Honesty: Lie and Friendship Relationship

In a friendship relationship honesty is the most important trait one should have. Although many traits such as respectfulness, trustworthiness and caring are also important to have one believes that honesty is the number one trait. Honesty means telling the truth, having good intentions and being sincere. To establish a friendship relationship one should be able to believe in each other. An example of this is believing in each other is when a friend borrows money and they say they will return it the next day. They are giving their word. If they just keep the money and never return it to back then they are considered to be a dishonest person and the friendship can fall apart. Instead they should be honest and tell the truth of why they couldn’t return the money and maybe the friendship could be restored. Having good intentions speaks about having good character. When one has good intentions then one can be believed in. For instance if a friend tells another friend that a particular person has a crush on them, this action may cause resentfulness because they may have a crush on another person. Even though the intentions were good intentions the actions could become disastrous because the relationship will be broken. Another form of honesty is if one goes into class and a cell phone is left behind on a chair; what would one do: A: keep it or B: tell the teacher? On one occasion this was, while entering the classroom one found a cell phone and one gave it to the teacher. By making the right choice one’s peers were able to identify one’s honesty. Setting a good example is the best thing to do. Not everyone is as honest, on one occasion one’s phone was stolen from one’s backpack, one was very unhappy. Due to not having enough money to purchase another cell phone one has had to adjust to life without a cell phone. There are many dishonest people everywhere. One’s belief is that if the item doesn’t belong to one then one must return the item. Being sincere with each other is building a positive relationship. No matter how difficult it is to tell the truth one is better off being sincere than to lie about it. The friendship may be hindered if the truth is not said as it occurs and the friendship may be lost. When one lies about things then one continues to lie very easily to others in fact one can actually think that one is telling the truth. One guesses one can become a compulsive liar. By always practicing telling the truth one will not have those types of problems. In conclusion, the reader may not agree to above essay, yet one believes that honesty is what keeps a friendship relationship in good standards. Being sincere is to tell each other the truth no matter how difficult it may be. By being careful with one’s intentions can prevent hindering the friendship by ensuring one’s actions are the right ones.

Birthday Bash and Crash

Birthday Bash and Crash Nathan Blanchard Honors Language-2 August 9, 2013 On June 22, 2013, I woke up as if it were any other day, but it was not any other day, It was my birthday. I got up and took a shower, brushed my teeth and hair and dressed in a nice, but casual outfit. A pair of blue, white, and red plaid shorts with a solid red polo shirt and white under shirt was my outfit of choice. I was excited for my party even though I knew what I was getting as a gift. All I had asked for was an Oxbow 360. I knew my mother and the rest of my family had done everything they could to make sure I got it.I was so happy for a lot of things though. I was getting an Oxbow, my older brother, Each was coming, and It was a cook out. Even though the party was small, it was the best party ever. My whole family would be coming to the party my mom had planned. Everyone began to arrive around 2:00 In the afternoon. My mom was busy cooking in the kitchen and a family friend, Mr.. Rick was cooking hamb urgers and hotdogs on the grill. My granny, Winston and Gail, Brian, Each, and Gracie all came over. Once the food was all cooked and ready, we all ate.We had hamburgers, hotdogs, potato lad, Cole slaw, devil eggs, baked bears, macaroni and cheese, and potato chips. Of course there was a big cake with â€Å"Happy Birthday Nathan† in red letters for dessert. After eating lunch, it was time for presents. Got the best things ever. Everything I needed and wanted were nicely wrapped or boxed. My gifts included a metallic black Oxbow 360, five games, Including Mineshaft and Call of Duty. 1600 Microsoft points, a set of black and green Turtle Beach headphones, and an extra controller which was purple. I know these were very expensive gifts and I am very grateful to my family.I know that they love me a lot and the really care about my wants and needs. After opening my gifts, my brother, Each and I decided to throw the football. Before we went outside, he tossed the football in the al arm and I hit it. The ball crashed onto the table. I didn't break anything, but my mom told us we had to go outside. When we got outside, my sister, Michael and her friends, Brian and Gracie came out also. We all threw the ball back and forth until my brother and I started to tackle. That was too much for the girls so, they played kickball. My brother kept taking the soccer ball from them.Next thing I heard was him yell, â€Å"He shot, he scored. † I looked to see what happened. Each had Just kicked the ball In the back of his truck. After we played in the yard for a while, we all went back inside for cake. The cake was served after the family and friends sang, â€Å"Happy Birthday. † The cake was great. It was vanilla cake with white sweet Icing. I had ice cream with mine. Once we all finished our cake, it was getting late and everyone needed to go home. The party ended and cannot wait until next year's. Just to let you know, I play my all of the time.

Concepts of Sociology Essay

Values, beliefs, behaviours, practices, and objects that constitute a peoples way of life. This is referred to as Culture. It takes two forms; material culture and non-material culture. Material culture being a physical trait and non-material culture being a non-physical trait. A prime example of a physical trait for a material culture in Ireland for example would be our national flag or a shamrock. This represents our culture and is recognised world-wide as being associated with us. Physical traits such as these are known as symbols of our culture. Having said that, a good example of a non-physical trait of culture would be the language of that culture, or the belief system. It’s something we don’t physically wear on our person but we know it is there. Our religion, our native tongue; Gaeilge. Each culture has their own non-physical trait. Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviours, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. Through culture, people and groups define themselves, conform to society’s shared values, and contribute to society. Thus, culture includes many societal aspects: language, customs, values, norms, mores, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations, and institutions. This latter term institution refers to clusters of rules and cultural meanings associated with specific social activities. Common institutions are the family, education, religion, work, and health care. Popularly speaking, being cultured means being well-educated, knowledgeable of the arts, stylish, and well-mannered. High culture—generally pursued by the upper class—refers to classical music, theater, fine arts, and other sophisticated pursuits. Members of the upper class can pursue high art because they have cultural capital, which means the professional credentials, education, knowledge, and verbal and social skills necessary to attain the â€Å"property, power, and prestige† to â€Å"get ahead† socially. Low culture, or popular culture—generally pursued by the working and middle classes—refers to sports, movies, television sitcoms and soaps, and rock music. Remember that sociologists define culture differently than they do cultured, high culture, low culture, and popular culture. Sociologists define society as the people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture. The cultural bond may be ethnic or racial, based on gender, or due to shared beliefs, values, and activities. The term society can also have a geographic meaning and refer to people who share a common culture in a particular location. For example, people living in arctic climates developed different cultures from those living in desert cultures. In time, a large variety of human cultures arose around the world. Culture and society are intricately related. A culture consists of the â€Å"objects† of a society, whereas a society consists of the people who share a common culture. When the terms culture and society first acquired their current meanings, most people in the world worked and lived in small groups in the same locale. In today’s world of 6 billion people, these terms have lost some of their usefulness because increasing numbers of people interact and share resources globally. Still, people tend to use culture and society in a more traditional sense: for example, being a part of a â€Å"racial culture† within the larger â€Å"U. S. society. †

Individual Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Individual - Assignment Example The company cannot achieve its mission with engaging adequately strategies to ensure development and maintenance of superior quality products and services, maintaining affordable prices for the products, ensuring consumer have adequate knowledge about the products, strategies to outcompete the rivals, etc. (Steers et al., 34). Improving the productivity of workers can help the company to reduce the cost of production, increase quality of products and improve productivity of the company (Schreck 24). I recommend Starbucks to focus on streamlining the workforce in order to ensure the competent workforce. Furthermore, the company should motivate employees by giving them better remunerations and other benefits in order to reduce workers turnover and cost of replacing the employees who have already left the organization. Well-motivated employees are more productive and will take more time to improve the quality of services and products offered by the organization (Wetherly & Otter 253). One of the core objectives of Starbucks is to produce quality products and services to the consumers (Ahlstrom & Bruton 9). The company should obtain feedback from the customers regarding what users need in order to devise strategies that can lead to better products and services. In the recent, the company has increased its presence in the society through social media (Bicky & Kwok 201). Therefore, the Starbuck management should ensure consider the consumers information and engage them in providing accurate information that can increase product improvement. The company should research on various product designs needed by consumers through effective communication and ensure they offer innovative products to the customers in order to provide increase client’s satisfaction (Wetherly & Otter 267). Starbucks experience stiff competition from other companies

Stress Topic Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stress Topic Research Paper - Essay Example Other heightened risks of developing diseases of the endocrine system such as Type 2 Diabetes can be increased with moderate weight gain, but being obese quadruples an individual’s chances of becoming diabetic. Certain cancers, such as endometrial and colon cancer are also more prevalent in individuals that are obese as opposed to individuals that are found to be within the healthy range on the BMI scale. A non-medical outcome of obesity is a greater prevalence of diminished self-esteem and negative body image among obese individuals. This psycho-social consequence, while not directly relating to mortality, does indicate that individuals that are obese have less satisfying life socially and emotionally in many instances. It could be said that obesity is an individual problem, not one for society to worry about. The solution is simply for individuals to gains some self-control, to eat less and exercise more. Others would argue and say that obesity is a societal issue. Billions of dollars are spent on treating illnesses each year that are exacerbated by obesity. Millions of hours are lost in productivity to employers because of these illnesses. Add to this the tax money spent caring for low income obese individuals and the many lost opportunities for pleasure obese individuals pass up due to their condition, and you could say that the costs of obesity to individuals as well as society are staggering. Millions of dollars are spent each year by governmental and concerned organizations on health and nutrition education. The belief is that if we can educate individuals about correct nutrition and exercise, the obesity will lessen and we will have fewer illnesses concerned with this disorder. Despite these well intentioned efforts, obesity rates continue to rise, not only in America, but in other industrialized nations as well. Obviously something is missing from the equation that doctors believe causes

Seismic Mitigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Seismic Mitigation - Essay Example Recovery is sometimes defined as a return to pre-disaster conditions; or the term may refer to a community resembling its own characteristics in the absence of the disaster occurrence, in terms of population size or economic output. Another definition of ‘recovery’ â€Å"recognises that after a disaster, a community often undergoes significant change, so that it may never return to either the pre-disaster or without-disaster states† (Olshansky and Chang, 2009, p.201). This approach defnes ‘recovery’ as the post-disaster attainment of a stable state or condition. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate seismic mitigation, post-disaster recovery, and reconstruction in regions devastated by earthquakes. Reconstruction and Recovery after Earthquakes The ‘Disaster Life Cycle’ model refers to the five time periods that comprise the life cycle of a disaster. These include the â€Å"pre-impact period, the impact period, the immediate post-impact period, the short-term recovery period, and the long-range recovery period† (Fischer, 1998, p.7). ... t-disaster recovery is a critical component of the disaster cycle, because also provides significant opportunities for mitigation† (Olshansky and Chang, 2009, p.201), and consequently helps to break the cycle. The reasons include the requirement for new construction, the flow of post-disaster funding, and the ‘window of opportunity’ of increased awareness created by the disaster. Smith and Wenger (2007) emphasize on the importance of developing an ethic of sustainable recovery. Stakeholders and their Role in Seismic Mitigation In present times, city planners prepare plans related to emergency response and preparedness issues, which were conventionally undertaken by civil defense or municipal emergency officers, states Edgington (2011). On the other hand, Meyer et al. (2010) and Sandnik and Fuller (2009) argue that planners do not take into consideration the likelihood of a major disaster, and that none of the stakeholders plan longer-term recovery and reconstructio n procedures. Although planning for urgent emergency response and short-term repairs to housing and infrastructure following earthquakes, floods, and other disasters is important, longer term building of cities and regions subsequent to catastrophic disasters raises a completely different set of problems. In contemporary disaster recovery practices, the emphasis is on complex problems regarding decision-making by the stakeholders involved in long term recovery, which include households, different levels of governmental and international agencies, businesses and the broader community. Planning professionals work towards rebuilding the regions and communities affected by seismic devastation. They aim to reduce the losses, to accelerate the process, and to assist communities in becoming more resilient to

How the US Constitution Relates to Being an Army Officer Essay

How the US Constitution Relates to Being an Army Officer - Essay Example Article 1 section 8 stipulates clearly this role (Legal Information Institute 1). This therefore implies that United State Army serves under dual chain of command. These chains of command encompass the executive and legislative branches of government. Thus, from the founding of United State subordination of army officers to civil authority has been a crucial principle to the nation’s constitutional system. Military profession has recognized and embraced a tradition of service to the nation before self-interests. Constitution acknowledges military role of protecting freedom and important national interests. It also balances the duty of military with constitutional democracy where people get chances to maintain ultimate authority over the military through their elected leaders. There are several sections of United States’ Constitution affecting a military officer. The constitution is the foundation of army in United States. In Article 1 Section 8 clause 11 through 16 give s the Congress the powers regarding the Army. For instance, clause 12 dictates that the Congress has the mandate to form and assist army. Clause 13 authorizes Congress to provide all the assistance, which Navy requires. Similarly, clause 14, 15, and 16 empowers the Congress to call and discipline military, to suppress invasions, and to regulate the activities of United States military. This therefore implies that the constitution of United States demands military officers are answerable to the Congress. Congress can declare war, award letters of marque and retaliation, enacts rules that to direct capturing on land and water. In addition, the Congress can send any military officers to areas, which it feels United States should display its military mighty. Although the army has its autonomy, the Congress prescribes their cause of actions (Legal Information Institute 1). The US Constitution requires that people who enlist or re-enlist in Armed Forces of United States to pledge enlistme nt oath. Any commissioned officer can administer the oath of enlistment for a given term of service in any branch of the military. Army officers swear, before the United State flag, that they will support and defend the Constitution of United States against domestic and foreign enemies. The army officers also assure the nation that they will be faithful and obedient to the orders from the president of United States. This oath of enlistment binds military officers to respect the spirit of United States Constitution. Loyalty to the Constitution in the part of army officers implies that they are ready to uphold ideals of their unit (Legal Information Institute 1). Therefore, the army officers dedicate and commit themselves to serve and protect the country faithfully. The foundation of laws of military justice has its basis on the United States Constitution. Article 1 section 8 gives Congress powers to regulate military operations. These powers enabled the Congress to enact substantive and procedures laws that direct the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Military law came into existence in the year 1950. Enactors of this law borrowed a lot for United State Constitution in order to make the existing law into a comprehensive code. Uniform Code of Military Justice underwent revision in the year 1968. The law established military courts. The Uniform Code of Military Justice allows the Army Criminal Investigation Command to investigate misconducts of military personnel. Misconduct on the part military officers ranges from rape,

Operations Mangement Coursework (Five Questions)

Operations Mangement (Five Questions) - Coursework Example An organization uses operating performance to attract and retain customers and also serve them in a profitable manner (Hsu, Tan, Kannan &Keong Leong 2009, p. 835). Operations vary in different industries, but in general, they include things like on-time delivery, customer acquisition, running efficiently, and developing new products and services. According to Barney (1991, p. 56), the internal organization of resources in a firm is the determinant of the firm’s performance and strategy. Barney further defines resources as capabilities, assets, attributes, knowledge and information, and all things that are under control of the firm to enable it implement strategies that aid in improving effectiveness and efficiency. Porter (1996), on the other hand, asserts that the most essential resources are the ones that are hard to imitate, superior in use, more valuable, and difficult to substitute. According to the two authors, a firm’s competitive advantage resides on inherent heterogeneity of strategic resources that are controlled by the firm (Barney 1991, Porter, 1996). Therefore, failure to strategically integrate operations, finance, and marketing results in a weak and inconsistent company’s strategy, and its execution will be inefficient and flawed. In today’s world operation activities have become the dominant element in planning and management of production capacity (Stevens 2009, p. 5). Whether you are running a manufacturing firm or a service company, the organization deals with issues of what and the amount of production, and means of measuring performance. In many firms, operations are viewed as an identical partner with finance and marketing. The operations staff of an organization concerns with the planning and management of production capacity, accompanied by production facilities and equipment. Operations gives an

1. From the early 1970s criminology was subject to a process of Essay

1. From the early 1970s criminology was subject to a process of radicalisation which brought both positive and negative consequences for the discipline. Discuss - Essay Example By so doing, crime has been looked at from the standpoint of demographics and patterns of any criminal activity, the socio-economic and cultural as well as the psychological perspectives of such criminal mannerisms in the context of the wider society. From the outset, perhaps it is imperative to note that the process of crime development and conceptualisation was given the much needed impetus by the conflict theory. According to Scraton (2007, p. 72), it is this ideological orientation that gave birth to the development of the other concepts during the early 1970s. A closer analysis of the conflict theory of crime reveals that it was founded on the premise that the primary or root causes of crime are both the economic and social forces that operate within any given society. In this regard, the various systems of justice and their respective laws tend to operate on behalf of powerful elites and rich persons within the society. Hence, policies that are put in place, more often than not, end up controlling the poor. Consequentially, this culminates into the imposition of standards by the criminal justice system that are construed to the establishment of benchmarks of good behaviour and morality put forward by the powerful in the society. The period from early 1970s witnessed the development of the new criminology which later came to be known as the radical criminology. Inciardi (1980, p. 58), argues that the development of radical or critical criminology stems from conflict theory of crime and is indeed its branch. On a positive rejoinder, Scrato n (2007, p. 169), holds the view that it draws its ideas from the Marxist perspective of criminology. In a nutshell, radical criminology was based on the concepts such as power, class in addition to ideology that was advanced by the Marxists during their analyses of the famous capitalist society. Perhaps it is important to note that this concept of criminology was developed initially in

Exam 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Exam 1 - Research Paper Example This event requires adequate replacement mechanisms for the economic continuity of the nation. Chronological trends indicate that replacement of the retired workforce has been a challenge to the regime. The low application turnout towards governmental vacancies has been attributable to the negative perspective from college graduates. The graduated professionals from colleges have a very low opinion towards serving the regime. Most of these seniors from college do not have a vivid understanding of government jobs. Additionally, the government takes an extremely lengthy duration to recruit a single employee. In this case, the government ought to implement strategies to attract college graduates and professionals towards the available posts in agencies. The government should shorten the recruitment span. This would entail superficial recruitment of workers without investigating the individual in great depths. A span of probation would determine whether the individual deserves the post. Additionally, the government should also educate the college graduates about serving in diverse posts. This would inculcate a new perspective of serving the government into the college graduates. Pay banding The General schedule has dictated on the compensation channels to the employees serving in the regime. Under the schedule, the level step of an employee determines the payment. The time of experience within the post determines the step of the employee. For instance, a one year old employee in service might belong to step one. This philosophy surfaced much focus on time spent in service, rather than an individual’s performance. Managers have minimal discretion, while technicians express immense authority within the urgency. The technicians decided the grade of equipment to a department in the agency. Pay band strategies performed a replacement of the General Schedule. These strategies oversaw the delegation of much authority and support to the managers. The strategies also focused on performance of an employee to determine payment. Pay banding initiated immense advantage even to the recruitment process. This system required new recruits to receive their pay according to their range within the agency. Consequently, it would appeal for more attention and attraction from the college graduates and talents. Evidently, this was a remedy to the concept of the General schedule. Category rating In this system, line managers have utmost authority towards the recruitment procedure. This system was a remedy to traditional methodologies of recruitment within agencies. The traditional methodologies used the philosophy of â€Å"rule of three.† According to this principle, the recruitment process involved picking three best candidates. This was regardless of the close performers of the top applicants. Category rating implemented a new strategy of grouping the applicants according to their performance. For instance, there would be clusters of â€Å"highly qua lified,† â€Å"qualified,† and â€Å"not qualified.† This would give the appointing manager a platform to choose an individual from the top category. Upon exhausting the first list, the manager has an alternative to choose from the subsequent category. This was an outstanding recommendation for the governmental agencies. The selection procedure is more accurate and fair. Question 2 Government agencies have the capacity of maintaining well-adjusted and trained workforce. The government

Three Mile Island Essay Example for Free

Three Mile Island Essay INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Three Mile Island incident stands not only as a reminder of the potential hazards of nuclear power, but of the potential hazards of an economically driven society and a government infiltrated by corporate interests. The events behind the most dangerous nuclear accident in American history are as straightforward as they are alarming; On Mar. 28, 1979, failure of the cooling system of the No. 2 nuclear reactor led to overheating and partial melting of its uranium core and production of hydrogen gas, which raised fears of an explosion and dispersal of radioactivity and consequently left the citizens of Harrisburg PA and the surrounding areas in a man-made disaster area of which they remained largely oblivious for some time.    An ensuing federal investigation of the accident would fault human, mechanical, and design errors, and recommend changes in reactor licensing and personnel training, as well as in the structure and function of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,   (Three Mile Island).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   BODY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inarguably, failure to prevent the Three Mile Island nuclear accident rests on human shoulders; the accident resulted from mistakes, oversights, and misjudgments and unlike natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, or major fires, left no immediate physical alterations in the surrounding environment; however, the possibility to lay blame for the accident on specific actions or non-actions by specific reasons lured many who were impacted by the accident to search for immediate victims and villains.   (Houts, Cleary, and Hu vii)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the primary concerns surrounding the accident was the potential dangers of the radioactive leak which   was especially frightening because it cannot be felt or seen and is not easily understood. It is not possible to tell by ones senses when one is being radiated. Therefore, it was impossible for people living near Three Mile Island to assess the danger directly or to know what protective actions to take though the immediate psychological impact was devastating to nearby residents.   (Houts, Cleary, and Hu xi)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The accident at Three Mile Island grew in its immediate impact on the citizens near the plant due to media-influence. Recent studies of the incident and comprehensive studies of those impacted by the disaster   reveal profound psychological damages as well as physical damages to personal health and well-being. Subsequent lawsuits against the power plant were upheld by federal courts which ruled the accidental release of radioactive gases resulted from a partial meltdown of the reactor core after a combination of mechanical and human failures allowed the core to lose cooling water[] the company is responsible for health problems, such as cancer and birth defects; however, the full impact of the disaster on the population and the environment may not be known for many years to come.  Ã‚   (Murray 3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While the media exaggerated threats and claims of possible hazards, the state and federal and corporate spokespeople, at first,   downplayed the event and only later admitted that   findings about the status of the reactor suggested to Met Ed, NRC, and state officials that the accident had caused more damage and presented a greater threat to the citizens of central Pennsylvania than they had previously realized which   ultimately led to a complete dissolution of trust between the impacted citizens and corporate interests. (Walker 102)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The impact on the citizens near the plant took three major forms: psychological, physical, and economic. Detailed studies of those impacted by the disaster showed that Nine months after the crisis, 11% of respondents within five miles of TMI stated that they had visited a physician concerning symptoms they thought were due to the situation at Three Mile Island and that in many cases, these health problems were ultimately found to be of a anxious or psychological origin.   (Houts, Cleary, and Hu 95). Long-term impacts, as mentioned earlier, included cancer, birth-defects, and an undermining of trust in government or in corporate America. Many of the citizens near Three Mile Island relocated and left their homes of many years due to the unknown impacts of the disaster which may still be unmeasured.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CONCLUSION      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I feel that the Three Mile Island accident severely damaged the relationship between community and corporation not only for those who suffered in the disaster but for anyone who is familiar with its history.   To me, it is appalling that the company realized the power plant was leaking radiation uncontrollably but failed to inform the public or explain the risk, leaving the media to misinform the public in many cases making the situation worse for those who had to endure it. To me, the accident stands as an almost symbolic occurrence which shows the perils of greed and corporate   proliferations and the reality that American citizens are sometimes not provided for by their companies or government but are often put at risk by their actions.(Goldsteen, and Schorr 129)                  Ã‚  SUMMARY      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the accident at Three Mile Island can overtly be traced to: A series of mechanical and judgmental errors it can also be traced to deeper roots in the economically driven private sector of American society and also to the superficiality of media and of the failure of government to adequately inform its citizens about the potential risks of an private industrial power-plant operating near their residences. The accident caused a breach in trust between ordinary citizens and government and corporate hierarchies; the full impact of the disaster is till unknown and will only be determined over time. (Houts, Cleary, and Hu ix)   Works Cited    Three Mile Island. The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2004. Goldsteen, Raymond L., and John K. Schorr. Demanding Democracy after Three Mile Island.    Gainesville, FL: University Presses of Florida, 1991. Houts, Peter S., Paul D. Cleary, and Teh-Wei Hu. Psychological, Social, and Economic Impacts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   on the Surrounding Population Psychological, Social, and Economic Impacts on the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Surrounding Population. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988.    Questia. 11 Oct. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=99373973. Murray, Frank J. Supreme Court Lets Stand Three Mile Island Lawsuits. The Washington   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Times 6 June 2000: 3. Questia. 11 Oct. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst? a=od=5001743165. Walker, J. Samuel. Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective. Berkeley, CA:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   University of California Press, 2004. Questia. 11 Oct. 2007 http://www.questia. com/PM.qst?a=od=105355260.

Prevalence of One Party Rule in African States Essay Example for Free

Prevalence of One Party Rule in African States Essay Africa, often known as the ‘Dark Continent’ rightfully occupies its place as the ‘Cradle of Civilization’ as the first humans have been known to originate from this continent of diverse ethnicities, tribes and clans. Since ancient times, the very nature of African society predicated formation of kingdoms and states centered on ethnicities and clans. Later, the advent of colonialism brought to Africa new forms of governance, which included democratization, socialism, communism and dictatorships. One enduring feature of African style of governance has been the prevalence of one party rule in most African countries. This paper examines why there is such a preference for such single party model of governance in Africa. To fully examine the subject, this paper shall first provide a historical overview of the progression of styles of governance in Africa and then examine the trends in major countries that make up the African continent. The paper will argue that the intrinsic nature of the African society and the effects of colonialism predispose them to following a one party rule. Historical Overview Africa is the world’s second largest continent both in terms of size and population and has 54 countries many of which are struggling democracies, a few communist regimes, and a number of authoritarian regimes bordering on dictatorship. Since ancient times, Africa had its indigenous systems of governance based on tribes and ethnic affinities. Africa also had great civilizations like the Egyptian civilization in 3300 B. C (Martin OMeara, 1995, p. 79). The earliest foreign influence came in 814 B. C. with the founding of Carthage in present day Tunisia under the Roman Empire which was followed by Persian domination of Egypt. In 332 B. C. , Alexander the Great replaced the Persian domination of Egypt and Roman rule continued in much of North Africa till the advent of Islam in the early 7th century (Martin OMeara, p. 99). In all these cases, the style of governance was centralized, as exercised by the emperor based in Rome or Persia through an appointed sovereign. The influence was limited mostly to North Africa, while the rest of Africa was considered too difficult to traverse due to thick jungles. Thus even in North Africa, from ancient times, the focus was on one –man rule and that more or less ‘conditioned’ the North African people to accept models of ‘uni-power’ in those times. Since the jungles were impassable and large number of tribes and ethnicities abounded, it was natural that rest of Africa had thousands of small kingdoms, states and at times independent nomadic tribes who dominated a particular territory. Each tribe had its own set of rules, customs, traditions and styles of governance, which again was predicated on the rule of one man or a tribal elder. The concept of Greek ‘city-state’ like democracy complete with a senate and an executive was non-existence. Over time, some of the tribes became more powerful and evolved into larger settled kingdoms that coalesced around similar ethnicities and language such as the Ghanaian empire that existed in 790-1076 A. D. followed by the Mali Empire from 1230 to 1600 A. D. (Martin OMeara, p. 70) The significant changes in style of governance came with the advent of colonialism. From the 18th century and by the late 19th century, most of Africa was divided up between the colonial powers; France, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Netherlands. Under colonial rule, the African people had to undergo centralized rule of the colonial powers and the brutal suppression of any African revolt reinforced this submissiveness to a one-man rule. During the colonial period, the colonial powers brought with them their systems of governance, jurisprudence and legislation (Martin OMeara, p. 8). Colonialism lost its vigor in the early 20th century and by 1980, most ex-colonies in Africa gained independence. The former colonial powers before exiting from the continent tried to put into place systems of governance in ‘their own image’. Thus across Africa, a variety of ‘democratic’ systems took hold. Most of these ‘democratic systems were basically presidential forms of government, being the closest approximation to what they were used to both as per their pre-colonial experience and their colonial experience. The end of the Second World War gave rise to the Cold War and the Soviet Union tried to expand its influence in Africa also. This gave rise to numerous socialist-communist regimes in Africa that were opposed by the U. S. leading to proxy wars. Having examined the broad trends of the historical period of Africa till the advent of independence, the paper will now examine specific examples of how prevalence of one party rule exists in Africa. It is not intended to cover all 54 countries, but few sample countries that typify the various regions of Africa. For the ease of comprehension and brevity, Africa will be discussed under the heads North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. North Africa North Africa because of its proximity to Asia had significant influence of Asian and Islamic traditions superimposed on ethnic African traditions and cultures. It is because of the spread of Islam in the 7th century, most of North Africa is Islamic. Islam, an egalitarian religion is considered as a complete body of work wherein all aspects of human life including politics and governance can be practiced through the Quran, the Holy book and the Hadith, the Islamic interpretation of Jurisprudence. Under Islamic law and Islamic political systems, an Islamic state is governed by a Caliph and where a Caliph no longer exists, then by a monarch or a ruler. Ideas such as secularism and democracy have very little congruence with the practice of political Islam. When such a system is overlaid over ancient tribal culture of a village head, it becomes natural that a state be ruled by a monarch or an authoritarian head and if not, the nearest approximation, a single grouping or party. Take for example, Egypt. Egypt, since ancient times was a land ruled by the Pharaohs, then the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and the Arabs. In the colonial era, Egypt was ruled by Britain but the largely Islamic populace got independence from Britain in 1922 (Pateman El-Hamamsy, 2003, p. 28). Egypt was initially a constitutional monarchy and had adopted the British parliamentary system of government but constant political interference from Britain led to internal turmoil that finally resulted in a military coup in 1952 (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 28) in which the monarchy was overthrown and Egypt declared itself to be a Republic under General Muhammed Naquib. Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew Naguib in 1954 to become the Egyptian President. Nasser, on assuming power banned all political parties and created a one party named the Liberation Rally to run the government. This move helped him consolidate his power and rule Egypt till his death in 1970 after which he was succeeded by Anwar El-Sadat, the vice President (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 29). Sadat carried out political reforms and reverted to a multi-party system (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 31); creating one of the parties called the National Democratic Party and remained the President till he was assassinated in 1981 by a group of Egyptian army officers during an army parade (Pateman El-Hamamsy, p. 29). Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak is still in office since 1981 and is the present leader of the National Democratic Party. Though by the Egyptian constitution, multi-party system is allowed, due to sustained state patronage, the National Democratic Party is the only party which has the necessary financial and political clout to win elections. There are other smaller parties that have virtually no chance of winning a single election and till to date Egypt is essentially ruled by a single party. Libya, a British colony was declared as a monarchy under King Idris in 1951 but was overthrown by a revolution led by Colonel Muammer al-Gaddafi in 1969 (Wright, 1981, p. 130) who has ruled the country ever since. Political parties were banned by Gaddafi in 1972 and the country is ruled by the ‘revolutionary leader’, Gaddafi aided by a Revolutionary Committee also called as the People’s Congress. Tunisia was a French protectorate that became independent in 1956 and adopted a Presidential form of government, copying the French model, except that it rapidly turned into an authoritarian police state where most ‘Presidents’ have been military personnel. The present incumbent, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a former military officer (Perkins, 2004, p. 7). On paper, political parties are allowed but in reality, it is only the President’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally that gets almost all the seats. The rest of the political parties are usually browbeaten into submission by the state’s security system and there is virtually no free press. The farcical nature of Tunisian ‘democracy’ can be gauged by the fact that in the 2009 presidential election, Ben Ali received 89. 62% votes to continue as the President (Lowe Amara, 2009, p. 1). The ancient kingdom of Morocco, a French and Spanish Protectorate gained independence in 1956 as a constitutional monarchy, a system that continues till to date. Though the King of Morocco has a prime minister, a parliament and a multi-party system, the style of governance continues to be rule by one man, the King (Forum, 2008, p. 49). West Africa In West Africa, the situation is slightly different. Here more than Islamic influence, it was the effect of local dynamics, ethnic rivalries, Christian missionaries and communist influence that has determined the preference for single party rule. Take for example Liberia, the only other country other than Ethiopia which has an American connection rather than a European past. Liberia was created through a private American enterprise to house freed African American slaves and became independent in 1847. Since, the project was American led; Liberia adopted a presidential form of system. However, the American backed Liberian elite who ruled the country came in conflict with 16 other indigenous ethnicities living in Liberia. Since the regime was thrust ‘top down’ from the Americans, tensions quickly developed and a coup by a group of ethnic military soldiers led by Samuel Doe took place in 1980. Doe replaced the presidential republic with his authoritarian regime. Political parties were allowed to exist but their freedom remained curtailed by the regime which furthered the hold of its own party, the National Democratic Party of Liberia. The 1985 election results in which the opposition Liberal Action Party won were declared invalid by Doe, which led to the Liberian Civil War in 1989. Doe was killed and the power passed into the hands of Charles Taylor (Moran, 2008, p. 106), who continued his dictatorial regime which again led to another civil war in 1999 that continued up to 2003 and only came to halt with Charles Taylor being forced into exile in Nigeria. From 1847 till 2003, Liberia was ruled by the Americo-Liberian elite and their single party. Since 2003, a transitional government was put into place with international intervention, which because of corruption was dissolved and fresh presidential elections were again held in 2005 and was won by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the head of Unity Party who became the first woman President of an African country (Polgreen, 2005, p. 1). Nigeria got its independence from Britain in 1960 and had numerous political parties. These political parties were sharply defined along ethnic lines comprising of three main ethnicities; the Hausa, the Igbo and the Yoruba (Rotberg, 2007, p. 19). The Yoruba dominated Nigerian National Democratic Party won the elections in 1965, which led to political dissensions and instability resulting in two military coups in 1966. This did not resolve the problem as the Igbo, dominating the Eastern region of the country declared independence from Nigeria leading to the Nigerian civil war 1967-1970 that led to over a million deaths. The civil war ended but not the ethnic strife and the military continued to rule Nigeria with coups and assassination of the presidents being a regular feature. For thirty years, Nigeria continued under military rule till 1999 when it finally elected Lusegun Obasanjo, a former military dictator as its President. Obasanjo was re-elected in 2003 (Rotberg, p. 13) as the President amidst allegations of rigging. Obasanjo was replaced by Umaru YarAdua of the People’s Democratic Party in 2007 and on his demise now been replaced by Goodluck Jonathan (Nossiter, 2010, p. 1). So while the American model was adopted, the actual functioning of a presidential type of government has been a recent development in Nigeria’s history. At present there are two main parties in Nigeria, the ruling People’s Democratic Party and the opposition All Nigeria People’s Party with numerous smaller parties. What must be noted is that a democratic political system in Nigeria is still nascent and fragile and should ethnic differences arise again it will not be long that another military coup will take place in the interests of ‘national security’. Angola became independent in 1975 after having been a Portuguese colony from the 16th century. Angolan independence came right in middle of the Cold War where Soviet influence in Africa was rising. The independent country was immediately plunged into a civil war between the Soviet backed Communist MPLA faction and the American backed anti-communist UNITA rebels (Sheehan, Yong, Lin, 2010, p. 38). The Angolan civil war continued for 27 years (Sheehan, Yong, Lin, p. 43) till declaration of ceasefire in 2002 by which time over 500,000 people were killed. The ideological factions had an ethnic base too wherein the MPLA comprised basically Angolans of the Kimbundu clan and the UNITA, the Ovimbundu tribe. Presently, the Communist MPLA holds power in Angola. As can be deduced, this being a communist regime with no legitimacy, the concept of political parties in a democratic system does not apply. East Africa East Africa including the Horn of Africa portrays a region of extreme instability with a few deceptively stable nations. Sudan, the first country being analyzed, after gaining independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956, was gripped by a civil war till 1973 (Barker, 2008, p. 16). This civil war was basically because of ethnic differences between the people of Northern Sudan (Islamic of Arabic lineage) and Southern Sudan (non-Islamic of non-Arab lineage). While the civil war raged, Khartoum was ruled by the Sudanese military. A ceasefire in 1973 negotiated through granting autonomy to Southern Sudan kept the peace till 1983 when the military general, and the de-facto President, Nimeiry unilaterally decided to incorporate Southern Sudan into a federation. The civil war continued (Barker, p. 18), Nimeiry was ousted in 1983 and replaced by a democratic government under Prime Minister Al Sadig Al Mahdi which was not recognized by the Sudan’s People Liberation Army (SPLA) of Southern Sudan. Civil war continued anew. In 1989, Colonel Omar al-Bashir over threw Prime Minister Al Mahdi, abolished political parties and established an Islamic code on entire Sudan. Al-Bashir formed the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation and allied his group with National Islamic Front to consolidate Islamization of firstly, Northern Sudan and then the rest of the country. In the subsequent military action by the Sudanese army, the SPLA were defeated in Southern Sudan by 1994. Having achieved consolidation, Bashir dissolved the revolutionary council in 1993. In the 1996 election Bashir declared himself to be the only candidate eligible to run for President. All other political parties were disbanded and Bashir converted Sudan into an Islamic state with single party at its helm – the newly created National Congress Party (NCP). Meanwhile, Bashir unleashed a brutal war of suppression on the non-Arab ethnic minorities in the Darfur region using proxy militia known as the Janjaweed that has resulted in deaths of over 400,000 Darfuris (Kessler, 2005, p. 1) leading to an indictment of Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide. At the tip of the Horn of Africa lies the failed state of Somalia where no functional government exists. Somalia was never formally colonized by any power and had come under a variety of influences ranging from Islamic influence during the Ottoman Empire, Fascist influence under Mussolini’s Italy and then British military administration from 1941 that was replaced by the formation of a republic of Somalia in 1961 with a parliamentary form of government (Lewis, 2008, p. 33). This brief democratic interlude was shattered in 1969 when President Shermake was assassinated and replaced by a military government. The military created the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party in 1976 and ruled the nation till 1990. Meanwhile, various Islamic factions and clans grew in size and potency that overthrew the military government leading to a series of skirmishes through the period, 1990-1991. The long standing military dictator, Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 and President Ali Muhammed was installed, yet the civil war continued. The UN Security Council approved the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) in 1992 that has since been replaced by UNOSOM II with no success. Presently, a Transitional Federal Government (Lewis, p. x)is the internationally recognized government of Somalia whose writ does not even run through the entire city of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. In the dismal narrative so far, Kenya appears to be a bright democratic spark in the African continent. After achieving independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya adopted a semi-presidential form of government albeit, with the peculiar African preference for single party rule. The Kenyan constitution mandated formation of only a single party in Kenya. Governments continued to be formed under the single party system until 1992 when electoral reforms were introduced to allow a multiparty system. The elections since then have been held in generally free and fair manner. The 2007 elections were marred by allegations of rigging in which the main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Freedom accused the ruling Party of National Unity for stealing the election. In the ensuing rioting, over 1000 Kenyans lost their lives (Raghavan, 2010, p. 1) and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Peace was restored through international mediation in 2008 and the country is presently being run by a grand coalition of members of both the parties under a new constitution (Raghavan, p. 1). Kenya’s relative stability is attributed to the British colonial era, where unlike the rest of Africa, the colonists set up educational institutions and government infrastructure. Also, unlike the other African countries, 78% of Kenyans are Christians while 10% are Muslims, 10% indigenous and the rest 2% are Asian immigrants (CIA World Factbook, 2010, p. 1). Central Africa In Central Africa, the Republic of Congo has been in the news for decades for all the wrong reasons. Congo received independence from France in 1960 and adopted the French presidential model of governance. However, the first President, Fulbert Youlou was ousted in 1963 by a military coup, which then installed a puppet civilian government (Rorison, 2008, p. 225) and also adopted communist ideology. In 1965, the Congo republic formally joined hands with the Soviet Union, firmly coming into the soviet bloc (Rorison, p. 226). This alignment did not bring about political stability as the original French democratic influence clashed with the ‘uni-power’ Soviet ideology leading to a series of coups and dictatorship under Denis Sassou. During his first spell of rule from 1979 to 1992, Sassou ruled Congo under a single party rule of the Congolese Labor Party (PCT) (Rorison, p. 227). When external pressures grew strong, he introduced multiparty system in 1990 and was defeated in the 1992 Presidential election. Sassou’s ouster led to a civil war between the supporters of Sassou and his competitor Pascal Lissouba. Sassou, a former colonel won the civil war and proclaimed himself as the President in 1997. In 2009, Sassou was sworn in for another seven-year period (Amnesty International, 2010, p. 1). In Congo’s case too, for most of its independent history, the country has been ruled by a single party and now despite a multi-party ‘democracy’ in place, the original political party, the PCT continues to rule the country. Southern Africa In Southern Africa, any discussion regarding Africa would remain incomplete without illustrating the case of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, originally Rhodesia became independent after a violent struggle with the British in 1980. Throughout the period, 1965-1979, the country was engulfed in a civil war between British government forces and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led by Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) led by Joshua Nkomo as also a number of smaller splinter groups (Raftopoulos Mlambo, 2009, pp. 141-165). In the 1980 elections, Robert Mugabe won by a wide margin but fighting with opposing parties and groups continued. The two main parties the ZANU and ZAPU fought bitterly until 1988 when ceasefire was declared and the two parties merged into ZANU-PF thus starting Zimbabwe’s slide into single party dominated system (Raftopoulos Mlambo, p. 179). Till to date the ZANU-PF has won every single election by force. Mugabe’s policies of throwing out the white farmers and forcibly occupying lands and giving it to the poor black resulted in economic sanctions by the West and a meltdown of the economy. Owing to his bad economic policies, hyperinflation struck the country and created political space for Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change to challenge him in the 2008 elections. The results were rigged but could not conclusively establish Tsvangirai’s claim of having won the elections. In September 2008, Mugabe maintained his power as the President by agreeing to share power with Tsvangirai who became the Prime Minister (Raftopoulos Mlambo, p. xxxii). Yet again, the single party rule dominates Zimbabwe. Finally, a discussion of Africa would be incomplete without examining its most prosperous and advanced state – South Africa. In South Africa, the colonial power, the Dutch did not relinquish their hold over the country and continued in the form of Apartheid, which was once again predicated on the dominance of a single party – the White minority party thereby conditioning the people of South Africa to rule by a single party. However, the violent suppression of the minorities could not continue indefinitely and ever since 1961, when South Africa left the British Commonwealth (Berger, 2009, p. 166) the white minority National Party faced constant protest from the black majority for equality. Till 1993, the National Party had banned other political parties (Berger, p. 166) and it was only in the face of sustained international pressure and internal struggle by the black and colored populations that the ban was lifted in 1993 and the African National Congress (ANC) led by Nelson Mandela was allowed to participate in elections. In Mandela, the South Africans found a charismatic leader who exuded the moral authority and statesmanship, which promised to build a future for the suppressed races. Mandela delivered on his promises but also led to consolidation of the ANC as the only party of choice for the people of Africa. The National Party chose to merge with the ANC and this yet again showed the propensity of Africans to prefer single party rule. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be reiterated that analysis of all the regions of Africa shows a remarkable similarity of circumstances that seemed to have shaped their preference for single party rule. The ethnic make up into tribes and clans were at the most basic level, the building blocks for adhering to the instructions of the clan leader or village headman. This obedience in turn was further conditioned by brutal colonial rule, where the colonial masters used every suppressive means to keep the Africans submissive. Suppression and exploitation itself became the rallying point for the African clans to unite and fight for their independence. Since most of the colonial powers only exploited Africa and did not build institutions, the succeeding indigenous governments had no infrastructural back up to employ their people or give immediate succor; naturally, the people fell back to tribal and clan loyalties as rallying forces. Since these points of opposition had to be formed clandestinely, they became sort of secret societies that formed oligarchic groups to fight for independence. On attaining independence the basic dynamics of the groups did not change and they continued as a closed ‘in-group’, which only heightened social inequalities and strife broke out in most cases. As democratic institutions had not been allowed to mature under the colonial period, people tended to cluster around the ‘village headman’, in other words, any leader with some charisma and since one institution that always has a clearly defined leader is the army, most governments became victims of military takeovers. The populace conditioned by colonial repression now became victims of military repression. Military forces needed a ‘democratic fig leaf’ to govern nations and so they set up political parties which were then headed by serving or former military officers to perpetrate the rule of a single party in the states. Parts of Africa that had predominantly Islamic influence adopted Islamic laws, which ideologically are not compatible with democratic secularism. Therefore, these countries by default became ruled by a king or a dictator or by a single party. Where the Cold War intruded the African political space, communist regimes under laid by African tribalism became the dominant feature. In these cases, the political ideology required the rule of the state by a single party. Later, when communist regimes fell, the old habit of single party rule lingered on. Thus the assertion that there is prevalence of one party rule in African states is emphatically proved. However, as can be seen from the examples of African states discussed, the hold of one party system is slowly changing. Multiple parties are emerging as the African people are becoming more aware of the wider world through the process of globalization. They are also realizing the need for multiple choices for governance as a panacea against corruption and despotism. So while the one-party prevalence in Africa may seem predominant at the present, political evolution of the African polity is taking place that will, in time transform into a more inclusive political process across the continent. References Amnesty International. (2010). Congo (Republic of). Retrieved August 11, 2010, from http://www. unhcr. org/refworld/country,,,,COG,,4c03a835c,0. html Barker, G. (2008). Sudan. NY: Marshall Cavendish. Berger, I. (2009). South Africa in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CIA World Factbook. (2010, August 3). Kenya. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke. html Forum, A. P. (2008). An Audit of Police Oversight in Africa. Cape Town: African Minds. Kessler, G. (2005, April 27). State Dept. Defends Estimate Of Deaths in Darfur Conflict. Retrieved August 10, 2010, from Washington Post: http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601397. html Lewis, I. (2008). Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. NY: Columbia University Press. Lowe, C. , Amara, T. (2009, October 26). Tunisian President Wins Fifth Term in Office. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from Reuters: http://www. reuters. com/article/idUSTRE59P03M20091026 Martin, P. M. , OMeara, P. (1995). Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Moran, M. H. (2008). Liberia: The Violence of Democracy . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Nossiter, A. (2010, February 9). Nigerian Parliament Names Acting President. Retrieved August 11, 2010, from New York Times: http://www. nytimes. com/2010/02/10/world/africa/10nigeria. html Pateman, R. , El-Hamamsy, S. (2003). Egypt. NY: Marshall Cavendish. Perkins, K. J. (2004). A History of Modern Tunisia . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Polgreen, L. (2005, November 12). In First for Africa, Woman Wins Election as President of Liberia. Retrieved August 10, 2010, from New York Times: http://www. nytimes. com/2005/11/12/international/africa/12liberia. html Raftopoulos, B. , Mlambo, A. (2009). Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from the Pre-Colonial Period to 2008. Harare: Weaver Press. Raghavan, S. (2010, August 6). Kenyans Celebrate Approval of New Constitution. Retrieved August 10, 2010, from The Washington Post: http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/05/AR2010080500525. html Rorison, S. (2008). Congo. Guilford: The Globe Pequot Press Inc. Rotberg, R. I. (2007). Nigeria: Elections and Continuing Challenges. NY: Council for Foreign Relations. Sheehan, S. , Yong, J. L. , Lin, Y. J. (2010). Angola. NY: Marshall Cavendish. Wright, J. (1981). Libya: A Modern History. Beckenham: Croom Helm Ltd.

Culture Wars in the US and American Politics

Culture Wars in the US and American Politics The term culture wars gained national prominence when first used by Pat Buchanan at the 1992 Republican National Convention and declare that there is currently a war for the nations sole. This became a critic moment within American politics and can be viewed as a tipping point for a major politic shift within the G.O.P. This also garnered the attention of almost all of the main stream media sources and helped create the movement of Christian conservatism in mainstream politics. This idea is essentially a clash between what two different people (or groups) believe to be true within our society, and others with different viewpoints. No other collective set of ethical and moral issues have driven a wedge into the social fabric of the United States quite like the â€Å"culture wars† of the past thirty years. Lines of division have been drawn on social, political, religious, legal and family issues between two warring factions of secular institute and organized fundamentalists. The culture wars take on more than an ethnographical approach in American society. It is about politics, education, communal relations and the anthropology of how this country will be shaped for future generations. The examination of these wars should be dealt with as a category for the purpose of ethnographic inquiry. In other words, applicable scrutiny must be applied to each significant topic as a function of contemporary social process that makes up the foundation, and the catalyst, of this war. Make no mistake that this monolithic movement has caused a deep divide when the American landscape. The battle against secularism is a movement with profound emotional dimensions. Along with the effects of political mobilization and a strategic purpose, the New Christian Right has developed an emotional construction of collective identities that is at the forefront of today’s issues. James Davison Hunter believes that Americans have been divided between the orthodox and the progressives, characterized by political and social hostility rooted in different systems of understanding. Public debate in modern America is not so much a process of mutual understanding and negotiation as the exercise of power politics, but of imposing one agenda to the exclusion of another (Hunter p.155) He also goes on to state the media no longer mediates the political issues, but instead exacerbates the division by polarizing the moderate discourse that is in the average Americans mindset. This level and volume of this exacerbation can be calibrated and amplified with the unlimited reach and unregulated internet. One defining feature of the culture war is the labeling and classification of issues that have been deemed as moralistic. This is a form of binary construction that lends credence to the idea that the struggle is religious in nature. In most cases, issues and players are presented as polar opposites with irreconcilable differences. Henceforth, most of the battles within this culture war are usually portrayed as liberal versus conservative, or to a lesser degree, Democrat versus Republican (Chapman p. xxvii). Although most Americans may find themselves somewhere between the divisiveness or these polarities, the binary construction has a galvanizing effect on individuals who tend to fall toward either end of the socio-political spectrum. This blending of religion and politics is still alive and well today with people like Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Jim Daly of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, James Dobson of the Alliance Defense Fund, David Barton of Wall Builders, Beverly LaHaye of Concerned Women for America. These are fundamental desperate views on how American culture operates. Methodology of Unification Social approaches through the use of communication, especially with electronic mass communication, are certainly nothing new. Below are a few sociological and psychological unification factors that have contributed to the success in the fusion of the New Christian Right. Evolutionary consideration should be made in terms of how this movement has generated support on such a grand scale. Many of the factors have been used successfully utilized by previous social and political movements, but this particular phenomenon has developed to the point of major influence in the current American political climate. In conjunction with the dynamics of emotional appeal, a number of unifying factors come into play in the attraction and recruitment of interested outsiders. These factors can also strengthen the bond of internal group cohesiveness. Some of these factors are illustrated below, but this list is certainly not and end-all, be-all. Psychological approaches differ by the individuals’ world view and level of influence, or distraction, from local persuaders and opinion leaders. In addition to drawing on preexisting emotional bases, within individual experiences, a conscience constituency can be emergent, especially in the case of highly successful social movements (Goodwin p.31). These social approaches are focused on visible behavior or mobilization into action by the identifying the groups’ cognition. Successful social approaches can eventually led to a version of a socially constructed reality. This group (or it can be said, a number of these groups, but as a whole) utilize Automaton perspectives (Bryant p.7) to help influence their agenda-setting prerogative. In order for agenda-setting to occur, individuals must be susceptible to being programmed by the media. In this particle case, the media in specially honed to individuals who have a need for orientation. Specialized interest groups need the recognition and attention of the mass media (and various specialized channels of media) in order to acquire legitimacy, visibility and credibility, as well as communicate their issue frames to the public (Callaghan p. 9). With a number of carefully selected issues and/or stories, many of these media outlets attempt to completely define issues, or at least exemplify the issue. In these cases the exemplifiers attempt to exemplify the issue (and the perspective) as definite and exemplified. Exemplification is not an all-or nothing concept, however (Bryant p. 21). The degree in which the level of exemplification takes place is subject to empirical determination. These methodologies fall into the parameters of a scientific field of study, but have interpretive qualities to the media consumer. Therefore, the levels of interpretation validate the level of effectiveness for not only each media outlet, but also by each strategy utilized. A social cognitive can also lead into the philosophical position of moral relativism which is the difference between moral judgments across many people and cultures. In the case of the New Christian Right, the branch of moral relativism that copepods into meti-ethical relativism does not factor into their subjectivity of culturally moral issues. Meti-ethical moral relativism holds that no one is objectively right or wrong, but behavior should be tolerated even if that behavior goes against an individuals value system. So, this relativism is relative to their particular stand or viewpoint. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy says that, Many moral relativists, however, take the fact-value distinction to be fundamental. There is not manner in which traditionalist can prove that their morals and ethics are particularly right or wrong, but there is still the judgment of their relativism being superior (Westacott). From their perspectives, what is considered the truth is through cognitive relativism that is based on a cultural relativism that has been developed and molded in an all encompassing and unifying perspective. The line that separates church and state has become more blurry within this country. The praxis, by which moralists have coerced, swayed and sometimes enforced their belief system onto the political format has had a resounding affect on our legislative and judicial system. Beliefs are a means to organize behavior and emotion. Therefore, many of these moral activists are seeking a means of ratifying their socially construction perception of reality. Dominion Theology Dominion Theology or Dominionism is the proposal that Christians should strive toward either a nation governed by Christians or one governed by a conservative Christian understanding of biblical law. This ideology is dominant among evangelical Protestants within the United States. It is a type of theocracy and is interconnected the theonomy, though it does not necessarily sponsor Mosaic laws as the basis of government. Some elements within the mainstream Christian Right have been predisposed by Dominion Theology authors. Indeed, some writers have employed the idiom Dominionism more broadly to the New Christian Right, wholly arguing that that faction is founded upon a theology that requires Christians to preside over non-Christians. Typical conservatives do not call themselves â€Å"Dominionists,† and the usage has sparked considerable debate. Their ideas are often reflected by non-reconstructionist like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell as a social revolution that should be forcefully swept across the country in reference to certain Biblical text. This idea states that Christianity will rule all areas of society through strict fundamental interpretation of Biblical laws. These rules should permeate throughout all of society, politics and business. This is not a government system ruled by the church, but rather a government conformed to the Law of God. Paul C. McGlasson states that Dominionism is constructed on four basic foundations: Epistemological dualism operates under the presumption that only devout Christians are truly capable of understanding and properly interpreting the Bible. Therefore, there is a distinct separation between God’s self-defined reality and human autonomy. Hence, any secularist’s Biblical interpretations are skewed and invalid. Dominion theology and the process of re-constructionism are all about a direct application of Mosaic Law to our society. These laws should apply every facet of American society and not just ancient Israel. Christian culture is an all-encompassing national perspective that affects every aspect of society; government, schools, families, corporations. This is viewed as the natural order of operations, and any resistance to this philosophy is purely secular. The forth, and most important aspect for this thesis is Christian political domination which states that individuals and cut into two different groups, believers and non-believers. Thus, there are two distinct forms of laws and governance, Biblical ans secular law.

Importance of Violence in Adrienne Richs Of Woman Born :: Adrienne Rich Of Woman Born Essays

The Importance of Violence in Of Woman Born In cultures as different as Sweden and the Yucatan, women have a part in the decision-making process during their deliveries. The Yucatan midwife emphasizes that 'every woman has to 'buscar la forma,' find her own way, and that it is the midwife's task to assist with whatever decision is made.' This does not mean that births are painless, but that needless pain is prevented, birth is not treated as a 'medical event,' and the woman's individual temperament and physique are trusted and respected." (p.175) Rich both begins and ends her book on the topic of violence to get our attention. Once the realization that something must change has occurred, her ideas are further developed, by implying that with some major change in the patriarchal system this violence may end, and being a mother would not be so difficult. I agree that it can be much better than this dated account of life as a mother, but as the Yucatan midwives have stated, there will still be pain. Rich would agree that woman's individual temperament and physique need to be trusted and respected, but I take it a step further and think that this particular discussion on labor should be a metaphor for the argument of this book. The description of labor and delivery above is the way in which motherhood should be approached, substituting the partner, husband, or friend for the role of the midwife. In this situation patriarchy does not need to fall, a much more attainable goal. By both beginning and ending with violence, Rich is making a statement that these atrocities can be mended or at least should be mended by her proposal of denouncing patriarchy. Not only may this not be possible, but it implies that once the balance of power has been shifted, this violence which is discussed at length could change. Although the balance of power could shift, abusive, violent, and uncaring parents, fathers or mothers, will still exist regardless of who is holding the power, thus leaving the burden of child rearing on the other parent, creating the same situation that we have today. By Rich placing such emphasis on the violence, in a backhanded way she gives hope that with her plan this violence will stop. Since Rich implies a solution to the problem, she, too, is carrying on a myth of sorts.

the gold fields of Victoria :: essays research papers

Victoria was a part of the colony of New South Wales up to the early 1850's, when it became an independent colony in its own right. All burgeoning States have growing pains and Victoria was no exception. Rich in agricultural lands early settlers took out sheep runs granted by the government over large tracts of land, where both sheep and some cattle were grazed. Van Diemen's Land to the south, now the State of Tasmania had large penal settlements and the government bureaucracy was both well established and manned. Victoria drew on these reserves in the early years of settlement. The wealth of gold hidden in Central Victoria lay undiscovered for some time and true recognition of the potential was not realized until the finds were widely publicized. Ballarat is an aboriginal name meaning "a good place to rest". An aboriginal tribe known as the Kulin inhabited the area. These inhabitants had dark brown skin rather than black. Although they were the traditional owners of the land, they were simply pushed aside by European settlement, and decimated by disease, poisoning, shootings and in fact genocide. Within 60 years they were no more. The first recorded gold finds in the district was at Clunes, July 1851, some 20 miles north of Ballarat, and this started a small rush. A few weeks later gold was found at Buninyong about 10 miles south of Ballarat. This was poor yielding ground and although diggers came to the area, they quickly dispersed seeking more profitable ground. Two such characters were John Dunlop, a seventy-year-old veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, and a much younger James Regan, whose ancestry was Irish. They had been disappointed with the gold at Buninyong, so decided to prospect the area themselves in anticipation that both Clunes and Buninyong would not be the only gold bearing ground in the district. They were right and after finding gold in creek beds along the White Horse Range on Ballarat Station, they came to a small hill on the northern end of the range and washed the first gold from what was to become one of the great gold bonanza's of all time. The date was 21st August 1851. This hill became known as Poverty Point. (Only because the top of the hill contained no gold) The discovery only remained a secret for about a week, and with news of the gold find the first great gold rush of Victoria had begun.

Development of the Personal Computer in the 1970’s :: Essays Papers

Development of the Personal Computer in the 1970’s Personal Computers (PC’s) are everywhere. I am sitting at my desk right now writing this report on my PC. It seems like these days we take computers for granted. Almost everyone has one. Teachers assign projects that almost completely require the use of a computer. Where did this explosion of PC’s come from, though? Just a few short years ago you were lucky to have a computer. About 25 years ago people would have called you crazy if you said you had a personal computer. That’s because before 1975 there were no personal computers that were available, or affordable, to the general population. In fact, it wasn’t until much later that there really was a personal computer that anyone could use. The 1970’s served as a launching pad for the personal computer industry to blast off into the future. In the early 1970’s computer hobbyists were starting to show frustration at the current situation involving computers. At the time the only way anyone could use a computer was to access a mainframe through a terminal on a time-sharing basis. What the hobbyists wanted was to be able to access their files any time they wanted, even if they were on a business trip. They wanted to be able to play games without someone yelling at them to get back to work. They wanted their own personal computer (Campbell-Kelley and Aspray 237-238; Triumph). Some people were already experimenting with building computers. In 1971 Steve Wozniak and Bill Fernandez built a simple computer out of parts that were rejected by local companies. This computer, which they called the "cream soda computer," worked with lights and switches and is considered by many to be the first personal computer (Polsson). This wasn’t really satisfying, though. What hobbyists wanted was a real computer that they could c all their very own. This frustration was being voiced in the major electronics magazines at the time, the main two being Popular Electronics and Radio Electronics. Soon both these magazines were putting out a call for an article on building a personal computer (Triumph; Freiberger and Swaine 27-29; Shurkin 307). This wouldn’t have been possible a few years before, and it was a series of incredible advances in electronics that made it possible. In the early 1970’s calculators were very popular. They had recently become much easier to manufacture due to the advent of the integrated circuit and large-scale integration (technology that put the equivalent of 100 transistors on a single chip).

Analysis on the role of women and men in vanity Essay

Victorian era literary has produced many different masterpieces from many different writers who focused mainly on the emergence of interpersonal issues involving love, money and social status, usually backdropped by a historical event with national relevance at the time of the story telling. Vanity Fair is one of these types of this kind of work. And even until today, Vanity Fair is one of the materials referenced by critics during literary analysis involving the role of women in the society, the role of patriarchal influence in the Victorian era social politics and the presentation of different women stereotypes in literature. Vanity Fair is a serialized literary material written by William Makepeace Thackeray, published initially in the pages of Punch Magazine in the United Kingdom, beginning at the start of the year 1847, the final instalment appearing a year later in July. The initial title of this masterpiece was Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero. A popular saying describes vanity as the favorite sin of men and women, a line of thought which will be heavily discussed and supported in this particular paper through the analysis of the presence of vanity and the role of men and women inside the society on the propagation and existence of vanity. Vanity Fair is a very interesting book that attacks personal and societal illnesses that causes the corruption and corrosion from the inside of what was believed to be a socially-shared moral right. The author attacked the issues and the personal and social crises by pointing out the role of individuals as well as the role of the structure of the society that influences the lives of the individuals in the story. â€Å"Almost every sin in Vanity Fair can be traced, beyond personal weakness, to the fundamental laws of money and class†¦ The poison in Vanity Fair infects the bottom rungs of the social ladder as well as the top (Dyson, 1973, p. 86). † The role of women in William Thackeray’s â€Å"Vanity Fair† There are many different women found in the novel Vanity Fair. But there are some key female characters that provided significant roles in the story so that the novel can depict the real life situation in the Victorian era and in the process provide whatever moral lesson it can about the aspects of life that it managed to discuss and tackle. The list of key female characters that require scrutiny and analysis is topped by the three women characters that possess any or all of the traits that made them important, like personality, influence, cunning and power: Miss Crawley and the contrasting Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Becky Sharp – In a novel without a hero, Becky Sharp was the heroine, even if for some she is the anti-heroine. Becky was one of the two lead women characters who are central to the story. The two girls are opposites in many different ways, and their lives continue such path, with Becky becoming the most villainous of the two and Amelia Sedley her exact opposite. Indeed, the character of Becky Sharp was the catalyst for social abrasion. Some might feel that Becky represents everything that is morally bad and undesirable in the society inside Vanity Fair. Sharp’s character also reminds the readers that people cannot ignore people like her and the characteristics that she displays, dismissing it as a characteristic that is a mere product of a fictional character. Her character represents a type of individual who is alive in the real world. In some twisted consideration, Becky can be considered as the source of â€Å"life† – if life means the presence of constant conflict and the consistent surfacing of anything unexpected – inside a society because Becky does not let social norms get in the way of what she wants. â€Å"The woman who goes after money and status but finds that they do not satisfy her – a woman like Becky Sharp – is allowed to be at least morally interesting (Garson, 2007, p. 99). † Whether readers admit it or not, Becky’s character is an important pull to the consciousness of the readers; she provides the intrigue and sin that readers on the outside condemn but diligently follows through in the next episodes of the novel. Becky seduces and elicits the feeling of scorn and hate so much that she makes the readers always eager to know what happened to her, largely because real life readers are as vain as her. Becky taunts the devil in the readers, making them think and reconsider the â€Å"what ifs,† the things that Becky is not afraid to do which the readers are having second thoughts of doing. Becky triggers the fantasies. For the women readers, it is the fantasy of being able to pull of seduction and gain worldly possessions, to bed many different men and feel a different kind of power, to be free from the shackles and restraints the patriarchal society placed upon women and to be largely free and unaccountable to anything. For male readers, the fantasy is to be seduced by a Becky Sharp, to be offered body and lustful obedience in exchange for money and power that not every man can have in his lifetime. Becky made the world go around inside Vanity Fair, even if the sad part is that as a whole, she is still a mere part of the patriarchal society that used her as much as she used it to her advantage. â€Å"And what else creates change in Vanity Fair if not Becky’s subversive sexual behavior? It is she deprives Amelia of a loving husband well before Thackeray has him killed off on the battlefield at Waterloo (Armstrong, 1990. p. 178). † Amelia Sedley – Amelia contradicts Becky in comparison in many ways. Amelia always opts to live in the past and is tied with the memory of past while Becky is always looking ahead into the future. Amelia is always passive and easily contented, while Becky is always on the move, always hunting or scheming so that she can get what she wants. Amelia is the prototype for the docile and meek domestic housewife, during and after her married life with George, while Becky was â€Å"anything but. † Amelia gives the readers hope that there are still people who walk the straight path of morality, while Becky is jumping up and down, always falling far from where morality wants her to be. Amelia’s role in the novel is more than just as an individual who represents everything that Becky is. Amelia, to some extent, was also the symbol of the ills of the life of being meek and sulky. She is the anatomy of the unknowing victim, the unwitting casualty to the moral massacre that poverty, indebtedness, puritanism and being overly morally upright undertakes in everyday life. She was an angel all right, but Thackeray made sure that even with wings it is easily discernable that Amelia is far from being in heaven largely because of her personality. Amelia, as a character, lived a life that was far from being the ideal married life, and the story was as unkind to her as the critics of the symbolism of woman to which she stood for. â€Å"Late-Victorian women writers contributed to the fight for women’s rights by creating representations of women that confronted the self-abnegating, submissive, housebound image of middle-class Ideal Womanhood. This ideal was epitomized at mid-century by William Thackeray’s Amelia Sedley from Vanity Fair (Mangum, 1999, p. 2). † Becky and Amelia: The analysis and profiling of the real heroine The heroine in the story can either be Becky or Amelia, depending on the reader and the reader’s perspective and moral standpoint. This is because the identification of the heroine type between the two female characters in the novel speaks a lot about the personal characteristics of the person making the difference between the two. The reader would be placed in a dilemma wherein the reader has to choose which personality she would approve between the polar characteristics of Becky and Amelia. â€Å"Plot in Vanity Fair is primarily the histories of two women: one, the shrewdly competent Rebecca Sharp, consistently exploits the conventions of high society to rise within it; the other, the compassionate but vulnerable Amelia Sedley, is exploited by Rebecca and others in their campaign to achieve social prominence (Lund, 1992, p. 23). † The author was consistent with what critics call as rule in the creation of fictitious married female characters. The story divides the desire for love and for materials goods between two individuals who are vaguely antagonists or protagonists in the story. The clear idea to the readers is the priorities of the women as human characters, looking at them outside the scope of gender. As a human character, Becky was the one who puts material things above all, while the character of Amelia puts love above all – providing not just a state of realism but also a sense of balance to the presence of contrasting but significant roles in the novel. With this the reader, male or female, would knowingly or otherwise pick one of the two to become his/her heroine largely on the identification of the same grounds where the character and reader stands. A reader will hardly choose both because like the rule of the fiction writing, the reader will only empathize with the predicament of the character with whom he or she relates the most. â€Å"The rule in fiction is that a female character cannot want both love and luxury. Rare indeed is the novelistic heroine who genuinely loves her husband but who at the same time desires and frankly enjoys the goods that he is able to buy her (Garson, 2007, p. 99). † Thackeray makes it more difficult for the readers to pick which is the heroine between the two opposite characters because an important characteristic of the difference between the two is that the author created characters which are neither white nor black. Becky and Amelia are both neither strictly good nor straight-out bad. The differences of the two candidates for heroine-ism also made implications that altered their state of being good or bad as their state of lives moves forward in the story. There is a sense of goodness in Becky as much as there are some things in Amelia which may merit disapproval from the readers. Because the story is centered on domestic life of couples and the complexity that the society and the personalities of the people in it contribute to the lives of married individuals, the personalities of Beck and Amelia as wives are just as important pieces of consideration as much as their own personal characteristics are in the pursuit of defining who is the more suitable heroine between the two. And like their personalities as single individuals, how they were as wives is just as complicated, Thackeray became consistent with the idea of ending up with having no real defined hero (or heroine for that matter). It forces the reader to take a very good look at real life before finally judging who between Becky and Amelia deserved to be raised in the pedestal as the ideal woman and wife. â€Å"The role she plays perhaps most productively is that of the faithful and charming little wife to Rawdon Crawley. Ironically, as long as she finds it advantageous to play this role, she is a much more effective domestic angel than Amelia Osborne, whose devotion to her husband George is heartfelt but sterile, who maternal affection is positively destructive, and who is quite unable to repay Dobbin for his years of devotion. In contrast to Amelia, Becky brings out the best in her husband, transforming Rawdon from a randy roue to a contented husband and a devoted father (Garson, 2007, p. 99). †

Sustainable Fresh Water Supply for Chennai City

Sustainable Fresh Water Supply for Chennai city, Tamil Nadu, India A Status Update Joseph Thomas, Chief Technology Officer, Villgro, Chennai, India 3H, IIT Madras Research Park, Kanagam Road, Taramani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India 600113. Telephone +91 44 6663 0400, email:[email  protected] org, mobile +91 98840 49116 Key Words: Rain water harvesting, Sustainable water supply, Urban fresh water. Abstract Chennai city, one of the major metropolises of India, is situated at the northern coastal edge of the State of Tamil Nadu. The city is more well-known by its older name of Madras.Currently, Chennai is inhabited by more than 7 million people in an area of 176 sq km. Water supply for this population is maintained by tapping a combination of surface storage reservoirs and aquifers. The Chennai Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), a statutory body established in 1978, is responsible for water supply and sewerage services in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. The main sources of public water supply in the city are the three reservoirs — Poondi, Redhills and Cholavaram — with an aggregate storage capacity of 175 million cubic metres (MCM).The other major resource is groundwater from the well-fields in the Araniar-Kortaliyar basin and the southern coastal aquifer, and also a large number of wells and tube-wells spread all across the city (Figure 1). Over-extraction of groundwater resulted in a rapid ingress of seawater, which extended from 3 km inshore in 1969 to 7 km in 1983 and 9 km in 1987[[i]]. Groundwater levels within the city also fell and brackish water began to appear, even in localities which earlier had good quality groundwater sources.The CMWSSB calculates water availability based on surface and aquifer contributions under its direct control. Since it perceived reservoirs and other surface supply as more significant for a long time, very little attention was paid to subsurface storage or ground water recharge. As an outcome of resea rch, done by several agencies the CMWSSB embarked on a campaign to create ground water recharge facilities in the city, and later throughout the State. This led to significant changes in ground water levels and to the quantum of water available to the population of a growing metropolis. pic]Figure 1. Introduction The Chennai Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is solely responsible for providing drinking water and sewerage services to the residents of Chennai. One of India’s major metropolises, Chennai is situated at the northern coastal edge of the State of Tamil Nadu. The city is more well-known by its older name of Madras. Currently, Chennai is inhabited by more than 7 million people in an area of 176 sq km. The CMWSSB depends on surface reservoirs and ground water sources to maintain water supply to the residents.Supply is maintained through multiple means. Since Chennai is essentially low-lying and water supply is intermittent, most residents build undergr ound sumps that store the water. Subsequently, the water is pumped up to an overhead tank. In other cases, water tankers are dispatched by CMWSSB to various localities and the sumps are filled from the tankers. In other localities, CMWSSB has put in place above-ground water tanks and these are filled by the water tankers.In yet other places, residents collect water directly from the tanker, see Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2: Drinking water collection from tankers directly by residents. Despite the seemingly abundant sources of water, Chennai suffers continuously from water stress since the entire basin is dependent on rainfall. The annual rainfall in Chennai is 1200 mm [[ii]]. This quantum is, given the size of the Chennai basin, sufficient to meet the needs of the population. The problem is with the distribution of the rainfall.There are two rainy seasons in Chennai. The first is the Southwest monsoon, which has patchy rains and contributes about 25% of the total rain and falls between May and September. This does not do much for ground water recharge. However, the Northwest Monsoon (Oct to Dec) is usually characterized by a series of storms that brings the remaining 75% of total rain in extremely short bursts. During this time, Chennai is prone to flooding and, before 2003, a large part of this water would have been lost as run-off into the sea.CMWSSB traditionally focused its attention on increasing surface storage, transporting fresh water from long distances. Like the Telugu Ganga project – probably one of the longest canals built for water supply to the city that failed to ease the water problem. Another attempt was to divert water from Chembaramabakkam and Veeranam tanks whereby the water rights of the agrarian community were infringed. Drilling of borewells in the Cuddalore belt and installation of turbine pumps to tap 100mld whereby the groundwater which again supports the local agriculture community was depleted.None of these solutions were sustain able in the long run and yet CMWWSSB paid very little attention to ground water recharge that had that potential. In 1997, at the Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre (MCRC), Chennai, [[iii]] a study was conducted to understand the user experience. The study surveyed 10,000 households in 155 corporation wards of Chennai. The focus was on how residents get their water needs met and how the water is utilised. Raw data from this study was further analyzed by Dr. A Vaidyanathan and J. Saravanan [[iv]].These studies clearly established that the contribution of ground water could be as high as 80% in some cases. The next section will take up a quick summary of the research and the subsequent sections will deal with the steps taken by CMWSSB and other civil society organisations to get rain water harvesting introduced. The final section will describe the results of these efforts on the ground water table. The research and changes The survey conducted by MCRC was across 10,000 househ olds, representing a roughly 1 percent sample.Another 2500 surveys across, business, educational, institutional, governmental and industrial establishments were undertaken between September, 1995 and January, 1996. The analysis phase took up another year. The main recommendations of the study were to a) encourage public participation in water conservation and ground water recharge b) promote and propagate water saving/replacement technologies in the domestic sector c) use surface water to reduce ground water usage d) encourage ground water recharge by adoption of low-cost water harvesting ystems, cleaning of water-ways and renovation of existing recharge structures, such as temple tanks. In 1999 a National Water Harvesters’ Network was set up by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) water harvesters’ advisory committee in New Delhi. Members suggested that a regional network be initiated in Tamil Nadu to promote rainwater harvesting in Chennai [[v]]. Professor M. S. Swaminathan, provided office space for the network unit in Chennai and Prof. A. Vaidyanathan agreed to chair the group.The Tamil Nadu unit of the national water-harvesting network was launched in April 1999. The network was meant to: (i) provide an opportunity for individuals and institutions actively engaged in water harvesting, in Chennai, to share their knowledge and experience and promote free and open interaction among them; and (ii) to reach out to a wider public in the city and outside to propagate the role of urban rainwater harvesting in terms of technology, experience and its potential contribution in meeting urban water needs. It was Prof.Vaidyanathan who then asked for the raw data from the MCRC study and did his own assertion of the data and analysis. In the background paper that came out of the analysis [3] the following was stated: â€Å"The present paper is meant to give an overview of the present and future needs of the city, the limited and expensive scope for augmenting surface supplies, the need for a two-pronged strategy of conservation/recycling and Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) to increase ground water recharge. † This confirmed the results of the MCRC study.Both the MCRC study and the CSE study highlighted the dependence of people on multiple sources for their water consumption rather than just CMWSSB and the heavy dependence on groundwater by both. Thus the RWH campaign was backed up by strong research results of MCRC and CSE. These studies were necessary to convince the public and the policy makers. It should be mentioned here that the then Chairman and Managing Director of CMWSSB, Ms. Shanta Sheela Nair understood these results and backed the RWH movement fully. In a 2006 publication [[vi] ] Prof. Vaidyanathan and his colleague, J.Saravanan summarized the action of the government as follows: â€Å"In Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, the growing dependence on groundwater since the 1970s is evident in the sinking of increa sing numbers of open wells and deep bore wells. This trend, a symptom of the increasing water scarcity in the city, led to a progressive decline in groundwater levels as well as seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Faced with this crisis, the State government passed the Chennai Groundwater Regulation Act in 1987, which sought mainly to curb the commercial groundwater exploitation within the city limits.In 2001, rainwater harvesting (RWH) became mandatory in multi-storeyed buildings. The unprecedented and severe droughts in the ensuing two years intensified the groundwater crisis to such a degree that, in August 2003, the government passed an ordinance making RWH mandatory for all buildings (existing and new) in the city and throughout the State. It further set a deadline of October 31, 2003 for this process to be completed. A vigorous publicity drive convinced the public that the government was serious about implementing the programme and providing technical advice and help in th e design and construction of RWH structures.This led to unprecedented activity across the towns and cities of the State, especially Chennai city, and the programme was seen as successful. In this endeavour, however, very few turned to the municipal corporation, private consultants or NGOs with the relevant expertise for assistance in designing and building their RWH structures. Most relied on plumbers or their own expertise. Independent experts pointed out several problems with the programme, noting that ) the time given for the implementation of this ordinance was too short; b) there were far too few professionals with the knowledge and experience needed to design appropriate systems for the widely varying conditions; c) the supply of trained and skilled labour to implement the works was also inadequate to cope with the scale and speed of the programme; d) the availability of quality materials for implementation was also inadequate; and e) there was hardly any systematic follow-up to check the quality of the works reported to be completed.There were widespread but unverified reports that, simply in order to meet the stipulations, grossly inadequate RWH structures had been put in place; the capacity as well as quality of design and implementation leaving much to be desired. This was an instance of decentralisation that, despite the presence of a â€Å"felt need†, occurred without adequate consultation. The legislation in regard of RWH was welcome but the actual programme was poorly implemented and monitored. Although the programme applied to all classes of housing, it ignored those living in informal settlements such as slums within the city limits.These areas could have benefited from RWH in public building and public spaces — an aspect that received very little attention. Moreover, no steps were taken under this programme to reclaim tanks and wetlands in the city that, in the past, not only functioned as recharge structures but were also used a s sources of domestic water by communities. † The Government has since 2009 been working towards cleaning up the waterways of Chennai. This effort has seen the government draw on municipal corporation, private consultants and NGOs with the relevant expertise to work on this massive effort.There is a project with an outlay of Rs 1,400 crore (approx US $300 million) to make the city flood-free[[vii]]. In March 2010 the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority held a Seminar on Waterways in Chennai. The proceedings [[viii] ] contain a list of 36 recommendations and some of them are re-produced here: 1. The sequence of actions to tackle the problem may be – (a) flood alleviation (b) prevention of pollution to the waterways (c) cleaning up of the waterways by removing encroachments & obstructions (d) restoration / improvements to the waterways and its continued maintenance. . Floods are opportunities to augment ground water recharge to be facilitated by construction of che ck dams, filter wells, and underground tunnels/storage reservoirs, if the soil conditions and slopes permit. 3. Flood plains should be developed along the waterways in the areas outside the towns and cities, adopting the retention model, as a solution against flood hazards; these flood plains could be developed as parks or green belts for recreation such as camp sites. 4. Eco-engineering should also be adopted as a solution to bring nature back and rejuvenate the rivers. 5.It is recommended that corporate sector participation, and general public participation, in planning and improvement of lakes and rivers should be encouraged. Cleaning up of rivers and conservation of water bodies should be thought of as a movement with the participation of all stakeholders including the general public. 6. Adequate public awareness about the hazards of pollution of water bodies and the remedial measures has to be created by organizing community education campaigns. Getting the citizens involved is important, ‘Saving Waterways’ should become a people’s movement. . Use of sewage for power generation and recycling of waste water should be encouraged. 8. Area development plans prepared at micro level, such as Detailed Development Plans, should contain plans for ground water recharge, at least in large premises such as schools and public places. Sustainability measures should form part of the Integrated River Restoration Plans. What is evident here is that the outcomes of studies take time to percolate down to the agencies mandated to make the changes required for sustainability. It also requires a good amount of political will.Much of the change of attitude of governmental institutions can also be traced backed to strong political thrust to implement the changes. Results Data on change in groundwater quantity and quality has to be presented here, mostly based on media stories. Some researchers feel that the effects of rain water harvesting and subsequent grou nd water recharge are so noticeable that quantifying is not a priority. The Table below (Figure 3) shows the number of rain water harvesting structures built by the Corporation of Chennai, as reported on its website. Rain Water Harvesting done by Corporation of Chennai Corporation owned buildings |1344 Structures | |Flyovers and Bridges |29 Structures | |Open low-lying areas |242 Structures | |Road Margins |945 Structures | |Corporation Streets |2698 Structures | |Corporation pond |1 No. | |Temple Tanks |16 Nos. | |Residential / Commercial / Institution Buildings |329959 Buildings | Figure 3[[ix]] An article published in a leading daily in Chennai, The Hindu, dated January, 31 2009 had many interesting points to make about the results of RWH and ground-water recharge. [x]] â€Å"The CMWSSB study of 759 RWH observatory wells shows that ever since the installation of RWH structures in about 500,000 of its consumer households was made mandatory in 2004, there has been a 50 per ce nt rise in the water level. According to the CMWSSB officials, over the last five years, the water level across the city has gone up by three to six metres. Similarly, the water quality in several areas has also showed improvement. The sustained normal rainfall since 2004 and the proper maintenance of RWH structures in most households have been the principal reasons. Following the drought period in 2003, when Chennai received only about 690 mm of rainfall as against its normal of 1,200 mm, the water table had receded and, on an average, was at 7-8 metres below ground. In many places it was at 10 m depth and, in some, it was at 10 m.Following a good monsoon (2,064 mm) in 2005 and rainwater harvesting, the ground water table saw an appreciable rise in several areas and the water table reached 1 m depth below ground. The total dissolved solids (TDS), which were earlier as high as 4,900 parts per million (ppm) in some areas, dropped to permissible levels of 500 ppm, greatly improving th e quality of water (see Figure 4). [pic] Figure 4[10] â€Å"Before the onset of every monsoon, Metrowater officials conduct a random check of the RWH structures for their maintenance and create awareness about the need to keep these in good shape. Harnessing of rainwater that gets collected in storm water drain network would help reduce the inundation on roads and large volumes of water draining into sea every year†¦..Unless rainwater runoff in both public and private spaces in the city is harnessed, Chennai may lose out on the precious resource and may end up with water problems during the summer months,† note rain-water harvesting experts. Conclusions This presentation has tried to show that it takes many years of persistent effort to address a problem in civil society. In Chennai, and indeed the whole of Tamil Nadu, the problem was one of water stress. Research showed that the available rainfall could help people cope but fresh water from the rain was being lost to th e sea. Based on this, a proposal was made that ground water recharge was a viable, low-cost solution. This proposal had to be championed. Prof. Vaidyanathan and the then Chairman of CMWSSB, Shanta Sheela Nair, did just that.They showed with great determination and several pilot studies that rain water harvesting would be viable and worthwhile. They managed to convince the government of this, and RWH became a statutory requirement for all buildings in the state. Monitoring the quantity and quality of the ground water has shown the significant changes this legislation has brought in. As a side-effect a greater understanding of the need to clean, preserve and secure all types of fresh water bodies has prevailed among the political circles, bureaucracy, NGOs and civil society. The people have also shown great resolve in implementing the solution since it directly affects their lives.The type of study conducted by MCRC and CSE can be a methodology to assess the water sources, consumption pattern, per capita availability and requirement particularly in developing countries. This way the water supply system can be better planned and implemented to be sustainable. References ———————– [i] http://www. rainwaterharvesting. org/Crisis/Urbanwater-scenario. htm [ii] Balakrishnan, T. , Technical Report Series District Groundwater Brochure, Chennai District, Tamil Nadu. Central Ground Water Board, South East Coastal Region, Chennai, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, November 2008. Published by Regional Director, CGWB, SECR, E-1, Rajaji Bhavan, Besant Nagar, Chennai -600090, Tel:+9144 24912941/24914494, Fax +9144 24914334 Web: www. cgwb. gov. in email [email  protected] in iii] Thomas, Joseph, Sustainable Fresh Water Supply for Madras (now Chennai) City, India (Contract No. S$P/95/0042) Final report submitted to UNICEF, 73, Lodi Estate , New Delhi 110 003, Printed by Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre, Tharamani, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India 600 113, May 1997. [iv] A. Vaidyanathan & J. Saravanan, Chennai’s Water Supply Problems and Prospects (A background paper) National Water Harvestors Network –Tamil Nadu Unit, Centre for Science and Environment. (undated circa 2000) [v] http://www. manage. gov. in/managelib/extdig/Jul99Water. htm [vi] Vaidyanathan, A. with Saravanan, J. ‘The Urban Water Scene: A Case Study -Water Situation in Chennai City’ in A.Vaidyanathan, India’s Water Resources: Contemporary Issues on Irrigation. New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 209-247 (2006). [vii] http://www. business-standard. com/india/news/tn-govt-to-takers-1400-cr-flood-control-project/397769/ [viii] http://www. cmdachennai. gov. in/pdfs/SeminarOnWaterways/1. pdf [ix] http://www. chennaicorporation. gov. in/departments/storm-water-drain/introduction. htm [x] http://www. hindu. com/pp/2009/01/31/stories/2009013150010100. htm Acknowledgements The author gratefully acknowledges the Villgro Innovations Foundation for the time given to write this paper. The valuable inputs from J. Saravanan also gave the author the confidence to make some of the conclusions presented here.