Data Warehouse Case Study Essay

History of the CDR When the project began in 1995–96, the CDR, initially referred to as the â€Å"clinical research database,† was intended to support and enhance clinical research at the University of Virginia by providing clinicians, students, and researchers with direct, rapid access to retrospective clinical and administrative patient data. Re? ecting this intent, the system was funded by the School of Medicine and housed in the Academic Computing Health Sciences group, which is distinct from the medical center’s IT group. With considerable assistance and cooperation from data owners and stewards, legacy data from several different sources were loaded into a single relational database and periodically updated. Authorized users accessed the CDR through a standard Web browser and viewed or downloaded data to their personal computers for further analysis. Initially, emphasis was placed on getting the CDR running as quickly as possible and with a minimum of resources; consequently, extensive transformation of data to an enterprise data model was not performed. The CDR project team consists of 2. 5–3. 0 FTEs (full-time equivalents)— one developer, one developer-database administrator, and portions of analyst, clinician, and administrative FTEs. To date, the costs of developing and operating the CDR have been approximately $200,000 per year, underwritten by the School of Medicine. Over the course of the project, there have been signi? cant enhancements to the user interface, incorporation of additional data sources, and the development of an integrated data model. There has also been increasing interest in using the CDR to serve a broader audience than researchers and to support management and administrative functions—â€Å"to meet the challenge of providing a way for anyone with a need to know—at every level of the organization—access to accurate and timely data necessary to support effective decision making, clinical research, and process improvement. In the area of education, the CDR has become a core teaching resource for the Department of Health Evaluation Science’s master’s program and for the School of Nursing. Students use the CDR to understand and master informatics issues such as data capture, vocabularies, and coding, as well as to perform Case Study: A Data Warehouse for an Academic Medical Center 167 exploratory analyses of healthcare questions. Starting in Spring 2001, the CDR will also be introduced into the university’s undergraduate medical curriculum. System Description Following is a brief overview of the CDR application as it exists at the University of Virginia. System Architecture. The CDR is a relational data warehouse that resides on a Dell PowerEdge 1300 (Dual Intel 400MHz processors, 512MB RAM) running the Linux operating system and Sybase 11. 9. 1 relational database management system. For storage, the system uses a Dell Powervault 201S 236GB RAID Disk Array. As of October 2000, the database contained 23GB of information about 5. 4 million patient visits (16GB visit data, 7GB laboratory results). Data loading into Sybase is achieved using custom Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl) programs. CDR Contents. The CDR currently draws data from four independent systems (see Table 1). In addition, a number of derived values (for example, number of days to next inpatient visit, number of times a diagnostic code is used in various settings) are computed to provide summary information for selected data elements. Data from each of these source systems are integrated into the CDR’s data model. In addition to the current contents listed in Table 1, users and the CDR project team have identi? ed additional data elements that might be incorporated Table 1. Contents of the CDR Type of Data Inpatient, outpatient visits Source of Data Shared Medical Systems Description Patient registration and demographic data, diagnoses, procedures, unit and census information, billing transactions, including medications, costs, charges, reimbursement, insurance information Physician billing transactions from inpatient and outpatient visits, diagnoses, and procedures Laboratory test results Available Dates Jul 1993–Jun 2000 Professional billing Laboratory results Cardiac surgery IDX billing system HL-7 messages from SunQuest Lab System Cardiac surgery outcomes data (de? ned by Society of Thoracic Surgeons Oct 1992–Jun 2000 Jan 1996–Jun 2000 Clinical details for thoracic surgery cases Jul 1993–Jun 2000 168 Einbinder, Scully, Pates, Schubart, Reynolds into the CDR, including microbiology results, discharge summaries (and other narrative data), outpatient prescribing information, order entry details, and tumor registry information. As of October 2000, we have just ? nished incorporating death registry data from the Virginia Department of Health into the CDR. These data will provide our users with direct access to more comprehensive mortality outcomes data than are contained in local information systems, which generally are restricted to an in-hospital death indicator. User Interface. The user interface runs in a standard Web browser and consists of a data dictionary, a collection of common gateway interface (CGI) programs implemented using the â€Å"C† programming language, and JavaScriptenabled HTML pages. Structured query language (SQL) statements are generated automatically in response to point-and-click actions by the user, enabling submission of ad hoc queries without prior knowledge of SQL. The SQL queries are sent to the CGI programs that query the database and return results in dynamically created HTML pages. The entire process is controlled by the contents of the data dictionary, which is used to format SQL results, set up HTML links for data drill-down, and provide on-line help. Data may be downloaded immediately into Microsoft Excel or another analysis tool on the user’s workstation. Query Formulation. Most CDR users use the Guided Query function to retrieve data. This process involves three steps: 1. De? ne a population of interest by setting conditions, for example, date ranges, diagnostic codes, physician identi? ers, service locations, and lab test codes or values. 2. Submit the query, specifying how much data the CDR should return (all matching data or a speci? ed number of rows). 3. After the CDR returns the population of interest, use the Report Menu to explore various attributes of the population on a case-by-case or group level. Custom reports can also be de? ned, and the results of any report can be downloaded into Microsoft Excel, Access, or other analysis tool. Generally, the query process requires several iterations to modify the population conditions or report options. In addition, â€Å"browsing† the data may help the user generate ideas for additional queries. We believe that it is helpful for end users to go through this query process themselves—to directly engage the data. However, many users, especially those with a pressing need for data for a meeting, report, or grant, prefer to use CDR team members as intermediaries or analysts. To date, we have attempted to meet this preference, but as query volume increases, our ability to provide data in a timely manner may fall off. Security. A steering committee of clinicians guided the initial development of the CDR and established policies for its utilization and access. Only authorized users may log onto the CDR. To protect con? dentiality, all patient and physician identifying information has been partitioned into a â€Å"secure† Case Study: A Data Warehouse for an Academic Medical Center 169 database. Translation from or to disguised identi? ers to or from actual identi? ers is possible but requires a written request and appropriate approval (for example, from a supervisor or the human investigations committee). All data transmitted from the database server to the user’s browser are encrypted using the secure Netscape Web server, and all accesses to the database are logged. In addition, CDR access is restricted to personal computers that are part of the â€Å"Virginia. edu† domain or that are authenticated by the university’s proxy server. Evaluation Understanding user needs is the basis for improving the CDR to enable users to retrieve the data independently and to increase usage of the CDR at our institution. Thus, assessing the value of the CDR—how well we meet our users’ needs and how we might increase our user base—has been an important activity that has helped guide planning for changes and enhancements and for allocation of our limited resources. Efforts to evaluate the CDR have included several approaches: †¢ Monitoring user population and usage patterns †¢ Administering a CDR user survey †¢ Tracking queries submitted to the CDR and performing follow-up telephone interviews Usage Statistics. Voluntary usage of an IS resource is an important measure of its value and of user satisfaction. 5 However, usage of a data warehouse is likely to be quite different than for other types of information resources, such as clinical information systems. A clinical system is likely to be used many times per day; a data warehouse may be used sporadically. Thus, although we monitor system usage as a measure of the CDR’s value, we believe that frequency of usage cannot be viewed in isolation in assessing the success of a data warehouse. Since the CDR went â€Å"live,† more than 300 individuals have requested and obtained logon IDs. As of September 30, 2000, 213 individuals had logged on and submitted at least one query. This number does not include usage by CDR project team members and does not re? ect analyses performed by team members for end users. Figure 1 shows the cumulative number of active users (those who submitted a query) and demonstrates a linear growth pattern.

The Prehistory and Ratification of the American Constitution Essay

To ratify a treaty or agreement is to make it official by signing it or voting for it. For amendments of the federal constitution to take place, it usually requires the support of both the federal government and a given percentage of the constituent governments. Article five of the constitution of the United States of America illustrates how to amend the document. There are two steps involved; proposal and ratification. In proposing an amendment, either congress or the states can propose an amendment of the constitution. (Both houses of congress must propose the amendment with a two-thirds vote. Two-thirds of the state legislatures must call a congress to hold a constitutional convention.) In ratifying an amendment, regardless of how the amendment has been proposed, it must be ratified by the states. (Three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve the amendment proposed by congress or three-fourths of the states must approve the amendment through ratifying conventions.) Ratification of the constitution in 1787                  In 1787 and 1788, after the constitutional convention, there was a great debate in the United States of America over the constitution that had been proposed. Federalists were in favor of the constitution and a strong central government as well. These federalists were people like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. On the opposing side were the anti federalists who were in favor of stronger state legislatures and a weaker central government. The anti-federalists did not want the constitution to be ratified. They were people like Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. Federalists were in support of the ratification process due to the following reasons                  Federalists also reasoned out that the new government would not be dominated by any group and there were various adequate safeguards to protect individuals and the states. The constitution, therefore, did not need a Bill of Rights since it could create a ‘parchment barrier’ which limited the rights of people instead of protecting them. They considered a Bill of Rights unnecessary because the state governments already had such bills. They wanted a strong federal government which would hold the nation together. The nation was facing several problems, especially constant trade disputes which were at the verge of dividing the nation. A strong federal government was, therefore, necessary. Anti-federalists, on the other hand, did not support the ratification process for the following reasons; They were concerned about the liberties that Americans had won in the revolution. They feared that a strong federal government would destroy these liberties. They were worried that the constitution did not list specific rights for the people. From the above discussion, if I had been alive in 1787, I would have supported the ratification process because of the following reasons; A stronger national government was required to solve persistent problems in America such as lack of a common currency, constant trade disputes between the states and a lack of unity in trade. Features of the constitution would provide adequate power to the national government to address these problems while protecting the rights and freedoms of the people. There were philosophical reasons to oppose the constitution as well. The new government which would be established by the new constitution would create a link between sovereign states. Besides, government did not have power because it was the government, but because the people had granted it power. Federal courts had limited jurisdiction. Many areas were left to the state and local courts. New federal courts were necessary to provide checks and balances on the power of the other two arms of government. Federal courts would thus protect the citizens from government abuse and guarantee their freedom. By separating the basic powers of government into three equal branches, and not giving too much power group, the constitution would provide balance and prevent potential for tyranny. In addition, the anti-federalists’ main reason for not accepting the ratification process was that the bill of rights had not been included. Later on, the proposed bill of rights was incorporated in the new constitution, and therefore the ratification process was now a valid one. References Bailyn, Bernard. The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Anti-federalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters during the Struggle over Ratification. New York: Literary Classics of the United States:, 1993. Print. John, Jeffrey. A Child of Fortune: A Correspondent’s Report on the Ratification of the U.S. Constitution and Battle for a Bill of Rights. Ottawa, Ill.: Jameson, 1990. Print. â€Å"The Constitution before the Judgment Seat: The Prehistory and Ratification of the American Constitution, 1787-1791.† Choice Reviews Online: 50-0478. Print. Source document

Plato vs. Aristotle Essay

Numerous experts in modern time regard Plato as the first genuine political philosopher and Aristotle as the first political scientist. They were both great thinkers in regards to, in part with Socrates, being the foundation of the great western philosophers. Plato and Aristotle each had ideas in how to proceed with improving the society in which they were part of during their existence. It is necessary therefore to analyze their different theoretical approaches regarding their philosophical perspectives, such as ethics and psychology. This paper however will mainly concentrate on Aristotle’s views on friendship and how it impacts today’s society. The main objective in Plato’s philosophy is a creation of a perfect society. He constructs a foundation for a utopian society in his book â€Å"The Republic†. The purpose of his thought process was to cleanse his society of the woes he felt plagued it and construct a new one. Plato lived during the Peloponnesian War, which consequently lead to the end of the Athenian democracy. He had eyewitness account of his mentor’s (Socrates) trial and execution. Bitter and angered by the political corruption that gripped the Athenian democratic government, he disengaged from participating in politics. He strongly felt that neither a moral individual nor a state that is rational could be established in a democratic environment. Plato felt that the common man wasn’t intelligent or capable of dealing with concepts that influence the state such as economics, policy of foreign affairs and other relative matters. He viewed political incumbents in Athens government as being elected for matters that were irrelevant to main factors that affected the state. Another danger was that excessive liberty for the people of the democratic society could potentially lead to anarchy. In Plato’s perfect society, he forged ahead to eliminate the disease (pluralism of friendship) that plagued the human character and society (Class Notes). Essentially, Plato wanted to establish the perfect form of society, linked by one single entity. Aristotle, unlike Plato, was not focused or concerned about the idea of a perfect society, instead he wanted to improve upon the one that he was part of during his existence. Rather than develop a framework for a society that is perfect, he suggested that society should, in it self, strive to utilize the best system it can attain. He felt that utopia was abstract and superficial. It wouldn’t allow for realistic problem solving solutions. He felt that Plato’s view of a strict overhaul of society in general wasn’t necessary. He believed that society was at its optimum and you can only improve upon the existing one. Plato’s perfect society would consist of three basic groups, which are Guardians (Gold), Auxiliaries (Silver), and the Artisan (Bronze). The highest of these classes are the gold people, which consist of rulers and non-rulers. Those that are rulers are society’s decision & policy makers and non-rulers occupy levels of civil servants. The fundamental prerequisite to becoming a genuine philosopher is to have knowledge of forms, thus enabling you to know the truth. Plato’s theory of the forms is partly logical and part metaphysical. Armed with the truth, he believed that philosophical ruler will always make the right decision, and rule with total wisdom, justice and virtue. The rulers, he felt, wouldn’t posses any money or property, they would be free of desires, excesses, and vices. The Auxiliaries (Silver) are people of strength, courage, and military capacity; they occupy a small sector of society. All auxiliaries would be subjected to a series of tests, which will check their powers of resistance to self-interest, pleasure and other temptations. The last level, Artisan (Bronze), are the workers which might be composed of farmers and artist, essentially non-skilled workers. They would produce all the consumable and non-consumable goods deemed necessary for consumption and the continued economic viability of the society. Plato whole-heartedly felt that if ever the bronze or iron people rule the state would collapse (Class Notes). He sought to establish the concept of the gold class having wisdom, thus they should be wise and good rulers. It was imperative that those who rule be philosophers and skilled in areas that pertained to the interest of the state. Aristotle’s disagreed with Plato in regards to allowing one particular class to govern the state politically for indefinite period of time. He felt that to not allow interaction among the various classes would inhibit those who posses the ability to engage in political life, an injustice. He feels Plato’s structure of classes is politically incorrect for the state. He quotes â€Å"It is a further objection that he deprives his Guardians even of happiness, maintaining that happiness of the whole state which should be the object of legislation†, ultimately he is stating that those who rule (Guardians), sacrifice their happiness for control and absolute power. Those who are of the gold class, lead such a rigid life, that it will become necessary to impose the same strict way of life on those being governed. He places the idea of moderation on a high pedestal. Many individuals come to favor the concept of moderation because it is flexible, part liberal and part conservative. Plato’s ideal society is so difficult to conceive that Aristotle believes that no human being can achieve its rudimentary requirements. He decided to express in the â€Å"Republic† how men should conduct it self in a perfect society and what attitude they should posses. In retrospect, Aristotle felt by using real world experience along with real people, he can see first hand how and what way can he improve society. Plato and Aristotle both agreed on justice and viewed it objectively; that is it controls the belief a life of good nature would be provided for all people no matter their ranking in society. Aristotle’s states † In democracies, for example, justice is considered to mean equality, no oligarchies, again inequality in the distribution of office to considered just†. Plato views the idea of law and justice as what sets the standard for society’s behavior in a state. Aristotle puts emphasis on the institution of the polis or civilized community. The polis was structured to allow the average individual in society to participate in political matters. This institutional forum is not the city-state or the community, but merely the larger of the two entities. It is rather a partnership between households, clans, and villages for the sake of a fully developed and self-sufficient life. The polis enables those individuals who naturally posses moral intellect and wisdom an opportunity to rise to higher positions (Class Notes). Justice is the political good within the polis, and it must promote the common interest of the people of the state. What is seen as good must be distributed and regulated through out the state. The law is also the regulating factor that arises from equal and free people in civil institution. The well being of a society is solely based upon the connection between the effort in which the citizens of the state adhere to the law of the land. A good citizen of the state will posses prudence, moderation, and justice, and above all to rule and be ruled. His belief contradicts Plato theory of one controlling class, governing the political matters and decisions that effect the state. The Theory of Democracy that Aristotle states is that democracy is a â€Å"perversion† form of government of â€Å"polity† (Class Notes). He clearly states â€Å"The people at large should be sovereign rather than the few best†. Plato on the other hand, wouldn’t permit citizens to engage in public participation concerning governmental issues, as Aristotle would have enjoyed. Plato also felt that public judgments of disapproval and approval were based on emotional belief, instead of factual knowledge. He believes that if a revolution occurred it would happened within the corridors of the palace, hence palace revolution. This type of revolution happens when there is a transmission of power from one holder of power to another. Aristotle perceives such an event occurring between the wealthy and less fortunate in society. He feels to prevent such actions, one must participate in them. Plato thinks that in a utopia a disgruntled group of Guardians will emerge and disengage themselves from the ruling law of the state. He feels that an oligarchy two things may initiate a possible revolution: the first one is the ruler and their offspring would grow to be weak, sympathetic, and second is that the number of poor individuals will grow larger and there for be taken advantage of by the ruling class. Aristotle states that to know the factors that caused the revolution, which destroys the constitution, is to also know the principal of effect, which in turn ensure its preservation. Aristotle and Plato also have contrasting views on ethics, psychology and metaphysics. In regards to ethics, Aristotle believes that virtue is necessary for happiness, while Plato says virtue is enough for happiness. The psychological difference between the two is that Plato feels the body is a prison for the soul; body and soul are two different entities, capable of maintaining independence from one another. As for Aristotle, he claims that the body and soul are two different things, one consisting of matter the other form. He sees everything in the universe being composed of matter and form, so its not surprising that he perceives human being are too. To him form is simply the way matter is arranged. For example, a cat is composed in a feline way; that’s what makes a cat. Human being for that matter, have a unique method of structure, too; that’s their form. In fact, Aristotle strongly feels that nothing in existence can be without form and matter. If you eliminate its structure and form you have nothing left. So for Aristotle, the concept of soul without body or body without soul is incoherent. In regards to form, Plato expressed how things should be through utilizing vague language and poetry. In respect to friendship, I firmly believe that Aristotle’s views on friendship holds value in today’s society. First we will touch on the various points that Aristotle makes regarding friendship, then expand on his main principle in connection to modern time, if possible. Aristotle distinguishes between three types of friendship: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure and friendships of virtue. The idea behind friendship of utility is that it is founded on the idea of usefulness. The interaction among friends is only valued if there is usefulness between the two individuals. An example of this would be any automobile dealer and car buyer. Factoring in that they know each other, both need what the other can provide. The bond that unites the two people is based on usefulness. As long as they each can provide what the other needs, it satisfies the friendship. The second concept would be friendship of pleasure, which is basically the amount of pleasure generated between the participants. An example of this would be two people engaging in a social event, such as an outdoor festival. Each of the participant’s enjoys the others company. They are friends because of the pleasure they bring to themselves. The last kind of friendship is the friendship of virtue. This friendship is special and unique, such that it can only be between two people. Rather than utility and pleasure, where it can establish a group of people, this type of friendship is connected solely between two people. This type of friendship is also unique based on the fact that it can only hold any true value if both individuals are of the same virtue. People in general might regard these definitions of friend objective. Some believe that doing something for someone is solely based on the act of self ? fulfillment. Aristotle, I believe is not incorrect in stating that the idea in friendship in utility and pleasure is for our own sake, and the concept behind friendship of virtue is for the sake of the friend. These three categories are arranged in a certain format that there are influenced by the next level. These bonds of friendship can arise from various forms of potential fraternal groupings. Present day possibilities can include: various college organizations, union members, national communities and any other form of group’s that people find a common denominator. For Aristotle Aristotle is more philosophically inclined than Plato; he tends to get rid of ideas that are irrelevant, and he believes that the concept of forms existing separate from matter is somewhat superfluous. He dives right into the heart of the matter. You can see Aristotle as someone who believes the world in which he occupies very satisfying just the way it is. His main focus is always connected with things that are consistent with ideal experience, without introducing unnecessary notions of concepts that can’t be proven. Plato’s vague, poetic language in metaphysics and physics didn’t stimulate inspiration; it made him uncomfortable. Both Plato and Aristotle were two men who envisioned methods on ways to improve their existing society. Plato, the political philosopher, was basically in pursuit of philosophical truth. Aristotle was more concerned with citizenship and institutional politics. They both had developed ideas and concepts to improve society as a whole. Aristotle and Plato have had a tremendous impact on political scientists of today. In Aristotle case, he was responsible for developing various democratic ideas. Even in modern democracies like our own Aristotle’s ideas hold true. When we vote in the election of the ruler of our country we, theoretically, are voting for the single most â€Å"excellent† citizen of our nation. That is we are voting for that citizen who can do the best job of working toward our common interest. The citizen of a state who has the greatest ability to work towards the salvation of the constitution has a great gift that can benefit all citizens. It only makes sense to allow that particular individual to lead the rest of the citizens in working towards the common interests of the state. In conclusion, these men were great thinkers. Their opinions on society and its function were quite different, but they both had the same concern, to build a better way of life for their societies they in lived in and for the societies that would come to be in the future.

What Is Globalization

Globalization is a term that includes a wide range of social and economic variations. It can encompass topics like the cultural changes, economics, finance trends, and global market expansion. There ought to be positive and negative effects of globalization – it all comes as a package. Globalization helps in creating new markets and wealth, at the same time it is responsible for extensive suffering, disorder, and unrest. The great financial crisis that just happened is the biggest example of how negative globalization can turn. It clearly reveals the dangers of an unstable, deregulated, global economy. At the same time, this gave rise to important global initiatives, striving towards betterment. Globalization is a factor responsible for both repression and the social boom. What happens when there is a growing integration of economies across the globe? Majorly there have been positive impacts of this global phenomenon – through liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG). Due to globalization, there has been significant flow of inward foreign direct investment. MNCs are getting a chance to explore various different markets across economies and explore the untapped potential. IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION It was in July 1991, when foreign currency reserves had tumbled down to almost $1 billion; inflation was at a soaring high of 17%, highest level of fiscal deficit, and foreign investors loosing confidence in Indian Economy. With all these coupling factors, capital was on the verge of flying out of the country and we were on the brink of become loan defaulters. It was at this time that with so many bottlenecks at bay, a complete overhauling of the economic system was required. Policies and programs changed accordingly. This was the best time for us to realize the importance of globalization. MEASURE OF GLOBALIZATION Devaluation: The first initiative towards globalization had been taken the moment there was an announcement of devaluating the Indian currency by a hoping 18-19% against all the major global currencies. This was a major initiative in the international foreign exchange arena. The Balance of payment crisis could also be resolved by this measure. Disinvestment: The core elements of globalization are privatization and liberalization. Under the privatization scheme, bulk of the public sector undertakings have been/ and are still being sold to the private sector. Thus the concept of PPP (public private partnership) came up. Allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Allowing FDI inflows is a major step of globalization. The foreign investment regime has been quite transparent and thus the economy is getting boosted up. Various sectors were opened up for liberalizing the FDI regime. For successful globalization countries need to chalk out strategies and policies to open up the doors for the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). The FDI by the MNCs brings with it flow of foreign capital, inflow of technology’ real capital goods, managerial and technical skills and know-how. Globalization can easily promote exports of the country by exploiting its export potentials in a right way. Globalization can be the engine of growth by facilitating export-led growth strategy of a developing country. ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have demonstrated their success of export-led growth strategy supported by the FDI under globalization approach. Globalization can provide sophisticated job opportunities to the qualified and also check ‘brain drain’ in a country. Globalization would provide varieties of products to consumer at a cheaper rate when they are domestically produced rather than imported. This would help in improving the economic welfare of the consumer class. Under globalization, the rising inflow of capital would bring foreign exchange into the country. Consequently, the exchange reserves and balances of payments position of the country can improve. This also helps in stabilizing the external value of the country’s currency. Under global finance, companies can meet their financial requirements easily. Global banking sector could facilitate e-banking and e-business. This would integrate countries economy globally and its prosperity would be enhanced. DEMERITS OF GLOBALISATION: Globalization is never accepted as unmixed blenings. Cities have pessimistic views about its ill-consequences. When a country is opened up and its market economy and financial sectors are well iberalized, its domestic economy may suffer owing to foreign economic invasion. A developing economy when lacks sufficient maturity, globalization may have adverse effect on its growth. Globalization may kill domestic industries when they fail to improve and compete foreign well-managed, well-established firms. Globalization may result into economic imperialism. Unguarded openness may become a playground for speculators. Currency speculation and speculators att acks, as happened in case of Indonesia, Malaysia Thailand, Philippines etc recently may led to economic crisis. It may lead to unemployment, poverty and growing economic inequalities. Despite its some shortcomings, benefits of globalization are likely to outweigh their drawbacks. Globalization essentially provides greater opportunities for the faster growth and economic development of the country and improve economic welfare. It provides wider and large-scale economic activities and employment opportunities. In a planned economy such as India, an indicative planning of desirable globalization process can be great use. India’s perspective planning for foreign investments and entry of MNC’s should be positive towards modernization of India. Besides, Research and Development (R&D) as well as technological up gradobious should be an integral part of India’s liberalized planning towards market economy. In short, globalization implies undeterred business activities and interaction among the firms and people with a global approach. It needs change in the outlook. It requires relaxing of control and regulations. It is heartening to note that an awareness of the government in India is on this line. Relief to foreign investors, new industrial policy, new trade policy, new fiscal policy, banking reforms, FERA and MRTP relaxation, acceptance of WTO agreements etc all suggest a positive out look of Indian policy-makers towards globalization. Indian government has assumed the role of promoter, care taker and regulator of market economy in the country in a desirable manner. Journey has begun. Destination is yet far. Perspective Although the social science literature on globalization has proliferated, social policy and social work scholars have not adequately debated the consequences of globalization for social welfare and social justice. Drawing on different social science interpretations of globalization, four major perspectives that offer different analytical and normative insights into globalization are identified and their implications for social welfare and social justice are briefly examined. The implications of these perspectives for social policy and social work scholarship are also considered. The concept of globalization is widely used today not only in the social sciences but in journalism and popular discourse. However, it is still poorly defined. Although loosely employed to connote the processes of social change that are affecting social relations between people living in the world's different nation states, the nature of these processes and their effects are widely debated and contested in the social sciences today. Nevertheless, these processes are said to be qualitatively different from earlier forms of international exchange in that they are more complex, intense and volatile. They are also believed to be fostering a historically unique interdependence between the people and nations of the world that will ultimately result in the integration of economies and societies. Of course, this interpretation has been disputed and an alternative view that defines globalization as no more than the acceleration of historic patterns of international exchange has also been formulated. Different interpretations of the nature of global change reflect different disciplinary social science perspectives. While economists view globalization as the creation of a world economic market, sociologists place more emphasis on the role of international social relations, communications and population movements in fostering space-time compression, post-modernity and cultural diffusion. In turn, political scientists stress the way power relations operate internationally to foster new systems of global regulation and governance. These diverse disciplinary perspectives have different normative implications that not only evaluate globalization differently but inspire different policy perspectives on how the process of globalization might and should be molded. These normative dimensions are of obvious interest to scholars in the fields of social policy and social work. However, as will be shown, different social science interpretations reach very different conclusions about globalization's consequences for welfare and justice. This article outlines four major perspectives which offer different analytical and normative insights into this issue and then considers the social welfare and social justice implications of these different perspectives. But first, it provides a brief discussion of the emergence of the concept of globalization and its social science usage.

ASSIGNMENT WEEK 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ASSIGNMENT WEEK 3 - Essay Example Despite the fact that I am against the implementation of SOX in the private sector this does not mean that the government should not promote ethical behavior in the financial dealings of private corporations. There are other stakeholder groups other than investors that rely on the validity of financial reports to make decisions regarding private corporations. Three of those stakeholder groups are lenders, suppliers, and the employees. Class Discussion 1: Topic B To test the value of an academic education from a particular university I would use some other alternative methods that do not necessarily take into account the cost of acquiring the education. The cost of an education will vary by state or country, university, and career field among other factors. A simple way to test the value of a college education is by comparing the average salary of one school’s graduates vs. another school’s graduates. Another good metric to measure how effective a college education of a particular school is to measure the unemployment rate among the graduates of different colleges. Universities with low employment rates among their graduates are doing a good job of fulfilling the purpose of college which is to graduate to obtain a good job in the workplace.

The Decades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Decades - Essay Example Teen Angel was released in 1963 and reached 1st position on American Billboard category of popular music. Undeniably, there are other songs from the 60s that climbed to 1st position and remained popular throughout the decade. However, I feel that Mark’s song exemplified the mood prevailing during that time. Sixties was a time of children by baby boomers. After the 2nd World War, the number of families made of young couples increased. In the 60s, most children of the previously young couples were at their teenage periods (Broadus and Browne, 17). In this case, Teen Angel by Mark Dinning exemplifies an atmosphere filled with high school moods and teenage love affairs. In 1971, Indian Reservation reached 1st position in the U.S Billboard charts and remained within the top 10 category for succeeding two years. The Raiders took the nation wild with concrete lyrics and rhythmic characteristics of the song. Indian Reservation exemplifies the 70s social atmosphere filled with civil rights struggles from minority groups (Smith, 44). The Native Indian population in America was an example of minorities who experienced uncomfortable neglect and negative influence from the mainstream cultures. Therefore, the Raiders spawned the music environment with messages of cultural preservation in the song. Eighties was a decade characterized by increased diversity in musical genres. During the period, alternative rock and soul music rose to popularity. Contextually, Richard Marx released Endless Summer Nights, a song that became popular until the end of 1980s. In his song, Richard recalls of the endless summer nights he previously had with his woman. 1980s was a period when civil rights had improved and social, economic and political environments were favorable for most Americans (Lee, 38). This was the time filled with nostalgic feelings and songs that recalled of the past became popular. Unlike the 80s whose

Assignment- Drowning in a Sea of Information Essay

Assignment- Drowning in a Sea of Information - Essay Example computers. While information overload is certainly a reality, artificial intelligence and other mechanisms which allow the sorting and prioritization of information can help in reducing this burden. In essence, the problem is to develop such systems which are as intelligent or perhaps more intelligent than human beings. The business side of the problem of information overload can be handled through data mining and the application of relevance which allow companies and business professional to decide which information is important and which is not. At the present time in the field of artificial intelligence, it is reasonable to say that while some AI systems mimic human intelligence, there is no system in the world which surpasses a human in all aspects of thought, intelligence or even social interaction. However, it is also plausible to say that the rate of development of current machines means that at some point the future, there will certainly be a time when AI based systems become more intelligent than the humans who created them in the first place. Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) presents a very detailed look at the future of artificial intelligence in terms of where they are going and what can be expected of them in coming decades. He focuses on machine intelligence and shows that the evolution of machines has taken a similar path to the evolution of biological creatures but at a much more accelerated pace. Kurzweil describes how computational and processing power has grown exponentially in the past and records were broken as expectations were shattered. For instance, it was once thought that no computer would ever be able to beat a grand master champion at chess but the best human player in the world has been defeated by a computer specifically created for that purpose. For machines which are specifically created to handle