Dealer Satisfaction

WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT Introduction A firm is required to maintain a balance between liquidity and profitability while conducting its day to day operations. Liquidity is a precondition to ensure that firms are able to meet its short-term obligations and its continued flow can be guaranteed from a profitable venture. The importance of cash as an indicator of continuing financial health should not be surprising in view of its crucial role within the business.This requires that business must be run both efficiently and profitably. In the process, an asset-liability mismatch may occur which may increase firm’s profitability in the short run but at a risk of its insolvency. On the other hand, too much focus on liquidity will be at the expense of profitability and it is common to find finance textbooks begin their working capital sections with a discussion of the risk and return tradeoffs inherent in alternative working capital policies.Thus, the manager of a business entity is in a dilemma of achieving desired tradeoff between liquidity and profitability in order to maximize the value of a firm. Importance of Working Capital The working capital meets the short-term financial requirements of a business enterprise. It is a trading capital, not retained in the business in a particular form for longer than a year. The money invested in it changes form and substance during the normal course of business operations.The need for maintaining an adequate working capital can hardly be questioned. Just as circulation of blood is very necessary in the human body to maintain life, the flow of funds is very necessary to maintain business. If it becomes weak, the business can hardly prosper and survive. Working capital starvation is generally credited as a major cause if not the major cause of small business failure in many developed and developing countries. Objectives of Working CapitalIt is becoming more and more difficult to use debt to finance mechanical engineering firms. Companies in this industry are therefore forced to optimize their capital employed in order to become less dependent on borrowed money. Management of Working Capital While the performance levels of small businesses have traditionally been attributed to general managerial factors such as manufacturing, marketing and operations, working capital management may have a consequent impact on small business survival and growth.The management of working capital is important to the financial health of businesses of all sizes. The amounts invested in working capital are often high in proportion to the total assets employed and so it is vital that these amounts are used in an efficient and effective way. However, there is evidence that small businesses are not very good at managing their working capital. Given that many small businesses suffer from under capitalisation, the importance of exerting tight control over working capital investment is difficult to overstate

The Charmer

â€Å"The Charmer† by Budge Wilson is a short story that displays the important of the role of family circulating through a main character named Zack. Just as any family, the parent has an important role that is to love, forgive and care for their children; but Zack’s failure was affected by these factors in his family. The love, forgiveness and lack of discipline from all family members create Zack’s childhood character and his adulthood down fall. First of all, growing up as a happy and popular young man, Zack creates himself the prefect reputation with lots of room for love and smothering from his mother and two sisters.They love him so much and show this love by being at his every beckoning. According to Winnifred, â€Å"I was Zachary’s willing slave. Slavery, in fact, was in vogue in our house. † (Wilson, 102), Zack is overwhelmed with love and good deeds sent in his direction. He takes advantage of these kind gestures and never really apprecia tes what his family has done for him. Besides that, the family also gives him so much love just because â€Å"he was the only son, the only brother, the oldest child in the family† (103).He is spoiled by such irrational blind love, and that leads him to being a selfish and irresponsible person. That is why he starts to a have a sign of a â€Å"real evil† (103) when he is still young. In opposite, if his parent shares their love to his sisters, he would have learnt how to love and share responsibilities. Secondly, Zack’s bad behaviours also develop from his parent’s forgiveness. He dares to eat the cake that his mom makes for the church bazaar; and, he uses just some flattery words to fool his mom into forgiveness: â€Å"Go ahead. Have another piece.You certainly are the limit! † (102). He is taught that he can do something knowing he should not and stand a very good chance getting away with it. Zack makes mistakes but gets away without punishment o r a good lesson. His down fall continues with lies, stealing money, smoking, drinking, smashing the family’s car, dumping his Dad’s toolbox, etc. , during his teenager age. He even takes the family car when they need to go see Lizzie on her dead bed, â€Å"but Mom forgave him everything† because â€Å"he’s sensitive, he’s taking it hard, and he can’t face what ahead for us. (104). His mother thinks that letting her son run free is good for him but actually just makes him worst. His mother thinks that he is suffering but actually he does not care for any one other than himself. Wrongfully forgiveness is a counteraction that also affect to Zack’s failure. At the age of twenty-four, he is still living at home, looses his job one after another, and plunges himself into drinking and gambling. Finally, the lack of discipline in the family, especially from Zack’s father, is also a key factor to Zack’s debouching.His father mak es mistake of not saying or doing anything about his disagreement with the way Zack is treated, the bad behaviours Zack encountered. Winnifred describes that: â€Å"Even Dad took a long time to wake up† and â€Å"he would just leave the room and go out to his work shed and sit and rock and rock in that old chair of his† (103). The father is the male role model in a family. He knows about Zack’s problem, he knows about Zack’s bad behaviours, but why he does not act until it’s too late? Without discipline, Zack never learns from his mistake.Besides that, Zack’s mother also lacks in parental and discipline. Every time Zack acts as prodigal son, he â€Å"always left Mom in tatters† (103). This caption shows soften in his mother’s heart that makes she forget about the role of a parent when her son makes mistake. She is afraid her son would think bad of her, maybe even hate her if she applies discipline on him. When his Dad gives him two choices: stay with discipline or leave; Zack chooses to leave the family and end up destroying his life in gambling and drinking.In a family, love and forgiveness and discipline is really necessary present and being applied reasonable. Excessive love will become blind love. The parent sometimes has to put their love aside, and do what is best for their child. Forgiveness is necessary but if a parent forgives too easily, the child will take advantage of his rights. Although, with that comes discipline, less suffering will follow. A family is the foundation of a society and family really affects to the success or failure of each person in life. Hopefully through this story, readers will get a lesson about how to raise their children properly.

School Improvement Plan

U10a1: School Improvement Plan by Robin R. Bailey The School Improvement Plan in Full Fulfillment Of the Requirements of ED 7852- Principalship March 15, 2013 |Address: |6647 S. Maryland Ave Unit 3E | |City, State, Zip: |Chicago, IL 60637 | |Phone: |773-655-5508 | |E-mail: |[email  protected] du | |Instructor: |Dr. Jeff Ronneberg | Table of Contents Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 3 School Improvement Committee†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 4 Data and Gathering Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 5 Environmental Scan of the Sch ool and Community†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 7 Goals and Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 10 Resource and Community Development†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 13 Monitoring and Assessing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 18 Expected Outcomes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 20 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦pg. 21 Abstract Herzl Elementary School of Excellence is located in Chicago, IL. Herzl has a population of 492 students who are: Black (481), Hispanic (6), Asian/Pacific Islander (1), White (1), and Two or More Races (3). The goal is to improve student achievement in reading and mathematics. Herzl Elementary School is committed to preparing students for the future by including real world activities into students’ daily lessons. Herzl is also using research based strategies in every lesson to enhance learning and improve student achievement.Committee Development, Data Gathering and Analysis Part 1 -School Improvement Committee Mrs. D†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Principal Ms. R. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Assistant Principal Mr. A. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Assistant Principal Ms. C†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Chair Ms. L†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Special Education Teacher Ms. M†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Kindergarten Teacher Ms. B. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Second Grade Teacher Ms. P . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Fourth Grade Teacher Ms. P†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Sixth Grade Teacher Mr. A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Eighth Grade Teacher Mrs. V†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Parent Ms.S†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Community Leader Rath et al. (2008) states, â€Å"Effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and build on each person’s strengths† (p. 21). The purpose of the School Improvement Committee is to serve in an advisory role to me as the principal. The committee advises on an as needed basis with the budget, school safety, standards and behavior, and school improvement surveys. The School improvement committee helps me establish communication links within the school community and works closely with staff and other organizations to provide successful outreach.The committee has a broad based representation of the school community and employee groups. This effective site- based school team, not only enhances the strengths of me, but it gives empowerment to all stakeholders in the school. Sorenson et al. (2011) proposes that effective site- based schools starts with a team-oriented approach that allows principals to give power to their employees and therefore encourages a collaborative decision- making and problem-solving process (p. 135). Part 2 – Data Gathering and Analysis County: Cook County Grade Span: (gr ades PK-8)Total Students: 548 PK |K |1 | |Students |250 |298 | Students with disabilities: 17. 1%English language learners: 0. 4% Free lunch eligible: 518 Reduced-price lunch eligible: 8 Collecting the data is a planned, purposeful process. Valuable data guides the school improvement team in developing improvement goals for the benefit of all students. The four types of data we collect and use as indicators of school or district success and progress are as follows: achievement data, demographic data, program data, and perception data. The data helps support the vision and mission of the school.The school improvement team collects, evaluates, and analyzes data to strategically find strategies, resources, and research methods for effective instruction. Some of the data that is collected are the demographics, End of Grade testing, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), ISAT, NWEA, REACH assessments, teacher observations. The school improvement committee team collected data using the data guid es provided by the Illinois Department of Education. Staff members, parents, and students were asked to complete surveys concerning their attitudes toward the Herzl School of Excellence environment and academic progress.All staff members were also asked to list parent involvement, technology usage, and professional development. Random samples of teachers were taken to chart parent communication and classroom interruptions. The planning team analyzed ISTEP+ and NWEA test scores. Teachers participated in district wide curriculum alignment meetings where they streamlined the district’s curriculum and developed quarterly benchmark tests. After analyzing the student data, it was concluded that there is a high population of students on free/reduced lunch.While reviewing STEP and ISAT data the school improvement team recognized a trend of low scores in the areas of reading comprehension, writing application and math problem solving. They also identified these areas of concern previo usly when compiling data for the existing School Improvement Plan. The team is currently using NWEA to assess student growth from fall to spring. The initial student scores have reinforced our findings in relation to STEP & ISAT, but this data is not conclusive due to the number of assessments taken and our understanding of the data.Furthermore, students did not make AYP in reading and math. African American and economically disadvantaged students did not make AYP in math and reading. Environmental Scan of the School and Community Herzl School of Excellence is influenced by many policies and procedures that are determined through the Federal Government, the State of Illinois and the District of Cook County. The Illinois General Statues were created to help establish provisions for the school districts across Illinois.Once the regulations are established, sent to the Department of Instruction and then the districts receive the regulations and are to implement the provisions. To show accountability, a school improvement plan must be created. The regulations and the community are a major factor that helps drive the School Improvement Plan. Submission of a School Improvement Plan (SIP) is required by federal and state regulations for schools that are in academic status. The plan must cover two fiscal years (e. g. FY 2010 to FY 2012) and must be revised every two years while the school remains in status.Illinois schools in status that do not submit a school improvement plan the previous year must submit an improvement plan as required by Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, section 1101 et seq. , and Section 2-3. 25d of the School Code, 105 ILCS 5/2-3. 25d. Revisions are then required at the expiration of the two-year plan while the school remains in academic status. Districts are required to submit restructuring plans on behalf of schools after the fifth calculation of not making Adequate Yearly Progress. A School Improvement Plan is optional for schools that are not in academic status.The Illinois State Board of Education members that represent our school district have helped shape our school and community. Our district representative assessed our need for our school and encourages the community to get involved with the school and school system. The goal for our Board is for the student to have a sound education. This includes having policies to address the relationship between the school system and community. The policies address the following: a) Building a safe and inviting learning environment b) Increased extracurricular offerings c) Improving student attendance ) Renovated facilities At Herzl Academic progress is monitored through the reading & math benchmarks, NWEA, REACH, ISAT, and classroom bi-weekly assessments. The results indicate that Herzl must continue to work on reading comprehension instruction/ guided practice and math extended response at all grade levels. After analyzing the data it was concluded tha t students would benefit from the instruction and individualized attention that could be provided in differentiated instruction in the classroom, effective intervention practice and team teaching of regular and special education teachers.Herzl needs to increase math manipulatives and purchase additional resources for science and math classroom and provide professional development for teachers in math and science. AYP concluded that in the sub group all students did not make AYP on the ISAT. Herzl must achieve a 10% increase overall, in subgroup ALL, in ISAT scores on reading for the two consecutive years to meet AYP Safe Harbor targets by 2013. North Lawndale demographics overview †¢94. 3% African American †¢Population: 41,768 †¢Median Family Income: $15,549 †¢Median Age: 26. 1 †¢27. 0% high school graduates 19. 1% have greater than 12th grade education North Lawndale suffers from a high unemployment rate (13%) and jobless rate among 20-24 year olds (59. 4%) . 34. 6% of residents between 18 and 24 years of age lack a high school diploma or GED. Many unemployed residents lack the basic skills and qualifications to secure livable wage jobs, especially those who attended Chicago public schools. Many North Lawndale residents are employed in repetitive, low-wage jobs that have almost no room for learning or growth and extremely limited earning potential.While North Lawndale is plagued by crime, vacant housing and unemployment, a strong web of social service organizations have affected positive changes in the area in recent years. After sponsoring a class of sixth graders in the neighborhood in 1986, the Steans Family created The Steans Family Foundation in North Lawndale that continues to contribute to the community today. The foundation's main focus areas are education, strengthening families and community development. Additionally, Homan Square has turned the former world headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Co. nto a hub for the North Lawnd ale community. The former site of abandoned buildings, manufacturing plants and parking lots now features a vibrant community center offering education, medical services and health and wellness opportunities for all North Lawndale residents. This site is also home to new housing developments and two new schools. Goals and Objectives Part 1- Generating Goals and Objectives Herzl School of Excellence has based its needs off of the data that has been collected from the previous school year and the current school year.The areas that the school improvement team determined to be of concern were literacy and the learning environment. Sorenson et al. (2011) state, â€Å" Effective planning buys time , prepares leaders and teams to meet adaptive challenges, allows everyone to collaborate and encourages trust† (p. 146). The School Improvement Team at Herzl School of Excellence has designed goals and objectives based off of the data that has been collected and analyzed. The School Impro vement Team has designed goals and objectives to correlate with the District goals and Common Core Standards to help guide teachers in creating strategies for student improvement.These goals and objectives are aligned with Common Core Standards. Sorenson et al (2011) suggests, â€Å"When the principal and team prioritize goals and objectives as an expectation of the curriculum review and assessment process, it becomes apparent that certain instructional enhancements are necessary to build a strong academic program† (p. 74). The priorities for Herzl School of Excellence are literacy and school environment. First, the goals and objectives for literacy are as follows: School Improvement Goal 1: Herzl will work to increase students’ achievement in the area of literacy.Our goal is to increase our staff’s knowledge and skills in the area of literacy instruction (understand and implement best practices in the area of vocabulary development). It is our intent that this will ultimately increase the number of students meeting and exceeding grade level expectations in literacy development. Objective – Every student will excel in rigorous and relevant core curriculum that reflects what students need to know and demonstrate in a global 21st century environment. †¢ We will use the NWEA, ISAT, and IA as a measure of attainment.Our goal is to increase the number of students performing in the meets and exceeds level in literacy development. †¢ We will gather baseline data to determine the number of students currently not meeting grade level performance. Part 2 – Researching Strategies †¢ The administration will attend a conference on best practices in Spanish vocabulary instruction. The administration and staff will analyze data from CBMs, ISEL, the NWEA, ISAT, and IA to identify specific students needing extra support in literacy. The building administration and the LSC will provide professional development on best practice on vocabulary instruction. †¢ Each grade level team will develop a goal and action plan as a means to increased student achievement. †¢ The Learning Support Coaches will work with all grade level teams to identify resources, instructional support and feedback based on assessment data and their team goals. †¢ Target students will be given an opportunity to participate in an after school literacy program designed to meet their individual needs. Parents will be informed of their child’s literacy progress. School Improvement Goal 2: Herzl will continue working toward â€Å"Building Community: Acceptance for All† to create a learning environment where all people (students and staff alike) feel respected, valued, and supported to accomplish the mission of Herzl School of Excellence. Our goal is to build community, acceptance for all. This is a direct alignment with our District’s diversity goal. Our outcome is to increase students’ elements of inne r wealth (feelings of belonging, valued and having a level of competency to succeed). There is an observed need to develop a learning environment where all students and staff feel respected, valued, and supported to accomplish the mission of the Herzl School of Excellence. †¢ The administration and staff will develop a perception survey that will measure students’ feeling of belonging, feeling being valued and having a level of competency to succeed. Once baseline data has been collected, we will determine the target population and desired increase in these attributes of their inner wealth. A post survey will be administered to determine growth over time. The administration and staff will collect and analyze behavioral data on our target students (identified by the perception survey). Data will be collected during the months of November, December, January and February. Behaviors include their interactions with peers and staff, their willingness to participate in class, a nd their ability to be self-directed. The desired outcome will be an increase in positive behaviors. Part 2 – Researching Strategies †¢ The administration and staff will complete the culturally responsive questionnaire to determine next steps in professional development. Students will complete the perception survey (October and March). †¢ Staff and parents will be trained to apply the Nurtured Heart Approach as a means to increase our awareness and skills to help children increase their inner wealth. †¢ Administration and staff will create and conduct assemblies that promote character traits (Persistence, Respect, Ownership, Welcoming behaviors and Leadership). †¢ Target students will participate in a mentor program (Check-in/Check-out system). A mentoring program will begin in October and continue throughout the school year. Our school counselor will work with administration to educate our Herzl community on the purpose of â€Å"Building Community; Accep tance for All† and the strategies used at school. Resources and Community Involvement Step 1- Identifying School Resources Epstein developed the action team approach for school, family, and community partnerships to ensure that school, family, and community representatives shared responsibility for the development, implementation, and evaluation of partnership practices (Epstein & Hollifield, 1996). Herzl will use this approach when implementing the School Improvement Plan (SIP).Epstein’s framework of five types of family and community involvement — parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, and decision making will help us build partnerships and improve the school environment and support student learning. Action Teams for School-Family-Community Partnerships consist of six to twelve members including family members, teachers, administrators, other school staff (i. e. , counselors, nurses, parent liaisons), community representatives, and students i n the upper grades, selected to serve two-year, renewable terms.As an ILT member one of my jobs is to identify the school resources that will help manage Herzl’s School Improvement Plan. The resources needed to help with the school improvement plan first start with the funds that are provided by the state of Illinois and the Chicago Public School District, IDEA funding for instructional equipment and staffing and community. Herzl Elementary School is committed to the integration of technology as a teaching tool and technology use to overcome limitations of time and distance imposed by the geographical isolation of the community.A long-range technology plan has been developed and approved by the State of Illinois. In previous years, through grants and a successful bond issue, the district has replaced three to four computers in every elementary classroom, has constructed one twenty-one station computer labs, one twenty-two station computer lab, one twenty-four station computer lab and networked the entire building. Technology is pertinent to the School Improvement Plan because it allows the school to be managed efficiently and effectively. The School Improvement Plan will focus on: 1.Providing staff development in the integration of instructional technology. 2. Maintain funding to finance hardware, software, and teacher training to upgrade school-to-work application classes at the middle school and high school levels. 3. Make technology integration a component of every alignment process. 4. Update the long-range technology plan. Step 2 – Incorporating Community Involvement Wilmore (2002) accentuates the importance of community partnership. He implies that it should be a give and get partnership; one where interests and needs are being met by all stakeholders.This kind of partnership in which community is valued and input is often sought and taken into consideration (Wilmore, 2002). As the Principal, my staff and I will reach out to the community a nd maintain collaborative partnerships. It is my role, as principal, to work towards gaining the support and trust of those partnerships by not taking advantage of their efforts and work with students and the school (Robbins & Alvy, 2009). Our staff will rally out to our civic groups, churches and local businesses to create a collaborative partnership with our school.We will create technology nights, family fun days, parent curriculum night, and other community events to get our community involved with our school. As a result, local businesses will get additional clientele and the civic groups and churches will receive advertisement for their groups. The School Improvement Team has discussed how to make sure parents are involved with the community and get important information out to our parents because it has been proven that increased parent and community involvement will impact student achievement.Family Involvement Strategies: †¢ â€Å"Back to school night† †¢ D isseminate school information and news †¢ Families meet teachers and support staff †¢ Community partner open house – parents have an opportunity to meet all community and business partners and gather information †¢ Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) †¢ Host of â€Å"Back to school night† †¢ Recruits new members †¢ Liaison between parents and the school †¢ Manages parent volunteer pool †¢ On-going school-parent communication †¢ Bi-Monthly progress reports to parents Monthly school contact: newsletters, emails, phone contacts, teacher notes and letters home †¢ Monthly Parent Events †¢ Celebrate parent involvement & recognition Business Involvement Strategies: †¢ Administration will continue to build relationships with new businesses around the community and nurture and support existing business partnerships †¢ Quarterly meetings with business partners to discuss strengths and weaknesses as it relates to shar ed goals †¢ Continue the sharing of resources: human, fiscal and facilities †¢ Volunteers to tutor & MentorPolitical Involvement Strategies: †¢ Stay abreast of federals and state legislation and policies †¢ Build and sustain relationships with school board and central office †¢ On-going dissemination of school activities and events to the school board and central office Our team has created a partnership with the newspapers to showcase our successes with the school. We have representatives to communicate with the local newspapers to not only showcase students but serve as an educational resource for the paper.In having this collaboration with the local news, we are establishing positive communication to our community, as a result, our teachers are becoming more trustworthy, parents are more respectful to the teacher and the school is promoting a highly effective school-family-community relationship. Our school will work closely with agencies such as social s ervices, and behavioral management agencies for the safety of our students. This will ensure that they receive their education on a daily basis.Wilmore (2002) states, â€Å"We must reach out to multiple stakeholders, including families, social service agencies, and the media to create collaborative partnerships in which everyone gives and receives† (p. 78) These resources support student achievement by empowering students, and parents to become aware of their needs and educate them on what and how they can achieve success in their lives. With these resources, we plan on incorporating the community into our classrooms as a resource depending on their experiences and skills to help our students to be independent and to be global competitors in the 21st century.ACTION PLAN I. Collaborate with families and the community a. School Calendar will be created to manage parent, community and business stakeholder meetings –monthly meetings and quarterly meetings for businesses i. Post on school’s website for accessibility to all stakeholders b. Ongoing communication from administration, school, teachers and staff –see above c. School event calendar –parent and community invitations d. Strategic plan – strategies outlined in a systematic progression for the entire school year II. Responding to community interest and needs . Collaborate with the community stakeholders and facilitate a community needs assessment at the beginning of the school year to support the community and the goals of the school simultaneously b. Share facilities and resources with stakeholders i. Community forums, meetings, events etc. ii. Create a â€Å"Community Learning Center† –after school activities etc. iii. Support organizations with volunteers –reciprocity c. Build relationships with community organizations –diverse group of organizations that represent the student demographics i.Provide opportunities to celebrate diversity and educate the school and community in cultural diversity ii. Encourage community and parent involvement in the schools III. Use of school and community resources a. Use the community needs assessment and SIP to collaboratively allocate community stakeholder resources to meet the needs of the community and the school b. Develop a collaborative action plan that aligns with the school’s SIP to use as a framework for collectively allocation the school and community resources IV. Solicitation of support and new resources . The chair of each sub-committee and the administration team will be responsible for researching information regarding new resources and support. The chair will submit the information to administration on a quarterly basis. i. The administration team will be responsible for soliciting the new support and resources—build relationships. ii. The administration team will report back to the CIP quarterly. Monitoring and Assessing Herzl Elementary School is a data driven school that will be constantly monitoring students through formative and summative assessments.Dufour and Marzano (2011), emphasizes that with more monitoring there will be more achievement and effective monitoring will focus on test scores and teacher practices that will led to the test scores (p. 119). Our school will continuously collect data through numerous amounts of assessments. Our school will be reviewing data that are aligned with the Common Core Standards. Our assessments include the NWEA testing which allows us to look at student’s improvement over the course of the year, the ISAT test which tests grades third through eighth in reading, math, and science, and the RTI nd literacy instruction. RTI not only evaluate the needs of students but it recommends different learning techniques on students to become more proficient in their content areas. Internal Review Visits will be conducted. Internal Review Visits are opportunities for self-reflection, self-mo nitoring, and a conversation with outside observers about school improvement at the school — a â€Å"snapshot† of the school’s school improvement process, products, results, and plans.A consultation team examines the school profile data and the School Improvement Plan – to include the implementation of the plan – and provides feedback and recommendations to the staff to enhance their school improvement process and products. To improve Goal 1- To monitor and assess the implementation for effectiveness, teachers will also monitor the students on a daily, weekly, quarterly and annual basis. The data that will be used for the effectiveness of the reading proficiently will be reading logs, reading observations, teacher feedback, tutoring logs and feedback.These assessments will be used on a daily and weekly basis. DAR, K-8 assessments, and report cards will be visited on a quarterly basis and EOG testing and summative assessments will be visited on an a nnual basis. Based on the results of the assessments, the school improvement team will determine in additional teacher training is required. There will also be increased teaching tools and collaboration between classroom teachers and media coordinator/technology facilitator.We will also see what is needed to improve record keeping in book circulation, team planning minutes, and flexible grouping within the classroom and in team grade collaboration. There will also be more focused objectives for in-school tutoring programs and teachers will providing specific goals and objectives for children involved in this program so that it can be better assessed. To Improve Goal 2 – To monitor and assess our â€Å"Building Community: Acceptance for All† the administration and staff will complete the culturally responsive questionnaire to determine next steps in professional development.Students will complete the perception survey (October and March). Staff and parents will be train ed to apply the Nurtured Heart Approach as a means to increase our awareness and skills to help children increase their inner wealth. Administration and staff will create and conduct assemblies that promote character traits (Persistence, Respect, Ownership, Welcoming behaviors and Leadership). Target students will participate in a mentor program (Check-in/Check-out system). A mentoring program will begin in October and continue throughout the school year.Our SFCP will work with administration to educate our Herzl community on the purpose of â€Å"Building Community; Acceptance for All† and the strategies used at school. Effective classroom assessment and monitoring to enhance student achievement will be a collaborative effort and Herzl Elementary School. Teacher, Teacher Assistants, Literacy Coachers, Media Coordinator, Technology Facilitator, Tutor Coordinator, and the RTI team will be utilized for the success of the student. By working collaboratively with the staff, the sc hool will continuously convey the â€Å"shared vision† of the school for the success of all students.Through collaboration we will ensure high levels of quality student learning through our core beliefs, vision, and mission, goals, and data analysis. We will plan the way that enables the realization of excellence. (Robbins and Alvy, 2009, p. 120) Our teachers’, students and staff are continuing to grow and learn. The School Improvement Plan provides a foundation for the school and teachers’ to have focal points of what they should be teaching. In the next three years we expect our students to have significant growth. With collaboration, professional development, tools and resources, and teacher leaders, our school will be successful.Expected Outcomes In Grades 3-8, 29% of the students will achieve proficiency on the 2013 ISAT Math test. In Grades 3-8, 54% of the students will achieve above proficiency on the 2013 ISAT Math test. In Grades 3-8, 68% of students wi ll achieve learning gains on the 2013 ISAT Math test. In Grades 3-8, at least 58% of the lowest 25% will achieve adequate progress on the 2013 ISAT Math test. Herzl School of Excellence school culture either will supports quality professional learning. Herzl will develop and sustain a positive, professional culture that nurtures staff learning for everyone in the school.With a strong, positive culture that supports professional development and student learning, Herzl will become a place where every teacher makes a difference and every child learns. References DuFour, R. , & Marzano, R. J. (2011). Leaders of learning: How district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. ISBN: 9781935542667. Epstein, J. L. , & Hollifield, J. H. (1996). Title I implications for comprehensive school-family community partnerships: Using theory and research to realize the potential. Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 1(3).Rath, T. , & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership. New York, NY: Gallup Press. ISBN: 9781595620255. Robbins, P. M. , & Alvy, H. B. (2009). The principal's companion (3rd ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Sorenson, R. D. , Goldsmith, L. M. , Mendez, Z. Y. , & Maxwell, K. T. (2011). The principal's guide to curriculum leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ISBN: 9781412980807. Wilmore, E. L. (2002). Principal leadership: Applying the new educational leadership constituent council (ELCC) standards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Using Gene Therapy as a Treatment for Cancer - Developments and Future Literature review

Using Gene Therapy as a Treatment for Cancer - Developments and Future Prospects - Literature review Example Cancer mainly affects human organs including lung, prostate, and bone. Breast cancer is common in females. Although scientists have proposed a series of therapies that can improve patient outcomes, definitive cure for cancer has not been developed yet. Over the last decade, researchers gave more emphasis on gene therapy development as they believed that this treatment method would effectively contribute to cancer prevention. The process of gene therapy is mainly concerned with the modification or alteration of genetic material such as genes and DNA, which play a notable role in determining the characteristic traits of individuals. Different gene therapy methods mainly focus on three basic approaches and they are destruction of cancerous cells, prevention of the growth of cancerous cells, and improvement of normal cells’ ability to fight against the affected cells. In gene therapy, viruses are used to replace cancerous cells instead of inserting genes directly into the patient’s body. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of retroviruses since experiments showed that this virus may cause the development of other diseases like leukemia. By the end of 2010, more than 1060 gene therapy protocols have been suggested or practiced for various cancers; this figure constitutes over 64% of all gene therapy experiments in humans in the United States. Although, majority of such trials reported modest therapeutic responses, the clinical efficacy of such practices is still to be proven. The major disadvantage of gene therapy method is the possibility of infection of the healthy cells attribu ted to the viruses used for gene delivery. Introduction The history of gene therapy started during the beginning of the 1960’s. In the opinion of Bettelheim, Brown, Campbell &Farrell (2010, p. 721), gene therapy is a complicated medical procedure by which genes within an individual’s cells and biological tissues are altered, and removed in order to treat diseases. In other words, the gene therapy intends to correct a genetic mutation by the addition, alteration, or removal of specific genes. By the application of gene therapy, the restored cells get the proper instructions for building proteins and thereby the body mechanisms return to the normal state. In 1970, Stanfield Rogers, an American doctor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, tried to apply gene therapy as a method to treat two sisters who had suffered from a genetic disorder called argininemia (‘History of gene therapy’ 2011). Although, Rogers’ effort was unsuccessful, it is considered as a m ilestone in the history of gene therapy development. By the end of 1977, scientists could successfully apply gene therapy techniques to deliver a gene into the cells of mammals (‘Gene therapy/ human genome project/ history of gene therapy/ future of gene therapy’ n.d). As Jain (2000, pp. 3-4) points out, the year 1989 witnessed tremendous improvements in gene therapy development when scientists began to research the scope of gene therapy in cancer treatment. A team of researchers including, Drs. Kenneth Culver, W. French Anderson, Michael Blaese, and Steven Rosenberg conducted a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the gene therapy process in cancer patients. The research team â€Å"grew tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL cells) from people with the deadly cancer malignant melanoma, and then they engineered a virus to put a DNA market into those cells† (‘Gene therapy’ n.d). This experiment assisted the researchers to conclude two things : TIL cells can be applied to treat cancer and the engineered virus can effectively and safely work in humans. (Baruch 2005) tells that in 1990, American doctor W. French Anderson conducted a detailed research on a

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- Provide a network solution - Case Study Example This of course will see the need for other subsidiary components such as routers, network interface cards, and custom-made software that will facilitate the smooth operation of the overall network. Because these changes on Alpha Omega Industries are likely to bring up high set up costs, cloud computing is recommended as method that will help in cutting down the cost of set up on the system. Cloud computing involves the use of resource required by the system whereby this resources are obtained through hosted services found in the internet. This will help Alpha Omega Industries concentrate more on other developmental projects rather than spend a lot of time and resources in setting up the infrastructure ( Zhang, 2005). In short, cloud computing will enable Alpha Omega Industries outsource most of its hardware and software services. It will also allow Alpha Omega industries’ applications performing faster due to less traffic as compared to an Ethernet network. This will see the c ompany reduce its maintenance cost and facilitate the rapid adjustment of its IT infrastructure depending on the ever-changing industry demands (Barreiros, 2010). In order to implement cloud computing to its operations, Alpha Technologies will have to use the cloud facility as on demand software otherwise known as Software as a service(SaaS), whereby the providers of this service will demand a subscription fee from Alpha Omega Industries. This is of economic essence because as Ross writes, cloud-computing enables a business to allocated funds that would otherwise be used as operation costs, in accomplishing other IT objectives (Zhang, 2010). Due to the sensitive nature of data that might be stored in the file servers of Alpha Omega Industries, a hybrid cloud is the most recommended platform for the company. The hybrid cloud incorporates both local and cloud storage. The high hybrid cloud part of storage will run within the corporate firewall and will only be accessible to the firmâ €™s branches in Miami, Florida, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Frankfurt, Germany, Dubai, UAE, and Shanghai, China whereby they will access files remotely through a network to an object based storage. For this case, the private cloud will be under the control of the IT department. File Servers and File Sharing For the file servers, Alpha Omega Industries will incorporate the use of a hybrid cloud file server, which is a multiuser user system, which will have features such as file locking, activity auditing for the purpose of security and file locking. It will be achieved through storing archived data in the cloud storage and maintaining customer information in the in house fie storage servers (Barreiros, 2010). This will enable the organization take advantage of the cost effectiveness and scalability facilitated by this approach of storage. The most appropriate public cloud storage facility for Alpha Omega Technologies industries would be Amazon Simple Storage facility (Amazon s3). A c loud storage gateway will be necessary for the purpose of incorporating the hybrid cloud as it will make the cloud appear as a local storage device thereby making it possible to perform any necessary protocol translation. The hybrid cloud platform will enable the organization’s divisions share files in a more efficient and streamlined manner. It will be implemented through synchronizing of files in the main file server storage and the hybrid cloud giving regard to

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ARGUMENT #1 MINIMUM WAGE JOBS ARE STEPPING STONES - Essay Example In addition, a record of coherent result, which clarifies when it can be said (and what it intends to say) that some case or disposition is a consistent outcome of an alternative. typology of contention which gives a structure of contention and examination by identifying the fundamental sorts of argument that need to be recognized deductive is monistic, henceforth one of the least complex typologies; others will recognize in a general sense various types of arguments. An account of a proper argument that points out general criteria for deductive, inductive, and conductive contentions;. The meanings of constructive contention outline which characterize great examples of thinking (sensible engages power, sensible assaults against the individual; and so forth.) and some hypothetical record of false notions and the part they can (and cannot) play in understanding and evaluating casual contentions. A record of the part that group of onlookers (emotion) and ethos and other logical thoughts ought to play in examining and evaluating contention and lastly that a clarification of the rationalistic commitments that join to arguments specifically sorts of settings. The difference of contention and persuasion has some recorded essentialist insofar as it is the premise of the refinement in the middle of rationale and talk as they are generally comprehended — rationale picking contention as its center, talk picking influence. This being said, the qualification in the middle of influence and contention remains a slippery one when one considers the contentions one finds in casual talk. Absolutely it must be said that engages feeling and character assume a huge part in standard contentions that happen in social, moral and political settings. In a contention about atomic strategy, for instance, it would be manufactured to uproot the feeling inborn in a depiction of the results of atomic war say, the the effects of

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U.S. and Texas government - Essay Example Similarly, the humanitarian agencies have also a problem of supplying them with their basic needs. The government uses the borrowing internally and externally as a strategy to meet the free-rider problem whereas the humanitarian agencies depend on donations from well wishers (Project Vote Smart, 2015). a) Private goods and public goods. Private goods can be described as goods that the citizens of a country can benefit from their consumption. In order for a customer to consume the good, they have to pay the owner of the goods through an agreement of sale. Besides, the supply of private goods is usually limited. In order to derive the demand curve for the entire market, all the curves of every customer have to be added. b) On the other hand, public goods can be defined as products that are offered to the citizens of the country by their government free of charge. Usually, no competition exists given that the government acts as a monopoly. Examples may include voting, provision of relief foods, responding to national emergencies among other services and products provided by a government of its agencies. The free rider problem arises as a result of oversubscription of customers seeking services and products that are offered by the government freely. An example of a free rider problem includes free medical services that are offered by public hospitals. When the government offers the services freely, many people will prefer to seek treatment from public hospitals so that they can reduce their medical expenses.

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Energy and Development - Essay Example This paper thematically focuses on energy development in view of attaining the millennium development goals with a bias towards developing countries. In reference to meeting energy demands in the developing countries, the focus should be on renewable sources. Over the years, environmental pollution has been a challenge to the human population. In fact, environmental pollution poses the greatest threat to human development. In view of that, in order for the developing countries to meet their goals, the focus has to be in harnessing renewable sources of energy. The sources of renewable energy include, for instance, hydroelectric power. Electricity forms a significant energy source for both domestic as well as industrial consumption. Its generation from hydroelectric turbines makes it a preferred choice since it is relatively non pollutant to the environment. In addition, the fact that it is generated by water through rotating turbines implies that it is renewable since the water used can be used again. Its generation is in tandem with the MDGs since it promotes su8stainable environment. However, in view of developing countries, the challenge they face in generating electricity may be attributed to financial in ability as well as lack of appropriate technological expertise. Solar offers a form of renewable energy which is both cheap and safe to the environment. In addition, the harnessing of solar as a form of energy for the developing counties would create the much needed jobs for economic sustenance. However, there are imminent challenges in adopting solar as the preferred form of energy for the developing countries. For instance, unpredictable weather patterns in some of the demography imply that it can not be relied on throughout the year. Some of the countries, for instance those in Africa, experience tropical weather patterns which

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Principles of the Effective Marketing Services in the US - Essay Example Marketing team aids the management to identify and fill the gaps in various steps, improve organizational strengths, and work on the weakness to eliminate them thereby positioning us to take a real advantage of opportunities and equip Medi-stim with the methods to defend against potential risks. Effective marketing services will add to Medi-stim’s success by inducing better returns for the hospitals, growing the client base, expanding the market share in the Americas and increase the hospital/patient satisfaction rates all of them would turn out to have a positive impact on bottom-line of Medi-stim USA’s revenue. In a nutshell, the need is for a brilliant team which can foster new ideas based on the market condition, steer a constructive debate with the management to facilitate the sale and lastly invokes inclusive actions from the management to facilitate all-round growth in market share. The Return on Investment in $, the network and also goodwill is discussed in this report. Numbers derived in this report are hypothetically forecasted based on q4 2009 results. Medi-stim is a 30 MNOK company which has marked its presence in the field of cardiovascular surgery with its intra-operative quality control equipment. The company has made its presence felt in Europe with divisions in Norway and Germany, in Asia and in the Americas with sales operation headed from Minneapolis. Americas are its second largest market with around 20% of the total sales. This paper gives a thought into the need of a marketing team to aid the sales team in the USA. Various reasons supporting the school of thought is put forward with appropriate example. The paper closes with a recommendation to the board of directors of Medi-stim to have a high-quality marketing team and initiate the process for further study.

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Analyze a story - Essay Example Her approach to her subject is quite diverse with respect to the locations and the variety of the crimes done by men to women. The paper seeks to analyze the story or article through the vivid presentation of the facts that the author is trying to say. At the initiation of the story, the author defines the boundaries of her analysis. She observes numerous atrocities occurring in various parts of the world but desists from tackling them with the reason that similar problems with the same magnitudes frequently occur in America. She claims that many people ignore the oppression existing at the very doorsteps of Americans, According to her; Americans suffer under the delusion that women in America have achieved equality. The real perception that she tries to tell her audiences is that they should not be complacent in the fight against inequality with respect to women. Instead of focusing on the problems of the world, Valenti throws a strong challenge to the contemporary Americans to stay focused and boldly face the atrocities beckoning at their door-steps. In addition, she tries to say that there is substantial progress that women movements have achieved in the past. However, she is skeptical about justifying that the prevalence of atrocities has halted. She emphatically says, â€Å"Women are still being raped, trafficked, violated and discriminated against -- not just in the rest of the world, but here in the United States† (Valenti 1). Through giving some of the recent examples of injustices such as the sexual assault of women in Colorado the author aims to open fresh wounds and induce the need for urgency in addressing the matter. The author introduced another dimension of perceiving the vulnerability of women to cases of injustices. She gives examples of instances where close colleagues and work partners have raped women. For instance, women serving in the military in Iraq are likely to become preys to fellow

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FAMILY VIOLENCE AND ABUSE - Research Paper Example They tend to develop issues with their emotions (Wallace 1996). In 1994 and 1996 the Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that confirms domestic violence is a national crime and Federal laws can help overburden State and local Criminal Justice System. VAMA is a legislative act that aims to improve criminal justice and community-based responses to domestic violence; violence in dating or courtship, sexual assault and stalking in the United States (Dziedzic 2009). Additionally, children who become offenders or victims may face great obstacles in life, like emotional, mental, and physical development. These obstacles include attention deficit, lack of proper social skills, educational difficulties, substance abuse and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (Lloyd 2001). It is a federal crime under the VAWA, under the Gun control act for convicted felons to have a firearm or ammunition after conviction of a misdemeanour crime of domestic violence and a maximum prison penalty term of ten years depending on the seriousness of the bodily harm caused (Wallace 1996). The legislation defines domestic violence in-depth and understanding of the law to avoid misinterpretation. The offender gets a clear and proper judgment and proper action undertaken. The legislation also covers the rights of the victims and the offenders as it ensures both parties are properly represented. In the gun act where felons are prohibited from owning a gun or ammunitions helps a lot in ensuring that the spouse or children dont assault with a weapon that kills. Also, stalking is prohibited in some state with the intent to injure or cause bodily harm to a person who shared intimacy or were intimate with (Dziedzic 2009). These laws prevent further harm to people as many are often harassed by their former lovers who stalk them with intent to harm him or her due to the fact that their relationship did not go as they expected it to go, actions can now be

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Bad Grades Essay I am writing to offer an explanation for a change in academic performance that is noticeable on my high school transcript. From the start of my freshman year until the end of my junior year, it is evident through analysis of my transcript that I have been an above average student consistently throughout my high school career. However, starting at around August 2010, problems arose in my family of which I believe made it impossible for me to continue my 100% focus on school. Halfway into my senior year, my father was laid off from his job. Since he was the only source of income at that time, our family of five was forced to move from our comfortable lives at our four bedroom house into our grandmother’s two bedroom house. This was a drastic change for all of us, as we have never shared a house with anyone, especially one of this size. I no longer had a room in which I was able to do my schoolwork in silence. This drastic change, I believe, interrupted my focus on school because of the attention it required from me. During my first semester I was often required to miss school by my parents, reason being that I had to help out in the movement process and had to visit an ill uncle out of town. I take full responsibility of my underperformance during the first semester of my senior year and am not look to make excuses. My main goal in making this letter is just to offer insight on what it is I believe influenced my underperformance. I sincerely ask you to consider me as an applicant and to not let this recent semester define me as a student. I greatly appreciate your time in reading this letter.

Overview of VPN Evolution of Private Networks

Overview of VPN Evolution of Private Networks Before the emergence and popularity virtual private networks have gained as a secure and cheaper medium for sensitive information to be accessed and transmitted between two or more corporate network over a public network such as the internet, other network technologies have been innovated and used to connect within business sites and across to other sites that are miles away from each other. In the sixties, sites were connected together to enable data transfer through the use of analog phone lines and 2,400-bps modems leased from ATT, businesses had no other faster modems they could choose from because the telephone companies were controlled by the government. It was not until the early eighties that businesses were able to connect to sites at higher speed using 9,600-bps modems because other telephone companies emerged as a result of the changes in government control and policy on telephone. During this period, there were not much mobile workers besides the modem links were static not as dynamic as what is available now. The analog phone lines were permanently wired to the sites and were specially selected lines (called conditional lines) that were specifically built for full time use by companies; these lines are different from regular phone lines. This technology ensured full bandwidth and privacy but this came at a great cost, i.e. payment is expected for the full ba ndwidth even if the line was used or not. Another innovation that was used for connecting sites which came out in the mid 1970s was the Digital Data Service (DDS). This was the first digital service with a connection of 56 Kbps and was used for private line. This service later became a major and useful innovation for wide area networks, which grew into other services that are popularly used today such as the T1 service which consists of 24 separate channels and each can carry up to 64 Kbps of either data or voice traffic. In the late 1970s the idea of VPN was initiated with the introduction of an innovation called the X.25. It is a Virtual Connection (VC) form of WAN packet switching which logically separates data streams. With this function, the service provider is able to send as many point-to-point VCs across a switch network infrastructure, depending each endpoints have a device that facilitates communication in the site. Sometime in the early 1980s, X.25 service providers offered VPN services to customers (i.e. businesses) who used network protocols at the time as well as early adopters of TCP/IP. Over years, in the 1990s other networking technologies were deployed for connecting private networks such as the high speed Frame relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switching. This networking technologies were provided to give virtual connection to businesses at the speed of up to OC3 (155 Mbps). The components for setting up this kind of technologies involved the use of customer IP routers (customer premise equipment, or CPE) interconnected in a partial or full mesh of frame relay or ATM VCs to other CPE devices, in other words less equipments are needed for its set up. – Metz, C. (2003). Based on some definitions and some researchers like Mangan, T. (2001), the frame relay and ATM technology are referred the standard for VPN technology. These technologies gained so much popularity after the leased line in connecting sites and they were also easy to set up. With the increasing speed at which businesses grow and expand globally, thereby allowing staffs to be mobile and work offsite, the frame relay is not the best technology to use for remote access since it is just an overlay technology. In as much as the leased line is a better technology alternative for connecting business sites, it is excessively expensive to be owned. With the advent of the internet and its wide use in everyday transaction, businesses have adopted the technology for transmitting and accessing data across various sites by implementing a VPN connection, which is relatively cheap, flexible and scalable, between both sites in order to secure the data that are sent across the insecure internet from being tampered by unauthorized persons. VPN definition There are various definitions of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which are given by various vendors which best describes their products. Several books, journals, whitepapers, conference papers and internet sites have various definitions of what the technology is, and these definitions are usually put in different words and sentence structure but mostly they say the same thing. In order to get a good understand of what the technology is all about, definitions given by several people from different sources will be looked at and a concise definition will be formulated from all definitions that will be used throughout this research work. â€Å"A virtual private network (VPN) is a network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organizations network.† SearchSecurity.com (2008). â€Å"A VPN is a group of two or more computer systems, typically connected to a private network (a network built and maintained by an organization solely for its own use) with limited public-network access that communicates securely over a public network.† (Calsoft labs whitepaper, 2007) Aoyagi, S. et al. (2005) A Virtual Private Network (VPN) enables a private connection to a LAN through a public network such as the Internet. With a VPN, data is sent between two nodes across a public network in a manner that emulates a dial-link. There are two types of VPN systems, one is used for connecting LANs across the Internet, and the other is used to connect a remote node to a LAN across the Internet. â€Å"A VPN tunnel encapsulates data within IP packets to transport information that requires additional security or does not conform to internet addressing standards. The result is that remote users act as virtual nodes on the network into which they have tunnelled.† – Kaeo, M. (2004) p135. â€Å"A VPN is a virtual network connection that uses the internet to establish a connection that is secure.† Holden, G. (2003), p 286. â€Å"A VPN uses a public network, such as the internet, to facilitate communication; however it adds a layer of security by encrypting the data travelling between companies and authenticating users to ensure that only authorized users can access the VPN connection†. Mackey, D. (2003) p157 Randall, K. et al. (2002), p377 likened a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to a Tunnel Mode, as a means of transmitting data between two security gateways, such as two routers, that encrypts the entire IP packet and appends a new IP header entering the receiving gateways address in the destination address. â€Å"VPNs enable companies to connect geographically dispersed offices and remote workers via secure links to the private company network, using the public Internet as a backbone.† Lee, H. et al (2000) Looking at all these definitions closely from various authors, they all stress on security and connectivity. These are the essential features of VPNs because they are able to create a connection between two private networks over a public network by encapsulation and tunnelling protocols in transmitting data and also provide security by encryption and authentication in order to control access to data and resources on the company’s network. In other words a VPN is a network technology that securely connects two or more private networks over an insecure public network such as the internet, so as to enable internal access to files and resources and data transfer. Types of VPN There are three different VPN connectivity models that can be implemented over a public network: Remote-access VPNs: It provides remote access to an enterprise customer’s intranet or extranet over a shared infrastructure. Deploying a remote-access VPN enables corporations to reduce communications expenses by leveraging the local dial up infrastructures of internet service providers. At the same time VPN allows mobile workers, telecommuters, and day extenders to take advantage of broadband connectivity. Access VPNs impose security over analog, dial, ISDN, digital subscriber line (DSL), Mobile IP, and cable technologies that connect mobile users, telecommuters, and branch offices. Intranet VPNs: It links enterprise customer headquarters, remote offices, and branch offices in an internal network over a shared infrastructure. Remote and branch offices can use VPNs over existing Internet connections, thus providing a secure connection for remote offices. This eliminates costly dedicated connections and reduces WAN costs. Intranet VPNs allow access only to enterprise customer’s employees. Extranet VPNs: It links outside customers, partners, or communities of interest to an enterprise customer’s network over a shared infrastructure. Extranet VPNs differ from intranet VPNs in that they allow access to uses outside the enterprise. VPN configurations There are two main types of VPN configurations for deploying the VPN connection over a public network. These are; Site-to-site VPNs: This is sometimes referred to as secure gateway-to-gateway connections over the internet, private or outsourced networks. This configuration secures information sent across multiple LANS and between two or more office networks and this can be done effectively by routing packets across a secure VPN tunnel over the network between two gateway devices or routers. The secure VPN tunnel enables two private networks (sites) to share data through an insecure network without fear that the data will be intercepted by unauthorized persons outside the sites. The site-to-site VPN establishes a one-to-one peer relationship between two networks via the VPN tunnel Kaeo, M. (2004. Also Holden, G. (2003), describes a site-to-site VPN as a link between two or networks. This is mostly used in Intranet VPNs and sometimes in extranet VPNs. Client-to-Site VPNs: This is a configuration that involves a client at an insecure remote location who wants to access an internal data from outside the organization network’s LAN. Holden, G. (2003) explains a client-to-site VPN as a network made accessible to remote users who need dial-in access. While Kaeo, M. (2004) defined a client-to-site VPN as a collection of many tunnels that terminate on a common shared end point on the LAN side. In this configuration, the user needs to establish a connection to the VPN server in order to gain a secure route into the site’s LAN and this can be done by configuring a VPN client which could either be a computer operating system or hardware VPN – such as a router. By so doing, the connection enables the client to access and use internal network resources. This kind of configuration is also referred to as secure client-to-gateway connection. This is usually used in access VPNs and sometimes in extranet VPNs. VPN Topology VPN Components To create a VPN connection between sites or networks, it involves the use of some components. These components however contain some elements that need to be properly set up in order to aid the transmission of data from one network endpoint to another. These elements include: VPN server: This is either a computer system or router configured to accept connections from the client (i.e. a remote computer) who gains access by dialling in or connecting directly through the internet. This serves as one endpoint of the VPN tunnel. VPN client: This can either be a hardware based system; usually a router that serves as the endpoint of a gateway-to-gateway VPN connection, or a software based system; either an inbuilt or downloaded software program on the computer operating system that can be configured to function as an endpoint in a VPN, such as Windows XP, 2000 or vista or checkpoint client software. Tunnel – this is the link between the VPN server and client endpoints through which the data is sent. VPN protocols – These are set of standardised data transmission technologies the software and hardware systems use to create security rules and policies on data sent along the VPN. Types of VPN Systems The VPN components form the endpoints of the VPN connection from one private network to another through the public network. The choice of what components to use is dependent on various factors such as the size of the organization – is it a small, large or growing organization, the cost involved in implementing a VPN either by using new components or existing components and lastly, the choice of which of the components will is best for the connection. There are three components that can be used to set up a VPN connection, also a combination of any of these components can be used to set up a VPN connection. One way to set up a VPN is to use Hardware device. The hardware device is a VPN component that is designed to connect gateways or multiple LANS together over the public network by using secure protocols to ensure network and data security. There are two devices that are commonly used that perform these functions. One typical hardware based VPN device used is a router, which is used to encrypt and decrypt data that goes in and out of the network gateways. Another device is a VPN appliance, its objective is to terminate VPNs connection and join multiple LANs (Holden, G. 2003). This device creates a connection between multiple users or networks. The VPN hardware devices are more cost effective for fast growing organizations since they are built to handle more network traffic. It is a better choice when considering the network throughput and processing overhead. It is also a good choice when the routers used at each network ends are the same and controlled by the same organization. Another way to set up a VPN is to use a Software based component. The software component is a program, otherwise stored on the operating system of the system, which can be used to set up a VPN connection. It is easy to configure and more flexible and cost effective than the hardware VPN. They are suitable in networks that use different routers and firewalls or are best used between different organizations and network administrators – such as partner companies. The software VPNs allow traffic to be tunnelled based on address or protocols unlike hardware-based products, which generally tunnel all traffic that it handles. But software-based systems are generally harder to manage than hardware based systems. They require familiarity with the host operating system, the application itself, and appropriate security mechanisms. And some software VPN packages require changes to routing tables and network addressing schemes (Calsoft labs whitepaper, 2007). The third component, is the Firewall based VPN; it makes use of the firewall’s mechanisms as well as restricting access to the internal network. This kind of component ensures that the VPN traffic passes through the network gateway of the desired destination and non-VPN traffic is filtered according to the organization’s security policy, this is achieved by it performing address translation, making sure that requirements for strong authentication are in order and serving up real-time alarms and extensive logging. These three components can be combined together to set up a VPN in order add layers of security on the network. This can be a combination of hardware and software VPN or a combination of all three in the same device. There are several Hardware based VPN packages that offer software –only clients for remote installation, and incorporate some of the access control features more traditionally managed by firewalls or other perimeter security devices (Calsoft labs whitepaper, 2007). An example of such device is the Cisco 3000 Series VPN concentrator which gives users the option of operating in two modes: client and network extension mode. In the client mode the device acts as a software client enabling a client-to-host VPN connection while in the extension mode it acts as a hardware system enabling a site-to-site VPN connection. Also a combination of all these components by different vendors can be used to set up a VPN connection, but this comes with some challenges. The solution as proposed by Holden, G (2004) is to use a standard security protocol that is widely used and supported by all products. VPN Security Features The main purpose of VPN is to ensure security and connectivity (tunnel) over a public network and this cannot be done without some key activities being performed and policies set up. For VPNs to provide a cost–effective and better way of securing data over an insecure network it applies some security principles/measures. Data sent over the internet using the TCP/IP rule are called packets. A packet consists of the data and an IP header. The first thing that happens to a data being sent across a VPN is that it gets encrypted at the source endpoint and decrypted at the destination endpoint. Encryption is a method of protecting information from unauthorised persons by coding the information that can only be read by the recipient. The method, encryption, is done by using an algorithm which generates a key that allows information to be coded as unreadable by all and only readable to the recipient. The larger the number of data bits used to generate the key, the stronger the encryption and the harder it can be broken by intruders. Data encryption can be done in two ways; it can either be encrypted by transport mode or tunnel mode. These modes are process of transmitting data securely between two private networks. In transport mode, the data part (otherwise known as the payload) of the IP packet is encrypted and decrypted but not the header by both endpoint hosts. While in the tunnel mode both the data part and header of the IP packet are encrypted and decrypted between the gateways of the source computer and the destination computer. Another security measure implemented by VPN on data is IP Encapsulation. The VPN uses the principle of IP encapsulation to protect packets from being intercepted on the network by intruders by enclosing the actual IP packet in another IP packet having the source and destination address of the VPN gateways, therefore hiding the data being sent and the private networks IP address which â€Å"does not conform to internet addressing standards†. The third security measure is Authentication. This is a method of identifying a user by proving that the user is actually authorized to access and use internal files. Authenticating a, host, user or a computer that uses the VPN depends on the tunneling protocol established and also encryption for added security. The tunneling protocols that are widely used for authentication over a network are IPSec, PPTP, LT2P and SSL but the most commonly used is the IPSec. The hosts using VPN establish a Security Association (SA) and authenticate one another by exchanging keys which are generated by an algorithm (mathematical formula). These keys can either be symmetric key which is a private key that are exactly the same and only known by the hosts to verify the identity of one another or asymmetric key where each hosts has a private key that can be used to generate a public key. The sending host uses the other’s public key to encrypt information that can only be decrypted by the receiving host private key. The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol uses the Microsoft Challenge/Response Authentication Protocol (MS-CHAP) to authenticate computers using VPN by exchanging authentication packets to one another. Also the users connecting to VPN can be authenticated by what the user knows- a password (shared secret), what the user has – a smart card and what the user is – biometrics e.g. finger prints. VPN Tunnelling Protocols VPNs create secure connections, called tunnels, through public shared communication infrastructures such as the Internet. These tunnels are not physical entities, but logical constructs, created using encryption, security standards, and protocols Clemente, F. et al (2005). The VPN tunnelling protocol are set of standardised rules and policy that are employed on the transmitted data. There are various standard of protocol technologies used to create a VPN tunnel and each of these protocols is specially built with some unique security features. In this research work the protocols explained in this section are the most widely used. Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) The Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) has proposed in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC) database in RFC (2401), provides data packet integrity, confidentiality and authentication over IP networks. The IPSec policy consists of sets of rules that designate the traffic to be protected, the type of protection, such as authentication or confidentiality, and the required protection parameters, such as the encryption algorithm. (Jason, K. 2003, Hamed, H. et al 2005, Shue, C. et al 2005, Berger, T. 2006, Clemente, F. et al 2005, Liu, L. and Gao, W. 2007). The IPSec protocol provides security at the network layer and offers a collection of methods, protocols, algorithms and techniques to establish a secure VPN connection. There are two basic modes of IPSec connections, Transport mode and Tunnel mode. The transport mode, attaches an IPSec header to the IP header of the packet. The Tunnel mode is more flexible compared to the transport mode; it encapsulates the IP packet into another IP packet, also attaching an IPSec header to the outer IP packet. This mode protects the entire IP packet. The IPSec modes, are determined and agreed on by both corporate networks at each end of the VPN connection, are contained in the Security Association(SA) among other things. The SA is a set of policy and keys used to protect information such as the IPSec modes, symmetric ciphers, and keys which are used during secure data transmission. The IPSec uses two main protocols that are usually used with any of the modes, the Authentication Header (AH), and Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP). The authentication header contains a Security Parameter Index(SPI) and provides data authentication and integrity (MD5 or SHA-1 hash) on the whole IP packet but does not guarantee privacy (confidentiality) on the data. ESP guarantees privacy (confidentiality) on the data in addition to all the features AH provides. The ESP header includes an initialization field, which is used by symmetric block ciphers (Berger, T. 2006). Another essential protocol that IPSec uses in establishing the VPN tunnel is the Internet Key Exchange protocol (IKE). This protocol exchanges encryption keys and shares authentication data (RFC 2409) through UDP packets at port 500, and also relies on the Internet security association and key management protocol(ISAKMP) – this protocol allows both endpoints share a public key and authenticate themselves with digital certificates (RFC 2408). To create a VPN tunnel using the IPSec protocol, two things needs to be done. First, both networks need to agree on the SA for the IKE and this is done by using the Diffie – Hellman key exchange method to authenticate one another. After this is done, both network endpoints need to set the parameters for the VPN tunnel including symmetric cipher keys (and key expiry information), security policy, network routes, and other connection-relevant information. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a network protocol that enables the secure transfer of data from a remote client to a private enterprise server by creating a virtual private network (VPN) across TCP/IP-based data networks (Microsoft TechNet, 2008). PPTP operates at Layer 2 of the OSI model. PPTP, as specified in the RFC 2637 document, is a protocol that describes a means for carrying Point-to-Point protocol (PPP) – described in RFC 1661 – over an IP based network. It is created by a vendor consortium known as the PPTP industry forum which includes Microsoft Corporation, Ascend Communications, 3Com/Primary Access, ECI Telematics, US Robotics and Copper Mountain Networks. PPTP is the most commonly used protocol for dial-up access to the internet. Microsoft included PPTP support in Windows NT Server (version 4) and released a Dial-up Networking pack in Windows 95 and since then PPTP is supported in any Microsoft Windows version. The PPTP transfers two different types of packets over a VPN connection. The first is the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) (described in RFC 1701 and RFC 1702) packet. It encapsulates PPP frames as tunneled data by attaching a GRE header to the PPP packet or frame. The PPP frame contains the initial PPP payload which is encrypted and encapsulated with PPP while the GRE header contains various control bits, sequence and tunnel numbers. The function of the GRE is to provide a flow- and congestion-control encapsulated datagram service for carrying PPP packets. The total sum up of the packet consists of a Data link header, IP header, GRE Header, PPP Header, Encrypted PPP payload and Data link trailer. The second type of packet is the PPTP control message or packet. The PPTP control packet includes control information such as connection requests and responses, connection parameters, and error messages and it consists of IP header, TCP header, PPTP control message and a data link traile r. In order to create, maintain and terminate the VPN tunnel, the PPTP uses a control connection between the remote client and the server using the TCP port 1723. This two different packets used by PPTP does not ensure privacy on the packet payload, so in order to enhance security on these packets, the PPTP supports encryption and authentication method same as used in PPP connections (Berger, T, 2006 and vpntools.com, 2006). To authenticate packets that pass through the VPN tunnel, PPTP uses any of the following protocols; Extensible Authentication protocol – Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS), Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (MS-CHAP), Shiva Password Authentication protocol (SPAP) and Password Authentication Protocol (PAP). For encryption, PPTP uses either the Microsoft Point to Point Encryption (MPPE) to encrypt PPP packets that passes between the remote computer and the remote access server by enhancing the confidentiality of PPP encapsulated packets (as described in RCF 3078) or uses the symmetric RC4 stream cipher to encrypt the GRE payload is encrypted. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) The L2TP is an IETF standard established as a result of combining the best features of two protocols: Cisco’s Layer 2 Forwarding (L2F) protocol (described in RFC 2341) and Microsoft’s PPTP (Cisco Systems, 2008). L2TP facilitates the tunneling of PPP frames across an intervening network in a way that is as transparent as possible to both end-users and applications (RFC 2661). L2TP encapsulates the PPP packet (whose payload can either be encrypted or compressed or both can be done) into a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packet at transport layer. The L2TP can be used over the internet as well as over private intranet and also can send PPP packets over X.25, Frame relay or ATM networks. The UDP packet consists of the following in this order: UDP header with source and destination address using port 1701, control bits representing options like version and length of the packet, sequence number and tunnel ID fields which is used to track the packet and identify the tunnel, the l ayer 2 frame which contains the following also: Media Access Code (MAC) addresses and the payload. To ensure security and enhance authenticity of the L2TP packet it is combined with IPSec by attaching an IPSec ESP header, using the IPSec transport mode. After combining IPSec to L2TP, the UDP packet is encrypted and encapsulated with an IPSec ESP header and trailer and ESP authentication trailer. The L2TP packet now consists the following: data link header, IP Header, IPSec ESP Header, UDP header, L2TP frame, IPSec ESP trailer, IPSec ESP Authentication trailer and Data Link trailer, resulting in excessive protocol overhead (Berger, T, 2006 and vpntools.com, 2006). Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Multiprotocol Label Switching Literature Review VPN Protocol Overhead The tunneling protocols also affect the performance of the network by adding processing overhead on the VPN connection. Implementing these secure technologies on any insecure public network like the internet comes with some weaknesses and this can be as a result of either the specific standards are not sophisticated enough to provide secure, stable and fast data links, or interaction with lower levelled protocols causes serious problems (Berger, T., 2006).For example the IPSec technology employs three kinds of protocols namely AH, ESP and IKE; in order to ensure security over the public network, this in turn adds overhead on the packet being sent. The IPSec uses two modes for transferring packets: transport and tunneling mode. The tunneling mode is the widely used because the tunnel can be used to access several resources and it encapsulate and encrypts all part of the IP packet within another IP packet. In a research paper by Shue, C. Et al (2005), an analysis was carried out in ord er to evaluate the performance of the overhead associated with IPSec on VPN servers, and the tunneling mode was used. The tunneling mode uses different technologies to ensure added security on the packet: it uses two different kinds of protocols namely ESP and IKE and various encryption algorithm and cryptographic key sizes, by so doing doubling the size of the packet. It is reported that overheads of the IKE protocol are considerably higher than those incurred by ESP for processing a data packet, also cryptographic operations contribute 32 − 60% of the overheads for IKE and 34 − 55% for ESP, and lastly, digital signature generation and Diffie-Hellman computations are the largest contributor of overheads during the IKE process and only a small amount of the overheads can be attributed to the symmetric key encryption and hashing. Also the layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) implemented on the VPN connection originally does not cause any overhead since encryption, authentication and privacy mechanism is not used on the data packet. But when this protocol is combined with IPSec, it adds all the aforementioned mechanism on the packet and makes it very secure but this comes with added problems – protocol overhead, among other things. In this case both the IPSec and L2TP headers are added to the data packet which increases the size of the packet and by so doing, it decreases the VPN performance. (Berger, T., 2006) The Internet, the Problem. There are some articles and journals that clearly argues that VPN does not directly incur processing overhead on the network instead the internet affects the performance. According to an article that was posted on the internet by VPN Consultants in San Francisco Bay Area on FAQ on Security, it was argued that most performance slowdowns will in fact result from inconsistent Internet connections rather than by encryption processing overhead. Also, according to Liu, L. and Gao, W. (2007), explains that IPv4 ( this is an internet protocol that is widely deployed) based networks have inherent deficiencies which have become obstacles to the evolution of networks. They argue that VPNs implemented on the network i.e. the internet automatically inherits some of these problems, such as, big overhead of the net-transport, lack of quality assurance of Service (QoS), NAT traversing problem, and so on. They propose that VPNs implemented on IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), which is known as â€Å"the next generation protocol† can solve this problems effectively. Packet Loss A VPN tunnel can sometimes suffer high packet loss and reordering of packets problems. Reordering can cause problems for some bridged protocols, and high pack

Country Profile And History Of Malta Tourism Essay

Country Profile And History Of Malta Tourism Essay Situated in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, only some 93 km away from the southernmost part of Sicily and 288 km east of Tunis, the Republic of Malta is one of the smallest, albeit most densely populated (1307 inhabitants/km ²), European countries. The population of 412 970  [1]  is spread over Malta and Gozo  [2]  , two main islands, which together with their corresponding archipelago comprise a surface area of 316 km2. The tale of the Maltese history is a very turbulent one and it has seen a succession of many different powers ruling its islands throughout the course of time. Maltese islands have been already colonised in prehistoric times when the first settlers came down from the nearby Sicily, establishing their Neolithic communities around 5000 BC (Trump 1972). The period around 4100 BC marked the beginning of the so-called Temple Period (Ã…Â »ebbuÄ ¡ phase) around the islands, characterized by the appearance of the rock-cut chamber tombs. The peak of the Temple period ensued in the Ä  gantija phase (3600 3200 BC), named after the eponymous site on the island of Gozo (Trump 2002). This was the first phase of the extensive building activity in the form of the megalithic structures, while the second phase took place around 3000 BC However, the prolific era of architectural prowess ceased towards 2500 BC, the buildings were abandoned and islands depopulated, until the advent of th e Bronze Age with new populations arriving and raising their settlements (2500 700 BC). In the period between 700 and 500 BC, Malta was colonised by the Phoenicians who saw the importance of islands strategic location and used their harbours for their trading business. After almost 300 years of Punic domination, which started around 500 BC, and their resulting defeat in the Punic wars, the power over the islands fell into the Roman hands in 218 BC, who incorporated them in the province of Sicily and thus the Empire. After the division of the Roman Empire, Malta was briefly occupied by Vandals and Ostrogoths in the 5th century, but in 535 AD, during the reign of Emperor Justinian I, it was assimilated by the Byzantine Empire where it remained until the Arabian conquest in 870 AD (Bonnano 2005). A chaotic medieval period followed where different rulers and ruling dynasties were replacing each other, for example, Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, just to name a few. For a brief period of 50 years, Malta was a part of the Spanish Empire, until 1530 when it was consign ed to the Knights of the Order of Saint John who were expelled from the island of Rhodes by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Under the constant threat of the Turkish attack, Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette built the first fortifications on Malta (Birgu and Isla) and Fort St. Elmo to guard the entrance to the Grand Harbour. The inevitable Turkish invasion began in 1565 marking the event known in history as the Great Siege of Malta. The attack was successfully warded off and in 1566 the Knights started constructing their new city, which was to carry the name of their victorious Grand Master. For the next 232 years, Malta stayed under the command of the Knights until the French occupation in 1798 led by Napoleon. However, after only two years, the French will surrender the territory to the British and Malta will become a crown colony by the provisions of the Treaty of Paris (1814).  [3]   As an important strategic naval base to the Allied forces, Malta suffered great damage and loss of lives during WWII, while being bombed by the German and Italian forces. On 15th April 1942, King George VI awarded the country with George Cross for bravery, a symbol that is today embedded in the Maltese flag.  [4]   During the British rule, the government structure was constantly shifting. Malta was granted self-government in 1921 by the provisions of the Amery-Milner Constitution, which also allowed for the first Parliament to be established. The Constitution was suspended, restored and withdrawn in the period of three years (1930 1933) as the result of a political crisis (Zammit 2005). Nevertheless, self-government was restored to Malta between 1947 and 1964. Finally, on 21st September 1964, Malta gained independence from the colonial rule, gained sovereignty within the Commonwealth and joined the United Nations. In the following year, Malta also joined the Council of Europe. It was not until a decade later that Malta declared itself a republic, on 13th December 1974, with Sir Anthony Mamo as its first president. With the termination of the military base agreement, British troops and the Royal Navy withdrew from the islands in 1979.  [5]  In 1993, local government was reintroduced by an a ct of Parliament. Another milestone in Maltese history occurred in 2003 when the Treaty of Accession to the European Union was signed and on 1st May 2004, in the biggest enlargement of the EU history, Malta joined the Union with other nine states. Today, Malta is a parliamentary democracy whose government structure and public administration are modelled on the Westminster system. Its political scene is governed by two major political parties, which shifted in power since WWII, namely, the Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista; Christian Democratic Party) and the Labour Party (Partit Laburista; Social Democratic Party), with Nationalist party being currently in power. 2.2 Legislation on cultural heritage The earliest legislation on cultural heritage in Malta dates back to 1925 when the colonial government issued the Antiquities (Protection) Act which was the consolidated edition of a series of earlier ordinances issued from 1907. The Act was followed by the creation of the Antiquities list in 1932, which contained the records of sites and properties under protection. Heritage was next mentioned in 1991, in the context of Act Nr. V of the Environment Protection Act which proclaimed that ministers responsible for the environment have the power to declare any natural or cultural site as protected. In the succeeding Development Planning Act of 1992, cultural heritage is introduced through the scheduling of properties for conservation. The old Antiquities Act was superseded in 2002 by the Cultural Heritage Act which was to rectify the imbalances that had existed since the times of antiquated governance and institute structural changes which would reflect the current needs by making provisions for management, regulation and conservation of cultural heritage (Grima Theuma 2006). The Cultural Heritage Act (2002), the principal tool that protects the cultural heritage in Malta, defines cultural heritage as movable and immovable objects of artistic, architectural, historical, archaeological, ethnographic, paleontological and geological importance and includes information or data relative to cultural heritage pertaining to Malta or to any other country. The CHA established a number of different entities, such as Heritage Malta, Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Committee of Guarantee, Malta Centre for Restoration (merged with Heritage Malta in 2005), National Forum and Cultural Heritage Fund (administered by the Committee of Guarantee). The functions and objectives of selected entities will be detailed later in this chapter (2.3). Guardianship Deed is an important tool introduced by the CHA (Article 48), with the SCH in charge of the administration process. It encourages involvement at grassroots level by allowing cultural heritage NGOs and local councils to enter into contract with the State which can transfer to them immovable cultural property in guardianship. This can only be done with properties such as archaeological sites, fortresses, towers and buildings which are public property. If the agreement in the notarial act is for some reason cancelled, the land returns to the government and the public ownership of the site is not lost. Government gives LCs or NGOs special rights on these properties, especially economic rights, because they can make money from the sites through fundraising and keep the money for restoration of buildings. This is an exception because usually, an NGO cannot perform fundraising activities on a public property. A GD is extremely helpful because it allows the state to transfer the neglected properties which would otherwise probably never be restored. Up until now, ten properties were entrusted to NGOs (nine to Din l-Art Helwa and one to Wirt Artna) and one to the Tarxien Local Council for a WWII shelter (SCH 2010). The number seems to indicate either a lack of interest or poor awareness of the opportunities offered by the GD (SCH 2010). The National strategy for cultural heritage was published in 2006 by the Ministry for Tourism and Culture as a further step in the implementation of the Cultural Heritage Act. The main objectives identified in this document are citizen participation, improved governance, development of cultural resources and sustainable use of heritage resources (MTC 2006a). The Local Councils Act was approved by the Maltese Parliament on 30 June 1993. It was based on the COEs European Charter of Local Self-Government which the Government ratified earlier that same year. The Act created a system of local government authorities and gave them considerable responsibilities and functions, all of which are described in Articles 33 through 48. In relation to cultural heritage, the LCA limited LCs involvement in cultural heritage projects, however, Article 48 of the CHA enabled them to assume the role of custodians by entering into the Guardianship deed with the government. This process has already been discussed earlier in this text. The Development Planning Act was created in 1992 and makes provisions for the planning and management of development and for the establishment of an authority with powers to that effect (DPA 1992, 1). The articles 46 through 47 are of interest here as they refer to cultural and natural heritage and authorize the agency in question (MEPA) to schedule property for conservation, to manage and review the list of scheduled property and to make emergency conservation orders. The Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands was published in 1990 by the Planning Services Division of the Ministry for Development of Infrastructure. It is different from the DPA, in that it designates various types of conservation areas and properties, Chapter 15 of the SPMI identifies complementary policies which apply to those areas and properties. It further ranks the properties according to their significance and degree of protection. Listed buildings in Urban Conservation Areas are graded as Grades 1 to 3; Areas and Sites of Archaeological Importance are classified from Class A to D, while Areas of Ecological Importance and Sites of Scientific Importance are rated from Level 1 to 4 (SPMI 1990). 2.3 Relevant authorities In the last twelve years, culture has shifted between several ministerial portfolios, presently constituting a part of Ministry for Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (Attard 2010). Before the CHA of 2002, there was only the Museums Department, the state administrative unit, which was both the operator and the regulator, functions which are today performed by Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. Since the Museums Department was not covered by law, there was not much information to be found on the subject. They had no autonomy, but they had a budget with which they ran the museums, while the revenue from the ticket sales went back to the government (Cutajar 2010). The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage (Sovrintendenza Tal-Patrimonju Kulturali) is a national agency responsible for the regulation of all matters pertaining to the cultural heritage of Malta. Their mission, as defined by Article 7, paragraph 1 of the CHA is to fulfil the duties of the State in ensuring the protection and accessibility of Maltas cultural heritage. Article 7, paragraph 5 details all the functions of the SCH, some of which are: development, managing and updating the National inventory of cultural property; promoting research in the field of cultural heritage; authorising and conducting excavations; keeping and managing documentation and archives in relation to cultural heritage; the monitoring of import and export of cultural goods; enforcement of the laws; advising the Minister and MEPA on heritage matters; administration of Guardianship deeds with NGOs and local councils. SCH is headed by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage and currently consists of eleven st aff members (Attard 2010). Since 2007, they have administered the Cultural Heritage Inventory Management System (CHIMS) project, a national database for heritage data management, which attempts to improve access to information. The agency keeps a meticulous record of their publications namely, Annual Reports and State of heritage reports which can be accessed online on their official website. Heritage Malta is an operating agency, established to ensure that those elements of the cultural heritage entrusted to it are protected and made accessible to the public (CHA 2002, Art.8, para.1). HMs main task is management of State-owned museums and heritage sites, their related collections on the islands of Malta and Gozo, and UNESCO World Heritage Sites (HM 2008). The agency is governed by a Board of Directors. In 2005, the amendment to the CHA merged the former Malta Centre for Restoration with HM, and thus gave rise to the Institute of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage which offers academic and vocational courses in conservation in collaboration with MCAST and the University of Malta.  [6]   Further functions of the Agency are elaborated upon in Article 8, paragraph 4 of the CHA, some of which are acquisition of properties, collections, sites and buildings; performing or commissioning conservation or restoration of owned or administered cultural properties; promoting education and appreciation of heritage to the general public; ensuring that all of the heritage sites entrusted to them are managed, conserved, studied and presented in the best way possible. HM has successfully managed to capitalize upon different EU funding schemes for their cultural heritage and conservation programmes. Following is a selection of some of the ongoing projects: SMARTmuseum (FP7) development of a platform for innovative IT services; Rehabilitation of Roman Baths and Christian Catacombs in Mgarr and Mosta (EAFRD); MINERVA Digitisation Project; Ä ¦aÄ ¡ar Qim and Mnajdra Archaeological Park (ERDF) installation of protective shelters, conservation and presentation, Med.Archeo.Sites: Study and Valorisation of Archaeological Sites of the Mediterranean Area.  [7]  The latest and a rather significant project is a 9.2à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ million Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project (ERDF) launched in mid-2008. It will run until March 2013 and includes works on three sites, two of which are part of the Maltese Megalithic temples WHS (Ä  gantija and Tarxien temples), while the third is on UNESCOs Tentative List (St. Pauls Catacombs in Rab at). The project includes construction of elevated walkways for both WHSs, a museum and a visitors centre at Ä  gantija, and a temporary protective shelter, similar to the ones at Ä ¦aÄ ¡ar Qim and Mnajdra, over the Tarxien temples (HM 2008). Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) was established by the provisions of the Development Planning Act (1992) and its role further reinforced by the Environment Protection Act (2001). It is a national agency in charge of land use planning and environmental regulation in Malta.  [8]  MEPA is subdivided into the Development Planning Directorate, Environment Protection Directorate, Directorate for Corporate Service and the Chairmans Office, all of which are carrying out the agencys responsibilities. The Planning Directorate is further split into the Forward Planning Division and the Development Services Division. It is within FPD that the Heritage Planning Unit (HPU), which is responsible for all matters pertaining to cultural and natural heritage, is placed. A full list of HPUs obligations and duties can be found explained in detail in Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands (Chapter 15), EPA and DPA (Chapters 46 48). Some of the main tasks of HPU are providing general information on heritage, legal protection of immovable heritage and heritage related planning, scheduling properties and maintaining the Malta Scheduled Property Register, publishing guidelines for restoration,  [9]  internal  [10]  and public awareness projects.  [11]   Within the Public Awareness section of the HPUs website one can find links to X-Plain and One World. X-Plain is a four-page long newsletter on MEPAs monthly activities, whose first issue was published in May 2007. There were seven issues published in 2007 and only three in 2008 which clearly shows that the newsletter has been discontinued. One world, on the other hand, was a special column in Times of Malta newspaper where, in the period from May 2007 until June 2009, a series of articles on cultural heritage of Malta were published. There is also an informative section with answers to some frequently asked questions such as the definition of buffer zones, how to check if ones property has been scheduled or which works can be carried out within scheduled property without development consent. MEPA and HPU are encouraging citizen involvement so, for instance, every citizen can request a property to be scheduled and thus legally protected and enlisted in MSPR by filling the appropriate form available on the MEPA website. The Maltese National Commission for UNESCO was created when Malta gained independence in 1964. Although a national commission, it comprises of volunteer staff members whose energy, resources and time they can spend are infinitesimal compared to national commissions of other countries that employ full-time personnel. The Maltese National Commission for UNESCO organises local projects which are in line with the mission and objectives of the parent organisation located in Paris.  [12]  Some of the projects related to Maltas WHSs include a preparation of a reactive monitoring report for City of Valletta and publication of The Tarxien Temples: Teachers Resource Book Worksheets. The Commission runs the official website where one can gather information about their activities and members. The News section of the site brings updates on news related to global UNESCOs activities. Local councils, as already mentioned in the section on legislation, were created in 1993 as required by the LCA. There are altogether 68 local councils of which 54 are located in Malta and 14 in Gozo. LCs are, by legal definition, responsible for a number of things (Articles 33 48, LCA), and specifically excluded from a number of other things, most of which are dealing with cultural sites. They have the right to organise local festas or other folkloristic activities, and deduct funding for culture from their own resources. LCs spend a lot of money on restoration of local chapels and publications, but national monuments, such as the Megalithic temples WHS, are not their responsibility as those are funded from the government budgets and managed by the national agency (Heritage Malta). Tarxien, Qrendi, MÄ ¡arr and XagÄra are local councils of special interest here since the Megalithic temples WHS are situated in their administrative units. Following is a short analysis of inf ormation that these LCs provide on the temples to interested parties. The office of XagÄra Local Council does not contain any HM brochures on Ä  gantija. A member of the LC informed the author that they do not receive these brochures from Heritage Malta at all. However, they do have a catalogue which lists all the sites of historical interest in XagÄra, though it wasnt specified if this is something available for purchase or only for library use. The book was not available for viewing at the time of the authors visit. The official website of the LC was no more informative either. It contains a link  [13]  which shows an interactive map of XagÄra with clickable points of interest. Upon clicking the point for Ä  gantija, the visitor enters a new page with information on Ä  gantija temples and one photo of the site. The text does not mention that Ä  gantija is UNESCO WHS. Another link  [14]  provides some brief information on the history of Gozo, starting from prehistoric times, and includes one more photo of Ä  gantija. The website of MÄ ¡arr Local Council provides specific information on the Ta Ä ¦aÄ ¡rat and Skorba temples accompanied by one photo of each site.  [15]  Almost everything is in Maltese, with only some content translated into English. The English version of the site displays information on the history of the village featuring links to the HM website and their information on the temples.  [16]  The author did not have a chance to meet a representative of this LC despite several communication attempts. The office of the Qrendi Local Council, just like the XagÄra LC, does not contain any HM brochures. The secretary of the LC stated regrettably that there is no cooperation between them and Heritage Malta although they have expressed their interest on many occasions. On the other hand, the LC seems to cooperate and consult more freely with MEPA concerning cultural heritage issues. From time to time the council organises cultural and educational outings, however, none of these were done at Ä ¦aÄ ¡ar Qim or Mnajdra WHSs. They have also designed several heritage walks, itineraries through the village of Qrendi and its significant buildings, mainly local chapels and churches, a palace, a tower and a public garden.  [17]   In 2009, the council organized a cultural event From prehistory to the digital era during which one lecture on the temples of Ä ¦aÄ ¡ar Qim and Mnajdra was held. The official website of the LC is available in both Maltese and English. One of the links entitled ArkeoloÄ ¡ija contains three further sections on the archaeological sites around the village, two of which are Ä ¦aÄ ¡ar Qim and Mnajdra. The article on the temples is short but it does mention their WH designation.  [18]  Another link allows access to a number of press releases related to the landfill site controversy issued by the Council.  [19]   At the time of the authors visit, the Tarxien Local Council offices were closed and further efforts to establish contact with an LC representative have failed. The official website contains a couple of links which refer to the temples, although their contents are questionable. The link which describes the history of the village, including several (incorrect) references to the temples, quotes heavily from an outdated book, published in 1932.  [20]  Another link, although entitled Postijiet Interessanti (eng. interesting places), did not find the temples interesting enough to be included in the overview. Finally, the last link brings a short article on the Tarxien temples WHS with three images.  [21]  The website is available in Maltese with Italian translation. 2.4 Cultural Heritage NGOs The two major cultural heritage NGOs in Malta are Din L-art Helwa and Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna which are both interested in various aspects of cultural heritage. Several other NGOs, with varying degrees of involvement, are also included in this overview. Din L-art Helwa (National Trust of Malta) is a voluntary organisation established in 1965. Their mission is protection, conservation, management and maintenance of historic monuments and buildings, taking care of the environment and environmental issues, raising awareness and the promotion of heritage to the public. Din l-Art Helwa functions as a Trust, implying that it is restoring the sites on behalf of the State, the Church, and private owners (Vigilo 2010). Membership in the organisation is open to all. Since 2003, Din l-Art Helwa holds nine properties in trust which were transferred to it by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage via the first Guardianship deed.  [22]  Sites are manned by volunteers who keep them open for visitors. The Organizations website offers in-depth information about their sites, campaigns and projects. Moreover, it is often updated with information about current events and offers e-mail subscription to their newsletter. There are also many useful publications available for download, such as brochures with proposed walks through their sites and Vigilo, the organisations bulletin. Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna (The Malta Heritage Trust) is a voluntary organisation established in 1987. Their focus lies on restoration, presentation and management of mainly neglected rural and industrial sites, as well as British and medieval military heritage.  [23]   The foundation both owns properties and holds them in trust. Apart from one prehistoric temple in their ownership,  [24]  the rest of the properties are mostly late medieval and 20th century military structures such as ramparts, bastions, forts, towers, bridges and defence posts. There are several sites currently open to public  [25]  which are looked after by the volunteers and paid staff. Wirt Artna is running many different projects as diverse as conservation and restoration works on their properties, historical re-enactments as an interpretation tool (Living history), education and awareness raising about military heritage among schoolchildren (Hands-on Heritage). Membership in the organisation is open to all. The official website of the foundation does not offer a subscription to a newsletter, however, they do make good use of new internet media and opened a group Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna on Facebook, a social networking platform anyone with a Facebook account can join and automatically keep track of the groups updates. The foundations Facebook group also contains photo albums with images of various events they organised. The group currently has 813 members. Wirt GÄawdex is a non-governmental organisation created in 1981 whose activities and projects are primarily concerned with the historical, archaeological and natural heritage of the islands of Gozo and Comino. Wirt GÄawdex is involved in restoration projects on monuments such as late medieval watchtower, chapels, bastions and a gunpowder magazine.  [26]  They are also organizing tours to sites of cultural significance on the islands and holding public lectures. In relation to the Megalithic temples WHS, there has only been one lecture entitled Prehistoric Temples of Gozo, held in April 2010, since the organisation started with the lecture programme in 2006. Furthermore, in the period between 2006 and 2009, there were only a total of eight tours organized, and apart from the visit to Hypogeum and Tarxien Temples in April 2007, there were no other visits to WHS, surprisingly, not even to Ä  gantija which is situated on the island itself. The official website does not offer a newsletter subscription, but some of the issues can be downloaded in .pdf format directly from the site. Membership in this organisation is open to all. The Old Temples Study Foundation (OTSF) is a US non-profit organisation established in 1994 whose mission is to foster education and research related to prehistoric culture in Malta. The foundation has lately only been focused on organising educational travel trips for Americans who wish to visit Malta and holding lectures and exhibitions in the US on Maltese culture and heritage. In the past, the OTSF organised a number of different activities and projects, what follows is a selection of those that were addressed to the Maltese population. Student Prehistoric Heritage Awareness Project: in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and former Museums Department, OTSF published a teachers handbook on Maltese prehistoric heritage which was distributed in Maltese schools. The year the project was undertaken has not been published on their website and there is no possibility to see what the handbook looked like. Tell me about the Maltese temples is another book which evolved from the previous project. It is an illustrated bilingual (Maltese English) book for use in classrooms which was published in year 2000. In 2003, the Foundation organized an international conference entitled Exploring the Maltese Prehistoric Temple Culture (EMPTC) which gathered experts from around the world.  [27]   The OTSF hosts a FAQ section on their official website which provides information on the megalithic culture of Malta for children. The author attempted to arrange a meeting with a representative of the Foundation while in Valletta and left her contact details with the secretary, unfortunately, there was no feedback afterwards. Archaeological society Malta (ASM) is