in, then the student will gain motivation. The physical environment plays a role in learning too. Some students learn better in different lighting (softer or brighter), sitting at a desk or lying on the floor, with music on or in perfect silence, in a warmer or cooler place, etc. The teacher can establish areas in the room that meet these different needs and styles of learning. Students who learn better lying down, for example, could bring mats to school that can be unrolled for study time. A small tent in the corner could provide the dimmer light some students need. A radio or CD player with earphones could be allowed during study time provided it truly helps the student to learn. The importance of reasonable rules that everyone understands can hardly be overestimated. On the first or second day of school the teacher could initiate an interactive discussion with the students about why rules are needed in the classroom. Let students share a few experiences that happened when there were no rules. Then, ask them to come up with no more than five rules for classroom behavior. They could each write down a rule or two they think is important on an index card, and the teacher could then let each person read what he/she wrote down. A list could be generated on the board. Or, they could start by brainstorming a list of every rule they can think of, then evaluate, eliminate, combine (just the word respect, for example, includes many rules), and whittle them down into three to five good rules. A student with good handwriting or an artistic bent could be chosen to make a large poster with the rules, or a bulletin board for classroom display where everybody can see it. Once the students have set their classroom rules, they are invested in them. I have tried this with grades 4-7 students, and it worked very well to establish an orderly learning environment. The students took the rules more seriously because they had had a say in setting them. It teaches democracy, too. If the students do not think of something the teacher considers important, the teacher can add it to their list and explain why. However, this is unlikely. In my experience, the student's rules tend to be very good-actually, the same rules I would have made myself, only they mean more to the students since they have developed them as a group and the rules are in their own words. Lane and Wehby (2005) report that 1% of school age children have been labeled emotionally disturbed and are receiving special education services because of it. They estimate an additional 2% to 16% of U. S. students who demonstrate anti-social behavior patterns such as defiance disorders or conduct disorders. When a student is oppositional or defiant, the teacher must be careful not to respond angrily and get into a confrontation. Teachers should be aware of their own triggers so that they can control their own behavior. This will help them to avoid a confrontation. It is best to remain calm and to diffuse the student's anger before it escalates into a crisis and/or violence. If a student refuses to do a certain task, offering an alternative choice may help, and it would be a good idea for the teacher always to have alternative tasks ready just in case-alternative activities that are still learning activities. A sense of humor may be a teacher's best defense when students are uncooperative. It is better to prevent escalation than to deal with a crisis later. One way to do this is to reinforce good behavior with praise, a smile, gesture, touch, â€Å"or a pleasant comment when they display unprompted, socially appropriate behavior† (Albin, 2003). Don't wait until students are disruptive to pay attention to them! Teachers should make the effort to notice and praise good behavior and reward it. Punishment is a negative way of dealing with problematic behavior. It may provide reinforcement for bad behavior if the reason the student is misbehaving is because he/she wants attention. If a student misbehaves because he doesn't want to do his work, and then gets sent out in the hall or to the office, then he gets what he wanted, and the bad behavior is reinforced. Rewards for positive behavior, such as time to do an activity the students loves, a toy or candy, or one-on-one time with the teacher (just to talk and visit for a few minutes) makes students happy to learn and to be in school. Punishment often produces resentment, and may make the student hate school. A student who hates school is not an eager learner, so punishment can be anti-productive (Peck & Scarpati (2005). Teachers commonly deal with difficult students by restricting them-the more intense the student's needs are, the more restriction–such as placing a child's desk toward the wall (Duhaney, 2003). However, a needs-based approach is more positive and effective and suggests recourse to greater resources. Perhaps the child needs to learn appropriate ways to handle anger and aggression, more problem-solving skills, or receive feedback for appropriate behaviors. If the child has trouble with self-control, instructional strategies could include modeling, role-play, and feedback to help him stay out of fights, solve problems, express anger appropriately, and deal with frustration. Without intervention students with or at risk for behavioral disorders are liable to experience many negative outcomes both in school and outside such as impaired social relationships, academic underachievement, and discipline problems (Lane, Wehby, & Barton-Arwood, 2005). Social skills interventions have been used and evaluated for more than 25 years, but their efficacy continues to be questioned. Researchers suggest that social skills training makes only a modest impact; however, most educators agree that not doing anything is worse. The ability to adapt and modify instruction is crucial to effectively educating these children. Before starting an intervention, it would be wise to gather information about the student, such as why, where and when he uses the particular behavior. Identify what social, affective, cultural, or contextual elements might be at work, and analyze the information. List the specific behaviors and describe where when and with whom the behavior is likely to occur. What consequences are usually administered? Keep anecdotal records so you can look for patterns and what triggers the behavior. Then figure out what strategies might be effective to avoid the behavior; for example, teach self-talk to students who are impulsive and organize the classroom environment to help hyperactive students. Consider making a contract with the student. Develop personal schedules for students who have difficulty making good use of their time. Consider implementing a token economy in which the teacher systematically awards or withdraws tokens or points for appropriate or inappropriate behavior. The student can redeem the tokens for something he wants such as privileges, desired activities, or food. Conflict resolution is a way to help students express their feelings and communicate better with others. We tend to see conflict as negative because of the disruption it causes in the classroom; however, conflict is neither good nor bad but simply a fact of life. According to Vollmer, Drook and Harned (1999) â€Å"Learning through social conflict is important to all human development† (p. 122). As children develop cognitive reasoning skills, they begin to see that others have perspectives, needs, and desires too. Early training with role plays and simulations will help them develop the social skills they need to maintain relationships. Students can be taught a process for resolution of conflict. One way is to use a large visual of a traffic light which shows the steps to conflict resolution and includes the words Cool down and Ground Rules (RED), Tell your side and Listen (YELLOW), and Brainstorm and Ideas (GREEN). A turn arrow at the bottom has the words Choose solution, and do it and Shake hands. Teachers report that students take more responsibility and often initiate conflict-resolution strategies on their own after learning and practicing this system (Vollmer, Drook & Harned, 1999, p. 124). The teacher should provide a quiet place in the room where students can work things out when they have a conflict. Once they have mastered a structured routine for conflict management, it will be unnecessary for the teacher to get involved. Classroom management is a challenge that requires the teacher to put his or her heart into it. An ancient Chinese proverb states that a student only learns from a teacher who loves home. In other words, a child needs to feel accepted and that the teacher cares about him or her. All children have basic needs–physical needs, safety needs, and social needs–that must be met before they can feel free to learn and develop to their true potential. If their needs are met and a positive learning environment is created, they will learn and be eager to participate. Therefore, the teacher's goal should be, not to fill their heads with specific information, but to make learning possible in a calm, structured, safe, and flexible environment and help them gain the skills to go after knowledge.

The Failure of the Road Map to Peace

Abstract The failure of the Roadmap to Peace has become an object of substantial debate. This essay examines the conflict utilizing the concept of ripeness and third party intervention in order to determine the impact. The evidence presented illustrates the lack of details produced a lack of direction which led to strategy failure. This study will be of value to any person studying conflict resolution. 1 Introduction The Roadmap to peace was created to bring quiet and balance to the Middle East. This essay examines the failure of the Roadmap process through the perspective of ripeness and third party intervention. With each process, this essay identifies the strengths and weaknesses associated with the method in order to create better understanding. Beginning with a base overview of the Roadmap to peace this essay sets out a fundamental building point. Following this with an assessment of the ripeness of the peace process will allows for an illustration of potential, adding to the narrative. Next, will be an examination of third party intervention and the opportunities that this created in the Roadmap process. A combination of these sections will enable the creation of reasonable conclusions based on evidence. In the end this essay considers initial policy, modern practice and future potential with the clear and stated goal of demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of international conflict resolution. 2 Roadmap to Peace2.1 OverviewWith the failure of the American President Bill Clinton to forge a lasting peace in the Middle East before leaving office, the second intifada broke out hampering peace efforts and increasing regional violence between Palestine and Israel. This sudden onslaught rapidly deteriorated any building goodwill between the states and made any form of resolution very hard to create. The Roadmap was an effort constructed by the major powers Russia, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union in an effort to create peace between Palestine and Israel. With a real need to implement a form of resolution and partnership in order to promote international concerns, the Middle East plan was built to resolve many long standing issues. Citing the rising tensions in the region, the world powers, led by the United States President George W. Bush, adopted the Roadmap, a concept taken from a 2002 speech created the foundation for the Road Map to Peace. With a c lear political impact to be felt by the failure or success of the program, the Western Powers and Russia felt that the time had come to answer the violence with a bold initiative directly aimed at changing the status quo. The strategy itself was enacted with three distinct segments in mind, which in turn would provide markers illustrating the progress . The first phase envisioned a form of acceptance between the antagonists which would lead to an end to the on-going violence in the region . As part and parcel of the reform needed, the Palestinian state would undergo elections and fundamental development, thus enabling a better informed and therefore less violent population. Israel in turn would pull their military assets back as well as allowing normalization of operations in Eastern Jerusalem. This process would allow for a general rising of health conditions alongside the improvement in the aid situation that was being experienced by the general population. A final component of the first phase of the Roadmap dictated a total freeze on expansion settlements, and the further exploration of alternatives . Each of these first steps was designed with a broad intent, but few details. However, the intent w as to deescalate the tension and creates a perception of partnership that would allow for both Israel and Palestine to find common ground, thereby inherently reducing the underlying violence and hardship. The second segment of the Roadmap was to take place over the course of the 2003 year. Building on the projections of the first portion, the second phase begins the real work of creating an independent state. This process of development for Palestine required a substantial economic recovery as well as a considerable increase in the quality of social services available . With increased funding, and environmental assistance this segment encompassed the physical rehabilitation of the Palestinian state in order to establish a viable national presence. Once again, the critics of this segment cite the lack of detail compared to the overarching goals. Yet, with the accomplishment of these goals, Israel would restore communication and cooperation with the Palestinians, thereby increasing the communication and opportunity for partnership in the region. The third and final section of the Roadmap consisted of a second international conference that would herald the passage of the Palestinian state into international recognition. As a consequence of the success of the first and second sections, it was judged that the Palestinians would have a permanent status as an independent state which would in turn effectively end the conflict . During this third segment many of the most vexing issues surrounding the conflict including the borders of the city Jerusalem would be addressed in order to cement a lasting peace. Further, this final effort would encompass the refugee and settlement issues with a final decree thereby settling each of the commonly held elements of the conflict. Described as a performance driven strategy, there was no real method of enforcement, compelling the states involved to meet the standards of the Roadmap. With a great deal of mistrust resting between the Palestinians and the Israeli’a the expectation of trust and good faith on the part of every player was a significant assumption. With an initial directive of immediate ceasefire on the part of Palestine alongside the immediate cessation of building by Israel was meant to convey in a very direct manner, that the peace process was moving forward and would impact the most sensitive elements of the conflict. This fundamental endorsement of the two state solutions to the regional conflict by world powers signalled the beginning of a political push to solve the long running crises. Both players did not agree to abide by the agreement, Israel nor did Palestine truly meet the guidelines, making the effort to keep the Roadmap on track both frustrating and pointless.2.1 Failure of the Roadmap2.1.1 RipenessMany elements are at the core of the failure of the Roadmap policy, including clarity, ripeness of goals and the overall intervention efforts by the larger world powers. With spiralling rates of violence taking their toll on each side, it was deemed time for intervention by the world powers prior to the creation of the Roadmap. However, not each party involved in the conflict agreed with that assessment. Wallensteen (2002) identifies the concept of ripeness as the moment of defining readiness for change. With the onset of dialogue and the uptick in desire for a regional solution to the confli ct, both the Palestinians and the Israeli’s seemed ripe for a compromise. With very little ahead of either party without a form of conflict resolution, the long term outlook was dim and growing dimmer. The ripeness of the opportunity led the four major world powers to create and implement the Roadmap to peace even with the lack of clarity . With a clear moment for seizing the reins and changing the narrative, the players in the negotiations sought to accomplish a long held goal in a relatively short period. Further, the foundation goals of the endeavour coordinated with the needs of the population in the moment, yet, the overall lack of clarity and details only led to confusion and skewing of purpose throughout the implementation process. This same concept of timing was conceived as an integral component of the conciliation resolution effort envisioned in the end goal. However, the lack of any real method of compelling motivation on the part of either Palestine or Israel both states quickly reneged on the agreement and failed to live up to the expected standards. Another central element of the motivation behind the peace plan was the coveted alliance of the moderate states in region that the American president sought. In a very real way, every step of the peace process in the Middle East was conceived as a result of the need to ensure adequate oil supply from the region. This added many layers of complexity to the already complicated regional environment. As Tristan (2014) notes in his detailed evaluation, despite the lofty goals of the Roadmap, there was not a noticeable advance in the agenda between the beginning of the peace process in 2002 and the scheduled cessation of the conflict in 2005. This wasted opportunity led to a disengagement that resulted in a re-emergence of violence that soon destroyed any good the preceding efforts had achieved. Taking away an opportune moment and drastically stoking the anti-Western resentment in the region was the invasion of Iraq only a year after the creation of the Roadmap. This contradiction in goals only served to further divide the local area as well as weaken any real oversight that the agreement on. Central to this argument is the need for continual communication and commitment in order to progress, which with the lack of monitoring failed to serve the intended purpose of driving the process forward. With the timing of the American invasion coinciding with the peace effort there was a clear opportunity to view the real views that the West espoused. As the war deteriorated and became a perceived vendetta pursued by the American President any lasting credibility that the Roadmap had was soon lost. Despite the need for resolution and the continuing commitment for solutions from the neighbours, Israel initially declined the offer of the Roadmap, instead supplying a long list of conditions that would serve to offset any initial losses a compromise may entail. No matter the funding and benefits offered, the elements of the situation allowed Israel the leverage to institute a series of demands. This recognition of ripeness allowed the Israeli’s to accomplish much of the dismantling of the Palestinian infrastructure immediately, making these elements critical to any lasting accord. Lacking any clear detail or direction, the Roadmap was unable to address many of the issues at the regional level, making any form of progress hard. There was a real perception of rudderless direction with no real commitment by the creating powers. Tocci (2013) argues that the outbreak of the second intifada was the signal of the ripeness of moment in the Israeli and Palestine peace process. With a clear indication by the United States that it would accept the assistance of others to promote peace in the region, the international components all seemed ripe for working and finding a long term solution . Yet, the complex nature of the conflict negated any possible progress, frustrating every party involved. In summation: There was a clear perception of opportune timing to be had in the intifada and the desire to de-escalate the conflict by every party involved. This benefit was bolstered by the American Presidents wish to provide a path to a moderate alliance in the region that would ensure oil production in the West . Taking away momentum from the proffered Roadmap, thus letting the moment slip past, was the lack of clarity in the fundamental plan, which was large on goals and slight on how to accomplish them. This was further complicated by a lack of understanding of the outside parties that only resulted in creating or exasperating current conditions. Coupled with the outbreak of the American and Iraqi conflict that illustrated a negative aspect of the Western power, the moment for change was soon lost among the need to serve one owns interest . With the outside powers having to concrete on the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan there was scant time or funding to provide any meaningful support for the Roadmap, which in turn consistently diminished the efforts of each person involved.2.1.2 Third Party InterventionThere are three reasons for outside parties to become involved in an international conflict. With elements including traditional alliance compulsions, ethnic or population ties or the presence of humanitarian emergencies are at the centre of these interventions. Many studies contend that the multi-faceted partnership is more effective than the United Nations at implementing an effective assistance effort. Others argue that these situations often present outside entities with opportunities for profit that have nothing to do with the local region. This particular factor makes it very hard for nations such as Palestine and Israel to view the assistance offered by the third party nations with trust. As with any infrastructure built on apprehension, there will be a wide margin of error that will work towards the failure of the overall goal. Most third party ef forts are centred on finding a method of compromise that each side can appreciate. By finding factors that appeal to each of the local concerns there is a real opportunity for find common ground that can lead the way to compromise. However, in some cases both sides refuse to yield, making any form of progress slight. Others favour the contingency method of third party intervention which entails the identification, initiation and seq8uencing of the primary elements in order to create a workable solution. In each case, it is necessary for the third parties to find common ground in order to formulate beneficial policy. Third Party intervention in the Middle East was deemed a plausible conflict resolution process by the outside powers that were concerned about the region and its resources . In a very real way, the Roadmap was a product of the need of the larger nations to ensure their line of oil supply and production, which in turn dictated that an alliance of the moderate states in the region come together to accomplish this goal. The four nations outside of the region that were intimately involved with the Roadmap were the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United nations. Each of these entities had their own priorities when dealing with the Middle East, yet, the need for them to come together was made evident the continuing violence and unrest in the region. This conciliatory approach to resolution in the region was obstructed from the outset by the Israeli demands that shifted the tone of the negotiations from the beginning. President Bush involved the very prestige of his office in the attempt to reconcile the nations and this initial balking on the part of Israel immediately dampened the prospects for progress in the region. In this case, the American regime was forced to reverse course and allow these changes before even the first step of the Roadmap could be realized. This created a very clear perception of Israel holding the upper hand in the negotiations. A similar reaction to the third party solution was experienced in Palestine with a dramatic upswing in violence. With no real details in the initial offering each side of the conflict felt oppressed the outside powers played a direct role in the population’s discontent. From the very beginning there was the perception by those involved in the process that the parties were going to do what they would despite any opinion held by the outside powers. This realization of this fact fuelled the growing frustration that surrounded the entire Roadmap implementation method. The quartet of powers deemed the primary obstacle of peace to be the inability of both Israel and Palestine to reign in their most extreme components. This perception of lawlessness on the part of the extremists made the cessation of violence only attainable after both sides agreed to tone down the violence. This initial step was agreed upon by the quartet yet; both Israel and Palestine were hard pressed to truly diminish the rate of violence espoused by their population. The only real point of agreement to be found between the states of Israel and Palestine is that another protracted war will very likely destroy both entities. With this element serving to bring the parties back to the table despite the setbacks, there has been a consistent, if not weak, effort to find peace in the region for generations. Turner (2011) argues that the very attempt at building statehood in this manner has first polarized and then paralysed the effort, making the goal unattainable. This fact is enhance d by the lack of regional understanding that the third parties had in regards to local matters. The third party resolution efforts recognized that the areas of settlements and refugees were delicate topics for both the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. Utilizing summits to attempt to coordinate efforts between the powers, the very direct intervention of the United States President, actively working through Russian and the European Union to build support for the Roadmap, there was an initial sense of accomplishment. This first cessation of hostilities brokered by the outside parties resumed quickly after President Bush left the region, making much of the efforts of the previous months negligible. With facets including the release of political prisoners directed at directly building trust between the states, the third party negotiators found a common goal in the realized reduction in violence. Van Der Maat (2011) contends that the difficulty in the realization of conflict resolution by third parties is the lack of true economic or military vulnerability. With nothing to lose , there is the perception by the local population that the world powers are there only to suit their own ends, which in turn undermines the entire process. Levine, Taylor and Best (2011) illustrate the concept that the third party negotiators during any form of conflict resolution are more likely to take the consolatory approach. While this approach can serve to bring disparate groups to the table, a base lack of understanding will only serve to drive the factors further apart. This very train of events seems to have occurred in the Middle East with the fundamental failure and abandonment of the Roadmap. However, this same study highlights the factor the coming together of multiple third parties was likely to increase the rate of success by dividing the load. In summation There was a real perception that the third parties involved in the Roadmap process had their own agendas, which in turn diminished their integrity. With each outside nation offering incentives for compliance, it was in the best interest for both Palestine and Israel to agree to the broad outline proposed. Yet, despite the points agreed upon during various summits there was real lack of progress as the situation would soon devolved to the prior state. Even though there were some economic repercussions, the lack of any direct military or economic damage in the Middle East created the perception of continued arrogance on the part of the Western powers by the local populations. This continued to increase the tension no matter the financial or economic incentive that the third parties were able to offer. Despite the studies attributing higher rates of success to partnership in third party conflict resolution efforts, the combined lack of details, time and resources contributed to the fina l failure of the concept. 3 Conclusion This essay has focused on the failure of the Roadmap to peace in the Middle East utilizing the concepts of ripeness and third-party intervention. The evidence provided has created a compelling narrative that illustrates many of the shortcomings of the peace strategy as well as many of the mistakes made by the outside players in the conflict. Driving the lack progress on nearly every level was a base lack of understanding and detail. Despite the American effort to lay out a broad outline that could in turn become a detailed plan, there was no real motivation for Palestine or Israel to comply. Not only was there a perception of political and economic motivation on the part of the outside entities there was continued perception of poor planning and lack of details. The elements for resolution were in place at the beginning of the process making the initial portion of the Roadmap seem ripe for implementation. Yet, allowing for only a broad design diminished the effectiveness of the program as well as reducing the faith in the third party negotiators. With the onset of the Afghanistan and Iraq affair, the perception of the outside powers continued to deteriorate, making the Roadmap ever more difficult to achieve. Despite the conciliatory approach taken by the third parties during the peace process, the refusal by the Palestinians and Israeli’s to abide by the basic agreements fuelled further dissent. No matter the timing and the desire to find common ground, the complex nature of the disputes between the populations were not be remedied with the shallow solutions provided by the American and Western nations. Further, the self-interest of the outside nations only built on the distrust that the local population continued to evince. Not even the public relations efforts that the President Bush attempted, there was not a method of appeal that lasted for any length of time. This basic fact kept the Roadmap from every truly developing, making each progressive goal nearly impossible to achieve. In the end, despite the timely intervention and the multiple partnerships provided by the third parties, the deeply complex nature of the regional disputes found in the Middle East demanded details in the Roadmap that were not present. This lack of direction was the true failure of the strategy, as there was no means to build or produce meaningful change. 3 Bibliography Amstutz, M. R. 1999. International conflict and cooperation. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Babbitt, E. and Hampson, F. O. 2011. Conflict resolution as a field of inquiry: practice informing theory. International Studies Review, 13 (1), pp. 46–57. Barak, O. 2005. The failure of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, 1993–2000. Journal of Peace Research, 42 (6), pp. 719–736. Ben-Ami, S. 2007. A roadmap to failure. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/15/bushsroadmaptofailureint [Accessed: 13 Mar 2014]. Carpenter, T. G. 2012. Roadmap to Nowhere. Cato Institute. Chandler, D. 2006. Peace without politics?. London. Einarsen, S. 2011. Bullying and harassment in the workplace. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Fisher, R. J. 2007. Assessing the contingency model of third-party intervention in successful cases of prenegotiation. Journal of Peace Research, 44 (3), pp. 311–329. Forum, J. 2014. The Road Map. [online] Available at: http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/189/38357.html [Accessed: 13 Mar 2014]. Golan, G. and Salem, W. 2013. Non-State Actors in the Middle East. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Levine, M., Taylor, P. J. and Best, R. 2011. Third Parties, Violence, and Conflict Resolution The Role of Group Size and Collective Action in the Microregulation of Violence.Psychological Science, 22 (3), pp. 406–412. Levy, M. P. 2012. The Palestinian-Israeli Conflcit: The Way Forward. Mason, R. 2013. The Price of Peace: A Reevaluation of the Economic Dimension in the Middle East Peace Process. The Middle East Journal, 67 (3), pp. 405–425. Miall, H., Ramsbotham, O. and Woodhouse, T. 1999. Contemporary conflict resolution. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Migdalovitz, C. 2004. The Middle East Peace Talks. Milton-Edwards, B. 2004. Elusive ingredient: Hamas and the peace process. JSTOR. Rioux, J. 2003. Third Party Interventions in International Conflicts: Theory and Evidence. Said, E. W. 2004. From Oslo to Iraq and the road map. New York: Pantheon Books. Schanzer, J. 2012. State of failure. Shiqa?qi?, K. 2006. Willing to compromise. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace. Tocci, N. 2013. The Middle East Quartet and (In) effective Multilateralism. The Middle East Journal, 67 (1), pp. 29–44. Tristam, P. 2014. Bush’s Road Map for Peace in the Middle East, Five Years Later: What’s Been Achieved?. [online] Available at: http://middleeast.about.com/od/israelandpalestine/p/me070911.htm [Accessed: 13 Mar 2014]. Turner, M. and Y. 2011. Creating ‘Partners for Peace’: The Palestinian Authority and the International Statebuilding Agenda. Journal of intervention and statebuilding, 5 (1), pp. 1–21. Van Der Maat, E. 2011. Sleeping hegemons Third-party intervention following territorial integrity transgressions. Journal of Peace Research, 48 (2), pp. 201–215. Wallensteen, P. 2002. Understanding conflict resolution. London: SAGE Publications. Williams, P. and Jannotti Pecci, F. 2012. Earned sovereignty: bridging the gap between sovereignty and self-determination. Wohl and Er, S. B. 2001. A theory of third-party intervention in disputes in international politics.

Explain T. Adorno and M. Horkheimers critique of the culture industry Essay

Explain T. Adorno and M. Horkheimers critique of the culture industry and discuss whether these are still relevant for understanding cultural production today - Essay Example Therefore, culture is produced and consumed like any other industrial commodity. According to Theodor Adorno, commercialisation of culture is a capitalistic idea whose main goal is to maximise profit. Culture is the slave of the corporate which is used to gain profit. To achieve their goal, the culture on the market must be attractive to the larger segment of the group or society (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1979). Theodor Adorno and Horkheimer have critically analysed the concept of a culture industry. They view the idea as a continuation of a capitalistic system, which aims to reduce cost of production while increasing profit. In a pure capitalistic setting, the factors of production are used efficiently to attain maximum benefits. For example, workers are paid according to their input contribution, which encourage high labour utility. Marxist theory predicted that the capitalist system will eventually fall because it will trigger a social revolution from the exploited workers. The work o f the two scholars is pointing out why the social revolution did not happen as anticipated by Marx. Mass media technology is the main factor of production in industrial culture, which includes; use of radio, television and publications. Mass media technology allows information to spread quickly to a large audience (Bottomore, 1984). To understand the critic of Adorno and Horkheimer, it is important to note that they are products of the German culture, which they viewed as superior to the popular culture of many western nations. They referred their culture as high culture that educates and motivates people. On their observation, popular culture is not exciting, and it enhances uniformity in a society. To these analysts, culture industry leads to standardisation in the society, which refers to being accustomed to the products of the culture industry. This makes the public to be addicted to the mass culture and forget to challenge the inequality of the ruling economic system (Marcuse, 1964). In their theory of pseudo individuality, they claim that the culture industry makes an individual a commodity of trade, which is produced and sold in mass. For instance, a music work of an artist can be reproduced in mass and sold to consumers. The artist involved is advertised and treated like any other industrial product making person lose their individual identity as a human being (Adorno, 2001). According to two scholars, the mass culture is the trickery system that politicians use to attain their desired goals, so the popular culture is the tool that enables them to gain support of the masses. For example, during the Second World War, the mass entertainment and information was used to rally Americans to approve and support a war that was long and costly (Kellner, 2003). According to Jarvis (1998) mass media is a deception idea which is meant to enslave the public. Popular culture is the product of all the social classes in a society, but commercialisation of culture diff erentiated the structure so that they can sell to the larger group in the market. The corporations involved in production and marketing of culture are inherently capitalistic hence they propagate capitalistic ideology. The theorist found the mass media to be blind of the social inequalities in a society. It makes people forget the plain truth of economic and social differences, making them appear as if they are living in a dark cave. Just like in a capitalist system, culture industry uses its own ways of dominance to ensure the control of the masses and the continuity of the system. Therefore, the mass media is the main tool of dominance in the culture industry, which ensures people consume the products of the industry (Martin-Barbero, 1993). It encourages people to forget

Is social security a ponzi scheme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is social security a ponzi scheme - Essay Example Simply put, in the Social Security program funds are contributed by the working people and are used by people who have retired. The kitty, so to say, is being constantly replenished as is also being used. Thus Social Security is largely a pay-as-you-go program. To take the discussion further it is essential to know what a ponzi scheme is. (meaning of a) Literally speaking, a ponzi scheme is a fraud or a con. The element of deception prevalent in the scheme makes it illegal. In a ponzi scheme the participants or investors are told that their money is being invested in high return yielding real or financial investments. In reality, their money is not invested but is pocketed by the conman running the Ponzi scheme. The ponzi scheme promises returns that are far higher than the market rate. This high rate, which is too good to be true, in itself, should put doubts in the minds of the customer. However gullible investors do fall prey to such ponzi schemes. The earlier investors are paid off by the money contributed by fresh or new investors which keeps the scheme going (MacEwan 2009). In order to remain viable, a Ponzi scheme has to grow rapidly. In fact, the scheme would require double the number of investors/participants after every round of payouts. Let us now shift focus on Social Security. (description of the relevant properties of x) The Social Security program has a mode of financing and functioning and functioning which is pretty much similar to that of a ponzi scheme. However, the distinguishing factor is the intent. The purpose of Social Security is to give at least a subsistence income to the disabled, retirees, their dependents and underage survivors of deceased workers. (any member x of a must have the property p) Social Security consists of four separate trust funds namely the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, the Hospital

Major Container Shipping Lines of Singapore and Port Klang Research Paper

Major Container Shipping Lines of Singapore and Port Klang - Research Paper Example Often, intra-port competition is beneficial to everyone involved, most often those being the users of the port and the governmental body of the region. This kind of competition is dependent on the vessel volumes, which may or may not be enough to allow more than one company to run their business in an optimal fashion. The transhipment container trade concerns each region where ports are striving to realize higher supply and demand. In the South Asian region, Singapore and Klang ports are competing with Tan Jung ports and the Port of Rotterdam is in competition with Antwerp and Hamburg. The competition is fierce, but there are no interchangeable ports and none of them functions on a zero cost effective manner.Often, intra-port competition is beneficial to everyone involved, most often those being the users of the port and the governmental body of the region. This kind of competition is dependent on the vessel volumes, which may or may not be enough to allow more than one company to ru n their business in an optimal fashion. The transhipment container trade concerns each region where ports are striving to realize higher supply and demand. In the South Asian region, Singapore and Klang ports are competing with Tan Jung ports and the Port of Rotterdam is in competition with Antwerp and Hamburg. The competition is fierce, but there are no interchangeable ports and none of them functions on a zero cost effective manner.There are three different categories of port competition.

Hunger and Poverty among African-Americans in the last ten years in Research Paper

Hunger and Poverty among African-Americans in the last ten years in Texas - Research Paper Example The term poverty is defined as the lack of some basic needs of living. As such the research work is done to identify and evaluate the multiple dimensions of poverty and hunger associated with the Afro American group of the state. Therefore, the research question is to identify the reasons and impacts of hunger and poverty of the African-Americans in the last ten years in Texas. The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 seems to have had many negative effects on the United States including Texas. One of the main effects of the economic downturn has been the increase in the poverty rates in Texas since the year 2009. Poverty and food insecurity among the Afro American people seem to be closely interlinked. One in four Afro American people live are eligible for an amount of $11, 670 assistance from the government. In case of a single member household the percentage of assistance varies from 100% to 400%. The level of percentage is the same for household size of 1 to 8 but the amount of assistance varies. For example, the amount of assistance for a 2 member household at the 100% level is $15, 730. The 100% assistance is highest for 8 members household where the assistance amount is $40, 090. Lee and Frongillo (2001) have identified in their work that the rate of poverty among the children in the Afro American group living in Texas is alarmingly high which has p ut the whole future generation in a risky state (Lee and Frongillo, 2001). The term of poverty line is denoted as the threshold level or the minimum amount of money a person needs to lead a life in a particular country. Almost 35.7% of the total population of Afro American children belong to the below poverty line group in Texas as compared to only 20% of the American children living below the poverty line specified by the federal government. Despite being a state experiencing high growth and development, the poverty rate in Texas is high. Poverty is Texas seems

Project proposal ( Information System) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project proposal ( Information System) - Essay Example As in case of Starbucks, they made their inventory tracking and monitoring easier by the use of RFID tags. RFID-enabled deliveries to Starbucks stores would make after-hours deliveries possible and allow employees to focus on customers, rather than shipments when they are received. (www.rfidgazzette.org) The management of distribution and supplies among various outlets is a problem under manual systems whereas with the use of IT and information systems for managing inventory and distribution, the company can make all distribution decisions and policies in a convenient and efficient manner. Easy tracking facilities and accurate tracing features allow for runtime monitoring and planning of inventories and their distributions in different regions and outlets. The data management and entry is all automated whereas the RFID tags will carry the information which will be updated with the transportation of inventory pack from one place to another. This will provide an updated view of all inventories at any point in time. Keeping track of sales that take place at any outlet is very critical for CharredDregs coffee company.

4 short questions for 4 movies Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

4 short questions for 4 movies - Movie Review Example When Yuddy met Li Zhen, he said that they were one-minute friends from that moment. Moreover, Yuddy and his women perceive time unequally, whereas â€Å"love-drug wears off† (Dargis) for him quickly, the women remain fixated at those moments that they spent together and cannot let their feelings go. 3. In a coming-of-age movie of 1957, when a new Chinese society formed, searches of Ge Lan for her biological mother and rejection by her might symbolizes giving up the old way of living and transition to the new stage. According to Lee, â€Å"Kailing can be a symbol of the New Chinese Woman only if she doesn’t have a low-class family history to haunt her†. This means that Ge Lan as a daughter of the West-oriented debonair adoptive parents cannot fit in the society, where her real mother lives. 4. Asia the Invincible is a character, who underwent castration to master martial arts. Therefore, the character might intertwine androgyny (actually, even some gender confusion) and great power to show the genderless nature of power. However, in the course of action, one can see Briggite Lin’s character evolve into a female aggressive warrior (Thomas). Depiction of Asia the Invincible as a fierce transgender woman seems to be paralleled to birth of destructive power similar to Kali’s in Hindu

Supporting statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supporting statement - Essay Example As far as my experience is concerned, I have worked in different fashion companies where I got the chance of practically applying my fashion related knowledge and expertise. I have worked for five years as a PR Assistant in the Insky Communication Company in China, starting from 2000 till 2005. Then, I came to London where I worked part-time for two years in Christian Dior. I was simultaneously working as an internee PR Assistant in Artstalker Creative Group helping them in carrying out business with the Insky Communication Company in China. The duration of the internship was more than one year. I have also attended some training courses as well and have been awarded certificates. I have the experience of arranging a mega fashion show which involved students who graduated from Central Saint Martins in China last year. I was among the five topmost designers who were selected to conduct this fashion show. I feel that I have enough experience to show that I have a craze about going ahead in the fashion industry and contribute to the this era’s style and trends. I keep myself updated with market requirement. I keep on reading fashion magazines and attend all fashion shows being held in my vicinity. I feel that I possess those special skills needed to choose right combination of colors and I try to come up fresh, innovative and unique ideas. I have learnt CAD (Computer-aided designing) techniques so as to equip myself with the latest technology for creating sketches and designs. I also possess the ability of synchronizing and connecting together the thoughts of both the client and the manufacturer in a successful way. This enthusiasm is what pulls me to apply for this fashion specialism course. After specialization, I plan to open up my own exclusive fashion retail shop much similar to the famous Topshop in China. I shall

Quality Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Quality - Research Paper Example The report discusses the quality of something related to business that has fitness for purpose. Quality can be conditional, perpetual or subjective with respect to different businesses and different people. The concept quality is seen differently by different people and different businesses. Quality is also judged differently by different departments within the businesses (Reeves & Bednar, 1994). Quality is judged differently by customers of the business so the business also has to look at the customer’s perspective of perceiving quality. Like we can say the quality for the producer of the products is differently perceived and is measured based on the conformance of quality or may also be judged based on the degree to which the service or product has been produced in a correct way (Lee, Strong, Kahn & Wang, 2002). The report further dwells on the analysis of the term quality within the context of five aspects and has a conclusion based on the overall analysis. In this competitive business world the term quality in terms of business can be defined as meeting the expectations and needs of the customers and consumers of the service and products. Quality in business is the relation between the business, its product and customer. Through continuous assessment, analysis and by meeting all needs of customer, process, business and its employees, this relation is maintained. Quality may include several aspects in business terms but there is no specific definition in which quality can be defined. The term business is dynamic and cannot be summarized in single area of working (Huxtable, 1994). Quality in business can be defined in various ways. One way is to define quality in terms of the relationship which business shares with its product and customers. The other way of defining quality in terms of business can be through customer’s perception of how they value the product. The human factor and process cannot

The Fight Over the Redwoods Essay Example for Free

The Fight Over the Redwoods Essay Pacific Lumber Company, founded in 1869, oversees the careful maintenance and logging of the world’s most productive timberland. Pacific Lumber holds the last private forest of old-growth Redwood. In addition to it’s unique hardwood, the Redwood forest hosts an ecosystem supporting virgin ground never logged, and the endangered Marbled Murrelet. After being purchased in 1985 by the Maxxam firm and it’s owner Mr. Hurwitz, Pacific Lumber tripled logging volume and looked to log the previously privately protected Redwood forest. Due to the use of junk-bonds for financial backing, Maxxam Inc.   needed to dramatically increase revenue streams to make interest payments which resulted in the reprioritization of business values. The health of the environment became second to the survival of Pacific Lumber. Poor business ethics led the timber company from a once highly profitable firm conscious of both the environment and long-term business stability, to one focused on short-term profitability without valuing the long term impacts of environmental change. The Fight Over The Redwoods Background Pacific Lumber Company, founded in 1869, owned 220,000 acres of some of the world’s most productive timberland. The family-run company incorporated the very best standards for environmental impact and business management. Through selective tree cutting and management of business structure, the Pacific Lumber Company maintained the worlds rarest old growth redwood forest. Due to deforestation through the end of the 1970’s, Pacific Lumber Company held the last Redwood resource thereby indirectly monopolizing the hardwood market. The company was debt free, treated their employees well, and managed a significant inventory to support their sustainment operations.  (Shaw, 2014) In 1985, Maxxam Incorporated acquired Pacific Lumber for 900 million dollars. Through the use of junk-bond financing to purchase the company, Maxxam Inc. had to manage significant interest payments on their loan. To manage high interest, Maxxam increased wood cutting that would eventually lead to the deforestation of previously protected land. 16 different lawsuits filed by environmental organizations brought Pacific Lumber operations to a halt with foresting operations in specific areas of their land. The legal reasoning was the protection of endangered species, and long-term impact to virgin ecosystems that existed nowhere else in the world. (Shaw, 2014) In 1999, Senator Diane Feinstein and Deputy Interior Secretary John Garamendi signed an agreement. The agreement brokered out land to the government through a 480 million dollar purchase, and banned logging in certain areas for fifty years in an effort to protect endangered species. The agreement also established an enforceable habitat protection plan to oversee Pacific Lumber operations for the foreseeable future. Pacific Lumber considered the deal to be a true testament that increased regulations by federal government stymied business profitability. Pacific Lumber ended up declaring bankruptcy in 2008. The lumber company was acquired by a well known firm that had ties to the timber community, held environmental considerations high, and worked well with politics involved. (Shaw, 2014) Case Analysis Question 1: Ancient forests, to include those of Redwood trees, have a value that is greater than just the face value of the lumber planned for logging. Considerations for a corporation’s growth and profitability is important. Employees depend on paychecks, healthcare, pensions, and other supporting programs such as scholarships and donations to the community. These benefits however, will never outweigh the value of untouched forest that supports threatened species. Addressing Redwood deforestation only encompasses a small portion of global concern. Ecosystems rely on one another to survive and operate in the environment they are found. Removing the Redwood hardwood forest would be the precipice for large scale ecological failure. An employee for Pacific Lumber may need a paycheck to maintain an adequate standards of living, but first needs a place to survive. If the ecosystem supporting our way of life collapses, so does our way of life. Question 2: Although land ownership is an individual right, what takes place on that land is still a concern for governing agencies. In this case, the impact to ecosystems covers an area greater than just the area owned by one individual or firm. Controlling the impacts of the landowners operation mitigates the impact to other landowners in the area. Owning land still requires a reasonable person to behave in a manner consistent with the law of the land. In this analysis, a gentlemen named Hurwitz backed Maxxam Inc. to purchase Pacific Lumber. Hungry for profits, he altered Pacific Lumber’s focus to the short term profitability of the firm, instead of long term sustainment of the business. Poor business practices put Maxxam Inc. in a position requiring a fixed amount of income to pay loan interest and fees. Hurwitz never assessed whether or not he could sustain payment with current operations and was forced to increase operations to make profitability still viable. (The Terrestrial Environment, 1998) Question 3: Mainstream environmentalists were correct to stop Pacific Lumber from ravaging it’s timberland. Prior business practices provided ecosystem shelter for endangered species and protected virgin forest from being logged. Changes to federal regulations and societal values required that these areas be protected despite ownership change. Behavior by radicalized environmentalists is often unacceptable because it results in damage to business property and potential injury to employees. They do, however, protect what would otherwise be destroyed with stale politics or businesses circumventing laws through unethical behavior. (Shaw, 2014) Question 4: We as a society have a moral obligation to protect rare environments such as the Redwood forest. Trees do not have inherent rights and must be represented by a governing body or entity with their environmental impact in mind if they are logged. Old growth forest support more than just the production of hardwood, it supports endangered species, fragile ecosystems, and the long term health of the planet. Endangered species cannot be recreated; The death of a species effects of the impact of two or three other species’ ecosystems, resulting in fluctuations throughout the entire food chain. (The Terrestrial Environment, 1998) Question 5: Prior to being bought out, Pacific Lumber operated a very controlled logging operation that matched tree-growth rates. Although this does not necessarily provide increased short term profitability, it does mean long term sustainment with predictability. Shareholders of Pacific Lumber knew they owned a dependable stock that would hold its value for years to come. Lumber produced from logging is a highly volatile market. Predictable operations gave employees stability and ensured the environmental interests of future generations to come. Pacific Lumber is an excellent example of how ethical business practices sustain the environment, or negate the importance of it in the interests of profitability. Question 6: The argument can be made that protecting private land from deforestation is not necessary due to the amount of land already protected by parks and reserves. What cannot be predicted is the impact to endangered species, or the separation and destruction of niche ecosystems that support a larger environmental scale. Taking away localized areas of trees, or ecosystems supported by old growth, will ultimately compound the negative effects of our constantly shrinking native environment. As human growth pushes into these areas, the result is an increase of a demand for a stable environment, despite destroying the very thing we need to exist. (Biological Issue, 2014) Question 7: The agreement made between the government and Pacific Lumber did cost the taxpayers more than what would be considered socially acceptable by a reasonable person. The argument equates the value of the land and it’s components to the cost of protecting it. By spending 480 million dollars, the land is federally protected against logging, forever. Endangered species may remain in the same state, but the uncontrolled elimination of their habitat has now been mitigated. The impact of the agreement to Pacific Lumber was the eventual bankruptcy filed in 2008. The resulting reshaping of the firm required layoffs and the decommission of certain assets to created a viable business. Employees lost their jobs, communities felt the impact of business fluctuation, and the local economy suffered. Although difficult, this suffering is short-termed and does not compare to the long term negative effects of deforestation to future generations. (Biological Issue, 2014) Conclusion Pacific Lumber is a perfect example of why ethical business practices must consider the environment along with other federal and state regulations within their operations. Focusing only on short term profitability is not indicative of long term sustainment and stability. Owners of large corporations must ensure that responsible values and core competencies are retained, despite being bought out. Controlling corporate growth helps maintain employee and shareholder interests, while simultaneously ensuring the health and welfare of the environment. References

Studying Literature Essay Example for Free

Studying Literature Essay Contrary to students within other provinces, those in Ontario should study only Canadian literature in grade twelve English courses. Although there are many existing writers in different cultures, it is important for Ontario students to first become familiar with Canadian literature before moving on. It is believed that students should focus on their Canadian culture despite being surrounded by other cultures- promote and establish their own writers, and encourage younger Canadian authors. Pupils currently enrolled in English in Ontario are constantly bombarded by American culture, when they should, instead, be concentrating on Canadian literature. This is starting to become a trend in Canada, as they have always been the â€Å"branch plant† of another country. This means that our own culture has never had the chance to develop as we have always been under the thumb of a more powerful foreign culture. This began with the influence of England and France; for many years students in Ontario would study Shakespeare, along with other British writers. This is no different than the impact of American culture, which swamps Canadawith American authors such as Fitzgerald. However, many schools limit a student’s exposure to Canadian novels to those found on International Studies Preparation (ISP) reading lists. In this sense, Canada is an attic in which we have stored American and British literature without considering our own. As a result, many Canadian students have problems appreciating their culture, since Canadian literature is not promoted well enough. It is no wonder Canadian students have problems appreciating their culture. The Canadian literature most frequently studied is typically old. This literature includes works such as â€Å"The Apprenticeship of Duddly Kravitz†, by Mordecai Richler, â€Å"The Stone Angel† by Margaret Laurence and the â€Å"Fifth Business† by Robertson Davies. The Fifth Business is quite unique since it was published in 1970– over 35 years ago – and yet it is still included in many grade twelve English courses across Ontario. A book that is seemingly closer to our time is Margaret Atwood’s novel, â€Å"Handmaids Tale†, which was published in 1985 over ten years ago. Although most teachers allow, and sometimes even encourage, students to focus on more modern Canadian books for their ISP, their classroom experience is usually limited to studying these older generations of Canadian literature. Schools and educators should start to get students more familiar with both past and present Canadian authors- this could lead any student to the path of becoming an author themselves. Another issue with Canadian literature is that the authors are primarily white (English Canadian) and not reflective of our modern multicultural society. As Robertson Davies states, 2â€Å"Canada is not going to have a national literature in the mode of those European lands where a long history has bound the people together, and where a homogeneous racial inheritance has given them a language, customs, and even a national dress of their own†. We need to promote the work of Canadian authors who have come from different backgroundsand who are able make a connection with our multicultural student body. As Canadians, we are lost in a sea of international influences – we hardly know who we are and this happens many of us realizing it. ‘What is a Canadian? A Canadian is a fellow wearing English tweeds, a Hong Kong shirt and Spanish shoes, who sips Brazilian coffee sweetened with Philippine sugar from a Bavarian cup while nibbling Swiss cheese, sitting at a Danish desk over a Persian rug, after coming home in a German car from an Italian movie.. ’, is an anonymous saying that practically defines the typical Canadian experience. It is clear why Margaret Atwood could comment that Canadians have issues with establishing their identity. When discussing Canadian writers she argues that Canada, as a state of mind, does not really exist: 4â€Å"Im talking about Canada as a state of mind, as the space you inhabit not just with your body but with your head. Its that kind of space in which we find ourselves lost. In conclusion, Canadian literature should be more recognized and promoted within our generation of young students. By familiarizing ourselves with our own writers and disregarding writers from other countries, we can gain more knowledge about authors from Canada and their literature. While some might view this as ignorant, taking this approach will allow Canadian students to see the value of our authors. Once our students have a strong sense of our own writers they can start to read about the achievements of American and British authors as well.

Software testing

Software testing 1.0 Software Testing Activities We start testing activities from the first phase of the software development life cycle. We may generate test cases from the SRS and SDD documents and use them during system and acceptance testing. Hence, development and testing activities are carried out simultaneously in order to produce good quality maintainable software in time and within budget. We may carry out testing at many levels and may also take help of a software testing tool. Whenever we experience a failure, we debug the source code to find reasons for such a failure. Finding the reasons of a failure is very significant testing activity and consumes huge amount of resources and may also delay the release of the software. 1.1 Levels of Testing Software testing is generally carried out at different levels. There are four such levels namely unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and acceptance testing as shown in figure 8.1. First three levels of testing activities are done by the testers and last level of testing (acceptance) is done by the customer(s)/user(s). Each level has specific testing objectives. For example, at unit testing level, independent units are tested using functional and/or structural testing techniques. At integration testing level, two or more units are combined and testing is carried out to test the integration related issues of various units. At system testing level, the system is tested as a whole and primarily functional testing techniques are used to test the system. Non functional requirements like performance, reliability, usability, testability etc. are also tested at this level. Load/stress testing is also performed at this level. Last level i.e. acceptance testing is done by the cus tomer(s)/users for the purpose of accepting the final product. 1.1.1 Unit Testing We develop software in parts / units and every unit is expected to have defined functionality. We may call it a component, module, procedure, function etc, which will have a purpose and may be developed independently and simultaney. A. Bertolino and E. Marchetti have defined a unit as [BERT07]: A unit is the smallest testable piece of software, which may consist of hundreds or even just few lines of source code, and generally represents the result of the work of one or few developers. The unit test cases purpose is to ensure that the unit satisfies its functional specification and / or that its implemented structure matches the intended design structure. [BEIZ90, PFLE01]. There are also problems with unit testing. How can we run a unit independently? A unit may not be completely independent. It may be calling few units and also called by one or more units. We may have to write additional source code to execute a unit. A unit X may call a unit Y and a unit Y may call a unit A and a unit B as shown in figure 8.2(a). To execute a unit Y independently, we may have to write additional source code in a unit Y which may handle the activities of a unit X and the activities of a unit A and a unit B. The additional source code to handle the activities of a unit X is called driver and the additional source code to handle the activities of a unit A and a unit B is called stub. The complete additional source code which is written for the design of stub and driver is called scaffolding. The scaffolding should be removed after the completion of unit testing. This may help us to locate an error easily due to small size of a unit. Many white box testing techniques may be effectively applicable at unit level. We should keep stubs and drivers simple and small in size to reduce the cost of testing. If we design units in such a way that they can be tested without writing stubs and drivers, we may be very efficient and lucky. Generally, in practice, it may be difficult and thus requirement of stubs and drivers may not be eliminated. We may only minimize the requirement of scaffolding depending upon the functionality and its division in various units. 1.1.2 Integration Testing A software may have many units. We test units independently during unit testing after writing required stubs and drivers. When we combine two units, we may like to test the interfaces amongst these units. We combine two or more units because they share some relationship. This relationship is represented by an interface and is known as coupling. The coupling is the measure of the degree of interdependence between units. Two units with high coupling are strongly connected and thus, dependent on each other. Two units with low coupling are weakly connected and thus have low dependency on each other. Hence, highly coupled units are heavily dependent on other units and loosely coupled units are comparatively less dependent on other units as shown in figure 8.3. Coupling increases as the number of calls amongst units increases or the amount of shared data increases. The design with high coupling may have more errors. Loose coupling minimize the interdependence and some of the steps to minimize the coupling are given as: (i) Pass only data, not the control information. (ii) Avoid passing undesired data. (iii) Minimize parent / child relationship between calling and called units. (iv) Minimize the number of parameters to be passed between two units. (v) Avoid passing complete data structure. (vi) Do not declare global variables. (vii) Minimize the scope of variables. Different types of coupling are data (best), stamp, control, external, common and content (worst). When we design test cases for interfaces, we should be very clear about the coupling amongst units and if it is high, large number of test cases should be designed to test that particular interface. A good design should have low coupling and thus interfaces become very important. When interfaces are important, their testing will also be important. In integration testing, we focus on the issues related to interfaces amongst units. There are several integration strategies that really have little basis in a rational methodology and are given in figure 8.4. Top down integration starts from the main unit and keeps on adding all called units of next level. This portion should be tested thoroughly by focusing on interface issues. After completion of integration testing at this level, add next level of units and as so on till we reach the lowest level units (leaf units). There will not be any requirement of drivers and only stubs will be designed. In bottom-up integration, we start from the bottom, (i.e. from leaf units) and keep on adding upper level units till we reach the top (i.e. root node). There will not be any need of stubs. A sandwich strategy runs from top and bottom concurren tly, depending upon the availability of units and may meet somewhere in the middle. (b) Bottom up integration (focus starts from edges i, j and so on) c) Sandwich integration (focus starts from a, b, i, j and so on) Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. In practice, sandwich integration approach is more popular. This can be started as and when two related units are available. We may use any functional or structural testing techniques to design test cases. The functional testing techniques are easy to implement with a particular focus on the interfaces and some structural testing techniques may also be used. When a new unit is added as a part of integration testing then the software is considered as a changed software. New paths are designed and new input(s) and output(s) conditions may emerge and new control logic may invoke. These changes may also cause problems with units that previously worked flawlessly. 1.1.3 System Testing We perform system testing after the completion of unit and integration testing. We test complete software alongwith its expected environment. We generally use functional testing techniques, although few structural testing techniques may also be used. A system is defined as a combination of the software, hardware and other associated parts that together provide product features and solutions. System testing ensures that each system function works as expected and it also tests for non-functional requirements like performance, security, reliability, stress, load etc. This is the only phase of testing which tests both functional and non-functional requirements of the system. A team of the testing persons does the system testing under the supervision of a test team leader. We also review all associated documents and manuals of the software. This verification activity is equally important and may improve the quality of the final product. Utmost care should be taken for the defects found during system testing phase. A proper impact analysis should be done before fixing the defect. Sometimes, if system permits, instead of fixing the defects are just documented and mentioned as the known limitation. This may happen in a situation when fixing is very time consuming or technically it is not possible in the present design etc. Progress of system testing also builds confidence in the development team as this is the first phase in which complete product is tested with a specific focus on customers expectations. After the completion of this phase, customers are invited to test the software. 1.1.4 Acceptance Testing This is the extension of system testing. When testing team feels that the product is ready for the customer(s), they invite the customer(s) for demonstration. After demonstration of the product, customer(s) may like to use the product for their satisfaction and confidence. This may range from adhoc usage to systematic well-planned usage of the product. This type of usage is essential before accepting the final product. The testing done for the purpose of accepting a product is known as acceptance testing. This may be carried out by the customer(s) or persons authorized by the customer. The venue may be developers site or customers site depending on the mutual agreement. Generally, acceptance testing is carried out at the customers site. Acceptance testing is carried out only when the software is developed for a particular customer(s). If, we develop software for anonymous customers (like operating systems, compilers, case tools etc), then acceptance testing is not feasible. In such c ases, potential customers are identified to test the software and this type of testing is called alpha / beta testing. Beta testing is done by many potential customers at their sites without any involvement of developers / testers. Although alpha testing is done by some potential customers at developers site under the direction and supervision of testers. 1.2 Debugging Whenever a software fails, we would like to understand the reason(s) of such a failure. After knowing the reason(s), we may attempt to find solution and may make necessary changes in the source code accordingly. These changes will hopefully remove the reason(s) of that software failure. The process of identifying and correcting a software error is known as debugging. It starts after receiving a failure report and completes after ensuring that all corrections have been rightly placed and the software does not fail with the same set of input(s). The debugging is quite a difficult phase and may become one of the reasons of the software delays. Every bug detection process is different and it is difficult to know how long it will take to find and fix a bug. Sometimes, it may not be possible to detect a bug or if a bug is detected, it may not be feasible to correct it at all. These situations should be handled very carefully. In order to remove bugs, developer must first discover that a problem exists, then classify the bug, locate where the problem actually lies in the source code, and finally correct the problem. 1.2.1 Why debugging is so difficult? Debugging is a difficult process. This is probably due to human involvement and their psychology. Developers become uncomfortable after receiving any request of debugging. It is taken against their professional pride. Shneiderman [SHNE80] has rightly commented on human aspect of debugging as: It is one of the most frustrating parts of programming. It has elements of problem solving or brain teasers, coupled with the annoying recognition that we have made a mistake. Heightened anxiety and the unwillingness to accept the possibility of errors, increase the task difficulty. Fortunately, there is a great sigh of relief and a lessening of tension when the bug is ultimately corrected. These comments explain the difficulty of debugging. Pressman [PRES97] has given some clues about the characteristics of bugs as: The debugging process attempts to match symptom with cause, thereby leading to error correction. The symptom and the cause may be geographically remote. That is, symptom may appear in one part of program, while the cause may actually be located in other part. Highly coupled program structures may further complicate this situation. Symptom may also disappear temporarily when another error is corrected. In real time applications, it may be difficult to accurately reproduce the input conditions. In some cases, symptom may be due to causes that are distributed across a number of tasks running on different processors. There may be many reasons which may make debugging process difficult and time consuming. However, psychological reasons are more prevalent over technical reasons. Over the years, debugging techniques have substantially improved and they will continue to develop significantly in the near future. Some debugging tools are available and they minimize the human involvement in the debugging process. However, it is still a difficult area and consumes significant amount of time and resources. 1.2.2 Debugging Process Debugging means detecting and removing bugs from the programs. Whenever a program generates an unexpected behaviour, it is known as a failure of the program. This failure may be mild, annoying, disturbing, serious, extreme, catastrophic or infectious. Depending on the type of failure, actions are required to be taken. Debugging process starts after receiving a failure report either from testing team or from users. The steps of the debugging process are replication of the bug, understanding the bug, locate the bug, fix the bug and retest the program. (i) Replication of the bug: The first step in fixing a bug is to replicate it. This means to recreate the undesired behaviour under controlled conditions. The same set of input(s) should be given under similar conditions to the program and the program, after execution, should produce similar unexpected behaviour. If this happens, we are able to replicate a bug. In many cases, this is simple and straight forward. We execute the program on a particular input(s) or we press a particular button on a particular dialog, and the bug occurs. In other cases, replication may be very difficult. It may require many steps or in an interactive program such as a game, it may require precise timing. In worst cases, replication may be nearly impossible. If we do not replicate the bug, how will we verify the fix? Hence, failure to replicate a bug is a real problem. If we cannot do it, any action, which cannot be verified, has no meaning, how so ever important it may be. Some of the reasons for non-replication of bug are: ÂÂ · The user incorrectly reported the problem. ÂÂ · The program has failed due to hardware problems like memory overflow, poor network connectivity, network congestion, non availability of system buses, deadlock conditions etc. ÂÂ · The program has failed due to system software problems. The reason may be the usage of different type of operating system, compilers, device drivers etc. there may be any above mentioned reason for the failure of the program, although there is no inherent bug in program for this particular failure. Our effort should be to replicate the bug. If we cannot do so, it is advisable to keep the matter pending till we are able to replicate it. There is no point in playing with the source code for a situation which is not reproducible. (ii) Understanding the bug After replicating the bug, we may like to understand the bug. This means, we want to find the reason(s) of this failure. There may be one or more reasons and is generally the most time consuming activity. We should understand the program very clearly for understanding a bug. If we are the designers and source code writers, there may not be any problem for understanding the bug. If not, then we may even have more serious problems. If readability of the program is good and associated documents are available, we may be able to manage the problem. If readability is not that good, (which happens in many situations) and associated documents are not proper, situation becomes very difficult and complex. We may call the designers, if we are lucky, they may be available with the company and we may get them. Imagine otherwise, what will happen? This is a real challenging situation and in practice many times, we have to face this and struggle with the source code and documents written by the per sons not available with the company. We may have to put effort in order to understand the program. We may start from the first statement of the source code to the last statement with a special focus on critical and complex areas of the source code. We should be able to know, where to look in the source code for any particular activity. It should also tell us the general way in which the program acts. The worst cases are large programs written by many persons over many years. These programs may not have consistency and may become poorly readable over time due to various maintenance activities. We should simply do the best and try to avoid making the mess worse. We may also take the help of source code analysis tools for examining the large programs. A debugger may also be helpful for understanding the program. A debugger inspects a program statement wise and may be able to show the dynamic behaviour of the program using a breakpoint. The breakpoints are used to pause the program at any time needed. At every breakpoint, we may look at values of variables, contents of relevant memory locations, registers etc. The main point is that in order to understand a bug, program understanding is essential. We should put desired effort before finding the reasons of the software failure. If we fail to do so, unnecessarily, we may waste our effort, which is neither required nor desired. (iii) Locate the bug There are two portions of the source code which need to be considered for locating a bug. First portion of the source code is one which causes the visible incorrect behaviour and second portion of the source code is one which is actually incorrect. In most of the situations, both portions may overlap and sometimes, both portions may be in different parts of the program. We should first find the source code which causes the incorrect behaviour. After knowing the incorrect behaviour and its related portion of the source code, we may find the portion of the source code which is at fault. Sometimes, it may be very easy to identify the problematic source code (second portion of the source code) with manual inspection. Otherwise, we may have to take the help of a debugger. If we have core dumps, a debugger can immediately identify the line which fails. A core dumps is the printout of all registers and relevant memory locations. We should document them and also retain them for possible futu re use. We may provide breakpoints while replicating the bug and this process may also help us to locate the bug. Sometimes simple print statements may help us to locate the sources of the bad behaviour. This simple way provides us the status of various variables at different locations of the program with specific set of inputs. A sequence of print statements may also portray the dynamics of variable changes. However, it is cumbersome to use in large programs. They may also generate superfluous data which may be difficult to analyze and manage. Another useful approach is to add check routines in the source code to verify that data structures are in a valid state. Such routines may help us to narrow down where data corruption occurs. If the check routines are fast, we may want to always enable them. Otherwise, leave them in the source code, and provide some sort of mechanism to turn them on when we need them. The most useful and powerful way is to do the source code inspection. This may help us to understand the program, understand the bug and finally locate the bug. A clear understanding of the program is an absolute requirement of any debugging activity. Sometimes, bug may not be in the program at all. It may be in a library routine or in the operating system, or in the compiler. These cases are very rare, but there are chances and if everything fails, we may have to look for such options. (iv) Fix the bug and retest the program After locating the bug, we may like to fix the bug. The fixing of a bug is a programming exercise rather than a debugging activity. After making necessary changes in the source code, we may have to retest the source code in order to ensure that the corrections have been rightly done at right place. Every change may affect other portions of the source code also. Hence an impact analysis is required to identify the affected portion and that portion should also be retested thoroughly. This retesting activity is called regression testing which is very important activity of any debugging process. 1.2.3 Debugging Approaches There are many popular debugging approaches, but success of any approach is dependant upon the understanding of the program. If the persons involved in debugging understand the program correctly, they may be able to detect and remove the bugs. (i) Trial and Error Method This approach is dependent on the ability and experience of the debugging persons. After getting a failure report, it is analyzed and program is inspected. Based on experience and intelligence, and also using hit and trial technique, the bug is located and a solution is found. This is a slow approach and becomes impractical in large programs. (ii) Backtracking This can be used successfully in small programs. We start at the point where program gives incorrect result such as unexpected output is printed. After analyzing the output, we trace backward the source code manually until a cause of the failure is found. The source code from the statement where symptoms of failure is found to the statement where cause of failure is found is analyzed properly. This technique brackets the locations of the bug in the program. Subsequent careful study of bracketed location may help us to rectify the bug. Another obvious variation of backtracking is forward tracking, where we use print statements or other means to examine a succession of intermediate results to determine at what point the result first became wrong. These approaches (backtracking and forward tracking) may be useful only when the size of the program is small. As the program size increases, it becomes difficult to manage these approaches. (iii) Brute Force This is probably the most common and efficient approach to identify the cause of a software failure. In this approach, memory dumps are taken and run time traces are invoked and the program is loaded with print statements. When this is done, we may find a clue by the information produced which leads to identification of cause of a bug. Memory traces are similar to memory dumps, except that the printout contains only certain memory and register contents and printing is conditional on some event occurring. Typically conditional events are entry, exit or use of one of the following: (a) A particular subroutine, statement or database (b) Communication with I/O devices (c) Value of a variable (d) Timed actuations (periodic or random) in certain real time system. A special problem with trace programs is that the conditions are entered in the source code and any changes require a recompilation. The huge amount of data is generated which although may help to identify the cause but may be difficult to manage and analyze. (iv) Cause Elimination Cause elimination is manifested by induction or deduction and also introduces the concept of binary partitioning. Data related to error occurrence are organized to isolate potential causes. Alternatively, a list of all possible causes is developed and tests are conducted to eliminate each. Therefore, we may rule out causes one by one until a single one remains for validation. The cause is identified, properly fixed and retested accordingly. 1.2.4 Debugging Tools Many debugging tools are available to support the debugging process. Some of the manual activities can also be automated using a tool. We may need a tool that may execute every statement of a program at a time and print values of any variable after executing every statement of the program. We will be free from inserting print statements in the program manually. Thus, run time debuggers are designed. In principle, a run time debugger is nothing more than an automatic print statement generator. It allows us to trace the program path and the variables without having to put print statements in the source code. Every compiler available in the market comes with run time debugger. It allows us to compile and run the program with a single compilation, rather than modifying the source code and recompiling as we try to narrow down the bug. Run time debuggers may detect bugs in the program, but may fail to find the causes of failures. We may need a special tool to find causes of failures and correct the bug. Some errors like memory corruption and memory leaks may be detected automatically. The automation was the modification in debugging process, because it automated the process of finding the bug. A tool may detect an error, and our job is to simply fix it. These tools are known as automatic debugger and come in several varieties. The simplest ones are just a library of functions that can be linked into a program. When the program executes and these functions are called, the debugger checks for memory corruption, if it finds this, it reports it. Compilers are also used for finding bugs. Of course, they check only syntax errors and particular type of run time errors. Compilers should give proper and detailed messages of errors that will be of great help to the debugging process. Compilers may give all such information in the attribute table, which is printed along with the listing. The attribute table contains various levels of warnings which have been picked up by the compiler scan and which are noted. Hence, compilers are coming with error detection feature and there is no excuse to design compilers without meaningful error messages. We may apply wide variety of tools like run time debugger, automatic debugger, automatic test case generators, memory dumps, cross reference maps, compilers etc during the debugging process. However, tools are not the substitute for careful examination of the source code after thorough understanding. 1.3 Software Testing Tools The most important effort consuming task in software testing is to design the test cases. The execution of these test cases may not require much time and resources. Hence, designing part is more significant than execution part. Both parts are normally handled manually. Do we really need a tool? If yes, where and when can we use it? In first part (designing of test cases) or second part (execution of test cases) or both. Software testing tools may be used to reduce the time of testing and to make testing as easy and pleasant as possible. Automated testing may be carried out without human involvement. This may help us in the areas where similar data set is to be given as input to the program again and again. A tool may do the repeated testing, unattended also, during nights or weekends without human intervention. Many non-functional requirements may be tested with the help of a tool. We want to test the performance of a software under load, which may require many computers, manpower and other resources. A tool may simulate multiple users on one computer and also a situation when many users are accessing a database simultaneously. There are three broad categories of software testing tools i.e. static, dynamic and process management. Most of the tools fall clearly into one of the categories but there are few exceptions like mutation analysis system which falls in more than one the categories. A wide variety of tools are available with different scope and quality and they assist us in many ways. 1.3.1 Static software testing tools Static software testing tools are those that perform analysis of the programs without executing them at all. They may also find the source code which will be hard to test and maintain. As we all know, static testing is about prevention and dynamic testing is about cure. We should use both the tools but prevention is always better than cure. These tools will find more bugs as compared to dynamic testing tools (where we execute the program). There are many areas for which effective static testing tools are available, and they have shown their results for the improvement of the quality of the software. (i) Complexity analysis tools Complexity of a program plays very important role while determining its quality. A popular measure of complexity is the cyclomatic complexity as discussed in chapter 4. This gives us the idea about the number of independent paths in the program and is dependent upon the number of decisions in the program. Higher value of cyclomatic complexity may indicate about poor design and risky implementation. This may also be applied at module level and higher cyclomatic complexity value modules may either be redesigned or may be tested very thoroughly. There are other complexity measures also which are used in practice like Halstead software size measures, knot complexity measure etc. Tools are available which are based on any of the complexity measure. These tools may take the program as an input, process it and produce a complexity value as output. This value may be an indicator of the quality of design and implementation. (ii) Syntax and Semantic Analysis Tools These tools find syntax and semantic errors. Although compiler may detect all syntax errors during compilation, but early detection of such errors may help to minimize other associated errors. Semantic errors are very significant and compilers are helpless to find such errors. There are tools in the market that may analyze the program and find errors. Non-declaration of a variable, double declaration of a variable, divide by zero issue, unspecified inputs, non-initialization of a variable are some of the issues which may be detected by semantic analysis tools. These tools are language dependent and may parse the source code, maintain a list of errors and provide implementation information. The parser may find semantic errors as well as make an inference as to what is syntactically correct. (iii) Flow graph generator tools These tools are language dependent and take the program as an input and convert it to its flow graph. The flow graph may be used for many purposes like complexity calculation, paths identification, generation of definition use paths, program slicing etc. These