Special Education Teacher Essay Example for Free

Special Education Teacher Essay Passion and compassion two words with very different meanings, but for me, one is the driving force behind my determination to teach. It’s been a long and winding road for me to reach this point of my life, and for me to discover my true destiny to be a teacher. It is now that I realize that my compassion for children is what will strengthen my teaching aptitude and the combination of my education and compassion make me a qualified candidate for any teaching position. In short, my compassion for children is what drives my passion to teach. As I consider the road that is ahead of me, I am thrilled with excitement and eager to explore the many opportunities that lay ahead of me. Most of all, I am passionate about the structure of my future classroom and objectives I plan to tackle in my future career. I feel I owe my students the best possible upbringing and education. They deserve a stimulating and supportive environment that brings out the best in them. I want to encourage my students to broaden their imaginations and reach for goals they considered unattainable. I will strive to instill morals in my students and encourage them to treat each other and their community with respect and understanding. My students will be my primary responsibility their needs will be placed before my own and their development will be my priority. Before we can know where we are going, we must first know where we came from, and the same is true for the educational field. While I am striving for excellence in my career, I must educate myself on the strides my field has made throughout history. Vital lessons can be learned from our nation’s history and the mistakes made in the past. I must reflect on these past strides the educational field has made and continue to look forward. At the same time, I will be able to identify potential regressions the field is trending. I know I can make not only make an impact in the lives of my own students, but in the lives of students everywhere if I stand firm in my beliefs and fight for equality and justice of all children and demand that they be granted all the opportunity to achieve their dreams. Following current political and economic issues affecting education will allow me to understand the direction the field is heading and make educated opinions and allow me to make a stand for what I so passionately believe in, and my involvement in these issues will ensure the educational field will continue to progress. At the same time, identifying and addressing current issues confronting education will empower me to make the proper steps in my quest and further educate me. These current issues will explain to me which groups of children are being neglected or offended by our public education system and pinpoint which matters I need to fight for or against. The important key is education; I need to be educated in education. To do this, I will continue my education after receiving my bachelor’s degree. If I fail to do so, I will be failing innocent children and depriving them of their right to a quality education. I will also attend all school board meetings and be voice for these children in my community. I will also continue to vote in state and federal elections in hope that I may make a difference concerning these issues and so I can change the lives of children nationally. One of the issues confronting education that I am most passionate about is the amount of government involvement allowed in our school systems. Since education is a major focus in the nation’s politics and recipient of federal and state funding, the government naturally enforces strict regulations and guidelines on our school systems. While the degree of this federal involvement varies, the most common obstacle teachers are forced with in this regard is standardized testing. Personal opinion on the matter aside, the fact of the matter is that today’s children must be able to show their knowledge and understanding through this type of assessment. Elected officials have deemed these topics and concepts vital to the development of our nation and the assessment of my students will essentially become the assessment of my school and most importantly, myself as a professional. One of my main focuses in the classroom will be to prepare my students for these standardized tests, academically and mentally. I will vary my approaches in teaching these central concepts in anticipation of reaching a greater sense of understanding for all my students in hopes that they will then succeed on such assessments. While not all will positively respond to the method of testing, I must encourage them to do their very best and attempt to prepare them for this method of testing. I will practice this method of assessment with my students prior to the official testing so they may feel comfortable with the method of assessment and feel less stressed on test day. Regardless of the result of the tests, I will determine what makes a successful school year and I will continually support my student’s learning and be proud of them for all of their already tremendous accomplishments. I will provide each student with the level of support and understand they will need to guarantee an overall successful school year. Furthermore, to become more experienced and a more informed student of education, I dedicate myself to a minimum of thirty hours to participating in K-12 classroom field experience. I will partner with the leaders in the career field and analyze their instruction, relationships and classroom management strategies to gain insight into the field and take away from the experience their best practices so I may be better prepared for my students. I will approach each day with my mentor as the exceptional opportunity is it. I will enter the classroom each time with a new objective I intend to accomplish and will cherish each second I’m able to spend in the classroom. Not every career enables their freshmen professionals the ability to have immediate hands-on experience; this opportunity is truly a rarity and such a blessing. This allows me the chance to learn from quality observation of senior educators and interactions with children in the same setting I expect to one day teach in. I will also be able to share in the instruction of these students and experience the joy when they grasp new concepts and understand the fundamentals. This precious time will provide me with a background that no classroom can provide me and allow me to refer back to these moments when I have a classroom of my own. In addition to analyzing my mentor teacher’s classroom management and relationships, I will also evaluate his or her usage of modern technology in the classroom. After all, modern technology has taken this country by storm; virtually every profession has been influenced by technology and education is no exception. To be successful educator in the twenty-first century, I must be willing to embrace technology and explore options as to how I can incorporate technology into my classroom and lesson plans. My students will benefit from my use of new tools such as smart boards or PowerPoint presentations or Webquest online lesson plans I will prepare for them. My main goal in teaching is making my students respectable and productive members of society, and in order to be productive in today’s age, my students will need to have some technological literacy. While I don’t anticipate them word processing homework assignments, I do expect to explore advances in technology together and I will teach them how to use these advances to their advantage. I must remain up-to-date in the latest developments and learn how I can effectively incorporate technology into my classroom and still remain a student focused atmosphere. I need to able to showcase my ability to embrace technology and my creativity and organization to potential employers so they may be able to develop a firm understanding of my capabilities. One ingenious way to do just this is to create a website portfolio to demonstrate these abilities, along with my teaching philosophy, experience, growth and potential as an educator. I intend to treat this portfolio as a working resume and will constantly keep it current. However, to set my portfolio apart, aside from my extraordinary qualities and capabilities, I plan to entitle a section of my portfolio specifically for the parents of my students to track their child’s activities, learning and progress in my classroom. I welcome as much parental involvement in my classroom as possible, and so I am always considering any additional ways I can allow my parents to be in touch with their child and I think a special section on my website portfolio is perfect. This way the parents can learn more about me personally as a person and teacher so they may feel more comfortable with me and my position as their child’s educator. My biggest challenge in all this will be balancing all my aspirations to become a well-rounded and successful teacher. I will never be perfect and will continuously be learning to better myself for the sake of my students. I plan to grow and develop just as much as my students do each year. I bravely accept this challenge and believe I am more than capable to conquer any obstacle that comes my way. I refuse to allow anything to inhabit my students from becoming successful citizens or degrading my classroom climate, and I am fully prepared to fight for my students’ futures. It is this compassion for my students and my passion for their success that makes me an asset to any school district and a blessing to a child and above all, an exceptional teacher.

Advertising consumption

Advertising consumption Introduction: With the rapid development of technology, the way people advertise and consume has changed gradually. In the other words, technology is increasing the capacity and practices of consumption and providing more platforms for advertising. Some people argue that it might lead to weak social organisation and solidarity, however, the influence of technology on peoples daily life is inevitable. Take online shopping for example, it is magnificently affecting the traditional consumption habits. More and more consumers are getting used to purchasing online instead of high street shopping. This essay is going to observe how technology has expanded the scope of advertising and the spaces of consumption practices in terms of online shopping. Besides, critical evaluation will be carried out to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the observation. Analysis: Holt D. (1995) pointed out that the act of consuming is a varied and effortful accomplishment underdetermined by the characteristics of the object. Any products can be typically consumed in a range of different ways by different consumers. Therefore, it is essential to analyse how online shopping is influencing the consumption practices of consumers. Consumption Practices: First of all, online shopping brings us a convenient, fast and time-saving consuming atmosphere, and this is considered to be the major concern of middle class who work eight hours in average, and they dont have much time to spend on shopping. Hence, they treat time like gold, and wish to buy everything they want as short as a few minutes. In traditional shopping pattern, consumers need to spend a large number of energy and time on selecting and comparing various goods in different high street stores. The information about the products often vary due to the misinterpretation of salesmen. Besides, there are always restricts of time and place. Take Newcastle city centre for example, most shops on Northumberland Street close before six oclock. People who work until six will not be able to do any shopping during the weekdays, and the people who live in suburbs where there is no shopping centre nearby will have to waste an hour or more on the way to city centre and back. Online shopping perfectly solves the problem. Shopping can be easily completed within a couple of clicks in anytime and anywhere as long as the customers have internet access. Itunes is a successful online software and platform that provides consumers a convenient way to buy their favourite music. Sometimes, people dont wan to buy the whole album. Instead, theyd like to listen to some specific tracks by different artists. Itune totally satisfy these consumers by offering download of every single track of various artists with a little amount of expenses, and it is really time-saving just a couple of clicks, then the track will be downloaded automatically and ready in a flash of time( depends on the speed of Internet service providers). Secondly, the advantage of online shopping on products price is obvious to obtain, and price is always the most important factor for consumers to consider. Online sales compared to traditional stores, it doesnt require any physical store. Besides, online sales are able to contact directly with upstream suppliers and ask them to send the products to customers when necessary. Hence, no self-storage facilities will be used to store goods so that the cost of logistics and storages can be minimised. In the other words, the total cost of online sales is much lower than the average cost of physical store sales. In addition, online bidding is getting more and more popular as consumers can get the products in an unbelievably low price from time to time. A typical example of online bidding is ebay. Therefore, the retail price online is relatively lower than traditional physical stores, which will be expected to attract more customers. Special promotion or sale will be another reason to shop online. For instance, there is 20% student discount occasionally throughout catalogues on the official website of Topshop/Topman when the customers make the purchase online, meanwhile there is only 10% discount in store for students, and this also reflects the advantage of online shopping on price. After all, no people are willing to pay more for something that is exactly the same. In addition, online shopping provides consumers more comfortable and pleasant shopping atmosphere. During the process of shopping, some consumers require the feelings of pleasure rather than the products themselves, and many of them have experienced various attitudes from different salesmen in physical stores. Those salesmen usually approach customers with smile when they step in the stores and recommend a number of products to the customers when browsing the shop, However, the smile on their faces will fade away with time as the customers dont show any interest on the products they recommend. Most consumers will not be pleased by the way the salesmen persuade them to make the purchase, instead, they want to shop in a Comfortable and pleasant mood. In contrast, those who have shopped online will find consumption via online shopping is a lot easier. They are always free to click on the products they are interested and able to compare different products as often as they want. Besides, they can make the purchase, save the products for later or leave the products without the interference from salesmen by simply clicking on the web pages. Take ASOS for example, customers can quickly find the clothes they want by narrowing down the search results. Besides, these clothes can be displayed in 360 degree, and can be even viewed by real models catwalk what can hardly be seen in physical stores. Furthermore, online shopping brings a customised products consuming platform for the customers who have special requirements. More and more products need to meet the consumers imagination to meet the needs of individual consumers with the development of society. The choices by consumers may no longer be practicalness of the products, but more needs to reflect the values of their own. How to make the products innovative and stimulate curiosity of consumer has become a crucial problem the product developer must consider. Many products sold in online stores can not be found in any physical shopping malls or stores. These unique products usually emphasis on trendy and interesting . They are customised to meet the requirements of every single customers. In online stores, costumers can find a range of special products which are beyond our imagination, from nails to laptops, from furnitures to clothes, every product involved in our daily life can be customised meet peoples needs. For instance, customers will be able to customise their laptop, mobile phone and even gaming consoles by altering their colours on a website called Colourware. There is a wide range of colours to choose and the front, trim or back of your digital devices can even be altered in different colours. Moreover, The prices of these luxury products in the traditional physical stores are relatively more expensive than online boutiques. Online shopping brings the opportunities to get famous brand products with a reasonable price for those label lovers who can not afford the price. As mentioned before, price is the most important factor that consumers should consider. For these people who need to purchase luxury products to show their status and prestige, they think certain products with famous brand will improve the quality of life, and reflects the social status at the same time. There is also another way to satisfy customers vanity, if they can afford these luxury products neither online nor in store : rent them. They dont need spend a lot on these famous labels as better solution is going to save them a great amount of money. In a website called Rent Luxury Bags ,customers can find most luxury bags theyve been dreaming of, and they can rent these bags in a reasonable price. Additionally, these bags can be rent from four week up to a year. Last but not least, all customers are able to put their personal belongings online and sell or trade them as second hand products. In the other word, everything can be commodity as long as the demand of these products exists. Take E-bay for example, millions of second hand products are updated everyday on this online trading platform. Sometimes, it is the only way to get the products when the brand new one is no longer in stock. Advertising: As more and more consumers are getting used to online shopping, advertising is also transforming from offline to online. A great number of online shopping websites are cooperating with social network websites,search engines and email service providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Bing, Hotmail etc in order to maximise the online exposure. When searching a keyword on search engine, all the hyperlinks of relevant products will be listed on the first page of search results, and all the relevant websites who have paid advertising fees to the search engine will be popped up on the advertisement column. Similarly, a range of products with hyperlinks will be recommended on your profile page of Facebook or Twitter according to users search history. To put it in different words, advertisement of online shopping websites can be seen everywhere once you get online. The individual owners of small websites are mainly making money through the website advertising alliance. the form of web advertising alliance was invented by Amazon in 1996. The advertising mode of Amazon advertising alliance is CPS (cost per sell), which means the amount of advertising income will depend on the actual sale figures on the online shopping website. With the moderate acceptance and recognition of CPS advertising mode by consumers , online shopping advertising has gradually become the major advertising method, and the revenue of online shopping advertising is increasing in a magnificent speed . More and more sites have been dug to a online shopping advertising market in order to get a share of this new market. There have been a range of online shopping advertising-based mode to promote different sites. Since online shopping has a large number of users, these owners of small websites also gained sustained, reliable and stable income. Cash back websites are becoming popular among online shopping consumers. Once the users make successful purchases through the links provided by the cash back websites, the online shopping websites offer these cash back websites all or part of the sales commission in the form of cash or points to users. The main advantages of cash back websites in one word is cheaper, as they save more money for the consumers, and the maximum savings may be up to 30%. This is a better way for those consumers who make the purchases online regularly. More importantly, these cash back websites are promoting more than 3000 retailers toward consumers at the same time. The most successful example in UK is Quidco. It is obvious to notice the online retailers on the frontpage of Quidco, such as play.com ebay, orange and so on. As consumers browse Quidco to find the cash back deal for their favourite products, the products on other online retailers have also been browsed. In addition, price comparison websites are another essential way to promote online retailers. A number of relevant products will be picked from different online retailers and listed from lowest price to highest price for the consumers to choose once the keyword is typed in. Price Grabber can be taken as the representative of these websites, and any products from appliances to wines can be search and compared in order to find the cheapest products for customers. Simultaneously, the online retailers who sell cheaper products will be exposed to more customers. It is also a practical online shopping advertising mode that offers users an alternative shopping experience. Furthermore, professional online shopping navigation sites are born to promote various online retailers or physical shops and focus on a certain area such as books, restaurants or travels. These websites publish free of coupons, offers, discounts , promotions, free shipping, and other shopping information about some specific websites or shops regularly. They are capable of gathering a large number of online retailers and physical stores and reorganize them in different categories. The updated information about these retailers can be spreaded to potential customers. These potential customers can reach the product or service pages they are interested in by simply clicking the links the navigation sites provide, and it saves a lot of time for the consumers. These professional navigation sites are practical online shopping advertising mode, and they provide a simple, easy, clear way to shop online. For instance, My Voucher Codes provide a wide range of promotional codes, e-vouchers or discount codes , which will offer consumers a discount or money off the listed retail price of many goods, at a variety of different online UK retailers. Moreover, online retailers can be exposed via products review sites. This type of sites mainly focus on film, television, books or restaurants, and guide users to make a purchase through the comment on a particular commodity by other consumers. The interaction between customers on these sites are relatively strong, and it will provoke potential customers to buy the products online shopping customers via the feedbacks from other users in order to achieve the promotion. Students will be expected to be the largest group of potential users of this kind of site. Evaluation: April 2009, the European Commission in Brussels hosted the first summit of European consumers, the them of the meeting is the opportunities and challenges in digital age. A copy of Euros statistics on online shopping was released during the meeting. These data were from family, personal use of information and communication technology survey in twenty seven European countries. According to the statistics on Euro Online Shopping Industry Report(2009), about one-third of customers in European countries have the experience of making the purchase online in 2008, the most popular consumptions online are tourism and clothing . In 2008, the individual consumers between the ages of 16-74, about 32% of the purchase or order through the network are personal goods or services. In recent years, the proportion of individuals online shopping steady growth (in 2004 was 20% in 2006 to 26%, 30% in 2007.) Basically speaking, all EU member showed a growth in online shopping. The majority of the 27 European countries, the most frequent consumer groups in online shopping is 25-34 years (representing the number of age 47%), while in Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bulgaria, age group of online shopping is 16-24 years old. In the 16-24 years old and 35-44 year-olds, online shopping is increasing moderately, the percentage is as high as 41% and 40%. In the 45-54 year-old ,55-64-year-old 65-74 years old, the online shopping rate gradually decreased, respectively, 31%, 20% and 9%. In 2008, the most products and services consumed online are travel and holiday products (14% of individual consumers have purchased or ordered such products in the past 12 months), followed by clothing and sporting goods (13%) Books and magazines (12%), household items or event tickets (both 11%), film and music products (9%), electronic products (8%). In Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Finland, more than half of consumers conducted online shopping. 16-74 year-olds, over 59% of the Danish people have the experience of online shopping, meanwhile in UK is 57%, 56% in the Netherlands, Germany and were 53% in Sweden , 51% in Finland. Among European Union countries, travel clothing and sporting goods occupy the highest proportion in Finland, these two were 31% and 27%, the highest proportion in purchasing of books and magazines is in Luxembourg (29%), purchase rate of home supplies and the highest proportion of electronic products in Germany were 26% and 18%, the highest percentage of purchase event tickets is in Denmark (28%), purchase products, movies and the United Kingdom occupies the highest proportion of music purchase (24%). Based on the online shopping statistics in the UK for November 2009 and February 2010 quarter (Harris G, 2010), the top ten e-commerce sites for that quarter are: Amazon.co.uk, Argos, Play.com, Apple Computer, Amazon.com, Tesco, Marks Spencer, John Lewis, Next and Easyjet. Among these sites above, most of them have been massively exposed via a range of online shopping advertising. The more these online retailers promote, the more customers will be. Besides, the comments about their products on product review sites are mainly positive, and this will have the influence on potential customers decision making. For those companies who have physical stores like Tesco, Marks Spencer or John Lewis, online shops have increased their share in online shopping industry, and customers now can enjoy the products from them anywhere and anytime. Although these companies have been existing for years, a number of customers would still like to purchase their products in an alternative and convenient way. According to the analysis by Redfern A. (2007), the UK online advertising industry has spent over  £2,015.8 billion pounds for the full year of 2006, occupied approximately 11.4% share of the UK advertising industry. This indicates the growth of online shopping advertising is affecting advertising industry and motivate more companies to establish online shops and promote their products in an alternative way. Besides,  £30.2 billion pounds have been spent online during 2006, and 19.7 million people are used to shop online in the UK, spending shopping basket of  £652 each in the past couple of months in average. It is assumed that by the end of 2011, 32 million domestic consumers will start their first shopping online, and the value of commodities they purchase online will be around 52 billion pounds in 2011. Hence, the amount customers spend online will be expected to double in five years, and more people will be persuaded to make the purchase online by the regular consumers who have been doing online shopping for a long time. Conclusion: In conclusion, technology did expanded the scope of advertising and the spaces of consumption practices. It is changing peoples life in every possible way, and is challenging traditional advertising and consumption practices. The revolution of shopping from physical stores to online retailers is inevitably taking place, and choices for online shopping advertising is moderately increasing. It is expected that more consumers will start shopping online and dont need to spend great amount of time on searching for the products they are interested in the future. On the contrary, these products will be able to find the consumers via online shopping advertising.

Financial Performance Of Selected Commercial Banks In Uganda Finance Essay

Financial Performance Of Selected Commercial Banks In Uganda Finance Essay Persistent poor financial performance in commercial banks in Uganda yet stakeholders continuously alleged that corporate governance of these banks was doubtful, provoked the writing of this paper. Disclosure and trust, which constitute the integral parts of corporate governance, provide pressure for improved financial performance (Mark2000). This paper aims at establishing the relationship between the core principles of corporate governance and financial performance in commercial banks of Uganda. Findings indicate that Corporate Governance predicts 34.5 % of the variance in the general financial performance of Commercial banks in Uganda. However the significant contributors to financial performance include openness and reliability. Openness and Reliability are measures of trust. On the other hand credit risk as a measure of disclosure has a negative relationship with financial performance. It is obvious that trust has a significant impact on financial performance; given that transpar ency and disclosure boosts the trustworthiness of commercial banks. Banks both local and international should enforce full disclosure practices and transparency practices thereby enhancing trust in order to survive in the competitive financial landscape. Introduction The International financial landscape is changing rapidly; economies and financial systems are undergoing traumatic years. Globalization and technology have continuing speed, financial arenas are becoming more open, new products and services are being invented and marketed and regulators everywhere are scrambling to assess the changes and master the turbulence. An international wave of mergers and acquisitions has swept the banking industry as boundaries between financial sectors and products have blurred dramatically. In this brave new world, one fact remains unchanged. The need for countries to have sound resilient banking systems and strong banks with good Corporate Governance then will use competition to strengthen and upgrade their institutions that will survive in an increasingly open environment (Kaheeru, 2001). According to James Wolfensohn former World Bank Group President, Corporate governance is about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability (Financial Times, 1999). Governance is a requisite for survival and a gauge of how predictable the system for doing business in any country is. In developing countries, the importance of governance is to strengthen the foundation of society and chip into the global economy. International standards and guidelines on corporate governance have been established by many multilateral organizations including the OECD and the Basle Committee in the effort to ensure improved legal; institutional and regulatory framework for enhancing corporate governance in institutions such as banks and financial markets (Kibirango, 2002). Specifically, the World Bank has proposed guidelines for good corporate governance in the financial sector, because of the critical role of the sector as the main vehicle for robust economic growth and effective transmission of monetary policy In Uganda, the factors responsible for poor corporate performance especially in banks emanate from lack of transparency, accountability and poor ethical conduct (Kibirango, 1999). Commercial banks failures have been linked to self-inflicted causes resulting from bank owners; ICB(International Credit Bank), GBL(Greenland Bank), and Coop Bank were afflicted with the one-man management syndrome of corporate governance exemplified by Thomas Kato (ICB), Sulaiman Kiggundu (GBL) and USAID (Co-op Bank). There was no separation between senior management and the board of directors in ICB or GBL and that management took little account of depositors interests. The board of ICB consisted of 4 members of the Kato family including a six -year- old child GBL had two boards of directors but neither had a say in the running of the bank for instance ICBs audit report cited connected or insider lending to a tune of UShs. 4 billion In the case of GBL the July 1998 Bank of Uganda (BOU) Audit Report stated that as per30th June 1998, Insider lending stood at Ushs.22, 722 million representing 47 percent of customer deposits and accounting for 5 5 percent of the total loan portfolio yet the maximum amount the bank could lend according to FIS 1993 was Ushs.975 million only. The report also cited that in most cases credit was extended on sole instructions of then Managing Director without any or minimal documentation (BOU, 1999). At the time of removing the Managing director in December 1998, the bank was more illiquid than what the financial statements were showing. Greenland Bank had tried to cover up the shortfall through kiting cheques between them selves and Uganda Commercial Bank and this involved instruments worth about Ushs. 4 billion. At the time of handing over, Kigundu admitted having made huge investments (UShs. 37bn off-Balance Sheet) mostly in related companies without disclosing these in books of the bank. In addition, he had secretly solicited for substantial deposits UShs. 20 billion which were kept off the financial Statements of the bank (BOU, 19, 1999). The B.O.U. closure of the above mentioned banks was intended to awaken the owners, directors and managers of the other commercial banks to institute sound corporate governance principles and foster better financial performance. It is worth highlighting that, insufficient financial disclosure evidenced by high level of off-balance sheet items, lack of transparency resulting from gross mismanagement and dubious accounting actions as observed in cases of ICB, GBL (Yunusu, 2001) and TransAfrica Bank Ltd (B.O.U., 2002) are detrimental to interests of banks stakeholders especially the depositors. The banks capital, asset and earnings values are affected and as a result the financial performance is questionable. This may be due to poor corporate governance. Amazingly, even after the intervention by Bank of Uganda through the closure of at least three commercial Banks in 1999, a number of Commercial Banks in Uganda have continued to register poor financial Performance, for instance, National Bank of Commerce in 2001/2002 reported a loss of 729,000,000/= and the banks liabilities swelled to 5bn/= in year 2002 from Ug. Shs 2.3bn in 2001.Citibanks profits fell from Ug. Shs. 4.1bn. in year 2001 to 2.3bn/= in year 2002 (Aggrey, 2003), Similarly, the Balance sheet position of Stanbic Bank (U) ltd. for year 2001 declined by 14.24 per cent compared with a growth of 19.19 per cent in 2000. Loans and advances, which comprised 32.95 percent of total assets declined by 24.42 percent, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated from 31.65 percent to 35.07 percent (Stanbic Bank Uganda, 2001). The overall aim of this paper is to investigate the link between, financial performance and the Core pillars of corporate governance; transparency, disclosure and trust in commercial banks in Uganda, within International and local Commercial Banks with headquarters in Kampala District, Stanbic Bank, Cairo Bank, Orient Bank and CERUDE Bank were the key focus in this paper. In order to achieve this aim bank annual reports formed a major source of financial data used to gauge financial performance. Financial performance was measured using CAEL Model which was later correlated with corporate governance variable. An Overview of the Key Variables To understand corporate governance and financial performance variables in relation to commercial banks, the major corporate governance pillars i.e. financial transparency, disclosure and trust are dissected. Financial performance especially relating to commercial banks is also reviewed based on the performance dimensions comprising capital adequacy, asset quality, earnings and liquidity. The significance of stakeholders in commercial banks is also highlighted. These are compressed in a conceptual framework Revenue Authority and Bank of Uganda, the expectation of government is that, information from these enterprises should not be biased and misleading. Management has to take into account the stakeholders expectations when they set a strategic direction but this can only be attained through sound corporate governance. Corporate Governance Corporate governance is about building credibility, ensuring transparency and accountability as well as maintaining an effective channel of information disclosure that would foster good corporate performance. It is also about how to build trust and sustain confidence among the various interest groups that make up an organisation. Indeed the outcome of a survey by Mckinsey in collaboration with the World Bank in June 2000 attested to the strong link between corporate governance and stakeholder confidence(Mark, 2000). Given that a study has already been carried out on the extent to which board composition affects team processes (orientation communication feedbacks, coordination, leadership and monitoring), board effectiveness and performance of the selected financial institutions in Uganda (Rosette, 2002), the researcher picked three basic tenets of Corporate Governance; Transparency, Disclosure and Trust in relation to commercial bank financial performance in Uganda, these tenets fall under the accounting field. The constructs/tenets are reviewed in the following sections. Transparency Transparency is integral to corporate governance, higher transparency reduces the information asymmetry between a and bondholders), mitigating the agency problem in corporate governance (Sandeep et al, firms management and financial stakeholders (equity2002). In Uganda lack of transparency is attributed to the closures of commercial banks (Yunusu, 2001). Bank Transparency The concept of Bank transparency is broad in scope it refers to the quality and quantity of public information on a banks risk profile and to the timing of its disclosure, including the banks past and current decisions and actions as well as its plans for the future. The transparency of the banking sector as a whole also includes public information on bank regulations and on safety net operations of the central bank (Enoch et al, 1997 and Rosengren, 1998). Weak transparency makes banks asset risks opaque. Stock market participants including professional analysists such as Moodys encounter difficulties in measuring banks credit worthiness and risk exposures (Poon, Firth, and Fung, 1999, Morgan 1999, and Jordan, Peek, Rosengren, (2000)). Ball (2001) argues that timely incorporation of economic losses in the published financial statements (that is, conservatism) increases the effectiveness of corporate governance, compensation systems, and debt agreements in motivating and monitoring managers. For instance, improved governance can manifest in a reduction of the private benefits that managers can extract from the company or in a reduction of the legal and auditing costs that shareholders must bear to prevent managerial opportunism Governance research in accounting exploits the role of accounting information as a source of credible information variables that support the existence of enforceable contracts, such as compensation contracts with payoffs to managers contingent on realized measures of performance, the monitoring of managers by boards of directors and outside investors and regulators, and the exercise of investor rights granted by existing securities laws. There are a number of issues to consider in this regard. First, the existence of a strong financial accounting regime is likely a precondition for the existence of a vibrant stock market and in its absence the notions of equity-based pay and diffuse ownership of firms become moot (Ball (2001) and Black (2000)) Institutional Variables Used to Measure Corporate transparency comprises. Financial accounting disclosures of major stakeholders, Timeliness of disclosures, Information dissemination and completeness of information. Robert Abbie (2001) concur with BPS especially on institutional transparency, they outline the transparency dimensions as; Completeness of financial information, Release of information, Timeliness, and Means of dissemination. Disclosure Given the recent corporate scandals (US Based; Enron, WorldComà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Heidi and Marleen (2003) and Uganda Based; Greenland Bank Ltd, ICB(Japheth (2001)) restoring public trust is at the top of the agenda of todays business leaders. Greater information provision (disclosure) on the companys capital and control structures can be an important means to achieve this goal. High quality and relevant information is crucial for exercise of governance powers. Full Disclosure seeks to avoid financial statements fraud(Beasley, 1996; Beasley et al, 2000). Prior studies have concentrated on disclosure of items such as management earnings forecasts (Johnson et al, 2001; Lev and Penman1990) or interim earnings (Leftwich and Zimmerman 1981), or have examined a very general disclosure index of financial and/or non financial items (Chow and Wong Borren, 1987). The CIFAR Index (i.e. a disclosure index created by the Center for Intentional Financial Analysis and Research (CIFAR) rates annual reports on the inclusion or omission of about 90 (rather traditional and mandatory financial) items from the following categories; general information, income statements, balance sheet, funds flow statement, accounting standards, stock data and special items (Laporta et al, 1998). Dangers of Voluntary Disclosure The most common arguments against voluntary disclosure from a managerial perspective are fear of giving away sensitive information to competitors and procurement of extra costs for collecting and disclosing the information (Eccles and Mavrinac (1995), Healy and Palepu (1993), Reich and Cylinder (1997).However, it is worth noting that as competition continues to bite, the basket of secret information tends to reduce. Financial Disclosure Financial disclosure, which is a key component of the newly proposed Basel Capital Accord, is reviewed in the following paragraphs. In April 2003, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS, 2003a), headquartered at the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, released the new Basel Capital Accord, which replaced the1988 Capital Accord with an attempt to set regulatory capital requirements that are comparable across countries. The purpose of pillar three is to complement the other pillars by presenting an enhanced set of public disclosure requirements focusing on capital adequacy. This pillar is examined in more detail than the first 2 pillars given that disclosure represents one of the key variables in the scope of this study. Details of Pillar Three Pillar Three addresses the issue of improving market discipline through effective public disclosure. Specifically, it presents a set of disclosure requirements that should improve market participants ability to assess banks capital structures, exposures, management processes, and, hence, their overall capital adequacy. The proposed disclosure requirements consist of qualitative and quantitative information in three general areas: corporate structure, capital structure and adequacy, and management. Corporate structure refers to how a banking group is organized; for example, what is the top corporate entity of the group and how are its subsidiaries consolidated for accounting and regulatory purposes. Capital structure corresponds to how much capital is held and in what forms, such as common stock. The disclosure requirements for capital adequacy focus on a summary discussion of the banks approach to assessing its current and future capital adequacy. The Concept of Trust Trust means many things. Everyone knows intuitively what it is to trust; yet articulating a precise definition is not a simple matter (Wayne Megan 2002). Trust is difficult to define because it is so complex, in fact, Hosmer (1995) has observed. There appears to be widespread agreement on the importance of trust in human conduct, but unfortunately there also appears to be an equally widespread lack of agreement on a suitable definition of the construct. Trust is a multifaceted construct, which may have different bases and phases depending on the context; it is also a dynamic construct that can change over the course of a relationship (Wayne and Megan, 2002). Facets of trust There are at least five facets of trust that can be gleaned from the literature on trust (Hoy Tschannen-Moran, 1998; Tschannen-Moran Hoy 2001). Benevolence, reliability competence, honesty and openness are all elements of trust (Wayne Megan 2002). Benevolence perhaps the most common facet of trust is a sense of benevolence confidence that ones well being or something one cares about will be protected and not harmed by the trusted party (Baier, 1986; Butter Cantecell, 1984; Cummings Bramily, 1996; Deutch, 1958 Frost, Stimpson Maughan, 1978; Ganbetta, 1988; Hosner, 1995; Hoy Kupersmith 1985; Mishra 1996). Reliability at its most basic level trust has to do with predictability that is, consistency of behaviour and knowing what to expect from others (Butter Cantrell, 1984; Hosmer1995). In and of itself, however, predictability is insufficient for trust. We can expect a person to be invariably late, consistently malicious, inauthentic, or dishonest when our well-being is diminished or damaged in a predictable way, expectations may be met, but the sense in which we trust the other person or group is weak. Competence: Good intentions are not always enough when a person is dependent on another but some level of skill is involved in fulfilling an expectation an individual who means well may nonetheless not be trusted (Baier 1986; Butter Cantrell, 1984; Mishra, 1996). Competence is the ability to perform as expected and according to standards appropriate to task at hand, many organisational tasks rely on competence. Honesty: Honesty is the persons character, integrity and authenticity Rotte r (1967) defined trust as the expectancy that the word, promise, verbal or written statement of another individual or group can be relied upon. Statements are truthful when they confirm to what really happened from that perspective and when commitments made about future actions are kept. A correspondence between a persons statements and deeds demonstrates integrity. Openness: Openness is the extent to which relevant information is shared; it is process by which individuals make themselves vulnerable to others. The information shared may be strictly about organisational matters or it may be personal information, but it is a giving of oneself (Butter Cantrell, 1984, Mishra, 1996) such openness signals reciprocal trust a confidence that neither the information nor the individual will be exploited and recipients can feel the same confidence in return. Individuals who are unwilling to extend trust through openness end up isolated (Kramer, Brewer Hanna, 1996). In Uganda, as in many oth er countries, there is a rooted distrust in most of the public sector Shleifer, and Vishny, (1993) this may also be the case for the private sector in which the commercial banks fall. Macro-Economic Variable Macro-economic variables through factors such as inflation and changes in interest rates may either enhance or distress commercial banks financial performance. Cordella levy Yeyati (1998a) point out that if the shocks of the economy are wide and banks cannot control their asset portfolio risks, then full transparency of banks risk positions may destabilize the banking system. A countrys macro economic environment may also affect transparency levels therefore it becomes difficult to relate to financial performance of commercial Banks. Consider Uganda where the economy is shaped by a number of straining factors like unemployment, 38% of entire population under the poverty line. Such factors have a serious impact on the behaviour of potential account holders or even those who operate accounts. This means that even if there is proper transparency, full disclosure and trust in the banking industry, the above challenges may negatively affect financial performance in Uganda. In this paper, these together with other social, political and technological factors are assumed invariable. Relationship of Transparency, Disclosure, Trust and Financial Performance Transparency, disclosure and trust, which constitute the integral part of corporate governance, can provide pressure for improved financial performance. Financial performance, present and prospective is a benchmark for investment. The Mckinsey Quarterly surveys suggest that institutional investors will pay as much as 28% more for the shares of well governed companies in emerging markets (Mark, 2000). According to the corporate governance survey 2002, carried out by the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange and accounting firm Price Water House Coopers (PWC), the majority of investors in Malaysia are prepared to pay 20% premium for companies with superior corporate governance practices. Financial Performance and financial institutions Financial soundness is a situation where depositors funds are safe in a stable banking system. The financial soundness of a financial institution may be strong or unsatisfactory varying from one bank to another (BOU, 2002). External factors such as deregulation; lack of information among bank customers; homogeneity of the bank business, connections among banks do cause bank failure. Some useful measures of financial performance which is the alternative term as financial soundness are coined into what is referred to as CAMEL. The acronym CAMEL refers to the five components of a banks condition that are assessed: Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, and Liquidity. A sixth component, a banks Sensitivity to market risk, was added in 1997; hence the acronym was changed to CAMELS. (Note that the bulk of the academic literature is based on pre -1997 data and is thus based on CAMEL ratings.) Ratings are assigned for each component in addition to the overall rating of a bank s financial condition (Jose, 1999). The ratings are assigned on a scale from 1 to 5. Capital Adequacy: This ultimately determines how well financial institutions can cope with shocks to their balance sheets. The bank monitors the adequacy of its capital using ratios established by The Bank for International Settlements. Capital adequacy in commercial banks is measured in relation to the relative risk weights assigned to the different category of assets held both on and off the balance sheet items (Bank of Uganda, 2002). Asset Quality: The solvency of financial institutions typically is at risk when their assets become impaired, so it is important to monitor indicators of the quality of their assets in terms of overexposure to specific risks trends in non- performing loans, and the health and profitability of bank borrowers especially the corporate sector. Credit risk is inherent in lending, which is the major banking business. It arises when a borrower defaults on the loan repayment agreement. A financial institution whose borrowers default on their repayments may face cash flow problems, which eventually affect its liquidity position. Ultimately, this negatively impacts on the profitability and capital through extra specific provisions for bad debts (Bank of Uganda, 2002). Earnings: The continued viability of a bank depends on its ability to earn an adequate return on its assets and capital. Good earnings performance enables a bank to fund its expansion, remain competitive in the market and replenish and /or increase its capital(Bank of Uganda, 2002). A number of authors have agued that, banks that must survive need: Higher Return on Assets (ROA)., better return on net worth/Equity (ROE), sound capital base i.e. the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), adoption of corporate governance ensuring transparency to stakeholders that is equity holders, regulators and the public. Liquidity: Initially solvent financial institutions may be driven toward closure by poor manage ment of short-term liquidity. Indicators should cover funding sources and capture large maturity mismatches. An unmatched position potentially enhances profitability but also increases the risk of losses (The Ugandan Banker, June 2001). The M represents Management, given that this paper is hinged on financial performance, the management component in not considered in the measure. Generally, literature on corporate governance comprises attributes such as financial transparency, disclosure and trust among others and it is revealed that financial transparency and disclosure enhance trust between the stakeholders and organisations like commercial banks. Capital Adequacy, Earnings and Liquidity are the key dimensions of measuring financial performance in Commercial Banks. In summary, this literature forms an underpinning for the establishment of the association between corporate governance and financial performance. Methodology This study was conducted as a cross sectional and correlational investigation. Given that the key focus was to investigate the relationship between Corporate governance and financial performance. The managers of commercial banks in Uganda may be ensuing the arguments of Eccles Mavrinac (1995), Healy Palepu (1995), and Reich Cylinder (1997) whose studies make a note that voluntary disclosure of information for instance on Total capital bases Tier 1 2 capital, and preference shares may directly give away sensitive information to competitors and the disclosure process itself may lead to extra bank operating costs. Analysis Level of Trust in Commercial Banks On average the Commercial banks are not open to their clients on matters concerning the banks the majority indicated that manages do not tell them what is really going on in the bank; over 62 % were not sure and affirmed this statement. The lack of openness in these commercial banks may raise distrust as noted by Beatty Cantrell (1984), and Mishra (1996) who note that openness signals reciprocal trust a confidence that neither the information nor the individual will be exploited and recipients can feel the same confidence. Many authors conclude that reliability implies a sense of confidence. From URA, it was shown that the commercial banks are open to URA officials about what is going on in the bank (62.5%), it was also found out indicated that the commercial banks are competent in doing their work. The majority of URA officials also indicated that commercial banks are honest to URA and it is also indicated that commercial banks are reliable to URA , Overall analysis from the findings institutes a piece of evidence that URA trusts commercial banks activities. Level of Financial Performance in Commercial Banks As noted earlier, financial performance was considered the dependent variable in this paper, before correlating it with governance variables its magnitude within the commercial banks was ascertained. Secondary data especially from respective commercial banks annual-reports (from 2000 to 2003) were used to extract the summary of the banks financial performance Based on Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Earnings and Liquidity as recommended by BOU for measuring Financial Performance (BOU 2002). Capital adequacy, which is measured by CK/RWAs ratio(Core Capital / Risk Weighted Assets), in most banks was above the central banks, required level of 12%. Asset Quality, which was measured by NPA/ Total advances and Specific Provisions, also indicated that most banks were above the FIS (1993) requirement of 25%. Earnings, which are measured by ROE and ROA ratios, indicated that some banks earnings performance was below zero for instance Bank R. Some other banks indicated a steady movement upwards especially on their ROA Ratios. Liquidity which is measured by Liquidity Assets/Total Deposits and Total Advances/Total Deposits ratios, indicated that in the overall commercial banks were highly liquid over the trend 2000 to 2003,for instance for bank Z the Liquidity Assets/Total Deposits ratios were 119%, 140%, 112 % and 129% respectively, this implied a weakness in the financial performance of commercial banks. Relationship between Corporate Governance and Financial Performance in Commercial Banks. It was disclosed that all the dimensions of financial transparency, Disclosure and trust had positive relationships with most of the financial performance dimensions in commercial banks in Uganda. For instance capital adequacy, earnings, assets quality highly showed positive correlations with openness competence honestly and kindness. This is also in agreement with the McKinsey quarterly Survey Mark (2000) and the Corporate Governance Survey (2000) by the Kuala Lumpar Stock Exchange and accounting firm PWC that noted that there is a link between corporate governance and financial Performance due to the investors willingness to inject more funds in a wellgoverned firm. The extent to which corporate governance influences Financial Performance Regression analysis was used to find the influence of the independent variable Corporate Governance (financial transparency, disclosure and trust) on the dependent variables financial performance (capital adequacy, asset quality, earnings and li quidity). An analysis of Variance was produced reflecting the variables corporate Governance and financial performance. Results indicated that Corporate Governance (Transparency, Trust and Disclosure) predicts 34.5 % of the variance in the general financial performance of Commercial banks in Uganda. The significant contributors to financial performance were openness and reliability. Openness and Reliability all these are measures of trust. On the other hand, credit risk as a measure of disclosure had negative relationship with financial performance, this is in harmony with extant finance literature which highlights that, it is probable that when risky lending increases the payback declines. This in turn negatively affects commercial banks earnings. Conclusion and Recommendations Disclosure whose strongest dimension was ascertained as Credit Risk in this paper is in agreement with the New Basel Capital Accord (2003) and Lopez (2001). On the side of Trust; reliability, openness and honesty came out to be the strongest dimensions to gauge trust in commercial Banks this is in conformity with the study undertaken by Butter Cantrell (1984); and Wayne Megan (2002).Whereas completeness came out as the significant dimension when measuring financial transparency. Recommendations based on the above finds include: Given that the corporate governance can influence over 34% of the financial performance of banks, commercial banks need to adopt and strengthen the corporate governance principles especially on dimensions of timeliness in delivering the financial reports to Bank of Uganda and presenting the details of Loan Advances This means that issues regarding transparency where timeliness and completeness fall should not be underestimated by such banks. After the Commer cial Banks have established mechanisms to enforce proper governance practices such as financial disclosure and transparency. They will automatically build a bond of trust with their numerous stakeholders including customers, society, and government among others. Some of these stakeholders especially customers will in turn invest their funds in these banks. For instance, they buy shares when the respective commercial bank is listed both on the local capital market like Uganda Stock Exchange (USE) or on international Capital Markets like The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or any other capital market. Commercial Banks operating in Uganda, like any form of business organisation, in todays dynamic financial landscape should focus on proper Governance Practices and Principles not only to boost and enhance their financial performances but as path to gaining a better publ

Kristina Laycock ICT and My Everyday Life :: ICT Essays

This report is going to be based on the different technologies I use at home, at school, with friends and at work. I am going to evaluate the extent of my needs for these technologies. Below is a list of the technologies I use at home, school and work: Home School Work Internet Internet Touch Screen Email Mobile Telephone Mobile Telephone SMS (Simple Message Service) Smart Boards SMS (Simple Message Service) WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Lap top Mobile Telephone Email DVD’s SMS (Simple Message Service) Teletext PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants) The Internet: I use the Internet to communicate with friends and family at home by visiting chat rooms on-line, it is very efficient and is cheaper than a phone call. I don’t just use the Internet for social reasons; I use it for schoolwork and coursework. The Internet helps adults as well as children; you can do research on just about anything by using search engines. I also use the Internet for revision there are many different sites you can visit that helps you with last minute revision. Email: emailing is another good way of communicating with people and having a laugh. I use my email account to contact teachers as well as friends to get some revision work sent to me, when I am not at school or during the holidays. I also use it to get coursework marked, it saves the waste of paper – I just print off the finishing copy! Mobile telephones: mobile telephones are a way of contacting family and friends when you are out and about; they are also great if you need to contact someone in an emergency, i.e. emergency services. However, there are a few disadvantages with mobile telephones; in certain areas (on top of hills, under bridges etc) you can loose reception on your mobile telephone, which means you are unable to make or receive calls. Also you have to make sure the battery is charged, because if it is not your mobile will go dead and therefore you will be unable to use it. I use my mobile constantly to make arrangements with friends and to keep in touch with family; I don’t know what I would do without it. My mobile also comes in use when I am at work on a weekend; I use it to contact my mum to tell her what time I need picking up. I also use it to keep in contact with my boss so she can tell me if she wants me to work extra hours or if I don’t need to work. SMS (Simple Messaging Service): SMS is a cost efficient service set up so the public can communicate with each other through text.

Art and Republicanism :: Government Republican Essays

Art and Republicanism ABSTRACT: Republicanism is contrasted with liberalism with special reference to the notions of presence, absence and representation. The contrast is more conspicuous in the Platonic tradition of republicanism than it is in the Aristotelian tradition, the former being more likely to degenerate into some form of totalitarianism. Examples thereof are given in accordance with the distinction between a strong and a soft iconoclasm, as it is found both in Antiquity and in Eastern and Western Europe’s quest for absolute presence or—as in avantgarde art of modernity—for absolute self-presence of the work of art. Having left such political and artistic utopias behind it, the pendulum is now swinging back in the direction of representation, but no longer in the illusionist sense which has dominated Western art form the Renaissance to the beginning of our century. Tied to the question of iconoclasm is the debate about the end of art inaugurated by Hegel in the general intro duction to his Aesthetics and resumed in our days. There are two traditions of republicanism, one predominantly Platonic and the other predominantly Aristotelian. Both have several characteristics in common which set them off apart from the tradition of liberalism, such as the paramount concern for morals in politics, or the priority of politics over economics, or the mistrust of growth and riches as well as the preference for poverty over luxury, proximity over distance and—most important from the point of view of arts—direct presence over mere representation and immediacy over mediation. Still, surely the overarching characteristic is that of giving the common good of the res publica absolute priority over private interests with consequences such as the rejecting of factions and—in the last analysis—even of political parties. But there are also differences. The most important of these is that in the Platonic as opposed to the Aristotelian tradition the issue of self-government of all citizens is, to put it mildly, not prominent. If only for this reason, the danger of sliding into totalitarianism is greater in the Platonic than in the Aristotelian tradition of republicanism. Nevertheless, one could, on the whole, say that totalitarianism is the perversion of republicanism in the same sense that anarchy is the perversion of liberalism. To realize this, one need only bear in mind that, republicanism being fundamentally suspicious of political parties as potential factions, it more naturally leads to one-party rule than liberalism does. In addition, the

Modern Feminism and Violence Against Women Essay -- Gender Studies

The 20th century has seeing many progresses for women across the world. Prehistory showed that women could not vote, educational institution excluded them, and work outside the home was limited. Women today live longer and are more educated, enjoy more job opportunities, and earn a little higher salary. However, we still live in a world were society is run by religious laws, customs, and male dominances. These traditions and customs still limit women mobility and women are still regarded as subordinate to men and violence against women still exists despite having many strives in the 20th century. In many countries around the world women still find themselves limited from education, employment, health care, political influences, wage equality, and rights solely due to their gender. Whereby, violence against women is regarded as unfair treatment towards women and it reflects the inequality which still exists in our society today between genders. However the invention of modern feminism has been the naming and exposure of the violence women endure. Modern feminism would argue that violence against women is not just related to men in power, nor that women enjoy violence and domination, and or that victim of abuse invited the violence on themselves but rather rape and any other act of violence against women is a social and societal, historic and cultural, and economical issue that is rooted in the relationship of power and dominance between men and women which is infused in a patriarchy society. The main focus of this paper is to explore how violence against women is viewed in modern feminism. First, the term modern feminism and violence against women will be defined. This paper will be using term such as gender which refers to h... ..., D. (2010). Counting woman abuse: a cautionary tale of two surveys. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 13(3), 265-275. doi:10.1080/13645579.2010.482263 Dekeseredy, W.(2011). Feminist contributions to understanding woman abuse: Myths, controversies, and realities: Aggression and Violent Behavior. Retrieved on February 19, 2012, from, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178911000541 Roberts, D. E. (1994). SYMPOSIUM: GENDER ISSUES AND THE CRIMINAL LAW. FOREWORD: THE MEANING OF GENDER EQUALITY IN CRIMINAL LAW. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 85(1), 1-14 Nayak, M., & Suchland, J. (2006). Gender Violence And Hegemonic Projects. International Feminist Journal Of Politics,8(4), 467-485. doi:10.1080/14616740600945024 VanNatta, M. (2005). Constructing the Battered Woman. Feminist Studies, 31(2), 416-443

Edward Steichen Essay

Edward Steichen is one of the world’s proponents of photography. He is also best remembered for his great contributions during the world war period. At the early age of fifteen, he began as apprentice in litography under the American Fine Art Company . He attended photography lectures but continued painting after when he turned 21 in Paris. When he went back to New York, he exhibited his arts in Philadelphia Salon and three of which were purchased by Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer . He then joined with Stieglitz and others and they established the Photosecession Group. His works was made known more through Stieglitz. The following years, he experimented on photography and painting. He was also among those who first used the Lumiere Authochrome process . In the International Exhibition of Pictorial Photogrphy, thirty- one of his works were displayed. When the First World War erupted, he directed the division of photography of the American Expeditionary Forces and made aerial photography. It was also during that time where he shifted his idea to realistic photography. The following years, he was engaged in famous magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue, as a chief photographer . There he met famous celebrities like Charlie Chaplin as his models. In the Second World War, he again directed the US Naval Photographic Institute and published naval combats photography. It was then that he organized the Road to Victory and Power in the Pacific exhibitions in the Museum of Medern Art in New York . Furthermore, after the war, he became the Director of the museum and one of his popular exhibitions was the The Family of Man. He died in Connecticut at the age of 94. Bibliography Edward Steichen (2008) Spartacus Educational at 4 June 2008. Edward Steichen (2008) MSN Encarta at 4 June 2008.