The Island of Damar

I looked down at the tiny island in the distance. The island that was about to turn my life completely upside down. It's name, Damar. It is a small island in Indonesia. It has a population of 23 people, everyone of these people archaeological diggers. My dad, Jay, was flying out to join them. There was some kind of dig on the go and my dad was called for. Me, being Rhia, had to go with him. Most kids of my age would stay at home with a relative. Unfortunately, I have none. My mum died about four years ago in a tragic car accident. She drove her car into a ditch and no one found her until the next morning. I don't know of any other relatives that i have. The only other family member I have is my twerp of a brother. He is 9 years old and is extremely annoying. His hair is like barbed wire, it is impossible to brush using any comb. My dad must have bought about 20 different sized combs to try and brush it and about 50 different shampoos. It is blondish-brown in colour and is kind of centre parted. He doesn't care in the slightest about his appearance and most of the time he just wears a pair of tracky bottoms and a pole shirt. His name is Pete. Any way, less of that twerp, back to me. I am 19 years old and currently do not have a boyfriend. I have blondish-brown permed hair just past my shoulders in length and have big, blue, dazzling eyes. Unlike my brother I care ALOT about my appearance. Everything has to be colour co-ordinated. My dad is always fussing at me, he says I have loads of clothes and hardly any of them are worn. It had been a long, tiring journey and a boring one at that. If I had been able to bring my friend Chazza, it would've been a right laugh. I was suffering from toothache because the cheesecake that we had for lunch hadn't been properly defrosted and I really hurt my tooth. Damar was getting bigger and bigger so I knew we were soon to land. From what I could see from above, it just looked like a floating rain forest. There were huge trees but I could not spot any houses or apartments for us to stay in. It was hammering it down with rain. I knew this because I could hear the rain drops bouncing of the roof of the plane. Touchdown. We had landed. We floated along the surface for some time before we came to a complete stop. I looked out of the cabin window and stared amazingly at a huge cliff that towered above the left hand side of the sea plane, I could not see the top of it. There was nothing else to be seen. My dad rose from his seat and turned round o face us, â€Å"Well then, we're here,† he said as if we were to be really excited. Me and my brother both looked at him as if to say ‘woopey-doo! ‘ My dad turned back round and headed towards the door and begun to open it. Once this was done he grabbed his binoculars which he had been looking through most of the journey whilst making notes, he looked into the distance. It was sometime before he shouted, â€Å"I can see them, they're coming straight for us! † Meanwhile Pete was taking all the cases from the overhead lockers and was placing them in a pile at the front of the plane. I looked out of the plane window once more nd spotted a small, yellow, rubber boat fighting against the treacherous waves to make its way to the plane. In it was a man dressed in a orange kagool. After some fighting, the boat reached the entrance to the plane. â€Å"You must be Doctor Shaw? † asked my dad loudly, competing against the noise of the waves. â€Å"Yes, that's right. Climb aboard,† shouted the strange looking man. My dad jumped aboard and almost lost his balance as a huge monstrous wave came from behind the boat. Pete tossed all our luggage to my dad who was piling them up in one corner. Once this had been done, Pete himself jumped aboard. I walked esitantly towards the door and stood for a moment watching the rain hammering into the sea. I turned round and faced Sam, the pilot, who I had become quite friendly with. â€Å"Good bye then†, he said, trying not to laugh, â€Å"and good luck! † I smiled at him, turned round and daintily made my way on board the boat. That was it, there was no way of turning back now. I turned and looked at the plane, taxiing into the dull fog which had fallen. â€Å"What? † I bawled at the top of my v oice. â€Å"This is your home for the next 10 weeks. † I looked down at a pile of raw materials: wood, palm leaves and a huge sheet of tarpaulin. You and your dad will have to build a shelter. † That was it, I'd had enough. Not only did I discover that there was no TV, computer or telephone on Damar, but now I have to build my own shelter. My dad had lied. He told me the complete opposite. I decided enough was enough i needed to get away from my dad before all hell broke out. I walked over to the shore and looked out at the waves smashing against the rocks. I was dripping wet and freezing cold. I made a huge X out of pebbles in the sand and walked to the left of me. As long as I kept to the shore line, I could turn round at any time and walk back o the X and then I'd know I was back at camp. It felt as if I'd been walking for miles. The shore line was rocky and in some places sandy. After some time I came to a stop and sat down on what looked to be a makeshift bench at the top of the cliff that I first saw when I had landed. I was there for a long while. The rain had got worse and it had begun to hail, they were not huge hail stones but big enough. â€Å"Hi there, I'm Jak! † called a voice from behind. I jumped up, scared stiff. I didn't know whether to turn around or not. Before I could, the person named Jak appeared at the side of me. He held his hand out as if aiting for me to shake it. I pulled my hand out of my jeans pocket and held his hand. I couldn't move it, it was as if they were frozen solid. â€Å"They're freezing,† he shrieked, â€Å"here, take my gloves. † I took the gloves from his held out hand and struggled to put them on. â€Å"I'm Doctor Shaw's son. You? † asked Jak. â€Å"I'm Rhia. Rhia Langton,† replied Rhia politely. â€Å"Oh, your new here aren't you? † â€Å"Yep, I just arrived today. † The conversation seized while we looked each other up and down. He was gorgeous. He had short black hair and had huge, dark brown eyes with long eyelashes. He looked about early 20's and had a well tanned body. I've been here 6 months now,† he said. â€Å"Really. † â€Å"Yeah. How long are you planning to stay? † â€Å"I think my dad said about 10 weeks. † â€Å"Cool, I'll have to get to know you more then. † â€Å"Likewise. † â€Å"I think I'll start by telling you about me then,† said Jak, â€Å"I'm 22 and i'm a dentist. Well at least I will be, when I get back to England. I've been offered a job. † â€Å"Oh really, lucky you,† said Rhia, shocked, † Well I'm 19 and currently have a job at McDonald's. Slightly different to you eh? † Jak trying not to laugh replied, â€Å"yeah! well it's better than nothing? † â€Å"I suppose so, it's only until I find another job. † We spoke for some time and we had got to know each other extremely well before Rhia decided to make her way back to camp whilst holding Jak's hand. When i arrived back at camp, my dad and brother had built their hut and were both sitting round a red hot fire at the foot of the hut. Jak however had already made his way back to his hut after a kiss at the edge of the shore. â€Å"You're back then? Finally over your little tiff? † asked Jay. I walked slowly towards the logs that surrounded the fire which had been used for benches and sat down. â€Å"So, do you want the guided tour? † asked Pete. â€Å"Sure! † replied Rhia. I couldn't sleep that night. Not only was it because of the rain gushing down on the tarpaulin but my tooth was still hurting from the frozen cheese cake on the plane. I had never felt so much pain in my life. After a long wait, I finally drifted into a restless slumber. Two weeks have gone now. The weather is at its hottest and my tan is coming along great. The island wasn't as bad as I though it was when I first arrived. In fact, I love it. I'm getting on really well with Jak now and we're going out. The only problem is he has spoken about taking our relationship a little further. I don't know if I'm ready for it just yet. I haven't as yet been down to the dig, my dad oesn't want anyone going down until he's given it the all clear (safety wise. ) Well, today's the day. I can finally go down and see what all the fuss about Damar is all about, I'm going down to the dig. â€Å"Come on then! † shouted my dad. I knelt down and picked up my bag and some of my dads digging equipment and followed him into the dark wilderness. My tooth was at its worst today. I wasn't really in the mood to go into a cramped, humid cave full of archaeological diggers and have to dig all day. My dad and Pete were some amount of metres ahead of me but didn't know how far I was walking behind. I stopped, and ropped my bags on the floor. Jak wasn't going down to the dig today so I wasn't really that bothered about going. He was spending the day on Karachi beach. I've decided that I am ready to take our relationship a little further but it has to be at the right time in the right place. I decided to make my way to the beach to see if I could see him. â€Å"Hi, how are you? † asked Jak â€Å"I'm fine now I'm here with you. My dad wanted to take me down to the dig today but I'm not really that bothered. I'd rather be sun- bathing on a beach with the one I love! † replied Rhia. I looked out at the sparkling blue water. I could see the fish swimming around legantly below the surface. It was perfect. â€Å"How's your t ooth? † â€Å"It's even worse today! it's really beginning to bug me! † â€Å"Give it time, it'll drop out soon, trust me, I'm a dentist! † He sat looking at me for some time as if he thinking before he said, â€Å"Wait here, I'll be back in a bit. † I knew what was about to happen, after all we were in the perfect place for it. I tried to calm myself but it wasn't working. Some time later he returned with a smug look on his face. He sat next to me and wrapped his arms around my body. â€Å"Lay back and close your eyes† he whispered softly into my ear. I did as he said and waited for him to say omething. He did the obvious. Before I let him go any further I asked him, â€Å"will it hurt? † â€Å"Of course not,† he replied, â€Å"it's just a simple process† â€Å"I'm rather frightened, I've never done this before. † He urged to continue, â€Å"It won't hurt much more, just relax. † I was in a great deal of pain but dared not show it. I felt tears come to my eyes. It's hurting something awful. â€Å"Calm yourself Rhia, open a little wider so I can fit more in! † Suddenly with a jerk I gave a screeching shout. â€Å"Now that's it, all over with,† he slowly pulled it out. â€Å"Well what a relief, I think I'll enjoy my holiday even more now that rotten tooth's out! â€Å"

Gender and Power in the Media Essay

Media is the best avenue for companies to advertise their products, especially if they want to reach a greater scopre of target consumers. Every day, persuasion through the television, internet, and radio commercials, as well as in printed ads and billboards will make them sell more of their products in an effectual manner (Allen). Radio and television are the two channels where most Americans get information, especially news, aside from the Internet, magazines, and many others. And because of these two media, they can definitely change the way audiences perceive things in society, especially the youth, who may be more vulnerable to media influence compared to adults. This may partly be attributed to their inexperience. It affects how they decide on things that matter greatly to them and to others (Reed). The core and obvious difference is that the radio only produces sound, while the television produces both sound and images. The radio was formed from different ideas coming from Michael Faraday’s electromagnetism, to James Clark Maxwell’s treatise on electricity and magnetism, to Heinrich Hertz’ Hertzian waves, down to Gugliemo Marconi’s wireless telegraph and signal company (the world’s first radio factory) and tuned syntonic telegraphy (Parker). The radio was first used as a transmitter of information, especially for the ships who sails long distances (Parker). This later on became a major requirement for ships, especially to have radio auxiliary power and two operators with a licensed driver after the Titanic sank in early 1900’s (Schoenherr). Previously, the programs in radio were only for musical and talk show purposes. However, starting 1940, the programs in radio also offered drama and news (Schoenher). In California, KALW San Francisco is one of the stations that operated in FM as it was aired on September 1. 1941. It was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission on March 10, 1941, to broadcast educational programs. Its first program was Schoolcast. The listeners of this program were mostly soldiers training in tanks as their radio is reached by the signal of the station (Tripod. com). Radio was even once classified as monopolistic competition, as only few individuals or group of people operate the radio industry in some states. But with the Telecommunications act of 1996, ownership was also granted to some groups (Drushel). Nowadays, there are registered and licensed 643 public and private FM and AM radio stations available for the listeners in California. One of these is 102. 7 KIIS FM or KISS FM in Spanish located in Los Angeles (SHG Resources State Handbook and Guide). The station was first heard in 1948. Presently, it was owned and managed by Clear Channel Communications. The station is actually a result of change formats, purchasing, and trade frequencies among defunct radio stations, individuals, and companies. Today it the stations is also known as LA’s #1 Hit Music Radio Station as it is one of the highest rated Radio station in the United States, and is recognized as 2007’s station of the year. The station plays R&B, pop, and rock music. They said that their play list is based on the likes of their listeners. Unlike any other station, they censor the songs before they play it on air. One of the popular personalities in the station is Ryan Seacrest. In society, some topics are beyond common knowledge, for example technical terms that are medical in nature and only medical experts can further explain. By having discussions on the radio or in television or having these placed in an article will allow information for more people, especially if these concern health and safety of the majority. Critical issues need to be exposed, analyzed, evaluated, and properly addressed, thus the role of media is vital in this stage (RadioIslam. org). Popular media, like FM Radio programs, particularly KIIS FM, in the late capitalist societies became the primary source of knowledge and experience virtually about anything, including gender. It is said that they are important in the creation of power relations in society (Hains). Take for example the social status of women and men. In the construction of gender and sexuality, it is said that the school, particularly the teacher, plays a very important role in this crucial stage. As expected, one can only be masculine and feminine. In some cases, some of the abuses of these children are coming from male teachers, whether this be physical or verbal. Some experts opine that femininity is always shown as sexual appeal, while men are sex seekers. Students would favor a woman teacher rather than a male teacher because they act as mothers and more overtly show concern for their students. To some students, male teachers are impatient. Male students are punished heavily by male teachers as compared to female students. Having said all of these, we can say that both sexes experience harassment and abuse from both sexes, and not just the females (Chege). The media can use their influence to expose these problems and seek help and justice for this people, who at an early age have been subjected to such trauma. Moreover, it may be worth noting that media may also be partly blamed for reinforcing both the abusive behavior of the teacher and the shame felt by student over her stigma (Chege). Previously, females were viewed as passive. They are not allowed to work and usually stay at home, doing the chores of a wife, and only serve as trophies of their husbands. Worse, they are not allowed to go to school as it was believed that only men can seek education since they are the heads of their families. They are always expected to watch themselves and to act according to the norms of society, especially in the eyes of men as she is the object of men’s sight. Her skin must be supple, hairless, and smooth. Her face must be free of wrinkles, with no signs of stress or whatsoever. Her lips must be kissable, and her eyes mysterious. Women are said to be more restricted with their movements. They must be cross legged when sitting, and toes pointing only in straight or inward directions. Aside from these, they are also trained to show their smiles more than men do. They must stand with stomach in and chest out. If any of these are violated, it means that they violated norms of morals, speech, and movements. Moreover, women tend to occupy the lower and marginalized positions in a company, or even in society. Most women are given reproductive, productive, and community work. Reproductive tasks would include giving birth, feeding and educating her kids, taking care of her husband and children, and other domestic tasks. Her productive work would mean to produce products and services for others’ consumption. Community work would entail her to support different activities that will directly benefit society through volunteerism. However, not all women are given the chance to enjoy community work, since they are burdened by her reproductive and productive functions. Men tend to be more powerful in most realms. Needless to say, they occupy most of the highest positions in industrial organizations and society; thus the glass ceiling phenomenon (Chege). On the other hand, men are expected to be active, and to make things happen. They go out of their houses to work, and were sent to school whether they like it or not. Men are allowed to sit with legs apart so they can move loosely from one place to another (Employees. oneonta. edu). Nowadays, as media plays a greater role in building society, things have changed. There is equality among men and women. Women are more empowered to do things that men usually do. Media brought the new concept of a woman, someone who is ideal. For most, what is beautiful is a woman who is firm, with a narrow hip, with a small breast, and slim, as evidenced by the models in the cover of a magazine. For those who do not posses this kind of body, dieting is an alternative. Another way is to have surgery in order to enhance one’s physical attributes. Diet and surgery are some of the popular topics both in print and non-print media (Employees. oneonta. edu). Women are becoming more liberal as evidenced in the paper of Izabel Magalhaes. She said that it the responsibility of media especially radio in introducing the said concept to these women. Media is more open about talking about women’s stories that discuss their sex experiences at the expense of entertainment of others (Magalhaes). They say what they feel; they enact what they think (Employees. oneonta. edu). Women would go to school and get the job opportunities opened for men, and nowadays, women excel in different fields, almost overtaking men in different positions and levels. Some male workers would even be surprised that their boss is a woman In KIIS FM; men are not the only DJ’s in the station. There are also women who work everyday for the station. Even in describing the achievements of a woman, some adjectives that are associated with men are actually used. Those words are not anymore exclusive to men. The main reason is that men are usually viewed as individuals with physical strength. Nowadays, physical strength is not the only issue, topics about men’s health, fashion, and trips are now being featured by the media. This time, the notion that men only desires for women is not anymore true, since nowadays they are also interested in fashion, health, and many other things like women do (Magalhaes). As what have mentioned a while ago, media, particularly radio is also used to attract possible buyers by different companies. It is said that advertising, such as those in radios, contributes in representing and constructing gender identities in urban region which also exists in the past. The interests of large corporations are presented to the people, and whoever has the most interesting advertising skills and features will be favored by the consumers (Magalhaes). Alternatives were provided in front of us everyday, both are competitively packaged. Women are now represented by these advertisements as liberal, yet viewed as a commodity to be used by the society. Men on the other hand, are presented to be not only dominant over women, but with other types of men as well: disabled, heterosexual, homosexuals, and many others. At some point, women remains presented as incapable and dependent on men, and that it is assumed by the society that their existence is for the purpose of men’s pleasure. Some advertisements would use adjectives for a product that is a characteristic of a woman (Magalhaes). The choice of words will trigger our minds to think of different things. But because of these, more women are verbally harassed by men, whether in public or in private places. This injury is transformed into grievance, and lastly to a dispute. These situations encouraged more women to aspire greater positions in the society like in Congress, in the courtroom, or in media, and to acquire greater power. It is assumed that the media can change an individual’s outlook in life, behavior, ethics, and values. The combination of media with law, for example, has goals of transforming the society, using naming, blaming, and claiming. Naming would imply discussing harassment and defining it; blaming would mean identifying the suspect for harassment; and claiming would demand for the transformation of grievance into a remedy. In this situation, media can be used to educate the people in the different harassments that women acquire. But despite this fact, until now, there are still women who remains marginalized in the society. They still remain powerless and voiceless against the criminals (Laniya). Aside from advertising, media is also influential in the political realm. In every Presidential election, candidates would use the media to reach more people, and to persuade them to vote for him or her, such as in the case of the United States. This scheme started in 1930’s and 40’s when President Roosevelt used the radio to campaign in such a conversational manner with the people. Its success triggered other U. S Presidents to follow him, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Aside from media exposure for these candidates, media can also be a source of funds for the candidates (The University of Texas at Austin). The voter’s idea of the personality of the speaker either make or break them. However, we should remember that personality and leadership is not really together. There were presidents who are idolized for their great leadership, but not for their personality. There were inefficient leaders who are revered for their personality (The University of Texas at Austin). Television and radio debates are important especially in educating the voters about who the deserving candidate They scrutinize the past and present of this candidates. But although media affects our decision regarding this matter, studies would show that face to face contact is still the most effective medium to get votes from the people. In election histories, it is said that a well oiled political machine, particularly with good relationship with the media, is more likely to win the elections (The University of Texas at Austin). In this juncture, we can say that indeed, media has the power to make a change, but not as much powerful as we do (The University of Texas at Austin). The real problem is that people does not have the power to control the media. It is said that in this setting it is the minority that dictates the people the things that they want others to know, the events that will only be consider for reporting, the facts that will be examined and evaluated, and many other instances. This minority controls the media, which affects the politics of the country, then way wee live, the way we talk, the way we think, and many others. The discussion on radio and televisions regarding any political issue that directly affects the interest of the people is only limited, as it is restricted to discuss some sensitive issues. Take for example if the discussion on the radio program is anti-Semitism, the station would not actually invite true anti-Semitist. In this case, the discussion is not really a discussion of the topic at all. Investigative journalism on the other hand, plays as a hero in revealing to us the hidden truth, up to some point that they already invade public lives (RadioIslam. org). The music played on the radio affects our moods and our emotions. Music can trigger sad and happy memories, depending on the song played at the program. Radio stations can dictate what kind of music and genres society ought to appreciate, and which singers ought to be popular. It modifies choice of music into something that favors the capitalist. Other artists may not be given the chance to be heard and present their talent (RadioIslam. org).

•Explore and discuss the issue of the continuing relevance, if Essay

†¢Explore and discuss the issue of the continuing relevance, if any, of the medieval crusades on Middle Eastern and Western societies in the early twenty-first century - Essay Example George Dennis defines holy war according to three criteria. â€Å"A holy war has to be declared by a competent religious authority, the obvious examples being a Christian pope or a Muslim caliph. The objective must be religious; again, two obvious examples are the protection or recovery of sacred shrines or the forced conversion or subjection of others to your religion. Finally, those who participate in the holy war are to be promised a spiritual reward, such as remission of their sins or assurance of a place in paradise† (45). Consequently, from these three perspectives, crusades could be viewed as holy wars for they were initiated by the Pope Urban II, its initial and hypothetic objective was really the recovery of sacred lands, and indeed the participants of the crusades were promised pardon of all their sins. But when the real goals and motives are to be contemplated, they definitely lie in more than in simple recovery of Jerusalem (Child et al 87). George Dennis believes that it is very strange of the people (both nobility and the commons) to leave their homes and travel thousands of miles in order to protect some abstract land. There is not seen any other motivation than their religious devotion. But this can be true for a small number of common crusade participants. The reason for this doubt consists in the certain amount of facts. Many of the noblemen (and even peasants) longed for some kind of a gain whether it be land or power for themselves (Child et al 60). The reason for this is evident: the younger sons of European nobility who were not supposed to obtain rule of their family lands had to search for their own lands. As for the commons, they were poor, and that is the reason (Essortment n.d.). Other reasons for the crusades seem far from religious, too. But they can rather be defined as the lust for power over the lands which became stronger and

Nike Case study Analyzing and Discussing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nike Case study Analyzing and Discussing - Essay Example is a company that has come to symbolize both the benefits and the risks inherent in globalization. During the year 1998, the company was under attack for allegedly exploiting overseas factory workers. In the past few years, the Nike Corporation has offered a microcosm of the issues surrounding consumerism and the global free market economy. Nike, like many other corporations from the economized world, has been criticized for exploiting laborers in manufacturing plants relocated to less economized societies. This exploitation has appeared grosser in that they are producing luxury products for over consumptive economized societies and disproportionally reward their star endorsers with lucrative contracts. The mounting criticism and campaigns against Nike, however, have not had much impact on a key part of their market, urban African-America (Watts, 2000). Poor African Americans understandably have some difficulty extending concern for abuses of workers overseas when the injustices they face in their own country are similarly acute. Although multinationals are eager to pursue the opportunities of increased global integration, they are increasingly aware of the reactions which their strategies induce - both at home and abroad. As part of the analysis of the case study of Nike Inc., this paper examines the difficulties and complexities that the company had to face with respect to its overseas labor problems. Discussions Exploitation of overseas workers of the company The labor practices that the company followed with respect to its overseas laborers was the major crisis that the company is facing (Lee, 2000). Nike developed a strong working relationship with two Japanese shoe manufacturers, Nippon Rubber and Nihon-Koyo, but as costs/prices increased in Japan over the course of the 1970s Nike began to search for alternative, lower-cost producers. During these same years, Nike opened up its own shoe factories in Maine and New Hampshire, hoping to develop a reliable and high-quality source to supply its growing domestic market. At the same time, the company also began to cultivate potential suppliers in Korea, Thailand, China and Taiwan. Over time, as Korea and Taiwan also began to develop, costs began to rise in these countries as well. As a result, Nike began to urge its suppliers to re-locate their operations to other, lower-cost countries. The company worked with its lead suppliers to open up manufacturing plants in Indonesia, China and Vietnam. By guaranteeing a significant number of orders and by placing Nike employees at these new factories to help monitor product quality and production processes, Nike was able to help its lead vendors establish an extensive network of footwear factories throughout Southeast Asia (Locke). The same factors that permitted Nike to grow at an impressive rate over the last several decades - taking advantage of global sourcing opportunities to produce lower cost products and investing these savings into innovative designs and marketing campaigns - have also created serious problems for the company in recent years. Though analysts and many others feel that the management of the company is responsible for this crisis, it cannot be said so. The company and its management cannot be 100% responsible since it is the

The Abecedarian Project and Early Childhood Intervention Essay

The Abecedarian Project and Early Childhood Intervention - Essay Example I feel that there is a difference between the results found in this controlled study project study and what is found in the regular preschool. The reason behind my argument is unlike the regular preschool, for this controlled study there was an early intervention which determined academic improvement as compared to the regular preschool where intervention was done during the school-age. The controlled study provided long-term support where the children were provided with year-round, full-time childcare unlike the other regular preschool children who had minimal support or in some cases none. The children of the controlled study received individualized attention where there was a high ratio of staff to the student in every stage of the program which most of the regular preschool children lack (Karoly 78). The controlled study children were provided with better privileges than the regular preschool children (Karoly 113). Among these privileges were free diapers, transportation, food, a cademic and social improvement activities. The regular preschool children lacked some of these privileges and thus creating the difference. Another difference was that the children from the controlled study were brought up in better living conditions thus improving their developmental growth, socially, physically and education wise. For the regular preschool children they grew up in poverty thus had development differences. The controlled study children had a more positive head start in life, unlike preschool children.

How the technology affects our life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How the technology affects our life - Essay Example dents, it was later expanded to include anyone in the world (Lauria 1).This network has revolutionized the way people interact online, making access to any of the Facebook users easily available to those who wish to interact with them. Facebook has become a useful tool through which people not only interact, but also conduct business. This network is relatively easy to use, and it is for this reason that it has more users than any other social networking site online. However, it has proven to be a little hard to use especially for the older generation, most of whom prefer maintaining their privacy, unlike the younger people. From its beginnings, Facebook has been considered a tool through which friends can interact with each other. People post pictures of themselves in this place, and their friends can send private or public messages to each other, and most of all, they can get news about what is happening in the world. Just like email, this social network has made communication between people in different parts of the world easier. In fact, it can be considered a much more effective means of communications between friends than email. While in the beginning Facebook was only meant for interactions between friends, this network has grown to become a place where people meet others from different countries and cultures (Daly). Therefore, it can be said that this network has made the world an even smaller place. It has created a forum through which people from different cultures are able to share their views and make friends with those people who they have only met online. Facebook is one of the most easily accessible websites on the internet today; it can be accessed not only from computers, but also from any device that can access the internet. This has ensured that the majority of its users are always available at whatever time they are needed. The easy accessibility of this network has also enabled people to conduct business through it. Facebook allows for

Death Sentence of Saddam Hussein Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death Sentence of Saddam Hussein - Case Study Example Against the nature of the trial. Most seem to agree that the trial was hugely unfair to Hussein, the judges were under pressure to reach a guilty verdict; the defense (Or at least that part of it that was not killed before the end of the trial) was not given all of the facts, and the death sentence was speedily carried out without adequate time for appeal. While issues such as the death penalty are clearly procedural, the allegation that the verdict was pre-arranged, and no adequate proof of Saddam's guilt was provided, fall into the category of Substantive law. The defendants were charged with committing "Murder, torture, forced displacement, and unlawful imprisonment" (Human Rights Watch, 2006). However, because the charges were so vague (Ibid) some feel that Saddam was instead, convicted of Crimes against Humanity "An offence against international Law for which Iraqi law stipulates no penalty" (Kadri, 2007). Those picked to hear the case were Kurds and Shiites, effectively excluding those of Hussein's own ethnic group. A judge was appointed with a 'conflict of interest', as he came from Halabja (mathaba, 2006) International human rights activists are concerned that the trial of Hussein over Dujail prevented Saddam's other victims from presenting their cases. Not only were these cases more provable, but the United States and the United Kingdom were intimately involved in these crimes. International Law There are two essential pieces of International Law which have been violated by the trial and death Sentence of Saddam Hussein: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) The right of everyone to competent tribunals (Article 8) The right of everyone to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal (Article 10) The right of eve

Engineering electrical circuits and bernoulli science Assignment

Engineering electrical circuits and bernoulli science - Assignment Example For the fluid moving at a steady rate within the pipe, there is a constant mass flow throughout the pipe expressing the mass conservation. For non compressible fluid, the density remains constant; hence the volume flow is also constant in the pipe for all liquids and gases at low pressure. The continuity (velocity * area) also remains constant in the whole pipe. This equation is presented as shown below: Pressure energy is computed as the quantity of the fluid flowing. This is the product between the cross-sectional area and the speed of flow. The quantity is constant. Therefore, the energy is calculated as Laminar streamline / flow) takes place whenever a fluid moves in the pipe in parallel layers without any disruption. When the fluid flows in closed pipes, it produces two flows depending on the depending on its speed and viscosity. This is referred to as the laminar or turbulent flow. Figure 1 above shows laminar flow while figure 2 above shows turbulent flows. Bernoullis equation is produced on the basis of an energy balance within the fluid. The amount of energy within the fluid is constant at any point within the system (energy conservation). However, it is redistributed while the fluid moves through the system. Pressure energy calculated as the fluid pressure at any point depending on external pressure together with the pressure from the head of the liquid calculated from head * density * gravitational acceleration. Therefore Pressure energy P is calculated as: Adequate pressure supply is distributed to each floor by use of a constant volume control system. The outlet is an upper pipe referred to as the supply line, which carries the flow of fluids at a speed of 4m / s and a pressure of 2 Bars. The pipe carries the fluid to the top of the building from where the fluids flow through gravitational pull. Each floor level is 2.5m high slab to slab for the 22 floors. At the

Reaction paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

Reaction paper - Essay Example The problem is the historical facts can be questioned due to the circumstances of the last days of World War II. If revisionists want to change the way history is remembered, picking and choosing facts to attack are not an option. To convince the general public, much less experts, Mr. Cole would have to look at Auschwitz as a whole. He focused all of his attention on Auschwitz I. Eye witness accounts (which he totally dismisses) and camp records show that Auschwitz I was not made of solely Jews. Political prisoners and privileged prisoners were housed in this camp. Auschwitz-Birkeneu was the place most eyewitnesses reported gassings. These gas chambers and crematoriums were destroyed as the Germans retreated from the Russians. Mr. Cole only briefly mentioned the destroyed remains and solid proof at this camp. If the goal was to find proof that gas chambers did not exist, why did Mr. Cole not explore this avenue more? The truth lies in the middle. Mr. Cole wants irrefutable proof now about Auschwitz. That is impossible due to the fact Russia controlled the area until the collapse of communism. Why not research the records of the time that do exist? Too many questions linger to conclude that the gas chambers did not

Persuasive Speech about Lowering the drinking age Essay

Persuasive Speech about Lowering the drinking age - Essay Example This is because, despite the fact that it is illegal for young adults below drinking age to drink alcohol, most people always start drinking before they reach the legal drinking age Credibility Statement: I have researched on the issue at lowering the drinking age in USA on the pros and cons, as well as their implications for over 30 years. As a result, I present this argument calling for the lowering of the age due to its benefits to society despite strong opposition from the public and other members of the society. The controversy on lowering the minimum legal drinking age has been raging for a long time and has attracted the attention of many. Many have been arguing that lowering the drinking age will encourage promiscuousness and irresponsibility, which is a mistaken stand since there is no direct relation between drinking and behaviors, as we will come to realize. A. The drinking age should be lowered because; in the early days, anyone was allowed to drink regardless of their age. The drinking age should be lowered because; in the early days, anyone was allowed to drink regardless of their age. 3. In the early times, consumption of alcohol was an event or act for anyone, why can we not let the memories of our ancestors come back to life by allowing all those with the ability to handle their liquor participate in the consumption. 2. This excludes the information that as long as one is over the age of eighteen years, one can be forced to join the Selective Service for possible drafting into the military and participating in war should one occur. 3. The implication of the above is that the government and the law recognizes the ability of eighteen year olds to make appropriate decisions regarding the welfare of the country at large, but not those that determine their own wellbeing.. 2. It also put one in the state of questioning the sincerity of the government, in giving

Problems of working womens Essay Example for Free

Problems of working womens Essay In his book on superstition, Vyse (1997) observed that it is difficult to define superstition and its dictionary definition is not sufficient. He also noticed that in defining superstition the critical problem is the avoidance of value judgments. Unfortunately, he did not provide a comprehensive definition of his own. The following definition of superstition which is based upon the work of Vyse (1997) and Marmor (1956) is proposed: superstition is a belief, or a set of beliefs, that specific actions can directly influence the occurrence of desirable outcomes or the avoidance of undesirable outcomes when, in fact, the action are not causally related to the outcomes. More than it, a superstition is a practice or a belief that is made to influence an outcome, is based upon a mysterious or an unknown force and is contradictory to scientific knowledge available within a culture. Thus, in ancient Egypt the work was based upon the â€Å"science† of the time because studying astrological signs made sense. However, American’s decision to make a purchase in a twenty first century after reading her or his horoscope is a superstitious behavior. The question arise that why superstitious behavior still exhibit in people? The literature actually provides three alternative definitions. First, from operant conditioning perspective, superstitious behaviors and beliefs can result from chance associations of behaviors with punishers and reinforcers. (Skinner, 1948; Wagner and Morris, 1987). According to cognitive learning perspective, by adopting superstitious behaviors and beliefs it can help an individual to understand his environment by providing an explanation and reasoning for inexplicable and unfamiliar phenomena (Keinan,2002). Finally, superstitious beliefs provide illusion of control to individual that helps them to reduce anxiety. Consistent with these themes, Jahoda (1969) proposed that superstitious functions accompany uncertainty as a mean by which people reduce the anxiety and stress. Similarly, Vyse (1997) proposed that when risk and uncertainty are high or in instances in which circumstances cannot be controlled, people may employ superstitious actions as a mean of attempting to control and influence these outcomes. In American, culture has been a frequent assumption that superstitious thought and behavior characterize those who are uneducated, primitive (Frazer,1941 ; Jueneman,2001; Vyse, 1997), or suffering from a mental disorder (Fishbein, 1930). These types of superstitious beliefs has been investigated in the psychological literature, the focus has tended to be on examing its relationship with mental disorders (Eckblad and Chapman,1983;Epestein, 1991; Epstein and Meier, 1989). A 2003 Harris Poll revealed that 31% of those believed in astrology (Taylor,2003). Similarly, in the 2004 Science and Engineering Indicators report, the National Science Institute Foundation reported that 30% of Americans read their horoscope occasionally and 15% read their horoscope very often (National Science Foundation, 2004). High involvement decisions are also influenced by these superstitions beliefs. For example, the number of weddings scheduled on 7\7\07 , in order to capitalize on lucky number 7 increased dramatically in United States (Moran,2007). Including Europe and Asia belief in astrology is also prevalent in other areas of the world. For example, Kramer and Block (2007) reported that Taiwanese consumers were willing to spend nearly 15% more money for their product when the price point met to the lucky number 8. The author suggest that when people look for signs of bad or good luck or take action to influence chance outcomes, they are using superstition as a heuristic device that acts as a short cut in the decision making process. SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS. Superstitions are those irrational belief or supernatural causality: that one event link to another event without any physical process. So, superstitious belief refers to an activity or ritual which can have a negative or positive impact on the events in person’s life. There is no evidence which support a superstitious belief. Attempts to define and explain superstitious beliefs have appeared throughout Western history, especially in the areas of religion, psychology and anthropology. Ancient Greeks and Romans give it a Latin word â€Å"SUPERSTITIO† to give an account of activities they felt to be meaningless. HELEN L. PARISH and WILLIAM G. NAPHY, protestant accused Catholics in the era of Reformation because of superstitious belief. For example, Protestant accused publicly as superstition the respect of saints, lighting candles to find favor with God and saying a set number of prayers for penance. During the 18th century at the Age of Enlightenment opposition to superstition was the intellectual central corner. At that time philosophies included much of Christian Doctrine considered these beliefs like miracles, magic, revelation, supernatural as â€Å"superstition† as a ridiculed belief. In 15th century the word superstition used in English, modeled after an earlier French superstition. Actually French word, together with its Roman cognates continues Latin superstitio. The formation of the Latin word is clear, as it is derived from the verb super-state, â€Å"stand upon; survive, to stand over†, here its actual sense is less than clear. It can be interpreted as â€Å"standing over a thing in awe†, but other possibilities would be, for example, irrational religious habits, over-ceremoniousness in the performing of religious rites, over-scrupulousness, or else the survival of old. The term supertitio, was applied to those religious cults which were officially outlawed in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. A carpenter happened another deal to land while carrying a nail in the pocket which he had forgotten there. He notices that nail. After that he came back to home, watched his wife happy about something, took off the jacket, and noticed the nail again. He associated his lucky day with this item. Next day he kept that nail with him in every important event. Religion also plays a significance role in some kind of superstition belief. Before Christianity popular people believed in multiple gods, and one of the powerful of them was representing the sun as a source of light, and, thus, is also seen as a source of life. So due to this people light all the corners of their house with an Easter candle the whole year will be considered as the lucky one. So some superstition rituals as such came from the old religious activities. Due to emergence of new religion most of such beliefs had forgotten, some of them had found their place in the new world view. For example, in the times when the first mirror became available to the people breaking a mirror was considered a very disappointing thing because mirrors were so expensive that time. Naturally, people saw nothing good in breaking one. Same situation related to spilling salt. In old era salt was considered as one of the most expensive and precious thing in the household. So, such superstitions were just a way for people to teach their children to admire what they have. Generally superstitions have personal, religious, or cultural background. They do have a logical explanations is the common feature of all. When the superstition originated there key to explanation is always in world-view of the times and in beliefs. Simply; superstitions resulting from ignorance or fear of unknown and it is an irrational belief or practices. Belief in the power of magic and witchcraft are the validity of superstitions such as spirit and demons. Superstition is the notion, ritual or act that derived from such belief. Like in the Middle Age, a common superstition was that when the person was sneezing during the unguarded moment a devil could enter in a person; if immediately any one present appeared to the name of God. This tradition still remains today of saying when someone sneezes â€Å"God bless you†. Superstitions can be cultured that came from people and pass to one another. Great source of superstitions are the myths, scholars, cultures, elders, imaginative stories, leaders and governments. There are some common superstitions which have a negative impact on people are as below. Types of superstition belief. Spilling salt over your shoulder. [Is supposed to damage the evil]. If a cat heard crying, it’s a bad omen. The opening the scissors and closing it without a reason causes family problems at home. Don’t drink milk after eating fish, said to cause severe skin problem. You can’t cut nails at night. Kids shouldn’t let any one walk over them otherwise they will stop growing. Never call one back when the person is leaving the house. If you dream about buffaloes and horses its bad luck. Fluttering of eyes. Even that indicates the happening of good and bad in their lives. If you broke the glass it’s a sign of happiness. If there is itching on the right palm you can get some money or favors. When the owl sings it’s a sign of bad luck. When a dog howls, someone is going to die in the neighborhood. If we are walking and see a black cat cross in front of you, it’s bad luck Knocking on wood. Walking under a ladder. Wearing different kind of stones in specific fingers. A four leaf cloves and so on†¦. People had a lot of beliefs that directly contradict to the philosophy of their own religion. Some people claims that they have no superstitions but they likely to do something which they cannot explain. Feeling of lack of control in people upon their life, many people tried to impose structure and order on the world, to hide their mistakes by blaming luck. Passing down through generation to generation of these superstitions it can change their validity regarding evolutionary process. Some of the older form of superstitions have long been a part of lore and are now the examples of misguided beliefs. These superstitious beliefs are not valid but people still believe in it. Part of the reason seems to be just because other people tell them these things are true. Some these kinds of irrational beliefs have been around for many generations. Sometimes everybody with the same cultural background practically believes them. If the claims are not true and people recognize that these superstitions are false but they can’t stop passing them on. In spite of difficulties, many people still believe in superstitions. Culture of some country such as culture of Western country also believes in superstition that deemed irrational. GLOBALLY. When our ideas or faiths are not based upon scientific explanations, we call them superstitions. In past, when people saw the red horizon of the west during the sun-set, they called it an indication of anger of Gods and Goddesses. They expected high flood or cyclone or any epidemic to occur. It was nothing but a superstition. People are afraid of the number 13. They think that it is an inauspicious number so they do not begin any good work on this date. Some people do not like to stay in the room which bears the number thirteen, hi past, Malaria and cholera -were believed to be the results of Gods displeasure and curse. There-were many superstitions in past. They were all born ignorance. The causes of some events were unknown due to ignorance. So, people believed that those events were caused by invisible being. People worshiped stones and trees in order to be cured of diseases. They thought that some evil spirits were responsible for all kinds of troubles in the world. They worshipped Gods and Goddesses to be free from earth quake,-cyclone and flood. Sometimes they killed human beings and other animals and satisfied Gods. In India, cat is an ominous animal. If a cyclist or motorist notices a cat on the way, he stops and retreats a little. There is no reason why only a cat is feared on the way. In Europe they had many superstitions. People did not walk under a ladder which was kept against a wall. They did not start any important work if they heard the sound of thunder. A crow or vulture flying over head was considered very dangerous. It indicated death. In past, -Kings and emperors consulted the soothsayers, in their court before doing any Work. If the soothsayers gave negative signal no work was done. Julius Ceasar of Rome was a superstitious emperor. Cicero, the greatest Roman orator, lost his life by trusting the superstition regarding crows. Nature was a mystery for man in past. The functions of nature, laws of the universe etc. were not discovered in those days. So man thought himself as a plaything of an uncontrollable force. If that force is beneficent, man gets peace and lives happily. That force is sinister then his life becomes miserable. Man believed in fate. Very often superstitions are connected with religion. Indians are very God fearing. In this country, many superstitions ail linked with religion. People observe Thursday and do not take non-vegetarian food on this dry. The Hindus believe that they can be rich by observing Thursday which is specific day of Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Pigs are hated in certain religion. The moon was considered a Goddess. Lunar eclipse was believed a § a curse of God. So it is globally proved that superstitions are still existed in our own society as well as all over the world http://www.preservearticles.com/201104265986/sample-essay-superstitions.html Objectives of the Study This study is being carried out to achieve certain objectives which are: 1. To examine historically common superstitions in students of iiui. 2. To analyze as well as highlight the reasons why most of the students still believe on such perceptions. 3. To appraise the extent of the impact of these practices of superstitions on the studies and behavior of students. Research questions of the study. What are the historical common superstitions in students? What is the reasons behind superstitions among students? What are the impact of these beliefs on the behavior and studies of students? THEORY. Superstitious Pigeons. One of Skinners experiments examined the formation of superstition in one of his favorite experimental animals, the pigeon. Skinner placed a series of hungry pigeons in a cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon at regular intervals with no reference whatsoever to the birds behavior. He discovered that the pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been performing as it was delivered, and that they subsequently continued to perform these same actions. One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper corners of the cage. A third developed a tossing response, as if placing its head beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return. Skinner suggested that the pigeons behaved as if they were influencing the automatic mechanism with their rituals and that this experiment shed light on human behavior: The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food, although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals for changing ones fortune at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the alley but continues to behave as if she were controlling it by twisting and turning her arm and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect upon ones luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothing—or, more strictly speaking, did something else. Modern behavioral psychologists have disputed Skinners superstition explanation for the behaviors he recorded. Subsequent research (e.g. Staddon and Simmelhag, 1971), while finding similar behavior, failed to find support for Skinners adventitious reinforcement explanation for it. By looking at the timing of different behaviors within the interval, Staddon and Simmelhag were able to distinguish two classes of behavior: the terminal response, which occurred in anticipation of food, and interim responses, that occurred earlier in the interfood interval and were rarely contiguous with food. Terminal responses seem to reflect classical (as opposed to operant) conditioning, rather than adventitious reinforcement, guided by a process like that observed in 1968 by Brown and Jenkins in their autoshaping procedures. The causation of interim activities (such as the schedule-induced polydipsia seen in a similar situation with rats) also cannot be traced to adventitious reinforcement and its details are still obscure (Staddon, 1977). This experiment was also repeated on humans, in a less controlled manner, on the popular British TV series Trick or Treat, leading to similar conclusions to Skinner. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. Every social phenomenon needs some cognitive and concrete requirements to exist and to come into being. Development is a social phenomenon; reaching the goals of development is among the primary goals of every society and reaching development needs concrete and cognitive requirements. If these requirements are not met and fulfilled, the manifestation development will be impossible. During the 1960s, some thinkers focused much on culture and believed that if we do not change peoples attitudes and beliefs, we can not reach development. We should modernize the culture. The 244. Univers. J. Edu. Gen. Stud. cognitive and the cultural elements of the society are the infrastructure for any kind of economic growth and development. In order for our country to survive, it must reach the level of other developed and industrial society in the shortest time possible from technical and economical point of view. Such a movement requires highly motivated people with a high level of knowledge and high cultural growth. Those people who just wait for the invisible and heavenly hands, magicians and sorcerers for help and consider the diligent attempts useless could not be good soldiers for the development of a nation. Regarding the cognitive and cultural factors for the development of the society, it can be said that when a society is entangled in superstitions, it does not have necessary cognitive requirements for the true development (Sepehr, 2005). From a functional point of view, it can be said that superstitious beliefs create negative functions which, in turn, limit the accomplishment of the development. These negative factions are as follows: A-superstitious ideas and beliefs impose are involved in superstitions, the rulers of the society can rule them based on these superstitions and false imagination and pursue their own benefits and the people will be just a useless mass for them. B- Development of superstitious ideas draws and shows a very bad picture of our society to the world. C- Social problems; by following the track of many social problems, we can see the role of superstitious beliefs in their occurrence. So it can be said that if a human being places his life on nil and nihilism, instead of reality and truth, his self-confidence will decrease , and he will rely in superstitious beliefs, and as a result he will get far and away from research and finally this will be a barrier for development and growth of the society as a whole. This is one of the negative effects of the inclination to superstition on individuals and society. Methodology: A methodology is usually a guideline system for solving a problem, with specific components such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools (Irny, S.I. and Rose, A.A. 2005). Methodology can properly refer to the theoretical analysis of the methods appropriate to a field of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of knowledge (The American Heritage, 2009). It is system of principles or methods of procedure in any discipline, such as education, research, diagnosis, or treatment (Elsevier, 2009). Methodology is the analysis of the fundamentals of methods or rules used by a discipline. Methodology has the principles, practices and procedures in a field of study. It is the theoretical analysis of the methods (Gergedan,2008). Research Design: Research design is the description of the overall structure of the intended research identifying the various element or components of research, the type of each element, and how these elements relate to each other. The purpose of research design is to select and define the overall structure and methods of intended research that will enable us to answer the initial research question effectively and efficiently. There are two types of research designs which are used in sociological research, one is qualitative and other is quantitative. Quantitative Research: Quantitative research is research that uses numerical analysis. In essence, this approach reduces the data into numbers. Quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of social phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. The process of measurement is central to quantitative research because it provides the fundamental connection between emperical observation and mathematical expression of quantitative relationships. Quantitative data is any data that is in numerical form such as statistics, percentages ( Lisa M, 2008). Universe: The element of population or area of study under research problem from which a sample is choosen is universe, or any set of indivisuals having some common characteristics, under study made universe. The study was conducted INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY of Islamabad to see the impact of superstitions among students related studies. First hand information have been collected from the students of university. Population: Any set of people or events from which the sample is selected and to which the study results will generalize is known as population. Population of study is the students on INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY Islamabad. The study was conducted in Islamabad Sample method: Sampling is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest. By studying the sample results are generalized back to the population from which they were chosen. The sample is consists of students of iiui. Sample size: Using convinient sampling data was collected from 100 students of INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD. Respondents were reached by researcher herself and it was requested to respondents to give correct and honest information. And respondents were assured that information would remain confidential and utilized only for research purpose. Tool for data collection: Data was collected through questionnaire. Questionnaire: In this research questionnaire method was used for gathering data. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. The researcher was approached indivisually to all the respondents, and respondents were also briefed about the nature and purpose of questionnaire. Pretesting: The questionnaire was pretested for identifying questionnaire problems. These can occur for both respondents and interviewers regarding question content, skip patterns, or formatting. Questionnaire was pretested to assess whether the questionnaire was relevant to and easily understood by the respondents, in terms of the concepts and the way they phrased in the questions. Data analysis: Coding: Coding refers to an analytical process in which data, in both quantitative form (such as questionnaires results) or qualitative (such as interview transcript) categorised to facilitate analysis. Coding means the transformation of data into a form understandable by computer software. The classification of information is an important step in preparation of data for computer processing with statistical software. Tabulation: The systematic and orderly arrangement of facts and figures in columns and rows is called tabulation. The process of placing classified data into tabular form is known as tabulation. A table is a symmetric arrangement of statistical data in rows and columns. Rows are horizontal arrangements whereas columns are vertical arrangements. It may be simple, double or complex depending upon the type of classification. Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis refers to a collection of methods used to process large amounts of data and report overall trends. Statistical analysis is particularly useful when dealing with larger data. Statistical analysis provides ways to objectively report on how unusual an event is based on historical data. In other word it is statistical analysis. View as multi-pages

Dazed and Confused Essay Example for Free

Dazed and Confused Essay Dazed and Confused List and describe 4 characters that are important to the movie: Randall Pink FloydFloyd is the stud senior quarterback who realizes he doesn’t want to be just a quarterback for the rest of his life and questions his role in the social pack. He cant stand Coach Conrad and the pledge sheet hes making all the players sign. Hes going out with Simone, but hed like to hook up with Jodi. He seems to belong to all cliques. Mitch KramerMitch is going to be a freshman in high school and hes already getting picked on by the senior class. Lack of parental supervision (and help from Pink and his pals) allows Mitch to experience high school life a little earlier than most of his classmates. Kramer is the new kid on the block who, like Pink, has an amazing athletic talent and a way with the ladies| Fred OBannionOBannion is a super-senior who is enjoying his second straight year of hazing freshmen. He has a temper, and when the freshmen get their revenge he blows up and drives away in his piece-of-junk car. | David WoodersonWooderson, a former superstar quarterback and graduate working for the city after realizing that life after his alma matter is sweeter when you live by your own rules. The high schoolers think hes cool because hes older and he has a nice car. Many of the classic lines in this movie to come from Wooderson. | Q: What does the movie teach us about life? The movie dazed and confused is more than just a movie about smoking marijuana. It documents the changes we all face in life, as social and political pressures increase, when one gets older and faces decisions that require you to figure out how to avoid being what others want you to be while staying young at heart. Q: What is your favorite part of the movie? My favorite part in the movie is when they are sitting on the 50-yard line of the football field smoking marijuana, reminiscing and having laughs. While Matthew McConaughey â€Å"Wooderson†, says a very memorable quote, â€Å"Man, its the same bull***t they tried to pull in my day. If it aint that piece of paper, theres some other choice theyre gonna try and make for you. You gotta do what Randall Pink Floyd wants to do man. Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules theyre gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin man, L-I-V-I-N†. Q: Why is that your favorite part of the movie? This is my favorite part of the movie because it reminds me of me and my friends back in the day. Plus the quote â€Å"You just gotta keep livin man, L-I-V-I-N† is one of my favorite quotes of life! Q: Do you believe the movie is realistic? Why or why not? I believe the movie is realistic because the director made the characters all so different and have their own personalities. It’s also realistic because the audience can relate to at least one character in the movie. Q: What have you learned from this movie? Society is full of constraints and limitations that people in power: or those looking to capitalize on the weakness of others place on others to get them to act the way they want them to. If you want to be free of such people and situations, you have to learn how to challenge the social constructs and rules that keep you from finding your true purpose in life. Don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t do. This doesn’t mean that you have a right to break the laws, but it does mean that you can be anything you want to be if you are willing to go after it. There are no laws that say you have to be what someone else wants you to be. Q: Who do you think (what age group, or what kind of person) would enjoy this type of movie? I think Teenagers all the way up to Elders; of both genders, would enjoy this movie. Everybody who has watched it will watch again and again, and never will get old to them. For those who haven’t watched it, WATCH IT! Other important Information Director: written and directed by Richard Linklater Producers: Sean Daniel, Richard Linklater, Jim Jacks and co-producer Anne Walker-McBay * Jason London as Randall Pink Floyd * Wiley Wiggins as Mitch Kramer * Rory Cochrane as Ron Slater * Sasha Jenson as Don Dawson * Michelle Burke as Jodi Kramer * Christine Harnos as Kaye Faulkner * Adam Goldberg as Mike Newhouse * Anthony Rapp as Tony Olson * Matthew McConaughey as David Wooderson * Marissa Ribisi as Cynthia Dunn * Jason London as Randall Pink Floyd * Wiley Wiggins as Mitch Kramer * Rory Cochrane as Ron Slater * Sasha Jenson as Don Dawson * Michelle Burke as Jodi Kramer * Christine Harnos as Kaye Faulkner Adam Goldberg as Mike Newhouse * Anthony Rapp as Tony Olson * Matthew McConaughey as David Wooderson * Marissa Ribisi as Cynthia Dunn Starring: * Jason O. Smith as Melvin Spivey * Shawn Andrews as Kevin Pickford * Cole Hauser as Benny ODonnell * Milla Jovovich as Michelle Burroughs * Joey Lauren Adams as Simone Kerr * Christin Hinojosa as Sabrina Davis * Ben Affleck as Fred OBanni on * Parker Posey as Darla Marks * Deena Martin as Shavonne Wright * Nicky Katt as Clint Bruno * Esteban Powell as Carl Burnett * Renee Zellweger as Nesi White Awards Year| Result| Award| Category/Recipient(s)| 1993 | Nominated| Golden Leopard| Richard Linklater| 994 | Nominated| Young Artist Award| Best Youth Actor Co-Starring in a Motion Picture Drama Jason London| Rating: (R) Running time: 102 minutes Other: Lawsuit In October 2004, three of Linklaters former classmates from Huntsville High School, whose surnames are Wooderson, Slater, and Floyd, filed a defamation lawsuit against Linklater, claiming to be the basis for the similarly named characters on the film. The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico rather than Texas because New Mexico has a longer statute of limitations. The suit was subsequently dismissed

Nursing Research with Children: Ethical Guidelines

Nursing Research with Children: Ethical Guidelines SUCAN SUTANTO Introduction: Singapore Guideline for Good Clinical Practice (SGGCP) is the primary regulatory document which needs to be observed when conducting trials in Singapore. Last revised in 1999 by Ministry of Health (MOH), the SGCCP regulate conduct of clinical trials in Singapore along with The Medicine (Clinical Trials) Regulations and the Medicine Act. For all research studies involving human subjects or their tissues and organs, MOH made it mandatory that ethics committees are established to provide scientific reviews of their study protocols. The establishment of this committee involved all hospitals, both government and restructured. Thus â€Å"Institutional review boards† (IRB) was born and its guidelines was designed by The Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC). IRB play a central role as the gateway for ethnics review of â€Å"all Human Biomedical Research carried out under the auspices of its appointing institution† (MOH 2007 p.04). Individual researcher and institutions bear the ultimate ethical responsibility for governing their research. Based on the IRB’s Operational Guidelines (MOH 2007), three fundamental ethical principles; respect for persons, beneficence and justice must be followed in conducting biomedical research involving human. Potentially vulnerable populations must be given special attention. The following sections will examine one of the vulnerable populationchildren. It is primarily challenging for the Ethics committees in assessing pediatric related research as the above principles discussed may conflict with some issues. Vague definitions of principle of equipoise, minimal risk and informed procedures are some contributing factors. The role of ethic committees in evaluation of risk and their impact in pediatric research will be given more focus. Search Strategy PubMed database is primarily used in the search. Combination of keywords are used including of ‘ethics committees’, ‘research’, ‘children’, ‘pediatric’, ‘risk’, ‘ethics’ and ‘assessment’. Children as a population sampling In Singapore, 21 years is the age of majority under the common law. For any individual below the age of 21, Clinical Trial regulation states that parent’s or legal representative’s consent must be obtained for participation in trials. This present an ethical dilemma where the children’s autonomy become their parent or legal guardian, assuming that they have the children’s best interest at heart. The risk-benefit ratio of the research is then left to parents and IRBs to determine. Risk assessment in pediatric research According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Pediatric Clinic of North America (Laventhal et al., 2012), there are four definable risk in human research. In Singapore, the risk are less definitive, 2012 BAC guidelines describe only â€Å"research involving minimal risk such as surveys† and â€Å"risks involving more than minimal risks such as those involving invasive procedures† The first level is minimal risk and it can be defined as probability and magnitude of physical or psychological harm that is normally encountered in the daily lives or in the routine medical, dental, or psychological examination of healthy children (HHS 2009). Studies in this category can be carried out even if they do not offer any direct benefit to the child although consent of at least one parent and the child assent is necessary. However this definition is rather vague and carries an inherent issue when applied to pediatric patient such as in the hospital. A survey was conducted on review board chair regarding skin biopsy on newborn and there is actually a split opinion and classification on whether it should be classified as â€Å"minimal risk† (Westra et al., 2011). The second level of risk involves a â€Å"minor increase over minimal risk†. Although there might not be direct benefits to the child, such research might be allowed if it has the potential to yield valuable knowledge. Risks are deemed acceptable if they are comparable to the actual or expected condition of the child, medically or physiologically. In this case, both parents’ consent and child’s assent are required (HHS 2009). The third level of risk is defined as â€Å"greater than minimal or even minor increase over minimal risk† with prospect of direct benefit to the child. Whether the potential benefit justifies the risk must be assessed and determined by IRBs (Laventhal et al., 2012). To determine the risk benefit, IRBs uses component analysis approach. Each intervention or procedure must be evaluated separately. For those components that represent greater than minimal risk, further assessment will be done to determine whether it does or does not hold out the prospect of direct benefit to the enrolled child (Roth-Cline et al., 2011). The component analysis method however has been critiqued as it is standardized to the norm of clinical equipoise to determine the ethical acceptability of protocols. Definitively, clinical equipoise works on the principles of genuine uncertainty on the part of the clinical investigator regarding the comparative therapeutic merits of each treatment arm of a clinical trial and that no one should receive an inferior treatment (Roth-Cline et al., 2011). A dilemma might present itself in trials where data collected is sufficient to doubt the clinical equipoise but not necessarily enough to justify scientific conclusion. An example could be seen in a review of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) hypothermia treatment trial published by Laventhal et al in 2012. It was shown in a number of trials involving more than 600 infants that cooling HIE infants core temperature might help to elevate their condition. These randomized controlled trials managed to show overall improvement in mortality and disability outcomes although some adverse side effects were reported. However, Laventhal et al., 2012 pointed out that current evidence might not be adequate to determine the safety of this therapy and its efficacy. Therefore, whether to make this treatment mandatory for such patients remain to be decided. In this case, there is a dilemma on whether to allow more of such trials. On one hand, given that much evidence already supports the treatment, it would seem unethical to even deny the controlled subjects from such a beneficial treatment. On the other hand, just because a robust scientific conclusion has not been drawn, is it fair to continue to expose the infants to treatments with possible adverse outcomes? For those randomized into non treatment a rm, would there be any potential direct benefits? Yet, to answer those questions and to find out long term safety and efficacy questions, the only way might be to conduct more trials. Even within the IRB chairmen there are variations and application of assessment of risk- benefit potential. Shah et al in 2004(Shah et al., 2004) randomly surveyed 175 chairmen in United for certain intervention on children relative to the prospect risk and direct benefit. Results were surprising. In one intervention, an allergy skin testing, 23% considers it a minimal risk, close to half consider it minor increase above minimal risk and the rest as more than a minor increase over minimal risk. In the case of direct benefit for participants, 60% of those surveyed consider added psychological counselling as a direct benefit, while another 10% consider participant payment as a direct benefit. These divides in opinion indicates that the integrity of risk and benefits analysis by IRBs can be challenged. The fourth risk level exists for trials where there is no prospect of direct benefit with more than a minor increase over minimal risk for the child. Such studies could be allowed if they have high potential to produce very important knowledge. Such cases are not under approval of IRBs, instead they are referred to an experts panels under the federal government. (Laventhal et al., 2012). In a review by Wendler and Varma in 2006, they examine 9 studies assessed by IRBs which fall into the fourth level. IRBs classified different levels of harm; negligible, minor, moderate, severe and catastrophic harm relative to the normal probability a healthy child may encounter in day to day situation. Wendler and Varma then assess the proposed interventions for each study and then compare with the classification given by IRBS.They argued that eight of the studies could actually be categorized into minimal risk instead of the fourth level of risk. A primary example was the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) on healthy children. Known possible harms include nausea, bruising and hypoglycemia. Very minimal adverse events were recorded in thousands of pediatric studies involving IVGTT. Only 1 in 3000 risk of hypoglycemia, it can be resolved with carbohydrates or glucose injection. It is therefore arguable that the IVGTT risk much more minimal in comparison to the 30 in 1000 cha nce of â€Å"minor† harm in average children in their daily routines used as a base of the classification. As such, the review shows that misclassification could occur and valuable research time may be delayed unnecessarily. There is a lack of empirical database on risks of ordinary activities for reference and this might be a contributing factor for the misclassification. It forces the IRB members to rely on their own individuals life experiences to determine the perceptions of risk therefore causing biased. To conclude, pediatric studies have been shown to provide an ethical review challenge. In order to improve the risk analysis and reduce bias, empirical data on the risk of research procedures in pediatric studies as well as database on the risk of daily activities should be collected and better established for reference. There should be standardized guidelines for risk analysis with certain flexibility to account for unique feature of each study (1542 words) References: Bioethics Advisory Committee (2004) Research involving human subjects. Guidelines for IRBs. Singapore: BAC. Available from: http://www.bioethics-singapore.org/index/publications/reports/172-research-involving-human-subjects-guidelines-for-irbs.html [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] Bioethics Advisory Committee (2012) Ethics Guidelines for Human Biomedical Research. Singapore: BAC. Available from: http://www.bioethics-singapore.org/images/uploadfile/32914 PM2012-06-20 BAC Ethics Guidelines (for comments) F.pdf [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] Ministry of Health (2007) Governance Framework for Human Biomedical Research. Available from : https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/dam/moh_web/Publications/Guidelines/Human Biomedical Research/2007/Governance Frwk for HBR_14-12-07_formatted.pdf [accessed 02 March 2015] Department of Health and Human Services (2009). US code of Federal Regulations, USA, FDA, Available from: http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/archive/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html#46.404 [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] Fernandez, C. (2008) Ethical Issues in health research in children. Paediatr Child Health 13(8) 707-712 LAVENTHAL, N., TARINI, B. A. LANTOS, J. 2012. Ethical issues in neonatal and pediatric clinical trials. Pediatr Clin North Am, 59, 1205-20. Ministry of Health (2007) Operational Guidelines for Institutional Review Boards. Singapore: MOH Available from: https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/dam/moh_web/Publications/Guidelines/Human Biomedical Research/2007/IRB Operational Guidelines_14-12-07_formatted.pdf [Accessed 28th Jan 2015] ROTH-CLINE, M., GERSON, J., BRIGHT, P., LEE, C. S. NELSON, R. M. 2011. Ethical considerations in conducting pediatric research. Handb Exp Pharmacol, 205, 219-44. SHAH, S., WHITTLE, A., WILFOND, B., GENSLER, G. WENDLER, D. 2004. How do institutional review boards apply the federal risk and benefit standards for pediatric research? Jama, 291, 476-82. Westra AE, Wit, JM; Sukhai, RN. And Beaufort ID. (2011) How to best define the concept of minimal risk. The Journal of Pediatrics 159 (3) 496-500 WENDLER, D. VARMA, S. 2006. Minimal risk in pediatric research. J Pediatr, 149, 855-61. Wendler, D. and Glantz L. (2007). A standard for assessing the risks of pediatric research: pro and con. J Pediatr 150, 579-582

Thomas Paine :: essays research papers

Library: Historical Documents: Thomas Paine: Rights Of Man: Part The First -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Order The Rights of Man now. Part The First Being An Answer To Mr. Burke's Attack On The French Revolution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- George Washington PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SIR, I present you a small treatise in defence of those principles of freedom which your exemplary virtue hath so eminently contributed to establish. That the Rights of Man may become as universal as your benevolence can wish, and that you may enjoy the happiness of seeing the New World regenerate the Old, is the prayer of SIR, Your much obliged, and Obedient humble Servant, THOMAS PAINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Author's Preface to the English Edition From the part Mr. Burke took in the American Revolution, it was natural that I should consider him a friend to mankind; and as our acquaintance commenced on that ground, it would have been more agreeable to me to have had cause to continue in that opinion than to change it. At the time Mr. Burke made his violent speech last winter in the English Parliament against the French Revolution and the National Assembly, I was in Paris, and had written to him but a short time before to inform him how prosperously matters were going on. Soon after this I saw his advertisement of the Pamphlet he intended to publish: As the attack was to be made in a language but little studied, and less understood in France, and as everything suffers by translation, I promised some of the friends of the Revolution in that country that whenever Mr. Burke's Pamphlet came forth, I would answer it. This appeared to me the more necessary to be done, when I saw the flagrant misrepresentations which Mr. Burke's Pamphlet contains; and that while it is an outrageous abuse on the French Revolution, and the principles of Liberty, it is an imposition on the rest of the world. I am the more astonished and disappointed at this conduct in Mr. Burke, as (from the circumstances I am going to mention) I had formed other expectations. I had seen enough of the miseries of war, to wish it might never more have existence in the world, and that some other mode might be found out to settle the differences that should occasionally arise in the neighbourhood of nations. This certainly might be done if Courts were disposed to set honesty about it, or if countries were enlightened enough not to be made the dupes of Courts.

affirmative action :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kenneth Huttner   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ECO 325   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Professor Krall   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  April 24, 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discrimination is a problem that has plagued our country for many years. In the past few decades the government has been attempting to correct the problem through anti discrimination legislation. Some of the biggest programs have been through affirmative action. There is a general consensus that there are problems in our society with discrimination in many areas. But the questions we must ask are: Is affirmative action a just way to solve the problem of discrimination? Is affirmative action constitutional or is it reverse discrimination? And how do we go about solving the problem of discrimination if not through affirmative action? President Kennedy first introduced affirmative action in 1961 although he did not really possess the power to do much about it without the support of Congress. Affirmative action was expanded into the arena of government contracts. Kennedy made a declaration that said that upon accepting a government contract the contractor must pledge not to discriminate against any applicants or employees on the basis of race, creed, color, or national origin(Elliot and Ewoh, p212). Although the contractors made this pledge there was not much enforcement of it. In 1964 congress took steps battle discrimination in the workplace. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act said that no person could be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin when it came to publicly funded programs. This was expanded in 1965 when president Johnson declared that the government would provide equal opportunity employment. Then in 1967 this was again expanded to make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender as well as race(Elliot and Ewoh, p213). In 1970 the Department of Labor ordered that all contractors with government contracts, fifty or more employees, and received $50,000 or more in assistance had to develop an extensive affirmative action plan to include minorities in areas where they lacked representation(Elliot and Ewoh, p213). These plans had to include in depth research with goals and timetables, which would be met by the contractors. If the goals were not met then the government would no longer enter into contracts with the contractors. This was called order No. 4, and was revised in 1971 to include women(Elliot and Ewoh, p213). At this time affirmative action was not quota based. Later Jimmy Carter would give the responsibility of overseeing these mandates to the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee.

My Goals as a Teacher :: Education Teachers Teaching Essays

My Goals as a Teacher A teacher is not what I have always wanted to be. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until I had taken several of my general studies classes that I made a commitment to teach. Having played football through middle school and high school, I just assumed that whatever I did would have to be related to football. It was, however, during a time of reflection that I thought about a former football coach and the rapport that he had with me and other players. He wanted to bring out the best in each of us. It was then that I realized that I wanted to do the same. As a teacher, I would strive for a classroom that would be conducive to learning. I feel that linear seating allows for more structure in the classroom. However, interest should be stimulated by the display of attractive bulletin boards that are pertinent to the material being taught. The use of supplemental materials such as videos and computers are a must in educational programs. In today`s society everything moves rather quickly and the future generations must be able to keep pace. The world is at our fingertips through these devices. I would also assign projects to reinforce learning. This, of course, would depend on the ability of the groups being taught. I feel comfortable using an authoritarian type of instruction, although there will be times to use non-authoritarian types as well. I believe that the type of students that a teacher has in his/her classroom determines much of their teaching styles. I prefer seating students in rows rather than a horseshoe. Again, students set the tone for the seating arrangement. This day and time motivation seems to be harder to achieve. The use of homework passes and free time would be used as a form of motivation. Students, young and old, appreciate rewards even if it is only verbal praises. Some form of recognition creates a desire to achieve even more. Notes written by the teacher on returned homework or test papers may give inspiration to a shy student. This is also a way in letting the student know that they are an individual who is capable of achieving great things if they really try. Teaching styles tend to conform to the grade level that is being taught. I prefer being the only one in charge, but I do want my students to be actively involved.

Object Oriented Programming in Different Languages

OOP with Microsoft Visual Basic . NET and Microsoft Visual C# Step by Step by Robin A. Reynolds-Haertle Microsoft Press  © 2002 (393 pages) ISBN: 0735615683 This intuitive, self-paced learning title is designed to help you master the basics of object-oriented programming with Visual Basic. NET or Visual C#. Table of Contents OOP with Microsoft Visual Basic . NET and Microsoft Visual C# . NET Step by Step Introduction Chapter 1 – Writing Your First Object-Oriented Program Chapter 2 – Creating Class Instances with Constructors Chapter 3 – Creating Fields and PropertiesChapter 4 – Working with Methods Chapter 5 – Using Inheritance to Create Specialized Classes Chapter 6 – Designing Base Classes as Abstract Classes Chapter 7 – Responding to Changes with Events and Exceptions Chapter 8 – Putting It All Together with Components Chapter 9 – Providing Services Using Interfaces Chapter 10 – Using Classes Interchangeably T hrough Polymorphism Chapter 11 – Using Shared and Static Members Chapter 12 – Overloading Operators with Visual C# Chapter 13 – Saving Instance Data Chapter 14 – Reducing Complexity by DesignAppendix – Additional Resources Index Height Gage List of Sidebars OOP with Microsoft Visual Basic . NET and Microsoft Visual C# . NET Step by Step PUBLISHED BY Microsoft Press A Division of Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, Washington 98052-6399 Copyright  © 2002 by Robin A. Reynolds-Haertle All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reynolds-Haertle, Robin A. , 1959-OOP with Microsoft Visual Basic . NET and Microsoft Visual C# Step by Step / Robin A. Reynolds-Haertle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7356-1568-3 1. Object-oriented programming (Computer science). 2. Microsoft Visual BASIC. 3. C# (Computer program language) I. Title. QA76. 64 . R495 2001 005. 2’768—dc21 2001052122 Printed and bound in the United States of America. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 QWT 7 6 5 4 3 2 Distributed in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further information about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft Press International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Web site at www. microsoft. com/mspress. Send comments to: [email  protected] com. IntelliSense, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual Studio, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trad emarks of their respective owners. The example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. Acquisitions Editor: Danielle Bird Project Editor: Kathleen AtkinsTechnical Editor: Jack Beaudry Body Part No. X08-42192 MICROSOFT LICENSE AGREEMENT Book Companion CD IMPORTANT—READ CAREFULLY:This Microsoft End-User License Agreement (â€Å"EULA†) is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or an entity) and Microsoft Corporation for the Microsoft product identified above, which includes computer software and may include associated media, printed materials, and â€Å"online† or electronic documentation (â€Å"SOFTWARE PRODUCT†).Any component included within the SOFTWARE PRODUCT that is accompanied by a separate End -User License Agreement shall be governed by such agreement and not the terms set forth below. By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. 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PN 097-0002296 For Bruce You’re still the one.About the Author Robin A. Reynolds-Haertle Robin’s interest in computing began when she taught herself to program in C to fulfill a programming language requirement for her master’s degree in biomathematics at the University of Washington. Fascinated by the subject, Robin attended as many computer science classes as her schedule would permit, and took a position as a programmer with the University of Washington after graduation. Robin spent several years in the biotechnology industry, writing dat a applications in various database management systems, C, and Microsoft Visual Basic.Not content to just read computer science and software engineering books, she then pursued and completed a master’s degree in software engineering at Seattle University. During these years, Robin presented training sessions on software engineering topics to her peers. After so many years in the classroom, Robin wanted to try teaching, and jumped at the opportunity to teach object- oriented programming with Visual Basic for the University of Washington Outreach program. Here she discovered she loved writing instructional materials and sample projects for her students. This led Robin to her current position as a programmer/writer at Microsoft, writing conceptual documentation for Visual Basic and Microsoft Visual C#.When not at the computer, Robin is trying to make peace with her abandoned husband and sons. After she completes this book, they look forward to Mom’s attention to Cub Scouts , Boy Scouts, hiking, and watching BattleBots. After catching up with the family, Robin hopes to sew a few quilts. Acknowledgments First I’d like to thank the team at Microsoft Press that turned my writing into a book. Without Jack Beaudry, the technical editor, I never would have gotten any sleep. His meticulous reviews saved me time and saved readers from much frustration. Kathleen Atkins, the project editor, kept everything running smoothly and improved my text considerably.Credit is also due to Danielle Bird, acquisitons editor; Rebecca McKay (Becka), manuscript editor; Cheryl Penner and Rebecca Wendling (Becky), copy editors; Gina Cassill, compositor; and Michael Kloepfer, electronic artist. I also want to thank my colleagues at Microsoft who listened sympathetically to my complaints about deadlines and beta software. Editors Roger Haight and Meredith Waring made me a better writer. Mike Pope reminded me to put the reader ahead of being clever. Megan Shult and Ann Morris , my managers, were supportive even when writing consumed all my after-hours energy. Much of what I learned about . NET came from the material written by my team members Jina Chan, Seth Grossman, Steve Hoag, Steve Stein, and Matt Stoecker. And thank you to Diana Rain, my office mate.I’d also like to thank Ruth McBride, my longtime manager, and my instructors at Seattle University. I appreciate their patience with my often experimental approaches to their assignments over the years. I also have to mention the friends that still call to check on me, even though I haven’t called them in months. Jennifer Wirt, Lisa Wiken, Molly Potteiger, and Julie Brinkley have been true friends. This book would never have been written without the support of my husband, Bruce. He completely ran my life for the seven months I was writing this book. I worked and wrote; he did everything else. My friends are still laughing about how he RSVPs for me.Lastly, I thank my sons for just being ther e and for being proud of me. Introduction Microsoft Visual Basic developers have long clamored for complete objectoriented language support. Microsoft Visual Basic . NET supports all the features of an object- oriented language. In addition, the entire Microsoft . NET Framework, which includes the development support for Microsoft Windows applications, Web applications, Web services, graphics, and data access, is designed according to object-oriented principles. Developers who have a firm grasp of object-oriented principles will be the strongest . NET developers.Also new to developers is C#, a C-based language that gives developers a language choice for developing with the . NET Framework. Some C, Java, and C++ development will move to C# to take advantage of . NET’s features. Visual Basic programmers looking to learn a C language might also move to C#. Visual Basic . NET and C# both support object-oriented development with the . NET Framework. No matter what language you cho ose for development, being able to read code in either language will double your access to Microsoft Visual Studio documentation, . NET books, magazine articles, and other developer resources. System RequirementsYou’ll need the following hardware and software to complete the exercises in this book:  ¦  ¦ Microsoft Visual Studio . NET Professional edition. The Visual Studio . NET software isn’t included with this book. You must purchase it separately and install it before you can complete the exercises in this book. A computer capable of running Microsoft Visual Studio . NET. The following hardware configuration is recommended by the Microsoft Visual Studio . NET Web site, at http://msdn. microsoft. com/vstudio/nextgen/ Computer/Processor PC with a Pentium II–class processor, 450 megahertz (MHz); Pentium III–class processor, 600 MHz recommendedOperating System Microsoft Windows 2000, Server or Professional Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional Micr osoft Windows NT 4. 0 Server Memory Windows 2000 Professional, 96 megabytes (MB) of RAM; 128 MB recommended Windows 2000 Server, 192 MB of RAM; 256 MB recommended Windows XP Professional, 128 MB of RAM; 160 Recommended Hard Disk 500 MB on System Drive and 3. 0 gigabyte (GB) on installation drive Drive CD-ROM drive Display VGA or higher–resolution monitor Computer/Processor Input Device Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device Finding Your Best Starting Point This book is designed to teach you the fundamentals of object-oriented programming.You can use this book if you have a basic knowledge of Visual Basic 6, Visual Basic . NET, Visual C#, or another Windows programming language. The exercises in this book assume you can already perform the following tasks:  ¦ Create a new Windows Application project, build it, and run it.  ¦ Add Windows Forms controls to a Windows Form.  ¦ Create a method to respond to the Click event of a Button control.  ¦ Create a simple meth od (called a Sub or Function in Visual Basic . NET).  ¦ Declare and use variables. For an introduction to Visual Basic . NET, read Microsoft Visual Basic . NET Step by Step by Michael Halvorson (Microsoft Press, 2002).For an introduction to Visual C# , read Microsoft Visual C# . NET Step by Step by John Sharp and Jon Jagger (Microsoft Press, 2002). Use the following table to find your best starting point in this book. If you are New To object- oriented programming Migrating From Visual Basic 6 Switching From another object- oriented programming Follow these steps Install the practice files as described in the following section, â€Å"Installing and Using the Practice Files† Work through the chapters sequentially for a complete introduction to object-oriented programming. Chapters 1 through 7, 9, and 11 concentrate on the mechanics of object- riented programming, while the other chapters cover the concepts in more depth. Install the practice files as described in â€Å"Inst alling and Using the Practice Files† on the next page. Work through the chapters sequentially for a complete introduction to object- oriented programming with Visual Basic .NET. Chapters 1 through 7, 9, and 11 concentrate on the mechanics of object- oriented programming, while the other chapters cover the concepts in more depth. Install the practice files as described in â€Å"Installingand Using the Practice Files. † If you are New language. Referencing The book after working through the exercises Follow these steps Complete Chapter 1 to learn the basic yntax of properties and methods. Read the Quick Reference sections at the end of the chapters for information about specific class constructs. Use the index or the Table of Contents to find information about particular subjects. Read the Quick Reference at the end of each chapter to find a brief review of the syntax and techniques presented in the chapter. Installing and Using the Practice Files The companion CD inside the back cover of this book contains the practice files that you’ll use as you perform the exercises in the book. For example, when you’re learning to create class events, you’ll use a bitmap file named Train. bmp.By using the practice files, you won’t waste time creating objects that aren’t relevant to the exercise. Instead, you can concentrate on learning object-oriented programming with Visual Basic . NET and Visual C# . NET. The files and the step-by-step instructions in the lessons also let you learn by doing, which is an easy and effective way to acquire and remember new skills. Important Install the practice files Before you break the seal on the OOP with Microsoft Visual Basic . NET and Microsoft Visual C# Step by Step companion CD package, be sure that this book matches your version of the software.This book is designed for use with Microsoft Visual Studio . NET Professional Edition for the Windows operating systems. To find out what softw are you’re running, you can check the product package or you can start the software, and then click About Microsoft Development Environment in the Help menu at the top of the screen. Follow these steps to install the practice files on your computer’s hard disk so that you can use them with the exercises in this book. 1. Remove the companion CD from the package inside the back cover of this book and insert the CD in your CD-ROM drive. 2. Double-click the My Computer icon on the Desktop.Tip On some computers, the startup program might run automatically when you close the CD-ROM drive. In this case, skip steps 2 through 5 and follow the instructions on the screen. 3. Double-click the icon for your CD-ROM drive. 4. Double-click StartCD. exe 5. Click Install Sample Code. The setup program window appears with the recommended options preselected for you. For best results in using the practice files with this book, accept these preselected settings. 6. When the files have been installed, remove the CD from your CD- ROM drive and replace it in the package inside the back cover of the book.A folder called OOPVBCS has been created on your hard disk, and the practice files have been placed in that folder. Using the Practice Files Each lesson in this book explains when and how to use any practice files for that lesson. The practice files contain the complete source listings for all the applications created in this book, as well as any resources, such as bitmaps and databases, that you’ll need to complete the exercises. For those of you who like to know all the details, here’s a list of the Visual Basic and Visual C# projects on the practice disk: Project Chapter 1 ReadBooks Chapter 2 ReadMoreBooks Chapter 3 CodeAnalysis CodeAnalysis2 Chapter 4DeckOfCards Chapter 5 TheBank ARoundButton Chapter 6 ABetterBank ABetterLibrary Variations Description This simple program demonstrates the basics of creating, instantiating, and using a class. This program expands on the ReadBooks program and adds constructors. These two applications demonstrate different approaches to using class properties, and the interaction of class properties and the DataGrid control. This application explores class methods by using dynamic creation of Windows Forms controls and drag-and-drop operations. This simple application demonstrates the basics of class inheritance. This small project shows how easy it is to derive rom a Windows Forms control and redefine its drawing. This adaptation of Chapter 5’s TheBank application uses an abstract class as a base class. This improvement on Chapter 1’s ReadBooks application uses a strongly typed collection. This application contains code snippets demonstrating variations on inheritance. Chapter 7 TrainGame ThrowSystemException PersonList Project Chapter 8 GamesLibrary Memory Chapter 9 MoveIt Points Chapter 10 PatternMaker Chapter 11 BetterCard SortablePoint Singleton Chapter 12 VectorAlgebra Chapter 13 S erialize DataSetExercise Chapter 14 This application introduces delegates, events, and user-drawn controls in the context of a simple game.This small program throws a system exception and recovers by using exception handling. This application creates and throws a custom application exception. Description The GamesLibrary project creates a component library containing objects used to develop the simple Memory card game This application covers the basics of creating and implementing an interface. The Points project contains objects that implement the IComparable, IFormattable, and IEnumerable interfaces. Moving beyond the basics of inheritance, the PatternMaker program makes extensive use of inheritance and polymorphism. This improvement on the Card class from Chapter 4 uses static methods to liminate the project’s dependency on file locations. The SortablePoint application from Chapter 10 is made more flexible through static properties. Static fields are used to implement the Singleton design pattern. The mathematical concept of vectors is used to demonstrate the definition and use of operator overloading in Visual C#. The Serialize application demonstrates the use of binary and XML serialization of data. This very simple ADO. NET application reads data from an Access database. PatternMaker Uninstall the practice files This example uses the PatternMaker exercise from Chapter 10 to demonstrate the way to make design changes after the i nitial development of an application.If you are using the Windows XP Professional operating system, follow these steps to remove the practice files from your computer. If you are using a different version of Windows, refer to your Windows Help documentation for removing programs. 1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 2. In Control Panel, click Add Or Remove Programs. 3. In the Add Or Remove Programs window, click OOP Visual Basic And C# . NET Code in the Currently Installed Programs list. 4. Click Change/Remove. The Confirm File Deletion dialog appears. 5. Click Yes to delete the practice files. 6. Click Close to close the Add Or Remove Programs window. 7. Close Control Panel.Conventions and Features in this Book This book uses conventions designed to make the information more readable and easier to follow. The book also includes features that contribute to a deeper understanding of the material. Conventions  ¦ Each exercise is a series of tasks. Each task is presented as a series of numbered steps. If a task has only one step, the step is indicated by a round bullet.  ¦ Notes labeled â€Å"tip† provide more information for completing a step successfully.  ¦ Notes labeled â€Å"important† alert you to information you need to check before continuing. The book uses typographic styles to help organize the information presented. The following table describes the styles used. Style Code Italics Used for Code that you type in Method argument or parameter Event Procedure Field Ful ly Qualified Name Keyword Method Property value Example ‘ Visual Basic Public Class Book End Class // Visual C# public class Book { } aBook showPage_Click m_shelf SomeBook. Text Public, public, If, if GetPage listOfBooks Roman Other Features Boolean values Class name Control type Data type Event Form Namespace Parameter type Property True, true, False, false Book, Library, Train ListBox, TextBox String, string, Integer, int Click Form1 ReadBooks String, string, Integer, int NameShaded sidebars throughout the book provide more in-depth information about the exercise. The sidebars might contain debugging tips, design tips, or topics you might want to explore further. Each chapter ends with a Quick Reference section. The Quick Reference provides a brief review of the syntax and techniques presented in the chapter. Corrections, Comments, and Help Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this book and the contents of the practice files on the companion CD. Microsoft Pre ss provides corrections and additional content for its books through the World Wide Web at http://www. microsoft. com/mspress/support/If you have problems, comments, or ideas regarding this book or the companion CD, please send them to Microsoft Press. Send e-mail to [email  protected] com Or send postal mail to Microsoft Press Attn: Step by Step Series Editor One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 Please note that support for the Visual Studio . NET software product itself is not offered through the preceding address. For help using Visual Studio . NET, visit http://support. microsoft. com. Visit the Microsoft Press World Wide Web Site You are also invited to visit the Microsoft Press World Wide Web site at http://www. microsoft. com/mspress/You’ll find descriptions for the complete line of Microsoft Press books, information about ordering titles, notice of special features and events, additional content for Microsoft Press books, and much more. You can also find out the latest in Visual Studio . NET software developments and news from Microsoft Corporation at http://msdn. microsoft. com/vstudio/nextgen/ Check it out! Chapter 1: Writing Your First Object-Oriented Program Overview ESTIMATED TIME 2 hr. 30 min. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to  ¦ Decide which classes to implement in your program.  ¦ Create a class with fields, properties, and methods. Use a class in an application.  ¦ Use Microsoft Visual Studio . NET tools to create a class definition. Classes are the building blocks of object-oriented programs. Object-oriented program design is driven by the objects in the problem you need to solve. If your goal is to automate class registration, you might create classes for the instructor, student, and class schedule objects. Objects also have properties that describe them and their behavior. These are implemented as properties and methods of a class. Just as an instructor has a name, so does the Instructor class have a Name proper ty.To assign a student to a class, you’d need to find an open section in the schedule. So your ClassSchedule class might implement a FindOpenSection method. The method would likely check the variable, called a field, in the class in which you’ve stored information about sections. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to identify the objects in your problem domain and their properties and behaviors (methods). Using this analysis, you’ll design and implement the classes using property and method programming constructs. You’ll then declare and initialize the variables of the classes you’ve coded.Finally, you’ll implement the solution to your problem by calling the properties and methods of the class variables. Reading Books: Your First Object-Oriented Program Your task in this chapter is to implement a program that displays large text files in page- size pieces. Typically, your task begins with a specification, perhaps complete, perhaps not. The specification for Chapter 1 follows: You have downloaded on your computer the text of several books. You want to be able to select a book and read one particular page at a time. You also want to be able to set the length of a page. You’ve already decided which user interface you want to use; it’s shown here:As you look at the user interface, you can see that you need to add some controls to a Windows form: a ListBox, a RichTextBox, two NumericUpDown controls, and some labels. How will you store the texts of the books? How will you fill the list? How will you retrieve the correct page of the book that you want to read? You can use object-oriented programming to answer these questions. Designing the Classe s Before you can implement your classes, you must decide which classes you need. First you look for the objects in the problem. Having found the objects, you then look for properties, which are characteristics or qualities that belong to the object, and methods, w hich are behaviors of the object.You can choose from many ways to design the classes in an application. The approach presented here begins with a textual analysis of the problem. The nouns are selected as candidates for classes, while verbs become candidates for the methods. In the course of the analysis, you’ll eliminate many of the nouns as candidates, and you might discover classes that aren’t among the nouns in the specification. After you determine the objects, properties, and methods that belong to your classes, you can then write the class specification that you’ll use in the implementation. Find the classes . Read the problem statement, and find all the nouns. You have downloaded on your computer the text of several books. You want to be able to select a book and read one particular page at a time. You also want to be able to set the length of a page. 2. Eliminate candidates. Reasons to eliminate a candidate include  ¦ The class based on the noun would have only properties or only methods.  ¦ The class based on the noun wouldn’t be relevant to the problem.  ¦ The class based on the noun wouldn’t represent one object.You can eliminate the irrelevant candidates: computer and time. Length (of a page) is merely an integer value and wouldn’t generate enough behavior to qualify as a class. The same is true of text in this example—the only thing to be done with it is to display a piece of it, a page. By the same reasoning, page is also not a class. That leaves book and books. Books is just the plural of book , so you are left only with book as a potential class. But you aren’t finished yet. 3. Search for missing candidates. Consider this specification, â€Å"The dealer deals four cards to each player. There’s no mention of a deck of cards, although deck is a likely class in that problem. Remember eliminating books? Another class does, in fact, represent the properties and behavior of a grou p of books. You can call this class Library. The library concept is different from the book concept. A book has a title and text and can be read. A library contains many books, which can be checked out and returned. Left with the Book and Library classes, you can now search for properties and methods. Find the methods and properties 1. Read the problem statement, and find all the verbs. You can leave out the helping verbs, such as is, was, and have.As in the case of the nouns, textual analysis of verbs is just the starting point for finding the methods. You have downloaded on your computer the text of several books. You want to be able toselect a book and read one particular page at a time. You also want to be able to set the length of a page. 2. Consider each verb. Is it a method, or does it indicate a method? Is it relevant to the problem? Downloaded and want are clearly irrelevant to the problem. Select is an operation of the Library class. In a real library, this action would co rrespond to finding a book on the shelf and checking it out. So the Library has a CheckOut method.There’s also a hidden property here because a book needs a title. Read is an operation of the Book class. This method allows you to read one particular page, so it can be named GetPage. The verb set indicates that a property needs to be changed, and that property is the length of a page, PageLength. 3. The same nouns that you eliminated as classes might in fact be properties of those classes. Text, length (of a page), and page were eliminated as classes. A book does need text, so Text becomes a property of Book. You discovered that PageLength is a property in considering the verb set.Page represents one section of the text and represents the result of the GetPage operation, so it isn’t a property. 4. Look for missing properties and methods. If you’re going to check books out of the library, you need a way to add books to the library and return the checked-out books. A CheckIn method will handle this. Testing the Class Design Reread the problem, and determine whether your classes, with their properties and methods, provide the functionality necessary to solve the problem. You have downloaded on your computer the text of several books. Do you have a way of storing and organizing several books?Yes, you can create one Book for each book and one Library to store them all. You want to be able to select a book and read one particular page at a time. Can you select one book and read one page? Yes, books can be selected by their titles, and the GetPage method retrieves one page. You also want to be able to set the length of a page. Can you set the length of a page? Yes, the Book class has a PageLength property. The results are shown in the following table. The methods are shown as they might be declared in Visual Basic. Class Book Properties Integer PageLengt h Methods GetPage (pageNumber As Integer) As String Class Library Creating the Book Class Prop ertiesString Text String Title Methods CheckIn (aBook As Book) CheckOut(title As String) As Book The following exercise covers the basics of class implementation using the Book class as an example. To implement the Library class, you’ll use some of the development tools provided by the Microsoft Visual Studio . NET integrated development environment (IDE). Create the book class 1. In the IDE, click the File menu, point to New, and then click Project. The New Project dialog box opens. 2. Select Visual Basic Projects or Visual C# Projects in the Project Types tree, click Windows Application in the Templates list. 3.Enter ReadBooks in the Name box, and click OK. 4. Display the Solution Explorer by selecting Solution Explorer on the View menu. Click the ReadBooks project in the Solution Explorer. 12. On the Project menu, click Add Class. The Add New Item dialog box appears, as shown here: 13. Enter either Book. vb or Book. cs in the Name box, depending on the language you are usi ng. Note that the class name begins with a capital letter and is singular. 14. Click Open. The IDE adds a file to your project. The file includes the basic definition of a class, as shown in the following two screen shots.The Visual Basic class contains the minimum for a class declaration. Here’s the syntax for declaring a class in Visual Basic: Class ClassName End Class In this case, the class is named Book. The IDE adds the Public modifier that’s shown to indicate that the class can be used throughout the project. The Visual C# class contains the class declaration as well as a constructor. Here’s the syntax for declaring a class in C#: class ClassName {} A constructor contains code to initialize the fields of a class and perform other class initialization fun‘ctions. In C#, it has the same name as the class. A constructor isn’t required.I’ll talk more about constructors in Chapter 2, â€Å"Creating Class Instances with Constructors. † Add the Text and PageLength fields A field is a variable declared in a class block. Fields can be any . NET data type, such as Integer or Boolean; . NET class, such as TextBox or ListBox; or any class that you have created. 1. Locate the beginning of the class definition. In Visual Basic, the class definition begins immediately after the line that shows the class name. In Visual C#, the class definition begins after the opening curly brace of the class. 2. Add the following code inside the class to create Text and PageLength fields. 3. ‘ Visual BasicPublic Text As String = â€Å"† Public PageLength As Integer = 10 // Visual C# public string Text = â€Å"†;p public int PageLength = 10; Tip By convention, the initial letters of names of public members (fields, properties, methods, and events) of a class are capitalized (Textfield) or are intercapitalized (PageLength field). According to the code, you have specified initial values for the fields: the empty string for Text and 10 for PageLength. A basic tenet of object-oriented programming is that an object should maintain a consistent state. That means that the state of the object (the values of its fields) should represent a usable state.If you didn’t initialize the fields, values would default to â€Å"† for the Text field and 0 for the PageLength field. If those were acceptable values for a book, you could leave them uninitialized. But because compilers and their default values change, you can prevent maintenance problems by initializing the fields. Your client code (the code that uses a Book object) is able to read and write to any field declared with the public keyword (Public in Visual Basic and public in Visual C#). Providing direct access to the class data is a violation of the object-oriented principle of information hiding, which stipulates that the client has no knowledge of the underlying data structure of an object.In the next section, you’ll learn how to al low the client code to get and set the Title of the Book without giving away details about the implementation. Add the Title property A property is a programming construct that allows your code to get and set a value. Typically, the code in the property constructor will get and set the value of a private field in the class. In client code, a public field and a property are used in the same way—for example, SomeBook. Text and SomeBook. Title. 1. Add the following code to the Book class after the Text and PageLength declarations. 2. Private m_title As String ‘ Visual Basic private string m_title; // Visual C#This code creates a private field in the Book class. Client code doesn’t have access to this property. Tip Private fields of a class are declared using the m_ prefix to identify them as member data. Private field names aren’t capitalized. 3. Add the following code to the Book class, after the m_title declaration. 4. ‘ Visual Basic 5. Public Propert y Title() As String 6. Get 7. Return m_title 8. End Get 9. Set(ByVal value As String) 10. m_title = value 11. End SetEnd Property 12. // Visual C# 13. public string Title { 14. get { 15. return m_title; 16. } 17. set { 18. m_title = value; 19. }} These syntax blocks define class properties.The Title property appears in the IntelliSense drop-down list just like any other property, such as the familiar TextBox. Text or Form. Backcolor. The property block allows you to control access to the property. You can add validation code to the Set block to ensure that only reasonable values are assigned to the underlying m_title field. Note Please notice an important difference between fields and properties. A place is reserved in memory for fields. They contain the actual data of the class. Properties provide access to the data but are not data themselves. In this book, I use the word set to mean changing a property. I use the word get to mean retrieving the value of a property.The Get and Set blocks of a property can be called getters and setters, or accessors . The property block is more flexible than you’ve seen here. Properties can be public or private, read/write, read-only, or write-only. In Visual Basic, the property statements can even take a parameter. By the way, I cover properties in detail inChapter 2, but I need to talk about them at least a little bit in this chapter. A Little Bit About Properties We can use the word properties, in a general object-oriented sense, to mean the descriptive information about an object. We can also use properties to mean the particular syntactic construct provided by Visual Basic and C#.The particular meaning of the word can be determined by context. Use properties to validate class data and hide class implementation. You have to make a strong case for using public fields in a class. The addition of a property to a class to control access to the underlying data requires minimal effort. The benefit of this practice is tha t you can easily add validation or change the implementation if you need to without affecting clients already using your objects. Add the GetPage method  ¦ Add the GetPage method to the class definition after the field declarations. ‘ Visual BasicPublic Function GetPage(ByVal pageNumber As Integer) As String Dim start As Integer = (pageNumber -1) * PageLength If (start < Text. Length) And (start >= 0) Then If (start + PageLength) < Text. Length Then Return Text. Substring(start, PageLength) Else Return Text. Substring(start, Text. Length – start) End If Else Return â€Å"† End IfEnd Function // Visual C# public string GetPage(int pageNumber) { int start = (pageNumber – 1) * PageLength; if ((start < Text. Length) && (start >= 0)) { if ((start + PageLength) < Text. Length) { return Text.Substring(start, PageLength); } else { return Text. Substring(start, Text. Length – start); } } else { return â€Å"†; }} In Chapter 3, â€Å"Fields and Prop erties,† you’ll see how we can replace the GetPage method with a construct known as an indexer in Visual C# or with a default Item method in Visual Basic. The complete class definitions for our project are shown here: ‘ Visual Basic Public Class Book Public Text As String = â€Å"† Public PageLength As Integer = 10 Private m_title As String Public Property Title() As String Get Return m_title End Get Set(ByVal Value As String) m_title = Value End Set End PropertyPublic Function GetPage(ByVal pageNumber As Integer) As String Dim start As Integer = (pageNumber – 1) * PageLength If (start < Text. Length) And (start >= 0) Then If (start + PageLength) < Text. Length Then Return Text. Substring(start, PageLength) Else Return Text. Substring(start, Text. Length – start) End If Else Return â€Å"† End If End FunctionEnd Class // Visual C#using System;namespace ReadBooks{ /// /// Summary description for Book. /// public class Book { public strin g Text = â€Å"†; public int PageLength = 10; private string m_title; public Book() { // // TODO: Add constructor logic here // } public string Title { get { return m_title; } set { m_title = value; } } ublic string GetPage(int pageNumber) { int start = (pageNumber – 1) * PageLength; if ((start < Text. Length) && (start >= 0)) { if ((start + PageLength) < Text. Length) { return Text. Substring(start, PageLength); } else { return Text. Substring(start, Text. Length – start); } } else { return â€Å"†; } } }} Fields, properties, methods, and constructors can appear in any order in a class definition. Good organization benefits future readers of your code.Here’s a common organization and, in fact, the one I used in this book:  ¦ Field declarations  ¦ Constructors  ¦ Properties  ¦ Methods Using the Book Class in an Application You’ve just finished implementing the Book class. The class definition is just a template for an object. To put data in the fields and properties, you have to create an instance of the class in memory; this action is known as instantiation. When you create an instance, a section of memory is set aside to hold the fields of the object. If you create another instance of the class, another section of memory is set aside for its fields. You aren’t going to implement the full solution yet.First you need to write some code to test your class. You’ll create two instances of the Book class in the ReadBooks project, and you’ll display the fourth page of each book. (These will be very short books. ) You’ll create a cookbook and a book of fairy tales, so you’ll need to create two separate instances of the Book class. Instead of creating a fancy interface, you’ll write just enough code to see whether your class is working as you expected. Test Drivers A short program to test a class is called a driver. It’s a good idea to exercise your class a bit with a driver before adding the class to a larger program.Use the driver to test your class without the interference of other code in the program. Create an instance of Book 1. In the Solution Explorer, double-click Form1 to open it in the Windows form designer. If Form1 is opened in the code editor, select View, Designer. 2. Drag a button from the Toolbox onto Form1. If the Toolbox isn’t visible, select View, Toolbox. 3. Right -click the button, and click Properties on the shortcut menu. In the Properties window, set the Name property of the button to showPage and set the Text property to Show Page. The button on the Windows form is created from the Button class.Name and Text are properties of the Button class. So we can talk about getting and setting these properties. Form1 is a class as well, and the button you just created is a field of the Form1 class. 4. Double-click the button to create the Click event method. 5. Add the following code in boldface to the Click event to create a book of fairy tales. 6. ‘ Visual Basic 7. Private Sub showPage_Click(ByVal sender As System. Object, _ 8. ByVal e As System. EventArgs) Handles showPage. Click 9. Dim fairyTales As Book 10. fairyTales = New Book() 11. End Sub 12. // Visual C# 13. rivate void showPage_Click(object sender, System. EventArgs e) { 14. Book fairyTales; 15. fairyTales = new Book(); } 16. Add the following code to set the Text, PageLength, and Title properties immediately after the code you entered in step 5: 17. ‘ Visual Basic 18. fairyTales. Text = â€Å"Once upon a time there was a bear. † 19. fairyTales. PageLength = 8fairyTales. Title = â€Å"Fairy Tales† 20. // Visual C# 21. fairyTales. Text = â€Å"Once upon a time there was a bear. â€Å"; 22. fairyTales. PageLength = 8; fairyTales. Title = â€Å"Fairy Tales†;When the instance of Book is created, its fields contain the values specified in the class definition. The Text field is an empty string, the page length is 10, and the title is blank. Notice that it makes no difference in the client code whether you use a field or a property. 23. Add the following code after the fairyTales code to create another instance of the Book class. (This instance will be a recipe book. ) 24. ‘ Visual Basic 25. Dim cookies As Book = New Book() 26. cookies. Text = â€Å"Chocolate chip cookies are the most delicious co okies. † 27. ookies. PageLength = 8 28. cookies. Title = â€Å"Cookie Recipes† 29. // Visual C# 30. Book cookies = new Book(); 31. cookies. Text = â€Å"Chocolate chip cookies are the most delicious co okies. â€Å"; 32. cookies. PageLength = 8; cookies. Title = â€Å"Cookie Recipes†; In this case, you used a different syntax for declaring and initializing a variable of the Book class. Visual Basic and Visual C# allow declaration and initialization in the same statement. Declaring and initializing in the same statement has the following advantages:  ¦ Programmers ar e less likely to forget to initialize the variable. When a class defines a constructor with parameters, the fields can be initialized at the same time. (You’ll create constructors with parameters in Chapter 3. ) Use an instance of the Book class 1. Add the following code after the cookies code to display some of the text of the two books. In later chapters, you’ll learn other ways to return the text of a particular page in the book. 2. ‘ Visual Basic 3. Dim page As Integer = 3 4. Dim report As String 5. report = â€Å"Page † & page. ToString() & ControlChars. CrLf _ 6. & fairyTales. Title & â€Å": † & fairyTales. GetPage(page) _ 7. ControlChars. CrLf _ 8. & â€Å"Cookies: † & cookies. GetPage(page) 9. MessageBox. Show(report) 10. report = â€Å"Titles: † + fairyTales. Title & † and † & cookies. Title 11. MessageBox. Show(report) 12. // Visual C# 13. int page = 3; 14. string report; 15. report = â€Å"Page † + page. ToString() + † † 16. + fairyTales. Title + â€Å": † + fairyTales. GetPage(page) + † † 17. + cookies. Title + â€Å": † + cookies. GetPage(page); 18. MessageBox. Show(report); 19. report = â€Å"Titles: † + fairyTales. Title + † and † + cookies. Title; MessageBox. Show(report);This bit of code demonstrates that there are two separate instances of the Book class. We can refer to these instances using the variables fairyTales and cookies . The object-oriented concept that permits each instance to be referred to separately is known as identity. You’ll see in later chapters that the identity principle doesn’t mean that you have to create a variable for each instance. Creating so many variables is unwieldy if you need hundreds of instances of a class. Identity does mean that you can refer to each instance separately when you need to.Notice that when you created an instance of Book, the fields of fairyTales were change d and the GetPage method was called. Later on we retrieved the value of the Title property. The value of Title was unchanged after the GetPage method was called. The fact that the value was unchanged demonstrates the concept of object state, the idea that the fields retain their values between method calls. Compare the way the GetPage method works with a method that has variable declarations. After the GetPage method ends, the variables go out of scope and their values are lost to the application. 20. Press F5 to run the code. Click the Show Page button.The results are shown here: Click OK, and the book titles are displayed in a message box as shown here: Click OK, and then close the application. You’ve now created a class, Book, and two instances of it. Your code sent a message to the Book class through the GetPage method to ask for the third page of the text. In the next sections, you’ll implement another class, Library. This time, however, you’ll let some of the IDE tools do some of the syntactic work for you. Using the Class View The IDE provides a Class View that displays a tree view of the class structure of the project, namespaces, and classes.The Class View can share the same window as the Solution Explorer. On the View menu, click Class View to open the Class View. The expanded Class View is shown below for Visual Basic and Visual C#, respectively. The highest-level node represents the project, ReadBooks. The next level of nodes represents the namespaces in the project. A project can contain several namespaces; in this case, there’s only one. The project namespace contains two classes: the class that we created, Book, and the class for the Windows form, Form1. The Book class contains two public fields, PageLength and Text, epresented by blue blocks, and one private field, m_ti