Project Implementation Plan Essay Example for Free

Project Implementation Plan Essay In a project the communication level is a very important part from the beginning to the end of project close out and completion stage. This method in the plan is extremely necessary and it is a needed tool that helps assist the project team, the stakeholders, and the executive team of Enterprise. This tool is effective and it makes sure all members involved with the project is on the same level of understanding, it makes sure all involved stays updated on the project, knows what is going on in the project, and it helps keep the project information together. â€Å"One of the primary jobs of a project manager is to manage the trade-offs among time, cost, and performance† (Gray Larson, 2006, p. 103). A project manager must ensure that he keeps everybody inform about the latest development of the project; thereby gives sense of belonging to every member of the project team as well as the sponsor or customer. Within this project, the communication plan is the key element that is designed to help assist the project team, stakeholders, and the executive team aware of any progress, and to help keep up with the status of the progress in the process. The plan of communication design help keep all members of the project aware of the progress and the status of the project, it helps everyone stay informed and connected in the project, and it gives information regarding any matters of urgency that are crucial within the project progress. The purpose of this  communication plan is to make sure all key aspects and elements of the communication strategy are documented and implemented successfully in the project. The strategies implemented include: frequency, method of delivery, recipients, and owner. The frequency in this communication plan entails scheduled meetings and how often they are being scheduled, it explains the project progress and all important information needed to help assist with the project deliverables which helps keep all the members aware of everything needed to meet the objectives of the project while keeping everyone on the same level of understanding. The team will have meeting on the status and progress of the project deliverables scheduled throughout the project as needed. Method of delivery is the avenue in which the reports or minutes of all the meetings will be disseminating to all the participants. The method adopts for the purpose of this project is through email, in person, and paper copy. The recipients in this project are project team, enterprise executive and potential stakeholders in the project outcomes. These are the people that directly are involved in carrying out activities in this project. The format is in regards to the style adopted to see the communication being effective as the project progresses. These are important elements needed to help achieve the project objectives and deliverables which keep all members connected, informed, and constantly communicating. The training, development, and overall retention and selection practices helps manage challenges (McNamara, 2011). The channel of communication for the purpose of this project will be formal in nature. No informal meeting will be allow or reckon with, all information must be well documented with proper references. Verbal and written communication is needed in as much it does oblige with the communication plan designed for this project. It is essential to the elements of the project success that all stakeholders involved have to follow the rules as contains in this communication plan because this will help track any issues as regards the scope, schedule and cost of this project. The project manager is in charge of clarifying any elements in this communication plan, and all concerns need to be addressed to the project manager. PROGRESS MEETING AGENDA Introduction Review meeting times Project progress update Contingency modification Request for information Scope performance Budget performance Project Schedule Owner items Next meeting date PROGRESS MEETING AGENDA Meeting agenda are guidelines that help modify and keep focuses of the issues to be discussed. The elements are tools that write down everything that needs to be achieved after a meeting. In the case of this project, many items have been identified and pencil down for this purpose of this meeting. They are introduction, review of last meeting minutes, project progress update, contingency modification, request for information, contractor update about scope performance, budget performance, and project schedule, also identified are owner items, and next meeting date. Introduction gives every participant in the meeting the ability to tell people who they are, what they are doing and their contribution or job function as related to the on-going project. This process brings everyone together on the same page and it helps members get to know one another and form an effective working relationship. Review last meeting minutes is an important element in this process that explains all the activ ities of previous meeting if there is any out loud so that everyone clearly hears and knows what is going on in the project. This allows all members to know what has been said, what needs to be done, and it helps to go over everything about the agenda of the day. Progress update is the most important aspect of this process. All the major stake holders furnish the house with comprehensive update of what happen to the project since last meeting. This must cover the areas of what was identified in the previous progress meeting as well which helps keep all members of the project on the same level of understanding what has happened, is happening, and will happen in the next meeting. Contingency modification is when things happen unexpectedly during the activities of the project needs to cater for. This should bring attention to the house if there is any  contingency or not, and if there is any, what is the solution put in place to address this contingency. Request for information is where information that needs immediate attention of project team is discussed. The information here could be result of specifics action that was previously talked about in the past meetings. Contractor update is when the contractor gives detail reports of the project or major portion of the project to the sponsor or customer. The parameter that the report of contractor will focus on must include project scope performance, project budget performance and project schedule. Owner items explain what the owner has observed within the project. He or she explains whether or not the project is going as scheduled? Is the project still running within the budget and are specifications being met? This is a means that the owner talks extensively about what he or she has observed and what changes he or she wants to see before the next meeting. Next meeting date is where the current meeting is adjourned and the next progress meeting date is announce to everybody. The date, the time and the venue of the meeting will be known to everybody. The next meeting helps prepare all members for the future meetings and the aspects of these meetings that are important and essential to the success of the project. PROJECT CHARTER PURPOSE The project charter defines the scope, objectives, and overall approach for the work to be completed. It is a critical element for initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and assessing the project. It should be the single point of reference on the project for project goals and objectives, scope, organization, estimates, work plan, and budget. In addition, it serves as a contract between the Project Team and the Project Sponsors, stating what will be delivered according to the budget, time constraints, risks, resources, and standards agreed upon for the project.

Understanding Organisational Behaviour And Leadership Management Essay

Understanding Organisational Behaviour And Leadership Management Essay Leadership is a vital and pivotal role in any organisation, regardless of size. It can be in the form of a single person in a small sole-trader like business, or in the complex structure of a multinational corporation. Leadership is essential for organisations to achieve their goals, and to manage their employees in the process. I will be looking into the theories of leadership and assessing how they affect the work performance of employees, in terms of motivation and efficiency. In particular, I will discuss the path-goal theory, and how it links into the different styles of management affecting employee work performance, as well as the benefits and criticisms of the model, and finishing with a conclusion as to what my stance is on the subject of leadership affecting work performance and to what extent performance is affected by leadership and theories such as this. From preliminary reading and understanding of this area in the subject of organisational behaviour, my viewpoint can come to assume that leadership does have an effect on an employees performance, and that the style and method of leadership does have a positive correlation on the mentioned relationship. The Path-Goal Theory The performance of employees in an organisation is much dependant on the leadership they have. Leadership has to be effective and tailored to the particular situation to ensure that the optimum efficiency is achieved. The path-goal theory of leadership effectiveness, developed by Robert House in 1976, is a transactional leadership theory that explains how leadership should be carried out in a manner that brings out the best in the employees abilities and is dependent on the efficiency, motivation and satisfaction of the employees in an organisation. The theory outlines how leadership behaviour and the employees abilities will lead to a particular path that will achieve the outcome, the goal (House, 1996). This goal would be a mutual goal of the worker and the organisation. Different leadership styles are needed, in terms of leadership behaviour, depending on the demands and circumstance of the particular state of affairs (House, 1971). Looking at the theory in more detail, this situational leadership theory explains how an individuals attitudes and their behaviour are in ­fluenced by the link between their effort and performance, the goal paths, and the attractiveness of the rewards, which is the goal attractiveness, being it the leaders job for this direction (Strebel, 1994). Therefore, these individuals would be productive, and their desires fulfilled when they see a strong connection between their effort and performance and when this results in highly appreciated rewards. House argues that the most successful leaders are those who assist their subordinates go down the path to receiving valued rewards (Indvik, 1986). The theory states that leader behaviour must be motivating and gratifying to the level that it clarifies the aims and the paths to the goals and as a result increases goal attainment, hence success, thus increasing the work performance of the employees (Evans, 1970). From this, we can gain the basic idea behind the path-goal theory as being the following shown in Figure 1.1 (Northouse, 2007): The path-goal theory is a very complex concept, as you look further into it. An array of factors and characteristics, such as leadership behaviour, subordinate characteristics and task characteristics are evident when looking at this concept of path-goal theory (Northouse, 2007). Even though there are potentially many different leadership styles, this theory approach has broken down these styles into four distinct leadership styles (House Mitchell, 1974). Directive Leadership: this style is where the leader would tell the workers what to do and what is expected and provide detailed guidance, standards of work, and schedules of work to assist performance Supportive Leadership: in this style, the leader treats its subordinates as an equal member of the organisation, and would go out of their way to ensure the well being, personal needs and status of the employees are maintained pleasantly. In addition to this, there would be interpersonal relationships developed as a result of this leadership style. Participative Leadership: this is a more democratic leadership style, whereby the subordinates are involved in the decision-making process of the organisation. The leader would consult the employees and take into account their opinions when making decision on how the group will tackle the task. Achievement-orientated Leadership: leaders set high targets and challenging goals for the subordinate to achieve, and therefore expects them to perform at their highest standard. However, achievement-orientated leaders show large amounts of confidence in their workers to achieve the goals set out. In comparison to Fiedlers Contingency Theory (Fiedler, 1967), which advocates that leadership style is resistant to change, the path-goal theory is one where the same manager can execute the four different styles of leadership behaviour during different situations at different times. However, it must be taken into consideration that although path-goal model fails to explain how to identify the most appropriate leadership style, the theory does give a series of situational factors that need to be taken into account when making the decision on the style of leadership. From this, we can see, in Figure 1.2, the major components of the path-goal theory, putting everything discussed so far into a visual model (Northouse, 2007). Strengths and Weaknesses of the Path-Goal Theory The path goal theory has both strengths and weaknesses. One key positive of this model is the fact that it is the first attempt to provide an expanded framework which brings together the previous works of contingent and situational leadership as well as the expectancy theory (Jermier, 1996). Furthermore, the path-goal theory is one where attempts have been made to incorporate motivation principles from the expectancy theory into the theory of leadership, and from my further reading, this seems to be a unique characteristic, as no other leadership theory has this relationship with the principles of motivation. In addition to all of this, the path-goal theory has a clear direction, and a path, so to speak. It definitive as to what the managers need to do with their subordinates and it defines very practical and clear roles for a leader. It ensures that questions are constantly being asked of improvements in work performance to reach the mutual objectives of all. On the other hand, there are also many criticisms that are to be addressed. This model is regarded to be a very complex theory since it considers many parameters and therefore requires extensive analysis of those parameters to effectively choose the correct leadership style for the situation at hand. Additionally, another limitation has come about from the relationships detailed by the path-goal model. These have been the subjects of a number of empirical studies to test the validity of the theory (Schriesheim Kerr, 1997; Schriesheim Schriesheim, 1980; Schriesheim Von Glinow, 1977; Stinson Johnson, 1975; Wofford Liska, 1993). In some of this research, it is apparent that leader direction is strongly related to the workers satisfaction when tasks are ambiguous, however other pieces of research fail to agree on this. Another factor to be noted as a criticism of this theory is element that not all aspects of the theory have been given the same amount of attention and detail in the creation of the model, as well as much of the research to date only involving partial aspects of the model (Faulk Wendler, 1982), it is evident that a good level of detail has gone into the aspects of directive and supportive leadership, unlike the other two styles, participated and achievement-orientated, have fewer studies addressing them. It is therefore that the claims of this model will remain tentative due to the lack of a full picture in the research findings and not being able to have consistent corollaries of path-goal theory (Evans, 1996; Jermier, 1996; Schriesheim Neider, 1996). This extent research has tested the theorys predictions regarding the moderators of lead ­ership effectiveness, and how to assess as to whether the situational variables interrelate with the leadership styles in the predicted approach. It can be verified that the model is successful in predicting how the situational variables and leadership styles come together to influence individual satisfaction. However, the model seems not be a good predictor of a group or even and individual performance. The final criticism that can be made of the path-goal theory concerns an indirect outcome as a result of implementing such a theory. The model greatly relies on leaders to give full direction, coaching and guidance to their subordinates and it is the leaders who define the goals and assist them in their path to success and achieving these objectives. This therefore means that there is an enormous reliance on the leaders from the workforce, disregarding independence. As a result subordinates are dependent and reliant on the leaders and managers to get through the obstacles during the path to the goal, and hence, this theory fails to recognise and utilise the full abilities and skills of the subordinates, asking questions of the subordinates in the firm rather than the leaders, and originally mentioned in the original theory (Green, 1979). In some ways we can see that the major disadvantage in trying to authenticate the model empirically, is the fact that the model contains too many variables and simply tries to explain too much, making it very complex. Therefore, conducting an experiment examining the full path-goal theory of leadership will be difficult because of the numerous variables. Nonetheless, the studies that are available tend to support the model, even though they suggest that it understates the intricacy of the situation. Adding to this, the research mentioned recommend that other variables, such as structure and conflict, also need to be integrated into it. Conclusion The path-goal theory was developed for leaders to help and assist them in motivating subordinates to be productive, efficient and increase job satisfaction. Due to it being a theory that is based upon the task, the behaviour of the leader as well as the contributions of the subordinates, it can be classed as a contingency theory, one of which has been derived and created from the expectancy theory. An expectancy theory is one about the mental processes regarding choosing or making a choice. It explains the processes that an individual undergoes to make choices. On the other hand a contingency theory can be defined as the theory that explains how different management styles will be more effective in different situations. Looking at the four different leadership styles, it gives the leader room for change and provides a more dynamic approach to this aspect of business. It is certain to say that leadership does affect and employees work performance. As to what extent by which it is affected, that is something that is subject to a matter of individual opinion. Referring back to my stance, it can be believed that there is a strong positive relation between a good leader and subsequently increased work performance by the subordinates. Theories and models such as this, the path-goal model, provide a great guidance to leaders and manager as to how they can be effective themselves, in order for this to be passed down the hierarchy in the firm. This model gives some structure an despite the fact that it does have many criticisms and drawbacks it is one that offers a large et of predictions and assumptions as to how leaders interact with their subordinates, and the idea of steering them down the right path in order to achieve this common goal and objective with a reward that motivates them, achieving goal attractiveness is a great one, and perfectly sums up this theory and its objectives. Being one of the first models to provide an expanded framework, which brings together the previous works of contingent and situational leadership, it is far more complex than what one would initially think. It proves that leadership is effective and useful, especially when tasks are unclear and/or the subordinates are autonomous, and choosing the right leadership style is essential in motivating employees and increasing their work performance. It is therefore that I believe that leadership does greatly affect and influence employee work per formance, looking at it through the analysis of the path-goal theory of leader effectiveness.

Climate Change Effects on Agriculture

Climate Change Effects on Agriculture Climate change is a change in average weather over certain periods of time. Issues about the climate change have been going on for quite some time now. The main issue is of course whether the Earth is experiencing climate change or not. The respond to this issue is surely positive although countless number of arguments is being highlighted regarding this issue. People usually confuse the climate change with the variations of weather that occurs constantly. This is wrong since the climate change is the change in average weather as being stated in the definition earlier. Climate change is also being observed for a certain period of time usually for a long time period ranges from decades to millions of years. Research that have been done and still going on about this issue offer a scientific assurance and great amount of data that supports the argument that the Earth is experiencing climate change. Various types of data like temperature variations, precipitation and wind patterns are us ed regarding this issue. These data record variations since they are affected by the dynamic processes on Earth such as instability of sunlight intensity and in recent times the human activities. Climate change effect all sort of people around the world and but the main group of people that will be affected the most is the poor population of the world. This is based on the facts that they rely mostly on their natural resource base for instance agriculture, fisheries and tourism activities. These types of industries are known as the climate sensitive industries which contribute to a vital number of national gross domestic products (GDP) (11). Agriculture share in total GDP at world stage is approximately 13% in developing countries and 2% in developed countries (5). Australia reliance on agricultural industry is quite significant although it is a developed country. The agriculture industry only contributes approximately 2% of the national GDP in Australia but around 66.7% of its products are being exported and this contributes approximately 18% of total Australian merchandise exports (8). Australian Governments Department of Climate Change reports that the interdependence between agriculture and economy was observed during the terrible droughts in 2002 to 2003 where the gross value of agricultural production decreased by 19% (approximately $32 billion) which accounts for the reduced of GDP by 1% (1). The relation between climate change and agriculture is a subjective matter and researches have been going on for quite some time now to find out what are the effects of climate change on agriculture and also the effects of agriculture on climate change. Most farmers are aware that they have to grow crops and rear animals depending on the local climate. This is important since the weather plays a very important role in determining the quantity and quality of the crops despite a lot of technological advances being introduced like genetically modified organisms, improved irrigation system and seed variation. This fact is being accentuated by Wall and Smit (2005) (4) who said that the main aspects in the success of agri-food sector are the weather and climate conditions. The climate impacts on agriculture are best being observed at local stage rather than at global stage because the impacts are more related to local climate. A detailed insight on the interrelation between climate change and Australian agriculture will be provided in this paper. This is due to the fact that agriculture plays an important role in Australian economy and is at risk caused by the adverse effects of climate change. The projected changes of climate, effects of climate change on the Australian agriculture, effects of Australian agriculture on climate change, ways to lessen the effects by means of mitigation and adaptation will be discussed in detail later in this paper. Australia is a big country and includes various types of climate. The temperature increase is difference from one region to another. In this case, the temperature average is taken into account where the estimated temperature increase is 1à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C to 5à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C in 2070 contrast to that in 1990 (CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), 2007, Table 1.0 in ABARE 200) (8). In general, the coastal areas of Australia will experience smaller number of temperature increase compared to the inland area of Australia. The changes in precipitation level are also being considered in order to observe the changes of climate. This type of change is less definite compared to the changes in temperature and the precipitation patterns are notably different at regional stage (IPCC 2007) (8). According to the modelling, the warming of Earth will anticipated to increase the precipitation level over Southern and Eastern Australia (7). According to CSIRO and BoM (2007), Australia will be expecting 20% more drought months by 2030, by taking the drought months in 1990 as a comparison (8). This number will be increased by 2070 with 40% more drought months are expected in Eastern Australia while 80% more drought months in South Western Australia (8). There will be also an increase in the number of flood occurrence and soils erosion as a results of the high number of precipitation level and longer drought throughout Australia (CSIRO and BoM 2007) (8). According to Garnaut Climate Change Review, the number of days with extreme fire weather will be increase approximately 5% to 25% in 2013 (6). Climate change can be both beneficial and detrimental to the agriculture industry. Which one plays the main role is still in question and arguments are still going on. The sure thing is that the climate change will certainly affect agriculture industry since this industry depends a lot on the climatic conditions. According to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, crop production is affected directly by the temperature changes, average rainfall rate changes, rainfall distribution over a year and rainfall variability (6). For example, temperature increase and rainfall decrease will results in the smaller amount of wheat yields and land values in all agricultural industries including crops, mixed and livestock by approximately 7% to 16% (10). Changes in the important climate variables in Australia are also results in the loss of agricultural production, decrease in crop yields, pasture growth and livestock production returns and increase in the cost of agricultural production (8). Climate change can also be beneficial to the agricultural industry as being said earlier. The beneficial effect includes the increase rate of photosynthesis that leads to higher crop production in certain plants due to the increasing number of carbon dioxide emissions (6). This is supported by John Houghton, the author of the book titled Global Warming by saying that the carbon dioxide fertilisation effect will leads to higher productivity, C3 plants in particular (9). On the other hand, this relation is complex and could possibly be compensate by the temperature increase and decrease in the water availability (1). Climate change effects on the agricultural are usually depends on the geographical aspect of an area and also the capability to adapt to them. According to a report, in mid to high latitude regions, moderate local temperature increase will results in small beneficial effects on crop yields, despite the fact that the same moderate local temperature increase will results in detrimental effects on yield crop (2). In a book titled Global Warming wrote by John Houghton, the writer states that with detailed knowledge of the conditions required by different species and the expertise in breeding techniques and genetic manipulation available today, there should be little difficulty in matching crops to new climatic conditions over large parts of the world (9). The statement is true but unfortunately it is only applicable to crops that take over a year or two to mature. Agriculture itself has its own effect on the climate change. The main reason is because the massive emissions of greenhouse gases which is one of the contributors to global climate change. According to Australian Governments Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), the Australian agricultural sector is the second highest source for greenhouse gases behind the electricity production, with approximately 18% of the overall national emissions produce by on farm activities (3). The highest amount of emissions (12% of the national greenhouse gas emissions) is methane (CH4), a main greenhouse gas produce by livestock, followed by nitrous oxide (NO2) produce by fertilized soils that contributes 3% of Australias greenhouse gas emissions, and the remaining amount is represented by carbon dioxide (CO2) (3). At world stage, Australias per capita emissions results from agriculture activities contributes to more than six times the world average, more than four times the average Or ganization for Economic CO-operation and Development (OECD) countries emissions and the third highest in OECD (6). It is proven that the Australian agricultural activities are very much vulnerable to the effects of climate change and also the effects of Australian agriculture on global climate change. There are many ways to deal with these two problems. The best ways to deal with this situation are to mitigate to lessen the effects and also to adapt to the foreseeable changes. The effects of agricultural activities on the climate change results in the establishment of international agreement, conventions and conferences as an effort to solve this problem. DAFF has prepared the Action Plan consists of a number of measures focussing on decreasing the CH4 and N2O emissions and discovering further prospect to encourage enhanced efficiency, understanding prospect to decrease the energy use in agriculture, promoting cost efficient alternatives to fossil fuels and developing biosequestration prospect in agriculture (6). Moreover, the emission trading scheme in Australian agriculture industry introduced by the government is also a way to decrease the adverse effects of climate change by making sure that farmers taking appropriate steps to reduce their carbon footprint and at the same increasing the net farm profits (8). Careful and principled approaches have to be taken to make sure that the design of the scheme does not create needless costs on the Australians (6 ). Another method is adaptation. The definition of adaptation is a structure modified to fit a changed environment. In this case, the modification that can be done to face inescapable climate risks. ABARE (2007) reports that the adaptation in agriculture could incorporate altering the species planted to those with more suitable thermal time and vernalisation requirements and with enhanced resistance to heat, frosts or drought; altering application times and quantity of fertiliser or irrigated water to sustain quality and growth; altering pasture rotations and grazing times; and supplying additional feeding to livestock (8). Another step is to increase the efficiency of water delivery which helps in reducing the declines in supply of water for irrigated agriculture due to the climate change (6). The climate change that strike the Earth which results in temperature and precipitation increase plus the greater rate of extreme weather events are understood to have significant effects both beneficial and detrimental on agricultural sector. On the contrary, agriculture industry also contributes to the climate change, mostly owing to the greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, mitigation and adaptation approaches have to be taken in order to deal with this problem.

Definition essay on computers :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people in general have enough problems to deal with. Why should organization add to them? Computers are known to be the key factor of saving people from falling off the edge of their chair every time they were to have to think really hard. If an individual were to purchase a computer he/she should take the following into consideration: â€Å"Will this make my job easier? Do I need extra multimedia capabilities? Will I be using the Internet?† Many people go out and buy a computer without acknowledging what should be included in the purchase.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many businesses and organizations use computers for projects such as graphs, calendars, calculators, word processors, and even filing tax returns online. When calling the doctors office to make an appointment the receptionist will ask for the name. Why is this? By telling a name, the computer automatically searches and pulls up the medical history, address, age, etc. Without this technology, people would have to file space consuming papers manually, and, in addition, try to read doctors’ handwritings. Computers in today's businesses allow us to make clerical work easier.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Getting down to really utilizing the PC consists of using Microsoft Office, including Power Point Presentations, Word, Excel, Outlook, Works, Frontpage, etc.. Networking the computers gives selective access to certain individuals such as: the President of Microsoft, store manager, or a janitor. If a company grants its employees access to a computer they may expand with certain accessories that can be installed, or plugged into your computer. If one were to go camping and take pictures, but wanted to post the Kodak pictures on the family web site, it wouldn’t be a problem using the computer. There now are picture scanners that make fully digitalized photos on the computer screen from normal camera film. Making a webpage is not a hard task. The computer includes a modem that is plugged into the PCI slot. It is used to connect the computer through the phone line to millions of other users that are signed on to the internet at the same time. Both of these computer accessories help make life a little easier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The internet holds a vast amount of different topics to look up in its huge library of knowledge. One could find anything from how to make a bomb to geneology. There are many different types of search engines to look up these topics. Basically, one word is typed, and many related topics are pulled up on the screen to choose from. It saves a trip to library and looking up call numbers, and

Differences in Gays and Lesbians Essay -- Health, Diseases, HIV/AIDS

Differences in Gays and Lesbians HIV/AIDS is one of the leading causes of death according to the World Health Organization in 2004. Imagine the numbers of infection and death have steadily been increasing over the years, it probably has moved up in ranking. HIV is commonly transmitted by bodily fluids, but it is more highly transmitted when men have sex with men. I will be discussing the different variables that come into effect when gay men and lesbians are transmitted with HIV and how to avoid it. Gay, Bi sexual , and other males that have sex with men are , â€Å"approximately 2% of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV and are the only risk group in which new HIV infections have been increasing steadily since the early 1990s,†(CDC, 2006). In the year of 2006 in the United States , males who have sex with other males where accounted as more than half of the new HIV infections , â€Å"53% ,† (CDC, 2006). Males who have sex with males are known has MSM , MSM with previous known history of injection drug use were an additional, â€Å"4% of new infections,† (CDC, 2006). Towards the end of 2006 , more than half of the 53% were MSM or MSM that used injection drugs, accounted for the population living with HIV in the United States. The beginning of the epidemic in the United States the MSM have been a consistent representative of the biggest percentage of people diagnosed with AIDS and those living with the diagnoses. They sti ll remain the a big part of HIV and are learning different ways in remaining HIV free. The study was able to break up what ethnicity of homosexuals are getting infected and what are the age groups, the age groups are broken into 13-29, then 30-39, and 40-49. First the Caucasians accounte... ...ailable, one can take out penis before ejaculation. Oral sex on the anus should also use a dental damn in order to avoid fluids. Sharing sex toys between lesbians and males can be very risky such as a dildo , it can contain vaginal fluids, semen, faeces or blood on them. Make sure to keep them clean and to clean they very well every time. Also rough sex can lead to bleeding or breaks or cut in the lining of vagina or anus is very risky due to bodily fluids coming out. Mutual masturbation can lead to contraction of HIV if there is a wound on the hand of person performing it. If the sexual partner is an acquaintance the hands and fingers should be examined. For males penis to anus penetration HIV can be avoided by latex condom, there is still risk of infection. Making sure there is lubricant and anus is soft before entering is a good way to avoid bleeding and tares.

Whaleship Essex

Book Review: In the heart of sea: the tragedy of the whaleship Essex, written by Nathaniel Philbrick, recounts the mystery surrounding the sinking of the whaleship Essex in the South Pacific. The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819, the 238-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, the unthinkable happened: in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, the Essex was rammed and sunk by an enraged whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, decided instead to sail their three tiny boats for the distant South American coast. They would eventually travel  over 4,500 miles. The next three months tested just how far humans could go in their battle against the sea as, one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease and fear. This is not only a timeless account of the human spirit under extreme duress, but it is also a story about a community and about the kind of men and women who lived in the remote island of Nantucket. Philbrick uses little-known documents-including a long-lost account written by the ship's cabin boy-and penetrating details about whaling and the Nantucket community to reveal the chilling events surrounding this epic maritime disaster. An intense and mesmerizing read, In the Heart of the Sea is a monumental work of history forever placing the Essex tragedy in the center of historical American maritime disasters.

Internal Migration in India and Citizenship implications

An essay on eye-scanning, Indian's floating population and inclusive governance. â€Å"That will give me an identity,† he said, gesturing at the computer station where he had Just completed his enrolment. â€Å"It will show that I am a human being, that I am alive, that I live on this planet. It will prove I am an Indian. † – Mohammed Jail, (New York Times 2011 Introduction The 2011 report of the MIAMI on internal migration and human development in India estimated the number of internal migrants to be around 400 million people, at that time roughly a third of the total population.The MIMI was launched by EUNICE and UNESCO to respond to the many problems existing around this population, also referred to as the ‘floating population'. These migrants, often never really settled, face great difficulties in accessing social security as this is often linked to residence. This is but one of the many ways in which these people are treated as ‘second-class citi zens', discrimination, a lack of political representation and low wage work being other examples. The aim of the MIMI to ensure: â€Å"†¦ Hat processes of urban development are socially equitable† 2 crystallized In the launching of an â€Å"informal outwork of 200 researchers, NAGS, policy makers. I-JNI agencies and key partners† focused on raising attention given to internal migrants in policy and practices (UNESCO, 2011). The Indian government project called ‘Dharma' might be an interesting development to these problems. It is a hugely scoped project aimed at providing all Indian residents with an identity by scanning their eyes and entrusting them with a number, enabling them to claim for example social benefits and a bank account .In this paper I seek to answer the question whether this project might actually benefit this floating population, and how this can be embedded In a broader discussion on citizenship and legibility. Indian's floating population' As the MIMI report stressed to be the basis for its creation, the internal migrant population of India has up till now received very little attention from either research or polices, partly because of the difficulties In gathering data. Most attention got diverted to international migrants, as their positive potential to contribute to development was well researched and backed by political and economic interest.First of all, speaking of the floating population does ignore the diverse backgrounds, practices and reasons to migrate of the people concerned. Goodling and West (2002) stress in their paper on the floating population in China that there is no set definition for this concept. It Is mostly used to denote the part of a population someplace else than where they are registered (Ibid. , 2002). Definitions and ambiguities put aside, this category does provide us with new and potentially better tailored ways of looking at urban development issues.A quick glance at Indian swapper a rticles concerning internal migrants helps gain some insight in the myriad of problems surrounding this issue. A 2012 article in the Times of India reports how the floating population (in Locknut, India), mostly not accounted for in enumerations, appear to be the cause of major water shortages, as the water supply is based on the number of permanently settled. Other articles report discrimination migrants face. An article from 2008 (CNN- BIN)4 for instance shows how migrants become the subject of political discrimination and commotion in Iambi.Political leaders articulate and incite an anger against the migrants, aerating an ‘other' which is blamed to be an economic burden, obstructing the freedom of ‘normal' citizens and â€Å"milking Mamba's resources† (Ibid. 2008). Whereas some government policies seek to tackle the problems surrounding this population through settlement relocation and infrastructural improvements (Times of India 2013)5, initiatives such as the aforementioned MIMI pursue making them visible and included in society.As was shortly noted in the introduction, the MIMI recognizes a trend of expanded use of rights based approaches in Indian law and policy. This generally means a ore equal citizenship and ways of governing, as government institutions are built more around the focus of ensuring and fulfilling human rights of all. The Indian Supreme Court has been a fundamental actor in demanding this change in government approach, and has for instance ordered the government in 2001 to provide a daily warm meal to every Indian schoolchild as part of the right to food.But how to ensure and fulfill the rights of those who can't be seen? In the particular case of the MIMI it means: â€Å"focus development of policy frameworks and practical strategies awards ensuring that all migrants have access to services and entitlements as enshrined in policies and law; and that urban settlements become inclusive spaces as they expand in size an d diversity'. In practice it means slow and arduous changes and redefinitions of social and economic rights.As the migrants are politically underrepresented, lobbying on their behalf is done largely by bodies such as the IM†. One particular government project might provide the nation's poor, as well as the floating ones, a shortcut to claiming some of the rights hitherto denied to them. Scanning eyes and citizenship As of 2009 the Indian government has initiated a project aimed at identifying and registering all 1. 2 billion Indian residents and giving them an identification number: Dharma. It is done combined with a retina-scan to ensure the uniqueness of the identity.As Sabine Demented, working for one of the companies hired to carry out the identification, puts it: â€Å"It will enable people to open checking accounts, apply for loans, insurance, pensions, property deeds, etc. What's more, the government wants to make sure that welfare benefits go directly to the right per son† (Saffron Magazine, 010). The only demands made of people in order to register are a retina-scan and fingerprint, name, gender (even transgender is possible), address and date of birth. Million people as of March 20146.For one, it circumvents the widely used village- based identity system, making it hard or impossible for migrants to claim rights in a place where they are not registered. Some of the other assumed potentials, as framed in an article by the New York Times (2011)7, are ways in which citizenship will be less mediated through caste- , religious- or kin groups, but rather through an individual national identity. For the floating population, who often experience discrimination based on their respective group-identity, or exclusion because a lack thereof, this might prove to be a real structural change to their good.It is also argued that this form of e-governance bypasses corruption, which is often linked to the inability of the poor to assert their rights throug h official bodies. Interaction with the state is hence deadline from local gatekeepers, which is important as, according to the Dharma director Ram Seven Sahara: â€Å"One cannot improve human beings†¦ But nee can certainly improve systems†. This, of course, is questionable in its own right.Reanimating (2012) sees this kind of service-consumer relationship, as is excreted through such systems, as a hindrance to political citizenship and a representative democracy (p. 129). Accessibility might be improved, but the means to criticize remain weak. As the project is still being implemented it is not easy nor feasible to entirely predict its potentials or flaws. In theory, though, one could wonder to what extension this project really brings about a first-class citizenship for all. The simplicity of the Dharma identification number gives it great inclusive strength.Whereas before traditional group- or village based identification made it hard for internal migrants to claim ce rtain rights, as the negotiation is often done through the same channels, a more direct way of interacting with government services has been made possible. The simplicity also lays bare the eventual narrow implications to the poor. As Harvey stresses in ‘The Right to the City (2003): â€Å"The freedom to make and remake ourselves and our cities is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights† (p. 2).If citizenship means recognition by state and law and henceforth attaining the human rights bestowed upon citizens in a democracy, Dharma falls short in scope. It does not enable people to vote, nor does it empower them in gaining settlement rights. Furthermore, although it is not something to blame the project itself for, other structural as well as social and economic constraints keeping the floating population away from full citizenship still remain firmly rooted. Still too little attention is directed towards tackling real societal pr oblems, such as discriminatory practices and uncontrolled arbitration.To conclude, I do believe the first steps toward including this huge neglected part of the Indian population are being taken, and that in itself can be seen as a very good development indeed. Improving legibility, which this project in essence is to the government ( and which James Scott might condemn in other conditions), can in such abominable conditions of inequality truly contribute to strengthening the position of the weakest, albeit in really small steps.