Are Crises Threatening the Benefits?

Are crises threatening the benefits from international portfolio diversification? This essay examines whether rising international stock market correlations during market crises are weakening the efficacy of modern portfolio theory, which promises benefits from international portfolio diversification. The importance of the combining assets that are not perfectly correlated is discussed, as are reasons why we might expect markets to move more closely during crises. If it is clear that markets are moving more closely together during crises, investors are losing diversification benefits at the most critical time.However, because of assumptions, it is apparent that there is considerable debate over the validity of the correlation coefficient for use in explaining the co-movement of market returns. It may be that markets are moving closely together at all times. Also, over the long run, short term rises in correlations may have negligible effects for the investor. For these reasons, we ca nnot discredit the worth of international portfolio diversification. The correlation coefficient is a key statistic for devising the optimal portfolio.In accordance to Modern Portfolio Theory, where risk is to be minimized for a given level of return, the correct combination of assets relies critically on the correlation between those assets. When defining the risk of a portfolio as its standard deviation, when assets that are less that perfectly correlated are combined, the standard deviation of the portfolio is actually less that the weighted average of each individual asset’s standard deviation, although the expected return from a portfolio is simply the weighted average of the expected return of each individual asset (Bodie, Kane, Marcus, Perrakis, &Ryan, 2008, p. 08). This is why combining assets with correlations of less than one (proper diversification) is referred to as a ‘free lunch. ’ It is also apparent that this principle also extends to international portfolio diversification, where market returns are less that perfectly correlated. From examining the correlation data from Table 2, the financial crisis of the late 2000’s seems to be yet another example of international stock market correlations rising during bear markets.The selective correlations of the UK’s FTSE 100 Index, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average, and Brazil’s Bovespa Index to the S&P 500 come from simple fifteen year data series’ on monthly index returns. All correlations were higher from 2008 to March 2009 (the substance of the S&P 500’s decline during the financial crisis) relative to correlations for the entire sample period, and even higher relative to correlations for the bull run of 2003-2008. This correlation behaviour may create misgivings for an investor who values his ‘free lunch,’ and raises the questions: do markets move more closely during crises and why ?When using the correlation coefficient to measure the comovement of market returns, we are making assumptions about the underlying data (stock market returns. ) An important assumption is that the underlying data follow a normal distribution. A study by Campbell, Forbes, Koedijk, and Kofman (2007) examined annualized mean return data for five stock indices from 1990-2005 and found that each data set failed to conform to normality, by displaying significant skewness and kurtosis.They also test conditional correlation estimators under normality and under the student-t distribution, and find that â€Å"earlier studies may have overestimated the excess in conditional correlation by assuming bivariate normality,† and that under the student-t distribution excess conditional correlation ceases for the left tail (bear markets) of returns (para. 4). Furthermore, Forbes and Rigobon (2002) assert that the correlation coefficient is further biased as an estimator of market comovement because of the heteroskedasticity of market return da ta (volatility changes), while the correlation coefficient assumes homoskedasticity.They conclude that increases in volatility during crises result in an upward bias in correlation coefficients during those periods. After adjusting for this bias, they find that there is no statistically significant increase in market correlations during crises. They do find that markets comove strongly at all times, which they call â€Å"interdependence†(p. 2250). It is important to note that Forbes and Rigobon’s result is not uncontested, and that they also employed their own set of assumptions, and when violated, â€Å"correlation coefficients are not always biased measures of dependence when markets become more olatile†(Bartram and Wang, 2005, para. 1). This illustrates the academic uncertainty of dismissing or accepting correlation coefficients as an effective measure of market co movement. It is because of the uncertainty in the literature, and the inherent assumptions of t he correlation coefficient, that we cannot strictly conclude, by examining stock market return correlations, that markets move more closely together during crises.In a study of the comovement of stock market returns during the aforementioned financial crisis, Didier, Love, Soledad, and Peria (2011) provide some insights into why shocks may transmit and manifest in different stock exchanges. They test three possible drivers of market comovement: real linkages through trade; financial linkages, both direct and indirect, including the actions of international investors with respect to margin calls, risk aversion, and herding; and ‘demonstration effects’, where investors give new attention to risks that have materialized, and then update valuations.From their empirical tests, they find that financial variables played the largest role in transmission during the financial crisis of the late 2000’s, while ‘demonstration effects’ also contributed to increase d comovement in the early stages of the crisis. Also, although trade linkages were not found to explain co movement during the period, the authors remind â€Å"this does not mean that they will not play an important role in future crises (as they have in the past)† (p. 2). The drivers of stock market correlation by Didier et al. do provide meaningful explanations of why we might expect markets to move together during crises, but they aren’t all excluded from working in the opposite direction (not just in crises). Assuming market correlations are in fact an unbiased and accurate measure of market comovement during crises, this would result in a significant loss of the benefits of international diversification during downturns.According to Butler and Joaquin’s (2002) test of an equally weighted portfolio amongst international markets, investors would get an annual return of 2% less than predicted by the normal distribution in extreme bear markets (5% left tail). T hey conclude that in this case investors may benefit from trying to predict which markets will have near-normal market correlations during bear markets, and then weight their portfolios more heavily in these markets. Is that (potential guesswork) really necessary? According to Asness, Israelov, and Liew (2010) the answer is no, at least if you are a long-term investor.Asness et al. compare the returns of holding a local portfolio vs. an equal-weight global portfolio, where they find that a global portfolio shows lower short term volatility (for one month and one year averages) but greater skewness where â€Å"simultaneous market crashes cause the global portfolios to experience worse risk adjusted crashes†(p. 6). Over the long run, though, they find that holding a global portfolio provides considerable insulation from local downturns, and the skewness of the global portfolio approaches zero.They contend that in the long run countries’ market returns are driven by count ry-specific underlying economic performance, and that international diversification insulates the investor from being exposed to any one underperforming country in concentration. This long run result gets back to the premise of modern portfolio theory, that is, combining assets that aren’t perfectly correlated, or don’t co-move in direct proportions. As we can see, it is hard to discredit the efficacy of international portfolio diversification by strictly examining rising international market correlations.Because market return data may not conform to the assumptions inherent to the correlation coefficient, there is uncertainty over its usefulness as a measure of market co-movement. Also, if the investor has a long-term horizon, the benefits from international diversification are still strong. References Asness, C. S. , Israelov, R. , & Liew, J. M. (2010). International diversification works (In the long run). Social Science Research Network, n/a. Retrieved from http:// www. retailinvestor. org/pdf/ForDiversify. pdf Bartram, S. M. , & Wang, Y. H. (2005).Another look at the relationship between cross-market correlation and volatility. Finance Research Letters, 2(2), 75-88. doi:10. 1016/j. frl. 2005. 01. 002 Bodie, Z. , Kane, A. , Marcus, A. , Perrakis, S. & Ryan, P. (2008). Investments: sixth Canadian edition. Canada: McGraw Hill. Butler, K. C. , & Joaquin, D. C. (2002). Are the gains from international portfolio diversification exaggerated? The influence of downside risk in bear markets. Journal of International Money and Finance, 21(7), 981-1011. doi:10. 1016/S0261-5606(02)00048-7 Campbell, R. A. , Forbes, C.S. , Koedijk, K. G. & Kofman, P. (2007). Increasing correlations or just fat tails? Journal of Empirical Finance, 15(2), 287-309. doi:10. 1016/j. jempfin. 2007. 01. 001 Didier, T. , Love, I. , Soledad, M. , & Peria, M. (2011). What explains comovement in stock market returns during the 2007–2008 crisis? International Journal of Finance and Economics, n/a. doi: 10. 1002/ijfe. 442 Forbes, K. J. , & Rigobon, R. (2002). No contagion, only interdependence: measuring stock market co movements. The Journal of Finance, 57(5), 2223-2261. doi: 10. 1111/0022-1082. 00494

Prevention of Terrorist Acts by Private Security Essay

Introduction The local public law enforcement agencies are aware and have recognized the fact that singly, they cannot cover the vast geographical area of their respective jurisdictions and enforce effective policing duties. They are limited in numbers, expertise and resources. For this reason, they have employed the services of the private sector specifically the members of the communities and forged with them agreements for assistance and collaboration in crime fighting and public disorder. In fact, the 1990s marked the emergence of a new mode of delivery of services in the public sector—law enforcement area. This mode of service delivery gave law enforcement an opportunity to employ resources and expertise which were not otherwise available to them before under the collaborative partnership and shared responsibilities with the private sector and communities (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). Even the government has recognized the importance of assistance from the private sector. Thus, this growing recognition was no longer limited locally but has spread across the states and the federal government. With financial support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Sheriffs’ Association, and American Society for Industrial Security International joined efforts for the state and local to start a partnership with the private sector, specifically the private security organizations denominated as â€Å"Operation Cooperation† (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). This partnership however, was limited to crime fighting and public disorder. A growing success was noted in these partnerships and continued efforts are exerted to thresh out some identified problem areas. The September 11 terrorist attacks brought a new awareness and rekindled the imperative need for local law enforcement and private security organizations to work together to fill the gap for homeland security and in preventing terrorism (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). By reason of the success rate in the partnership between the private sector and the law enforcement in terms of peace and order, private sector was again requested to pitch in its efforts to help in combating terrorist attacks. After the summit in 2004, private security organizations were called upon to organize and develop as community counterparts in assisting law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Department of Justice holds the opinion that community policing has the same direct effect on counter terrorism strategies. â€Å"These include the use of crime mapping with GIS systems, data collection and analysis protocols, and technologies that may be used as platforms for gathering intelligence to assess terrorism vulnerability. In addition, the community partnerships formed by police in the course of community-oriented problem solving provide a ready framework for engaging citizens in helping police to identify possible threats and implement preparedness plans† (Docobo, 2005). Community policing affords the opportunity for law enforcement agents to have knowledge of activities in their respective territorial jurisdictions which can assist in counteracting terrorist activities. These crime prevention partnerships has proven effective through the years and for which reason, this has inspired a similar idea with respect to terrorism especially after the September 11 terrorist attack. Thus, public law enforcement-private security partnerships are now thought of as being replicated as to apply to homeland security and counter terrorism. For instance in New York, Area Police/Private Security Liaison was created to enhance mutual cooperation between law enforcement and private security primarily for exchange of information. This gives the New York Police Department a vast network and thus facilitating information reports on security updates and terrorists news bulletin (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). Terrorism in the United States is characterized by inflicting harm and damage to a great number of people all at once. For this reason it is crucial to forge partnerships and mutual collaboration with private security organizations to be able to cover that large territory. The country’s infrastructure is protected by private security organizations while the law enforcement agencies receive information regarding threats thus either one cannot protect alone (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). Infrastructure as defined by the 9/11 Commission as to include telecommunications and communication networks, buildings, energy facilities, etc. (9/11 Commission, 2004). Based on statistical estimates made by 9/11 Commission in its Final Report, at least 85% of the infrastructure is owned by the private sector and is protected by a number of private security agents which far exceed the number of law enforcement officers and agents (9/11 Commission, 2004). Private security organizations can perform civic duties in providing assistance in evacuation, food and transport in emergencies (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). There is also information sharing and close coordination with other private security practitioners and law enforcement agents which leads to exchange of information, access to others, exposure, training, and familiarity with the needs of each sector, i.e. private security and public law enforcement (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). There is a more creative manner of solving problems and a marked reduction in response time to disasters. There were many advisory committees both public and private institutions that embarked on studies to find out how to protect the U.S. homeland security. There was uniformity in their findings that there is lack of homeland security strategy, defects in â€Å"governmental organization and processes in dealing with threats to national security† (Parachini, Davis, Liston, 2003). After the September 11, President Bush created the Office of Homeland Security and also established the Homeland Security Council as an inter agency coordinating body. In 2002, the legislation H.R. 5005 or the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was approved by the U.S. Congress and was signed into law by the President (Parachini, Davis, Liston, 2003). The Department of Homeland Security was established with plans and programs it is supposed to implement through he discharge of the powers and functions which the law mandates it to exercise (Parachini, Davis, Liston, 2003). Directives and orders have been issued from that time to harness the various areas for counter terrorism from state, federal and local enforcement level. The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that â€Å"there are 16,661 state, local, and county law enforcement agencies in the United States, and they employ a total of 677,933 sworn officers. Studies on private security staffing indicate there may be as many as 10,000 private security agencies employing slightly less than 2 million private security officers in the United States† (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). These numbers can be a good indicator of the extent of the large number that can assist public law enforcement agencies. A security organization has various functions, thus a security practitioner may be a director of security services of a large corporation or a manager of contracted security personnel at the place or office of a client or an investigator with expertise on computer crimes (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). There are two kinds of private security services, i.e. 1) â€Å"proprietary or corporate security;† and, 2) â€Å"contract or private security firms† (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). â€Å"Corporate security generally refers to the security departments that exist within businesses or corporations. Contract security firms by contrast sell their services to the public, including businesses, homeowners, and banks† (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). Public policing on the other hand, deals with the state, local law enforcement including sheriffs’ offices. Primarily these officers are responsible for peace and order and street crimes and have no concern with corporate internal operations or private economic interests (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). The advantages of private security organizations over the public law enforcement agencies are these agencies have vast resources and expert knowledge in the field. Moreover, insofar as headcount, the number of private security officers far exceed those in law enforcement which enables them to cover and protect effectively a small geographic area (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). It has been criticized for lack of certification, regulation standards, lack of rigorous pre- selection recruitment process and trainings with a high turn over of officers (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). On the other hand, law enforcement agents are subjected to rigorous screening process before acceptance in the service and the officers are subjected to background checks. They are trained and are subject to regulations. The enforcement powers given them are greater both in scope and strength. Most of the law enforcement agents and officers stay in their jobs for a long time as these jobs are considered careers (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). This enables them to establish trust with the inhabitants of the area and exchange information. However, the downside is that law enforcement work on limited resources and budget. During heavy call load days, response time most often is delayed because of the volume of incidents they respond to (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). The main problem which was identified in the public law enforcement and private security organizations partnerships is a weak information sharing. The private security organizations man private companies which are by nature organized for profit. Often, these private companies are reluctant in sharing information which may be detrimentally used against them thereby losing profits. In an interview with John Cohen, president and chief executive of PSComm LLC, he said that â€Å"A number of corporate security people are hesitant to share information with the government because they’re concerned that of the threat becomes public that could impact the value of the company’s stock. Businesses want to be sure that their information is handled in a way that doesn’t affect them from a business perspective† (Pelland, 2002). On the other hand, public law enforcement also is reluctant to share or give away information to the multi national companies who are headed by foreigners (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). This lack of trust can be attributed to the fear that these foreigners may be more inclined to protect their respective country’s interests than that of the United States. Conclusion Public law enforcement agencies in their discharge of their functions have made efforts towards proper and effective policing by eliminating crime in their respective jurisdictions through the â€Å"creation of effective partnerships with the community and other public and private-sector resources, the application of problem-solving strategies or tactics, and the transformation of agency organization and culture† (Docobo, 2005). It is on account of this that the concept of partnerships was adopted to be replicated in counter terrorism programs of the government. Even with the current declaration of homeland security, community policing in respect of crime prevention, is seen as to overlap with counter terrorism objectives (Docobo, 2005). With these partnerships, strategies become more philosophical as these are impressed in the mission and goals of the law enforcement agency. The public department itself undergoes an organizational transformation. The officers who are lower in rank are empowered to make their own decisions and take responsibilities for their acts. Thus, decision-making is decentralized and officers are given a chance to tap their creativeness in problem solving (Docobo, 2005). The idea and concept of partnership and collaboration has been widely accepted by the respective sectors. It is noted however that there is a need to increase their effectiveness in order that the purposes for which these partnerships were created would not be frustrated. The goal in these partnerships is collaboration in which their missions may overlap but they achieve the same goals through sharing resources and information. It gives many benefits for both sectors such as â€Å"creative problem-solving, increased opportunities for training, information data, and intelligence sharing, ‘force multiplier’ opportunities, access to the community through private sector communications technology, and reduced recovery time following disasters† (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). The benefits and advantages from the forged partnerships are countless. It is however important to address the weak information sharing between the groups. Working together is crucial. Communication lines also should be open with free exchange and discussion of limitations, scope of powers, lines of authority and functions of each sector is imperative so that an effective partnership can materialize. There must be a clear understanding of roles and the usefulness and necessity of the partnership, where leaders are identified. These leaders must develop trust for each and every sector executive considering that the weak information sharing was observed to be attributable to lack of trust between both sectors. By making both sectors fully and deeply aware of the roles they have to play and its importance to each of the sectors, trust may be developed. The essences of these partnerships are mainly communication, cooperation, collaboration and coordination (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). Communication refers to exchange of ideas and information while coordination requires knowledge of goals. Cooperation means sharing of personnel and resources for the accomplishment of the goal. Collaboration is based on clear understanding of the partners’ goals and the formulation of policies to achieve said goals which although may overlap, strengthens the partners (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). The Department of Homeland Security issued guidelines on how to improve the collaboration with the private sector in its report â€Å"Office for Domestic Preparedness Guidelines for Homeland Security† (DHS, 2003). It suggested among others that there be a clear understanding of the need to prevent terrorist acts; a clearing house for received information on terrorism; interpretation of this information; clear definition of tactics and strategies to counter terrorism; definition of funding priorities; formulation of assessment and procedures; and the preparation of written coordination agreements such as memorandum of agreement between public and private sectors that should contain clear delimitations of scopes of powers of each, facilitation of information, and the formulation of processes and procedures (DHS, 2003). The formalization of the coordination agreement signifies the institutionalization of the homeland security collaboration. These guidelines also identified areas which private security organizations can collaborate with the public enforcement agencies, i.e. â€Å"networking, information sharing; crime prevention; resource sharing; training; legislation; operations; and research and guidelines† (Connors, Cunningham, Ohlhausen, Oliver, and Van Meter, 2000). By entering into formal memorandum of agreement or understanding, each sector’s role, duties, and scope of powers are properly delineated to fit into the priorities and policies. Such formal agreements will give both sectors direction and clarity with respect to the procedures to be properly taken and implemented. Networking refers to discussion and meetings with the private sector to thresh out possible solutions to problems as well as limitations. Information sharing is the central component of the partnership. â€Å"Information sharing includes planning for critical incident response, protecting infrastructure, enhancing communications, minimizing liability, and strategically deploying resources† (Connors, Cunningham, Ohlhausen, Oliver, and Van Meter, 2000). Thus, meeting and conferences between representatives of both sectors is a must. Crime prevention also translates to terrorism. Terrorist acts may include initially lesser crimes to accomplish their goal of terrorism. Clearly, all information gathered from partnerships for crime prevention and peace and order may be very useful for combating terrorism. All information notwithstanding the absence of unlawful activity therefore must be shared such as those which involve unusual and suspicious activities. Technical knowledge and training may be shared by the private security organizations to the public enforcement agencies considering that the latter may lack this. Both sectors must identify legislation and assist the law makers in making these laws more responsive to the present situation. These laws should be modified if need be to be useful to both sectors in combating terrorism† (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). Both the public enforcement agencies and the private security organization may collaborate in the operational areas. This refers to joint sting operations, investigation of computer crimes and ‘white-collar’ financial fraudulent activities. Research papers and guidelines may be drawn by both sectors with respect to personnel policies and standards of the security personnel. Uniform standards and policies must be made for recruiting, selection, accepting and hiring security personnel. It is also suggested that liaison officers should be carefully trained and picked from the supervisors. They should have a clear and deep understanding of the goals and objectives of the partnership. The problem lies in the selection of those for the private security organizations as it has been recognized that they have the lack of prescreening and training standards. Thus, it was further suggested that an advisory council formulate these standards so that choosing a liaison officer as a representative of the private security sector would not be as difficult as it has been (Morabito and Greenberg, 2005). In sum, the success of these collaborative partnerships rest in the full sharing, cooperation, and coordination from both sectors which may only be achieved when each of the members have reached a deep understanding of the importance of their roles and scope of their powers. By reason of the importance of homeland security and on the part of the government, it has in fact allocated a larger amount of budget to counter terrorism. Partnerships are encouraged so that geographic territory can be covered extensively. Legislation is being addressed by modifying and or by enacting new laws to support the government’s call against terrorism. Representatives from both sectors must also coordinate with the legislators so that problem areas can be identified and can be resolved by means of legislative enactments or amendments to existing laws so that it can be more responsive to the needs and objectives of the existing collaborative partnerships. References Bocobo, J. 2005, Community Policing as the Primary Prevention Strategy for Homeland Security at the Local Law Enforcement Level Homeland Security Affairs. Retrieved on November 6, 2007, from http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=1.1.4 Connors, E., W. Cunningham, P. Ohlhausen, L. Oliver, and C. Van Meter. 2000. Operation Cooperation: Guidelines. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Assistance. Department of Homeland Security–Office for Domestic Preparedness. 2003. Office for Domestic Preparedness Guidelines for Homeland Security. Washington, DC: DHS. Morabito and Greenberg, 2005 Engaging the Private Sector: Law Enforcement and Private Security Partnerships, USDOJ. Retrieved on November 4, 2007, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/210678.pdf. Morriss, A. 2006 The Public-Private Security Partnership: Counter Terrorism Considerations for Employers in a Post 9/11 World. Retrieved on November 4, 2007, from http://www.hastingsblj.org/archive/volume2/files/number2/9_Morriss.pdf. The 9/11 Commission. 2004. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Official Government Edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Parachini, J., Davis, L., Liston, T. 2003 Homeland Security: A Compendium of Public and Private Organizations’ Policy Recommendations. Retrieved on November 6, 2007, from http://cipp.gmu.edu/archive/16_Randwhitepaper.pdf Pelland, D. 2002 ‘To help battle terrorism public and private sectors expand information sharing efforts. KPMG’s Technology: Insiders. Retrieved on November 5, 2007, from http://www.itglobalsecure.com/pdf/third_party/020913KPMG_Insider.pdf

Coherence in life Essay

However, Fisher points out that we need specific guidance in the form of features that narratives must display (rather than merely the effects they may have) in order to decide â€Å"whether or not they are deserving of our adherence† (1997:315). This is what coherence and fidelity, the two basic principles that define narrative rationality and that embody the concept of good reasons in Fishers paradigm, allow us to do. Ð  narrative may be â€Å"tested† in relation to three types of coherence: structural or argumentative; material; and characterological. Structural coherence relates to internal consistency whether or not the narrative reveals contradictions within itself. Material coherence is Ð ° question of how Ð ° narrative relates to other narratives that cover the same issue and that we are familiar with. More specifically, Ð ° narrative can be tested with respect to the â€Å"facts† it might downplay or ignore the counterarguments it chooses not to engage with, and so forth. Characterological coherence assumes that the reliability of any narrative depends very largely on the credibility of its main characters as well as the characters narrating it. If the decisions and actions associated with Ð ° character change significantly â€Å"in strange ways† (Fisher 1997:316) or contradict each other, we inevitably question the credibility of the character and hence the narrative in question, Fisher indicates that, â€Å"Coherence in life and literature requires that characters behave characteristically. Without this kind of predictability, there is no trust, no rational order, no community† (1997:316) Hence, once we decide that Ð ° given person is trustworthy, honorable, courageous, and so on, we are prepared to â€Å"overlook and forgive many things: factual errors if not too dramatic, lapses m reasoning, and occasional discrepancies. In addition to testing for coherence, we also test narratives for fidelity, Here, the focus is on assessing (Ð °) the elements of Ð ° narrative that may be regarded as its reasons and (b) the values that the narrative promotes. For Fisher good reasons are â€Å"those elements that provide warrants for accepting or adhering to the advice fostered by any form of communication that can be considered rhetorical. Fisher stresses, however, that the concept of good reasons â€Å"does not imply that every element of rhetorical transaction that warrants Ð ° belief, attitude, or action that any ‘good reason’-is as good as any other. It only signifies that whatever is taken as Ð ° basis for adopting Ð ° rhetorical message is inextricably bound to Ð ° value-to Ð ° conception of the good. Assessing the values explicitly or implicitly promoted by Ð ° narrative means asking what effects adhering to it would have on the world, on our ability to maintain our sense of self respect, and on our relationship to others. As Fisher argues, we ultimately have to ask â€Å"even if Ð ° prima facie case has been made or Ð ° burden of proof has been established, are the values fostered by the story those that would constitute an ideal basis for human conduct? † (1997:317) It is this ability to judge narratives on the basis of their moral implications and the values they promote that ultimately guides human behavior and allows communities to gather around Ð ° given narrative or set of narratives. Fisher’s narrative paradigm has two principal strengths in the current context. First, because it privileges moral values, it explains why activist communities can form across boundaries of nation, color, gender, profession, and almost any other division one can think of, without any motivation of personal gain-indeed, often at great personal risk to individual members of the community. Second, the narrative paradigm goes beyond explaining why communities emerge and unite around narratives, It specifically anchors this process in the notions of narrative rationality and good reasons, which imply considerable agency on the part of individuals and communities. As storytellers we do more than â€Å"choose† from prevalent narratives in our own societies If we judge the moral consequences of these narratives negatively, we can look elsewhere for â€Å"better† narratives or even elaborate narratives of our own. This is precisely what communities of activists, including those forming within the professional world of translation, attempt to do-they organize and select narratives on the basis of â€Å"good reasons†, looking beyond the dominant narratives of their cultures, often selecting counter narratives or elaborating new ones. It is worth pointing out that much of the impetus for narrative research in general, including Fisher’s work, comes from Ð ° belief among theorists working in this area that the unexamined assumptions of narratives â€Å"conceal patterns of domination and submission, which exclude the experience of large sectors of society while legitimating and promoting those of the political, economic, and cultural elite. There is also general agreement in the literature that narrative both reproduces the existing power structures and provides Ð ° means of contesting them: If stories can be constructed to wall off the senses to the dilemmas and contradictions of social life, perhaps they also can be presented in ways that open up the mind to creative possibilities developed in ways that provoke intellectual struggle, the resolution of contradiction, and the creation of Ð ° more workable human order. More specifically, narrative theorists acknowledge that undermining existing patterns of domination cannot be achieved with concrete forms of activism alone (such as demonstrations, sit-ins, and civil disobedience) but must involve Ð ° direct challenge to the stories that sustain these patterns. As language mediators, translators and interpreters are uniquely placed to initiate this type of discursive intervention at Ð ° global level. The narrative paradigm, then, and narrative theory more generally offer Ð ° framework that† generates Ð ° sense of what is good as well as what is strictly logical in the stories that people might adopt, explaining how individuals and communities can exercise sufficient agency to imagine that â€Å"another world is possible†, to use the well known slogan of the World Social Forum, serviced by the translators and interpreters in Babels. І suggest we might rewrite this motto in the present context as â€Å"another narrative is possible†.

Writing Skills Part

Which of the following would be an appropriate way to add variety to your sentences? A. Use questions and answers together. B. Add personal anecdotes. C. Use more close-up words. D. Make your sentences read like a spoken conversation. 2. Nelson's hobby is tinkering with small appliances. Tinkering with implies that Nelson is unskilled at his hobby. You want to change the flavor of this sentence to show that Nelson is, in fact, quite skilled at his hobby. Which of the following should you choose to replace tinkering with so that the reader gets the right idea? A. Selling B. Fiddling with C. Repairing D.Messing with 3. Anna is an exceptional young girl. Anna does any Job that needs to be done. To vary the sentence structure, which one of the following sentences should you insert in the blank? A. Anna is a hardworking and versatile person. B. Anna works hard every day of her life. C. Anna is always working hard at home. D. Have you noticed how hard she works? 4. Which of the following d irect quotations is punctuated properly? A. â€Å"Way to go, Sean,† the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run! † B. â€Å"Way to go, Sean,† the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run†! C. â€Å"Way to go, Sean†, the coach shouted. That was a reat run†! D. â€Å"Way to go, Sean†, the coach shouted. â€Å"That was a great run! † 5. When we speak of the flavor of a word, we're talking about the extra understood meanings that it carries in addition to its main meaning. These extra meanings are called denotations. ‚ ¬8. shadings. C. connotations. D. definitions. 6. A thesaurus is a book that's useful for finding A. synonyms. B. definitions. C. frequently misspelled words. D. famous persons. 7. Which is the best strategy to follow when you write a report or an essay? A. Get it right the first time and put it aside until it's due. B.Revise it over and over for at least hree or four years. C. Work on it over a seven-day p eriod and rewrite it at least twice. D. Write it in one sitting and revise it only once. 8. Find the sentence with the active voice. A. It was voted by the legislature to pass. B. I was told by the chairman that the bill was passed by the legislature. C. The bill was passed by the legislature. D. The chairman told me that the legislature passed the bill. 9. Of the following methods, the best way to increase your reading is by A. forcing yourself to read subjects you dislike. B. setting a goal to read five new pages every night. C. eading a new book every day. D. Joining a mail-order book club. 10 which ot the tollowing words is most likely to carry a connotation? A C. walk D. stride 1 1 . Of these four words, which one is most likely to have a negative flavor? A. Harangue B. Confound C. Meander D. Distract 12. Which of the following sentences is written in the passive voice? A. The effects of cyanide are well known. ‚ ¬8. Having left the building, Elvis never returned. C. I would not provoke that man if I were you. D. They considered their options. 13. Which one of the following sentences or phrases is most likely to be considered a clich ©?A. How dead is a dead doornail? B. Are you a man or a moose? C. Look before you leap. D. When in doubt, pout. 14. Which of the following sentences uses the best close-up words? A. Sara is pursuing a non-science degree. B. Sara is studying languages. C. Sara is studying French and German. D. Sara is pursuing a degree. 15. Which one of the following statements about making your writing fun to read is not correct? A. Direct quotations should be reserved for characters in stories. B. Give your writing a personal touch by showing that you're interested in your subject. C.The conversation you write must sound natural for the characters. D. An anecdote or humorous quotation is often more convincing than a strong argument. 16. When using direct quotations in your writing, which of the following should be placed outside th e set of quotation marks? A. Semicolon B. Question mark C. Comma D. Period 17. A clich © is a B. new C. worn-out D. wordy expression. A. foreign 18. Read the word in parentheses; then decide which of these sentences most effectively translates an abstract concept into a mental picture. A. (Sunrise) The rising sun transformed the canyon into bright stone and deep shadow.B. (Studious) Lucy ay on her bed reading a back issue of National Geographic. C. (Freedom) On her twenty-first birthday, Lola declared herself a woman. D. (Rumors) Whispers of doubt filled the empty halls like the reek of boiled cabbage. 19. An antonym is a word that's A. the same in meaning. B. pronounced the same. C. defined in a thesaurus. D. opposite in meaning. 20. What is the most important point in the following sentence? My sister, Emily, the tallest girl in her class, has many friends. A. Emily is the tallest girl in her class. B. My sister's name is Emily. C. Emily is my sister. D. Emily has many friends.

PC Maintenance, Troubleshooting and Diagnosis Research Paper

PC Maintenance, Troubleshooting and Diagnosis - Research Paper Example Considering this, it seemed to me that one fine morning when my PC crashes and I lose all my data, I would probably also lose my calm and I would be stranded alone in my room and I would do everything possible to have someone fix it as quickly as it can be fixed. This brought to me another argument, 'would I have to hire a professional for every time I lose data or have problems with my computer', which made me take an interest in troubleshooting, maintenance and diagnosis. I wanted to be able to deal with common issues I face with my PC, without having to rely on another person or spending a great deal of my money on the same, since nowadays virtually everything is available on the internet and moreover, it is free for anyone to take and make use of. So I struck me that with proper fishing of data around the net and following instructions correctly, I can pretty much come up with feasible solutions to any problem which might occur with my computer. I began to think of the most commo n and most frustrating issues that I have had with my PC and made a list of it. Going through the list, it became evident that, whatever the problem there is with my PC, I tend to worry most when those problems cause me to lose data, files or folders. I realized that several companies have even gone out of business after having lost vital files and data, which meant that preventing data loss was incontrovertibly an important part of maintenance. I found it ironic that the value of the hardware of my PC was insignificant as compared to the data that my PC contained and intended to learn to deal with it. It occurred to me that in order to be able to overcome data loss, I would first have to understand data loss, to understand why it occurs and learn to troubleshoot and diagnose the problem. I intended to find answers to †¢ What causes data loss? †¢ How I can protect drives and data †¢ How I can recover directory damage, FAT and critical information This study purports t o bring to light feasible and self-evaluable ways to identify, diagnose and make right some of the common and frequently occurring problems. Causes of data loss: Hardware and system failures are the leading cause for data failure, accounting for at least 44% of all data loss. (Bigelow, 2002). Electrical failures and improper shutting down, failures of drive circuitry or disk drive crashes can cause hardware failures, causing previously accessible data to be lost. Often, the drive may not be spinning, and we may hear rattling or scraping noises from the drive while booting. These failures can usually be prevented by humidity and temperature controlled environment, by installing a UPS. Critical data can be saved by using a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) which will mirror the disk drives, enabling us to recreate the lost data. It is important to keep the drive in a clean environment, and in the case of a drive failure, we must not operate the drive as it can exacerbate dat a loss, causing the drive to be corrupted further. Software recovery utilities are a completely bad procedure to resort to in the case of a drive failure as these utilities would run assuming the failed drive to be fully operational. Surprisingly, another important cause of data loss is human

The Term Quality of Goods Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Term Quality of Goods - Case Study Example The major implied terms in contracts of sale are that goods must be in conformity with their description; appropriate for the purpose made known to the seller; should be of satisfactory quality, and the seller should have the right to sell these goods. Under section 13 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, goods that have not been correctly described can be rejected only in the event of the buyer relying on such description. In contracts specifying the sale of goods by description a condition that these goods have to correspond to the description is inherent by implication. In Beale v Taylor2 the buyer purchased a vehicle after inspection, which had been described by the seller. The court held that this was a sale by description. In Harlingdon & Leinster Enterprises Ltd v Christopher Hull Fine Art Ltd3 a transaction between two art dealers was not considered to be a sale by description as the buyer was competent to rely on his own expertise to assess the value of the painting. In goods sold to a buyer, an implied term exists, which requires that these goods should be appropriate for any purpose that has been made known to the seller.4 Applicability extends to instances where the purpose is express or implied; only when the sale is in the course of business. It does not apply if the buyer decides on his own without relying on the sellers' skill or judgment. Sometimes the goods received, though free of defects, nevertheless, do not serve the purpose for which they had been bought and the seller knew about this fact. In Slater v Finning Ltd5 it was held that if an abnormal feature had not been revealed to the seller a claim under section 14(3) of the SGA would fail.

Nursing curricullum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing curricullum - Essay Example Despite there being a clear significance of the learning process to every person’s development, health, functioning, the well-being and health, debate about how learning takes place, the experiences that deem to hinder or facilitate learning, and the key elements that ensures learning becomes relatively vital has never ceased. Arguably, one such crucial elements pertains a learning theory. A learning theory is the coherent framework of some integrated principles and constructs that can be used for describing predicting or explaining how individuals learn. Education psychology has provided alternative theories alongside perspectives concerning how the process of learning takes place. The curriculum for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN's), has adopted a number of learning theories that have evidently been useful at boosting the training, as well as the learning processes of its staff (Fitzpatrick, & Whall, 2005).. ... They are more significant in influencing the pedagogical practice. More often than not, behaviourists tend to be of a view that all behaviour, no matter their complexity can easily be reduced to simple stimulus response association. In essence, behaviourists are emphasize on the measurable outcomes rather than imaginary thoughts and feelings (introspective processes). Ivan Pavlov, while conducting an experimental research with dogs, found out that dogs tend to salivate whenever the laboratory technician enters the room (McKenna, & Slevin, 2008). Research conducted over the same revealed that dogs had made the association between stimulus (food) and the technicians (neutral stimulus) thereby leading to the dog’s drooling response. This theory was termed as Pavlovian conditioning and was further developed by Watson who further demonstrated the classical conditioning among humans with the use of the young boys called Little Peter and Little Albert (McKenna & Slevin, 2008). Extend ing on this theory, Skinner used this theory to provide an explanation of the more complex forms of learning. Skinner believed that it was possible to utilize principles underpinning animal experimentation with children and infants. He went ahead coining the terminology Operant conditioning in explaining the influence negative and positive reinforcers have upon maintaining and shaping the behaviour of a child. The AACNs have adopted the Skinner’s theory as used in reward and punishment systems used by teachers in shaping and maintaining the behaviour of pupils. Praise, star charts, positive feedback, alongside circle time are crucial examples of the commonly used positive reinforcers, while