Don Quixote's madness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Don Quixote's madness - Research Paper Example Unsuccessful in his first major quest, he set out on a second adventure with his servant Sancho Panza whom he pleaded with to accompany him on the journey as a squire. As a measure of compensation, Don Quixote promised to make Sancho the Governor of an Isle. Sancho, a farmer and a family man was chosen as the squire who will accompany him throughout his quest into claiming lands and portions for his self-glorification. They both rode on his horse across the cities of Spain in quest of glory and fame. In addition, there was a woman whom Don Quixote fell in love with and at every point he is in distress, he recognizes her as a point of strength and fortress. On his second mission, he encountered people that influence and shape his idea and disposition about life even when such disposition negates his belief and the reason for his conquest. He met a boy in the custody of an evil man and decided to leave him because he was assured of his safety. Sancho, being a loyal servant never for on ce departed from him even though he received the brunt for Don Quixote’s ill judgment. ... He refused to heed to the words of Sancho, rebuking him not to meddle with his quest saying he is not a knight and does not have the instinct of facing giants at war (Ludlum 146). Since he never wanted to hearken to the advice of Sancho, he advanced further at the mill with the mind of attacking the giants he saw instead of the windmills, as he charged further, there was a heavy wind that caused the sail in the windmill. When he saw this, then he believed the giants were trying to use magic that multiplied their hands. On sighting the multiple hands of his perceived giants, he sought for the support of his lover Dulcinea as a way of encouraging himself to fight his giants (Cervantes 65). This was common of Don Quixote throughout the novel as he frequently have his mind set on Dulcinea (Mancing 147), making the whole story seem as if he was on the quest to impress her rather than set himself as the greatest knight. He approached the windmill and launched his sword, but his sword and l ance were crushed by the windmill and fell to the ground. Sancho saw the bad state of his master and he quickly rushed to help him, instead of Don Quixote conceding to his mistake, he was bent on an enemy enchanter turning the giants into windmill. He was still under the influence of the stories of major knights he had read about, his ambition to surpass their achievements, and coupled with his desire of experiencing the love affairs those knights had in the books he read. Because of this, his quest for love became stronger and he would sacrifice himself for beauty that seems to put him in trouble. His nature of doing things got him into trouble with two monks he perceived as enemies capturing a princess. He engaged in a combat with one of the monk and threw him over

History of Fast Food Essay Example for Free

History of Fast Food Essay Fast food has been a growing phenomenon for since its introduction in 20th century. The changes in American culture pushed the fast food industry into a staggering growth arena and have changed the way consumers purchase and eat forever. The fast-food industry that now extends throughout the world has its roots in the United States. Fast-food restaurants are often regarded as emblematic of a new global culture, but the industry has indisputably been shaped by its American origins. (Leidner 8). Fast Food has developed from being a convenience to a necessity, widened the financial gap and became an international phenomenon. The first drive-in restaurant, Royce Haileys Pig Stand in Dallas, Texas, was opened in 1921, and offered pulled pork BBQ and introduced Texas Toast. As one southern fan of Royce Hailey’s pig stand put it: â€Å"Folks went hog wild when the first Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921. Agile car hops leaped onto running boards of Model-Ts to deliver curb service to a generation on the go. It was the age of the automobile, and Pig Stands multiplied across America faster than you can say soooo-eeee. It took the Great Depression of the 30s to slow The Pig down. †(Sowa). Drive-in services were not very popular at this time because automobiles were expensive and few and far between during the Great Depression. Then nearly three decades later the drive-in restaurant enjoyed a degree of success during the 1950’s. Drive-ins celebrated the cultural importance of the automobile and Drive-in restaurants proved (to be the) most popular, places where carhops served customers directly in their parked automobiles (Young, and Young 29). This convenience which enabled people to order their food and eat it in the open air without having to unbuckle their seatbelts changed American fast food forever (Woloson). Car hops, as they were also called, became familiar congregation centers for teenagers as well† (Woloson). The rise of the fast food restaurant would not have been possible without constant changes in American culture. The 1950’s brought about American lifestyle changes. With the end of the war Americans had saved money and moved to the suburbs. For the first time in history middle class married women with women with children were entering the work force. â€Å"Married women comprised the majority of the growth in the female work force throughout the 1950s, and between 1940 and 1960 there was a 400 percent increase in the number of working mothers; by 1960, women with children under the age of eighteen accounted for nearly one-third of all women workers†(Coontz 161). The working women and the decrease of free time may be a direct contributor to the growth of the fast food industry. The development of an affordable automobile and the simultaneous governmental support of new road systems physically reinforced this cultural melding, enabling car owners, especially, to go to places they had never been before. There was a boom in the tourist industry in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The key to the expansion of tourism demand was the rise in disposable incomes in the 1950s and 1960s. (Beauregard 225). Travelers, who once went by rail, boat, or horse, were now moving faster by car. Consumers began to value things such as speed and convenience as part of their trips. Fast food restaurants began making their food faster and faster and Americans love the convenience of letting someone else do the cooking, especially when they are vacationing (Bijlefeld, and Zoumbaris 51). As travelers not only did they need affordable and reliable places to stay they needed quick, convenient, and inexpensive eateries. The need for fast, reliable, affordable, and convenient food, along with an increasing acceptance among Americans of more fast pace culture, led to the rise of the fast food industry. Fast food restaurants sprang up in both urban areas and along the nations highways in record numbers after the introduction of the fast food phenomenon known as McDonalds. â€Å"The first fast food restaurant (was) opened by the two McDonald brothers in 1937 in Pasadena, California. Their established restaurant had experienced high demand at specific times (for example, workers’ lunchtimes) and they responded with a circumscribed menu (burgers) and were able to serve large numbers at high speed and low price. The assembly line procedures, with food preparation and serving made into simple repetitive tasks, combined with a specialized division of labor for each stage, have been recognized as constituting the first ‘fast food factory’† (Beardsworth, and Keil 120). This enabled people to get their food faster and set the standards for the future of the fast food industry. As the McDonalds chain grew and other chains started to sprout up people began to accept the new culture of food service. The working-class food held largely in disrepute. The gaining widespread popularity of fast food made it a staple food in diets of many Americans diets. The most successful of these stands quickly multiplied, taking advantage of the growing popularity of this new fast food and applied industrial principles of standardization to its development. McDonald’s is considered the first fast food restaurant and recognized the potential of this relatively fast and simple food. The organization of McDonalds created standardized methods in its production. The history of White castle dates back to the 1920’s is seen as the first and most influential restaurant chain (â€Å"White Castle†). â€Å"White Castle is credited for beginning the franchise system that inspired many â€Å"(Woloson). White Castle set standards, began standardization of the cooking line, and created the first restaurant which duplicated the original. In retrospect it can be said that White Castle was the start and set high standards for all the other franchise restaurants in the United States. The hamburger fulfilled economic as well as cultural needs for inexpensive food. Although there was not a food shortage during the great depression food was expensive and affordable food options like the local hamburger stand was a blessing. By the end of 1930, White Castle had sold over 21 million hamburgers and then by the end of 1937, this number had increased to over 40 million (Woloson). Fast food began to make a steady incline towards the end of World War II. â€Å"Franchises were not unique to the 1950s; they had been around since the early decades of the twentieth century, patronized by a public increasingly used to and insistent upon the supposed reliability and trustworthiness of branded goods†(Woloson). White Castle, A W Root beer, and Howard Johnsons, were some of the first and most successful restaurant franchises. Although it took the ideals of postwar culture to wholly support the fast-food franchise it laid the foundations for the companies to make billions of dollars. In 1955 Ray A. Kroc, a Chicago Milkshake salesman, discovered the McDonald’s restaurant in California and saw a goldmine. He partnered with the McDonald’s brothers, opening 228 franchises by 1960. Kroc happily bought out the McDonalds’ shares of the company in 1961. Kroc, an incredible entrepreneur, wanted to make the customers to identify with the restaurant and make it seem homey. â€Å"By 1988, McDonald’s had opened its ten thousandth restaurant and today there are over 30,000 McDonald’s restaurants worldwide† (â€Å"History of Franchising†). â€Å"Krocs success lay in his approach not specifically to cooking individual food items, but in conceiving of his franchise operation in its entirety† (Woloson). The methods and success of McDonald’s Franchises have set a tone for the fast food industry. Although â€Å"White Castle was the first restaurant that encouraged carry-out for those customers on the go the restraint developed standard floor plans and architectural designs that could be easily duplicated† and set these standards for others in the industry (Woloson). McDonalds uniform restaurants, kitchens, dining rooms, and methods of standardized cooking techniques set this great restaurant apart and distinguish it from the other fast food restaurants. Ray Kroc had some competition with the introduction of popular fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Burger King. One may say ethnic food could be considered a genre for the fast food franchise system, Taco Bell originated in 1962 and was the first ethnic franchise restaurant, paving the way for many more. â€Å"Wendys, specializing in bigger, better, and more expensive hamburgers and introduced the first drive-thru windows at their restaurants, which were so popular that Burger King and McDonalds had to follow suit†(Woloson). As an industry fast food will continue to grow, change, and adapt to the needs of the culture around it. Expanding to international markets the fast food industry offers cultural acceptable products. â€Å"Multinational fast-food chains have now become household names, and in terms of sales and units tend to dominate national markets. Indeed, the industry is becoming more internationalized with brands like Burger King being bought by the British multinational Diageo; and McDonalds has recently bought a stake in Pret a Manger. However, some of the largest brands in this sector are still American-owned, such as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Wimpy†(Royle and Towers 3). One great concept is international fast food chains often support the local economy, buying local products, but sticking to the same well known recipes to get desired results. The fast food franchise of the 20th century has set and defined a world-renowned concept of the way people order, eat, and enjoy the food that they purchase. The fast food industry is one of enormous power and economic strength. Fast food restaurants represent Americas cultures and, in many ways, how other cultures strive to be like America.

Attitude Toward Warfare in Beowulf :: Anglo Saxon English Literature Essays

Attitude Toward Warfare in Beowulf Many historians and authors, such as Tacitus, described Anglo-Saxon England as a region dominated by warlike, belligerent tribes of Germanic descent. These people constantly fought for territories and treasures, which they possessed or wished to acquire. It was the duty of a king or a lord to acquire jewels and armor for his people and that was how he kept his kinsmen loyal to him. In the legendary epic poem, Beowulf, these traits of Anglo-Saxon culture are clearly defined. The character of Beowulf is a true representative of Anglo-Saxon culture. First, Beowulf performs his duties as a kinsman to his uncle, Hygelac, with loyalty and dedication. Further, a reader witnesses Beowulf acting as a lord to his people, acquiring land and treasures for them. Moreover, the attitude of unknown narrator of the poem reflects his support and approval of the culture described in Beowulf. The epic, Beowulf, begins with the funeral of Shield Sheafson, the originator of the Danish people. Shield Sheafson is described as a "scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes" (lines 4-5). Obviously, this ring-giver has led an aggressive and violent life. He has terrorized his neighbors and rival tribes, destroyed their mead-halls or gathering places, and in addition, made them pay tribute. Therefore, while the king was alive, his tribe was protected from enemies, fed, clothed and enjoyed the treasures which their lord acquired for them. The author of the epic shows his approval of this culture and its attributes by saying that Shield Sheafson "was one good king" (line 10). Kinship was one of the main aspects of Anglo-Saxon England - a lord led his men in fyrd (journey or expedition) against enemies, acquired treasures for them and protected his tribe and in return for all that, his kinsmen were loyal to him and followed their lord in battles. People w ere not identified on a demographic basis, but by their belonging to a particular king or a ring-giver. Furthermore, the idea of kinship is demonstrated in other parts of the epic. When Beowulf is described preparing to fight the dragon, his last battle, Wiglaf follows Beowulf, his lord, into the fray. Wiglaf remains by Beowulf's side until the hero's death, although the rest of Beowulf's warriors disappear with the first sight of the dragon. Wiglaf demonstrates his loyalty not to his country or to his tribe, but particularly to his lord, Beowulf:

To Kill a Mockingbird: An Analysis of Discrimination Essay -- Kill Moc

To Kill a Mockingbird: An Analysis of Discrimination The most important theme of the 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is author Harper Lee’s tenacious exploration of the moral nature of people. Lee tenaciously explores the moral nature of human beings, especially the struggle in every human soul between discrimination and tolerance. The novel is very effective in not only revealing prejudice, but in examining the nature of prejudice, how it works, and its consequences. One of the ways it accomplishes this is by dramatizing the main characters’, Scout and Jem’s, maturing transition from a perspective of childhood innocence. Initially, because they have never seen or experienced evil themselves, they assume that all people are good by nature and tolerant of others. It is not until they see things from a more realistic adult perspective that they are able to confront evil, as well as prejudice, and incorporate it into their understanding of the world (Castleman). As a result of this skillful literary portrayal by Harper Lee of the psychological transition from innocence to experience to realization, To Kill a Mockingbird succeeds admirably in portraying the very real threat that hatred, prejudice, and ignorance have always posed to the innocent. Simple, trusting, good-hearted characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are tragically unprepared. They are ill-equipped emotionally and psychologically to deal with the unexpected depths of the prejudice they encounter -- and as a result, they are destroyed. Even Jem is victimized to a certain extent by his discovery of the evil of prejudice and its hidden power over so many people during and after the controversial trial (Bergman and ... ... to view the world from his perspective ensures that she will not become jaded as she loses her innocence. In conclusion, in To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee tenaciously explores the moral nature of human beings, especially the struggle in every human soul between discrimination and tolerance. The novel is very effective in not only revealing prejudice, but in examining the nature of prejudice, how it works, and its consequences. Bibliography Bergman, Paul, and Asimow, Michael. Reel Justice. New York: Andrews and McMeel, 1996. Castleman, Tamara. Cliffsnotes’ Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Cliffsnotes, 2000. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Harper Collins, 1999. To Kill a Mockingbird. Dir. Robert Mulligan. Perf. Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Crahan Denton, Philip Alford. Universal-International, 1962.

Google’s Strategy in 2010 Essay

What is Google’s business model? The answer is complex because it makes up of lots of different factors. The top 10 principles of Google’s corporate philosophy is what keeps them doing what they do best. (Gamble, 2010, pg. C-175). 1.Focus on the user and all else will follow. 2.It’s best to do one thing really, really well. 3.Fast is better than slow. 4.Democracy on the web works. 5.You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer. 6.You can make money without doing evil. 7.There’s always more information out there. 8.The need for information crosses all borders. 9.You can be serious without a suit. 10.Great just isn’t good enough. Their mission statement is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. (www.google.com). These 10 principles have helped them achieve their goal within their mission statement. Google has kept it simple but efficient. These 10 principles have guided them from the beginning and it has work. They don’t need to fix something that is not broken. Examine the financial reports in the case to determine the company’s profitability, liquidity, leverage and activity ratios. Based on these ratios what is your assessment of the company’s performance? Justify your answer? Profitability ratios are measures of performance that indicate what the firm is earning on its sales or assets or equity. There are the operating profit margin, net profit margin, return on total assets, return on equity, and basic earning power ratios. (Mayo, 2007). Operating profit margin = Earnings before interest and taxes/Sales 8,381,189/23,650,563 = 35.4% Net profit margin = Earnings after interest and taxes/Sales 6,520,448/23,650,563 = 27.5% Return on total assets = Earnings after interest and taxes/Total assets 6,520,448/40,496,778 = 16.1% Return on equity = Earnings after interest and taxes/Equity 6,520,448/36,004,224 = 18.1% Basic earning power = earnings before interest and taxes/Total assets 8,381,189/40,496,778 = 20.6% Leverage ratios measure the firm’s use of debt financing. There are two ratios; debt/net worth ratio and debt ratio. (Mayo, 2007). Debt/net worth ratio = Debt/Equity 4,492,554/36,004,224 = 12.4% Debt ratio = Debt/Total assets 4,492,554/40,496,778 = 11.0% Activity ratios measure how rapidly the firm is turning its assets into cash. The two activity ratios are inventory turnover and receivables turnover. Google does not have any inventory so there is no inventory turnover. (Mayo, 2007). Receivables turnover = Annual sales/Accounts receivable 23,650,563/3,178,471 = 7.4% Liquidity ratios measure the ease of which assets may be converted into cash without loss. There are two liquidity ratios; quick and current ratio. (Mayo, 2007). Quick ratio = Current assets – Inventory/Current liabilities 29,166,958-0/2,747,467 = 10.6% Current ratio = Current assets/current liabilities 29,166,958/2,747,467 = 10.6% Since Google does not have any inventory, the quick ratio and current ratio is the same. This shows that Google does have more assets than current liabilities. Overall, Google is doing extremely well all over the board. Their debt ratio is low sitting at 11 percent. They paid their bills on time because their receivables turnover is sitting at 7 percent. Investors know that Google is a good company to buy stock into. Perform a SWOT analysis of Google. Strengths Number one search engine with established name Simple interface-user friendly Their interface has 88 different languages-Global usage Localized search results Infrastructure Weakness Contextual ads targeted by click fraud Can’t expand to offline products Opportunities Acquisitions of other business Increase online advertising Alliances/partnerships with other companies Launched their own operating system Google TV Threats Facebook Click fraud Yahoo, Microsoft, and Amazon Slow economy Describe Google’s value chain. What is the source of the company’s competitive advantage? Since Google does not have any â€Å"raw† materials to process into finished goods like a traditional company, their value chain is different. Ben Morrow (2009) their value chain is more nuanced. Google gathers all the web users it can (the raw material) by enticing them to use its stellar search product with highly relevant results delivered promptly. Then, through assorted â€Å"signs† (text advertisements) it directs these same web users in the form of traffic to its advertising partners who transform the traffic into â€Å"conversions† or sales on their sites (finished good). Their added value is that they know where to direct the users to their sites that they needed to go. The source of Google’s competitive advantage is learning by doing as stated by Hal R. Varian, Google’s chief economist (Lohr, 2008). Basically, they arelearning from their competitors. For example, with Microsoft antitrust problems, they are now making antitrust training is mandatory for Google managers (Lohr, 2008). Some of Google’s competitive advantages are their value, rarity, imitability, and substitutability. Value because it is part of their value chain. Rarity because their user interface is so simple and user friendly. Also, it is hard for competitors to imitate because of the large infrastructure requirements to serve the relevant pages quickly. Google has servers all over the world all synced up and all running on a very large quantity of RAM, fast computer memory. (Morrow, 2009). References Lohr, S. (July, 7, 2008). The New York Times. Google, Zen Master of the Market. Retrieved on April 11, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/technology/07google.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1. Mayo, H. (2007). Basic Finance: An Introduction to Financial Institutions, Investments & Management: 9 Edition. Thomson: United States. Morrow, B. (Feb. 22. 2009). Internal Analysis of Google Inc. Retrieved on April 11, 2012 from http://www.benmorrow.info/research/internal-analysis-of-google-inc/. Thomson A., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J., & Strickland, A.J. ( 2012). Crafting & Executing Strategy. McGraw-Hill.

Trayvon Martin Essays

Trayvon Martin Essays Trayvon Martin Essay Trayvon Martin Essay Essay Topic: Turtle Island On Friday, March 11, Japan was rocked by an earthquake. People were displaced, a nuclear reactor was in trouble, and the world watched as a tsunami flooded Japan, threatened the islands of the Pacific, and ultimately hit the western coasts of North and South America. Very little of the devastation resulting from this earthquake was from the initial shaking. But mainly because any damage from the seismic waves that was dwarfed by the impact of the 10 metre tsunami that hit the Japanese coast less than an hour later. Most of the reporting (both good and bad) that has been done on the earthquake, the tsunami, and the resulting fallout from both has focused on their effects on humans. But humans are just one species affected by these sorts of disasters. Slowly, a bit of information about various scaley, furry, or feathered critters has begun to trickle out of the affected areas. Kazutoshi Takami, a veterinarian at the Osaka Municipal Tennoji Zoological Gardens, reported last week that several zoos and aquariums were suffering shortages of gas, heater fuel, and food and drinkable water for humans as well as for animals.Also, according to Takami, the Fukushima Aquarium made plans to move their sea mammals and birds to Kamogawa Sea World. On Saturday, March 12, Pete Leary, a wildlife biologist for the Fish and Wildlife Service who is stationed at Midway, blogged extensively on the tsunami and subsequent animal rescue operations: We had all 67 island employees/visitors up here watching the news on BBC and watching our tide gauge data over the internet. We saw that we had about a 5 foot rise in the tide gauge level, but were glad that we couldn’t see any water when we looked out the windows.After looking at a bit of the washover on Sand Island, and setting a crew to work on digging albatross chicks and petrels out of the debris, Greg and I took the boat over to Eastern Island. On the way, we passed thousands of albatross adults and petrels that had been washed into the water and lost their ability to stay dry. Their feathers weelfuelte re messed up by being tumbled over the island and through the vegetation. We pulled some into the boat, but needed to get to Eastern Island, so we had to hope that most of them would paddle to shore. Eastern Island was mostly washed over, so 10? s of thousands of chicks were washed away.I’ll have to look at our count numbers from Dec. to figure out how many chicks were in the affected areas. There were dead fish by the hundreds up in t he middle of the island. The short-tailed albatross chick must really be wondering what kind of place it lives in because it was washed away from the nest for the second time this year already. This time, it was about 40 yards away from the original nest. It was easy to spot because all the other chicks were washed away in a previous storm. I didn’t want to pick the chick up, because it was already stressed and upset, but the parents may not have found it that far from the nest.I put out a sheet of plastic and when it stepped onto it, I gave it a sled ride the 40 yards back to its nest. I hope that’s all the excitement that it has for the rest of the season. There were a lot of chicks and adults buried in debris (mostly dead vegetation). Greg and I were digging out stuck birds all day. We took our volunteers and some people from the visitors group over yesterday and dug out another hundred or so birds. We also found 2 turtles that were washed quite a way up onto the is land, which were then carried back to the beach and seemed glad to get back in the water.At least we didn’t find any injured Hawaiian monk seals or Laysan ducks. The seals were back resting on the beaches on Friday. What Can We Expect? While some of the reports are heartening, and many are devasting, more in-depth research into the short- and long-term effects of the tsunami on marine and coastal ecosystems will take much longer. But the 2004 magnitude 9. 15 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, and the resulting tsunami that rippled across the Indian Ocean have been extensively studied, and allow us to speculate regarding possible outcomes of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.The Wildlife Trust of India, along with the International Fund for Animal Welfare initiated several investigations[-gt;0] following the earthquake and tsunami to assess their impact on wildlife. Overall, they found that damage to wildlife populations was generally limited on the mainland, and slightly worse on the islands. Particularly hard-hit, however, were coral reef systems. Several beaches were washed away, and freshwater habitats were inundated with saltwater. While most of these ecosystems were eventually able to rebound, problems did occur.For example, one mainland wildlife sanctuary became flooded with saltwater and covered with sand, making is impossible for the various plant-eating ungulates (hoofed animals) to graze. Even worse, with seawater comes toxic pollution. According to the Wildlife Trust report: Other grave problems stem from the onslaught of seawater laden with sediments and toxins. Aquifers, the primary source of drinking water, have been contaminated by saltwater, raw sewage, oil, and other pollutants. On the coasts of Indonesia and Sri Lanka, paddies and farm fields are smothered under a crust of salt and silt.Some areas may never recover, for others irrigation and one or more rainy seasons may be enough to flush out the soil. For now farmers are being en couraged to plant salt-tolerant crops, like pumpkins and kale. In other areas, rather than covering plants with saltwater, the tsunami simply washed all plants away, making it possible for invasive species to take root, quite literally. The change in plant life wasn’t problematic for some species, such as the fan-throated lizard (Sitana ponticeriana), which were able to survive in the new ecosystem.Other species, surely, were not so lucky, but little information is available. And there were probably other invaders, as well. Furry ones. Large dead trees from distant islands were found washed up on mainland beaches. While there was no danger to beach ecosystems from the trees themselves, since they were dead, they may have carried some critters with them that would eventually colonize mainland coasts. It is well-known that rodents, reptiles, and insects are quite capable of setting up camp in new environments after rafting across the sea. [-gt;0] wildlifetrustofindia. org/pub lications/reports. htm

Drilling Into Faults

Drilling Into Faults Geologists are daring to go where they once could only dream of going- right to the places where earthquakes actually happen. Three projects have taken us into the seismogenic zone. As one report put it, projects like these put us at the precipice of quantum advances in the science of earthquake hazards. Drilling the San Andreas Fault at Depth The first of these drilling projects made a borehole next to the San Andreas fault near Parkfield, California, at a depth of about 3 kilometers. The project is called the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth or SAFOD, and its part of the much larger research effort EarthScope. Drilling began in 2004 with a vertical hole going down 1500 meters then curving toward the fault zone. The 2005 work season extended this slanting hole all the way across the fault, and was followed by two years of monitoring. In 2007 drillers made four separate side holes, all on the near side of the fault, that are equipped with all kinds of sensors. The chemistry of fluids, microearthquakes, temperatures and more are being recorded for the next 20 years. While drilling these side holes, core samples of intact rock were taken that cross the active fault zone giving tantalizing evidence of the processes there. Scientists kept up a website with daily bulletins,  and if you read it youll see some of the difficulties of this kind of work. SAFOD was carefully placed at an underground location where regular sets of small earthquakes have been happening. Just like the last 20 years of earthquake research at Parkfield, SAFOD is aimed at a part of the San Andreas fault zone where the geology seems to be simpler and the faults behavior more manageable than elsewhere. Indeed, the whole fault is considered to be easier to study than most because it has a simple strike-slip structure with a shallow bottom, at about 20 km depth. As faults go, it is a rather straight and narrow ribbon of activity with well-mapped rocks on either side. Even so, detailed maps of the surface show a tangle of related faults. The mapped rocks include tectonic splinters that have been swapped back and forth across the fault during its hundreds of kilometers of offset. The patterns of earthquakes at Parkfield have not been as regular or simple as geologists had hoped, either; nevertheless SAFOD is our best look so far at the cradle of earthquakes. The Nankai Trough Subduction Zone In a global sense the San Andreas fault, even as long and active as it is, is not the most significant type of seismic zone. Subduction zones take that prize for three reasons:    They are responsible for all the largest, magnitude 8 and 9 earthquakes we have recorded, such as the Sumatra quake of December 2004 and the Japan earthquake of March 2011.Because they are always under the ocean, subduction-zone earthquakes tend to trigger tsunamis.Subduction zones are where lithospheric plates move toward and underneath other plates, on their way into the mantle where they give rise to most of the worlds volcanoes. So there are compelling reasons to learn more about these faults (plus many more scientific reasons), and drilling into one is just within the state of the art. The Integrated Ocean Drilling Project is doing that with a new state-of-the-art drillship off the coast of Japan. The Seismogenic Zone Experiment, or SEIZE, is a three-phase program that will measure the inputs and outputs of the subduction zone where the Philippine plate meets Japan in the Nankai Trough. This is a shallower trench than most subduction zones, making it easier for drilling. The Japanese have a long and accurate history of earthquakes on this subduction zone, and the site is only a days ship travel away from land. Even so, in the difficult conditions foreseen the drilling will require a riser- an outer pipe from the ship to the sea floor- to prevent blowouts and so that the effort can proceed using drilling mud instead of seawater, as previous drilling has used. The Japanese have built a brand-new drillship, Chikyu (Earth) that can do the job, reaching 6 kilometers below the sea floor. One question the project will seek to answer is what physical changes accompany the earthquake cycle on subduction faults. Another is what happens in the shallow region where soft sediment fades into brittle rock, the boundary between soft deformation and seismic disruption. There are places on land where this part of subduction zones is exposed to geologists, so results from the Nankai Trough will be very interesting. Drilling began in 2007.   Drilling New Zealands Alpine Fault The Alpine fault, on New Zealands South Island, is a large oblique-thrust fault that causes magnitude 7.9 earthquakes every few centuries. One interesting feature of the fault is that vigorous uplift and erosion have beautifully exposed a thick cross-section of the crust that provides fresh samples of the deep fault surface. The Deep Fault Drilling Project, a collaboration of New Zealand and European institutions, is punching cores across the Alpine fault by drilling straight down. The first part of the project succeeded in penetrating and coring the fault twice just 150 meters below the ground in January 2011 then instrumenting the holes. A deeper hole is planned near the Whataroa River in 2014 that will go down 1500 meters. A public wiki serves past and ongoing data from the project.

Prisoners of War POW essays

Prisoners of War POW essays There was much significance in the events of the Prisoners of War during the time of the Vietnam War. The POW events affected the way in which war was conducted, the outcome and experience to soldiers, and Americas future as well. The events that took place with the POWs were an important aspect of the way war was looked at during the war in Vietnam. Prisoners of war, or otherwise known as POW, are members of the armed forces of an enemy country who have been captured in the event of wartime. In one of the stories in the book, Everything We Had, Admiral William Lawrence describes the events that took place for the duration of and after the time that he was captured while he was at war and held in Hanoi as a Prisoner of War during the Vietnam War. Lawrence was a pilot who was shot down while flying and then was captured by Vietnamese troops after landing nearby the Red River Delta. He was then taken to Hanoi, where he would stay along with the other POWs for the next 7 years of his life. When they all first arrived there, the POW were blindfolded and tied up, and if they talked they would get hit with the butt of a gun or beaten even worse. The prisoners were kept in extremely small cells, usually separated with people from the same country. The prisoners werent allowed to talk so Lawrence explained how they had developed a tap code in order to communicate with each other without letting the guards surrounding them know what was going on. Since the Vietnamese were always attempting to try and have a prisoner write a propaganda letter, or any other way of interrogation towards the prisoners, communication was a must and the prisoners were very intelligent in finding methods of transporting messages back and forth to each othe r without talking. The prisoners also got a radio played to them everyday which was about the USs involvement in the war. ...

American Government and politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

American Government and politics - Essay Example Presidential speeches are dynamically recorded online in which individuals can discuss their opinions on. Furthermore, networks such as CNN and even white house are on twitter. Although this may seem risky, it allows the government to convey their message and benefit from these avenues of social networking. Law exists because it is critical for human existence. It is in human nature to engage in constant warfare. When law is implemented and citizens give up their rights to a sovereign ruler, things seem to be in harmonious manner. When someone violates the law, they are imprisoned for their actions. Prison and fines are the common ways punishing individuals who don’t abide with the law. Congress and the government makes the law to secure the freedom for the citizens of America. However, the process of laws being enacted is a long due process which can be often frustrating not to mention the rivalry that exists between Republicans and Democrats. Select ONE of the following scenarios  for the assigned chapters and complete the Critical Analysis questions.   Your written response must be at least 100 words in support of your position on the questions.   Be sure to note the chapter number and feature in your response. The concept of Shariah laws is complicated that are handled carefully with Islamic scholars. The shariah insists that a person must say the word â€Å"talaaq,† which means divorce in order to obtain that talaaq. If a person says this three times to a same person, he is not allowed to marry her every as the marriages becomes null. The problem is the fact that when men just write the word divorce instead of saying it. In essence, does it become valid if a person does it through texting or email? Indeed, Islamic jurists have pondered upon that issue. Recently though, the Saudi courts have upheld this issue and said that divorce through texting should be upheld. Freedom of expression is

Student press freedom Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Student press freedom - Assignment Example The freedom of the press is quite vast, such that a few politicians have referred to the public press as the fourth estate, essentially conferring on it the same degree of importance and significance as the other three branches of the government. It can conduct its own inquiries in search of truth, in the name of public interest, like investigative journalism in which certain anomalies involving public funds can be uncovered, as an example. Freedom of the press carries with it vast powers but imposes the strict standards of ethics and principles adopted by the members of the press who consider their job as a profession. As such, the press refers originally to previous regimes in which news and information are obtained from newspapers, but in todays digital world, press also refers to all types of media available, like print, radio, television, and Internet (e-mails, blogs, and social networking sites) where information can spread very quickly indeed on a worldwide basis. The right to exercise this freedom is synonymous with all the responsibilities to exercise it in a responsible manner, to prevent abuses, promote welfare, and maintain journalistic independence. This paper discusses some of the issues involving the laws on media, and in particular, the specific sub-topic of freedom of the student press. In this regard, students who work in their own student or school publications learn firsthand the basics of what responsible journalism is all about, gaining valuable experience in the exercise of this important basic constitutional right.

Practicum nursing service administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Practicum nursing service administration - Essay Example ANA is a professional organization that represents interest of registered nurses in the US. The standards of professional performance by ANA describes the behavioral competency in the role of the profession in activities that commensurate with quality while providing care; education; and appraisal of performance among many others. It has its constituents that such as state nurses association and other affiliate organizations that aid in its practices. It promotes nursing profession by advocating for high level or standard practices in nursing; ensuring that the rights of nurses are catered for at the work place; and liaising with regulatory agencies and as well as the congress on issues concerning healthcare that affect the public and nurses. Nurses have an obligation to integrate ethical conducts in the different facets of their practices. There are ethical codes that guide these practices such as interpretive statements for nurses. Furthermore, the nurses in the profession have a m andate not only to establish and maintain professional therapeutic and patients and nurse relationship but also discharge health care in such a way that the patient’s dignity, autonomy and rights are upheld. They are also required to make ethical decisions while at work; report cases that are incompetent and illegal; and maintain and ensure patients on confidentiality within the boundaries of regulations and legal requirements. The sole commitment of a nurse is the patient irrespective of individuals or groups of individuals. It is a nurse responsibility to be accountable for nursing practices and evaluate ideal and correct task delegation mechanisms that are consistent with their duties to provide maximum care for the patients (ANA, 2010). The codes of ethics also stipulate that nurses have self obligations or duties which entail having the responsibility of upholding integrity and preserving safety; and

Luis Angel Perez v. The New York and Presbyterian Hospital Essay

Luis Angel Perez v. The New York and Presbyterian Hospital - Essay Example On August 15, 2003, when Dr. Nunez observed the plaintiff speaking to a patient in a room in Spanish and had an argument with him, he wrote a letter to Dr. Nunez implying that he was acting out of good faith. The hospital prefers hiring bilingual English/Spanish-speakers for the Mental Health Workers as the patients in the Psychiatric Unit include approximately 30% monolingual Spanish-speaking and 50% who are bilingual. The defendant was frequently asked to translate to Spanish speaking patients who were not having the ability to communicate in English. Defendants allegations that his nursing supervisors had used ethnic slurs and had engaged in conduct denigrating him because of his origin was unprofessional as well as mocking patients with limited English proficiency. On August 15, 2003, Dr. Nunez observed the defendant speaking to a patient in Spanish in the patient’s room. He had an argument with the plaintiff who wrote a letter to Dr. Nunez implying that he was acting out of good faith. The plaintiff occasionally talked in Spanish to his fellow workers, but it is not in the patients presence. He did this in the presence of the patients, for instance, when talking to the clerk in an office, away from the patients and with the security guard. Perez suffered from his choice of speaking Spanish to the patients and workers who he did not cause harm to as he risked his job. The first amendment guarantees individuals freedom of expressing themselves freely and guarantees citizens the right to assemble peaceably. Perez communication to his fellow Spanish counterparts in the Medical facility was his right, as it never happened in the presence of a patient. A Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that an employee cannot be segregated. The employees should not be classified in a manner that deprives any individual of employment opportunities because of an individual’s race, color and or other

Individual report investigating the mobile phone usage by the UBIC Essay

Individual report investigating the mobile phone usage by the UBIC students - Essay Example The increase in use of smart phones in this institution has grown to the height that is commercially important especially to the mobile manufacturing companies. This was the major reason behind conducting a research on the use of mobile phones in this institution. There were several driving factors towards conducting this kind of research. An escalating use of mobile phones had raised legitimate concerns that were both positive and negative in different ways. Some could be derailing education while others were equally profitable. In the aspect of profitability the use of mobile phones in this institution could be exploited businesswise. This includes; to know if students use mobile phones in the University of Brighton’s International College and the type of mobile phones they use, to know their rate of use of the mobile devices, to determine the impact of the use of mobile phone in this institution, to help know how viable the business of selling mobile phones could be, to gather vital information that could be useful in improving the quality of education in the institution, to determine how various mobile applications are useful to consumers, specifically students and how their usage could lead the growth of mobile business. Several data elicitation methods were put into place with the primary source of data gathering being face to face interview and questionnaire filling in. Nevertheless, every aspect of data gathering methodology was vital in the final report. The following were the methods used in finding out what exactly was going on in the institution. Interview has been one of the major data gathering methodology of all time since it involves one on interaction with the correspondent. This therefore leads to gathering of first hand information that could reflect the true state of the mind of sincere correspondents. In this study thirty students from in The University of Brighton’s International

Luis Angel Perez v. The New York and Presbyterian Hospital Essay

Luis Angel Perez v. The New York and Presbyterian Hospital - Essay Example On August 15, 2003, when Dr. Nunez observed the plaintiff speaking to a patient in a room in Spanish and had an argument with him, he wrote a letter to Dr. Nunez implying that he was acting out of good faith. The hospital prefers hiring bilingual English/Spanish-speakers for the Mental Health Workers as the patients in the Psychiatric Unit include approximately 30% monolingual Spanish-speaking and 50% who are bilingual. The defendant was frequently asked to translate to Spanish speaking patients who were not having the ability to communicate in English. Defendants allegations that his nursing supervisors had used ethnic slurs and had engaged in conduct denigrating him because of his origin was unprofessional as well as mocking patients with limited English proficiency. On August 15, 2003, Dr. Nunez observed the defendant speaking to a patient in Spanish in the patient’s room. He had an argument with the plaintiff who wrote a letter to Dr. Nunez implying that he was acting out of good faith. The plaintiff occasionally talked in Spanish to his fellow workers, but it is not in the patients presence. He did this in the presence of the patients, for instance, when talking to the clerk in an office, away from the patients and with the security guard. Perez suffered from his choice of speaking Spanish to the patients and workers who he did not cause harm to as he risked his job. The first amendment guarantees individuals freedom of expressing themselves freely and guarantees citizens the right to assemble peaceably. Perez communication to his fellow Spanish counterparts in the Medical facility was his right, as it never happened in the presence of a patient. A Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that an employee cannot be segregated. The employees should not be classified in a manner that deprives any individual of employment opportunities because of an individual’s race, color and or other

Critical overview of the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Dissertation - 1

Critical overview of the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example The onset of globalization, which is characterized by the drastic integration of international trade into one single market, further underscored this as trade disputes and disagreements between countries emerge with the increase in international commerce. According to Lu, Verheyen and Perera, arbitration has been the most common dispute resolution mechanism today both in the international market and among parties that conduct business with sovereign states that the enforceability of awards has become increasingly important and practical.1 (p. 163-164) According to FINRA, parties may even prefer arbitration than a juridical process because the process is faster and more effective.2 Currently, the multilateral arbitration mechanism that most states are subjected to is the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 otherwise known as the New York Convention. As of 2009, 142 out of the 192 members of the United Nations signed the convention. The majo rity of global trading organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) also accede to this convention. It mandates all courts of the ratifying states to enforce and recognize private agreements and â€Å"arbitral awards made in the territory of a State other than the State where the recognition and enforcement of such awards are sought, and arising out of differences between persons, whether physical or legal.†3 Saudi Arabia has been receptive of foreign arbitration awards in the past and rarely elevated disputes to international fora but its courts do not automatically endorse foreign judgments.4 In April 19, 1994, the country signed the convention. Some changes have been effected with regards to enforcement of arbitration awards. When Saudi signed the convention, a royal decree (No. M/11 of 16/7/1414) was released, which provided that recognition and enforcement of foreign awards should be limited to those made in the territory of States, which have also acceded thereto.5 This among other factors such as the persistence of Islamic law and the effects it entail in doing business in the country has made the situation complicated and at times problematic particularly in terms of the enforcement of arbitral awards. This problem would be investigated by this research, with the initial expectation that there are numerous variables that hinder and limit such enforcement particularly in the religious and bureaucratic spheres. 3.0 Scope of the Study In pursuing the research objective, this research would focus on two important conventions that Saudi is party to: the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 and the Riyadh Convention. These mechanisms would be used as the standards by which arbitration awards enforcement are either successful or a failure exclusively in the Saudi experience. 4.0. Methodology Since this is a descriptive and analytical research, this study will not use models for empirical inquiries. Instead, this researcher will use a combination of ‘black-letter' doctrinal analysis and ‘law in context' approaches. The idea is to capture the complexity of having to discuss the general subject of

Universities in Middle Ages Essay Example for Free

Universities in Middle Ages Essay 1. 1 Origin of the University The main reason for the establishment of the universities in Europe was a spontaneous and enthusiastic desire for knowledge. Centres of learning had grown up from the monastic and cathedral schools formed what might be called the secondary school system of the early Middle Ages and were mostly concerned with the study of the liturgy and prayer. Towards the end of the twelfth century a few of the greatest old cathedral, monastic or some other form of schools claimed, from the excellence of their teaching, to be more than merely local importance. These schools were generally recognized places of study, where lectures were open to student of all countries and of all conditions. However, for these places of study, it took a long period of time to become universities (Cubberley, 1920). The more ancient and customary term for an academic institution was studium generale. Let us explain the way studium was created in those days. It began when the teacher of some ability and reputation attracted more and more students to study. In period of time more teachers and more students came. The addition of generale meant that the studium was attended by students from other countries and it was contrasted with a studium particulare, which taught students only from the neighbourhood. In the thirteenth century, according to famous historian, Hastings Rashdall, three characteristics were connoted by the term Studium Generale; a school which aspired to the name must not be restricted to natives of a particular town or country, it must have a number of masters, and it must teach not only the Seven Liberal Arts, but also one or more of the higher studies of Theology, Law and Medicine (1969, p9). It was used in much the same sense in which we speak of a University to-day (Graves, 1914) The term universitas itself was a general Roman legal term and originally meant any legally defined guild or corporation unless qualified by other expression. The complete name of the medieval university was – Universitas Magistrorum et Scholarium – the body of masters and scholars. Graves suggests that â€Å"it signified a company of persons that had assembled for study and, like any other gild, had organized for the sake of protection; since they were in a town there they were regarded as strangers. Thus it did not refer to a place or school at all, but to the teachers and scholars† (1914, p87). Lyte affirms that â€Å"in the earliest and broadest sense of the term, a university had no necessary connexion with schools or literature, being merely a community of individuals bound together by some more or less acknowledged tie. The term was, however, specially applied to the whole body of persons frequenting the schools of a large stadium† (1886, p5). According to Mullinger there are at least â€Å"three new factors in the intellectual activity of the older universities which clearly distinguish that activity from anything that had gone before. Firstly, there is the introduction of new subjects of study, as embodied in a new or revived literature. Secondly it is the adaption of new methods of teaching, which these subjects rendered necessary. And finally there is the growing tendency to organisation which accompanied the development and consolidation of the nationalities† (1888, p4). Rashdall also concluded that the university had embodied three important educational values: â€Å"a commitment to providing not only useful professional training but also the highest intellectual cultivation possible; a desire not only to conserve and transmit knowledge but also to advance it by research and writing; and the most important of all, the idea of joining together teachers of diverse subjects into a single harmonious institution, the ideal of making the teaching body representative of the whole cycle of human knowledge† (1969a, p12). Practically in the second half of the twelfth century there were only few great centres where the highest education was attainable. The two great archetypal universities were those of Bologna and Paris. There was a great difference between them. The University of Bologna was considered to be the University of Students. It means that the students had entire charge of the government of the university. They hired and paid for the teachers. The University of Paris was regarded as the University of Masters, where the government was in the hands of the teachers and was paid by the church. These two types served as a pattern for nearly all the universities in Europe. The majority of the universities of northern Europe followed the system of Paris. On the other side the system of Bologna was the prototype of the southern universities. The other universities we focus on are the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. For their formation the University of Paris served as an example. However, they were not supported by the church but by the crown and the state (Rait, 1912). 1. 2 Privileges granted to universities From the time of the early universities popes, emperors and kings bestowed a large variety of exemptions, immunities and other special privileges on the masters and students of the universities. Basis for many special privileges granted to the professors and students in the early universities was formed by the grant of privileges to physicians and teachers made by the Emperor Constantine, in 333 A. D. and the privileges and immunities granted to the clergy by the early Christian Roman Emperors. In 1158, Frederic I. Barbarossa began the granting a privilege to the Studia Generalia in the document known as the Habita (the first word in the charter) in which he placed the students under his direct protection and declared them subject to the jurisdiction of their masters or of the bishop of Bologna. This grant was for the benefit of students of Bologna who were not natives of the city and were exposed to many dangers and disadvantages. It occurred that in case of any dispute between the students and a citizen of the town, the citizen had the advantage in the local court. Also the students were often robbed while travelling. So this emperor issued the following edict: â€Å"to all scholars who travelled for the sake of study and especially to the professors of divine and sacred laws They may go in safety,† he said, â€Å"to the places in which the studies are carried on, both they themselves and their messengers and may dwell there in security In the future no one shall be so rash as to venture to inflict any injury on scholars of to occasion any loss to them on account of a debt owed by an inhabitant of their province. If anyone shall presume to bring a suit against them on account of any business, the choice in this matter shall be given to the scholars, who may summon the accusers to appear before their professors or the bishop of the city, to whom we have given jurisdiction in this matter† (Graves, 1914, p82). During the period of time this privilege was also given for other universities by monarchs. A similar edict gave Philip Augustus to the students of Paris in 1200. A reason for conceding this privilege was a fight between the students and the king? s troops. The students were defeated and some of them even killed. Philip Augustus was afraid that the students would leave the school and it would be closed. He blamed his own official for the fight and gave the students full protection and immunity. It contained the obligation of every citizen of Paris to seize any one seen striking a student and deliver him to the judge. He also relieved students from trial by the city authorities unless the serious crime had been committed; in that case all judges were commanded to hand over the cases of the student criminals to the ecclesiastical judge (Munro, 1888). In 1231 Pope Gregory IX published a statute that was looked upon as the Magna Charta of the University of Paris. The members of the university were granted the right of making â€Å"constitutions and ordinances regulating the manner and time of lectures and disputations, the costume to be worn, the burial of the dead; and also concerning the bachelors, who are to lecture and at what hours, and on what they are to lecture; and concerning the prices of the lodgings or the interdiction of the same; and concerning a fit punishment for those who violate your constitutions or ordinances, by exclusion from your society† (Munro, 1921, p367). The universities had also certain recognized privileges that were specially granted by the civil or ecclesiastical authorities. Such was the jus ubique docendi, which meant that a master in one Studium Generale had the right of teaching in any other without further examination (Graves, 1914). Moreover the masters and the students had the right of cessation, the privilege of suspending lectures and go on a strike when university rights were violated. This right was frequently used to defend the university from the infringement of its freedom to teach, study, and discipline. This was closely connected with the right of migration. In the case that the members of the university were not satisfied they could leave the city and go to another town. Since the universities had no buildings and the lectures were held in the hired rooms, it was easy for them to move almost overnight. This grant caused the rise of many new universities. Sometimes it happened that a special invitation was issued to a university exercising the cessation to come to another city or even country. It was the case of the University of Oxford in 1229. King Henry III. promised the striking masters and scholars of Paris that â€Å"if it shall be your pleasure to transfer yourselves to our kingdom of England and to remain there to study, we will for this purpose assign to you cities, boroughs, towns, whatsoever you may wish to select, and in every fitting way will cause you to rejoice in a state of liberty and in tranquillity† (Graves, 1914, p85). Later Oxford, in turn, was to suffer from a similar migration. These privileges were generally held by all the universities through which the universities obtained a great power. They were free of the threat of royal or civic interference. An advantage of being self-governing corporations was that the universities were responsible for their own disciplinary arrangements and rarely had to deal with outside authorities. The liberty allowed to students resulted in recklessness, immorality, license, quarrels, dishonesty and care freeness. The students seemed to have become dissipated and quarrelsome. There were many conflicts with townspeople and even among themselves. 1. 3 Organization of universities. The students for a long time naturally grouped themselves according to the part of world and to the nation from which they came. These societies or confederations were generally known as â€Å"nations†. They came together for better protection and society. Every year each nation elected a chief, who was called the consiliarius (â€Å"councillor†). He represented the nation, looked after its interests and the rights and controlled the conduct of its members. There were constant quarrels between the different nations. A contemporary writer Jacobus de Vitriaco, has left us an account of student life at Paris, in which he says: â€Å"The students at Paris wrangled and disputed not merely about the various sects or about some discussions; but the differences between the countries also caused dissensions, hatreds and virulent animosities among them, and they impudently uttered all kinds of affronts and insults against one another†(Cubberley, 1920, p73). In each studium generale there were a larger or smaller number of â€Å"nations†. At Paris were four nations:†the honourable nation of the Gauls, the venerable nation of the Normans, the very faithful nation of the Picards, the very constant nation of the English†. Each was subdivided into provinces, and in a â€Å"province† might be included men from many lands. (Munro, 1921) According to F. P. Graves, â€Å"by the early part of the thirteenth century the students of Bologna had merged their organizations into two bodies – the universitas citramontanorum (â€Å"Cisalpine corporation†), composed of seventeen nations, and the universitas ultramontanorum (â€Å"Transalpine corporation†), made up of eighteen; but not for some three centuries were these two united† (1914, p87). In turn, the teachers themselves were combined together into â€Å"faculties†, that is to say, as associates in one and the same branch of learning and instruction. As H. C. M. Lyte states in his work that â€Å"the term faculty, which originally signified the capacity to teach a particular subject, came to be applied technically to the subject itself, or to the authorised teachers of it viewed collectively. Thus there might be separate Faculties of Theology, Law, Medicine, and the liberal Arts, coexistent within one university, although every university did not necessarily comprise all these Faculties† (1886, p7). Teachers and students were members of these faculties, and consequently also of the university. The importance of the faculties was different in various universities. A good example is the University of Bologna. Its Faculty of Law was the most prominent, the Faculty of the Medicine was established in 1316 and the Faculty of Theology was added in the year 1362. So it was with many of the early universities. All of four traditional faculties were found by the fourteenth century. Each faculty came to elect a decanus (â€Å"dean†) as its representative in the university organization. The deans, together with the councillors of the nations elected a rector, who was the head or president of the university. In a university of masters, he was generally chosen from the masters and in a university of students, he was usually a student (Graves, 1914). A long struggle aroused between the rector and the chancellor who was usually appointed by the Pope and represented the Church, to be the chief authority in the university. Ultimately the rector became the chief authority and the position of chancellor had no real importance. 1. 3. 1 The Faculty of Arts At Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge the arts faculties were the most dominant and were preparatory to the other three faculties. There is no evidence of any formal requirement for entry into an arts faculty, but it was necessary to have elementary proficiency in Latin, however the lectures were given in this language. The prescribed length of the course was six years with a minimum age of fourteen or fifteen for admission. According to Robert of Courson? s statutes of 1215 the minimum age for graduation as a master was fixed at twenty years. The basis of the medieval curriculum in Arts is to be found in the Seven Liberal Arts of the Dark Ages. The term liberal, derived from the Latin liberalis, has its roots in the word meaning â€Å"free†. It can implicate that a liberal arts education â€Å"frees† individuals from the chaos of irrationality. In the medieval period, the liberal arts were divided into the Trivium, which was consisted of Grammar, Rhetoric and Dialectic, and the Quadrivium, which included Arithmetic, Astronomy, Geometry and Music. These â€Å"Seven Liberal Arts† were thought suitable for the development of intellectual and moral excellence (North, 1992). Grammar always had a central place in the curriculum, but it did not mean how sentences are constructed or the analyses of parts of speech. It was the foundation and source of all the Liberal Arts. In the introduction to an improved Latin grammar, published about 1119, grammar is defined as â€Å"The doorkeeper of all the other sciences, the apt expurgatrix of the stammering tongue, the servant of logic, the mistress of rhetoric, the interpreter of theology, the relief of medicine, and the praiseworthy foundation of the whole quadrivium. † Grammar also included the study of poetry and poetic structure. It was also used for the analysis of secular writings, scriptures and biblical commentaries (Leff, 1992). By the definition, Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Defined by Maurus, it was â€Å"the art of using secular discourse effectively in the circumstances of daily life. † Students learned about the techniques of oral expression and strategies of debate. It also enables the preacher or missionary to put the divine message in eloquent and impressive language. Dialectics, or logic, was the study of the use of logic in debates. By means of its aid a student was enabled to formulate argument, expose error, unmask falsehood, and draw conclusions accurately. It also includes the theory that argument and debate are part of the learning process. Its popularity was greatly enhanced by the acquisition of writings of Aristotle (Leff, 1992). The Quadrivium had relatively little importance and received small attention during the medieval period. The chief purpose of the astronomy was to explain the seasons and the motions of the planets. The study of this field enables the priests â€Å"to fix the time of Easter and all other festivals and holy days, and to announce to the congregation the proper celebration of them† For telling the time and for surveying purposes were used instruments which included a map of stars, the astrolabe and the quadrant. Other field of Quadrivium was also used for determining church days and calculating the date of Easter – Arithmetic. Moreover it involved the study of theories underlying the study of numbers and interpreting passages in the Scriptures involving measurements. It has to be remarked that the Roman system of notation was used and the Arabic notation was not known until the beginning of the thirteenth century (North, 1992). Geometry, the science of measurements, was used primarily as a means of calculating and measuring. Its focus was on the relational values between objects and determining ratios. It involved the geography of Europe, Asia and Africa, too. Music was based on the same principle as Arithmetic. While Arithmetic concerned the numerical manifestation of universal ratios, music was considered to be the expression of numerical relationships using sounds. According to Michael Masi, harmony in Music was â€Å"the ratio and proportion expressed in musical terms. † The primary focus of scholars was to become familiar with the mathematical nature of music. John North cited Brunetto Latini who said that â€Å"music was the second mathematical science, which serves for our delight and for the service of the Lord† (North, 1992, p343). The study of music was also important in religious practises The education of Seven Liberal Arts prepared students for careers in the church, education, business and law. It came to be the standard for a university education for next centuries. 1. 3. 2 The Faculty of Theology This faculty was the most important of the four and it prepared students for the service of the Church. The book which received far greater attention than the Scriptures and the students put most of their time upon was Peter Lombard? s Book of Sentences. The neglect of the Scriptures for the scholastic theology was characteristic for this period of time. Graves in his work A History of education during the Middle Ages and the transition to modern times quotes Roger Bacon: â€Å"Although the principal study of the theologian ought to be in the text of Scriptures, in the last fifty-years theologians have been principally occupied with questions in tractates and Summ? , horse-loads composed by many, and not at all with the most holy text of God. And accordingly, theologians give a readier reception to a treatise of scholastic questions than they do to one about the text of Scripture† (1914, p90). The course usually lasted for eight years and some centuries later it was extended to fourteen years. According to C. Munro, â€Å"while theology is commonly spoken of as the â€Å"queen of the sciences† and the seven liberal arts are termed its handmaidens, the faculties of the theology did not enrol a very large number of students in the thirteenth century† (1921, p372). 1. 3. 3 The Faculty of Law The course generally contained civil and canon law. The authorized text for civil law was Justinian? s Corpus Iuris Civilis which included compilation of imperial edicts, the Digest of opinions of Roman jurists, and an introductory text for students. For the study of canon law it was Gratian? s Decretum which included ecclesiastical offices, the administration of canon law, and the ritual and sacraments. As Munro says, â€Å"many students in the law faculty, however, did not aspire to proficiency in the laws themselves, but were content with the more humble but lucrative study of the ars dictaminis, or ars notaria. and the ars dictaminis may be styled the complete art of letter writing. Hence knowledge of this art was especially useful in law matters and came to be known as the ars notaria† (1921, p373). Bologna was the acknowledged centre of instruction in both the civil and canon law. 1. 3. 4 The Faculty of Medicine The Medical Faculty taught the knowledge of the medical arts which included the Greek and Arabic text-books, especially the treatises by Hippocrates and Galen. There was no dissection of the human body practised till the thirteenth century; therefore the only way to study human anatomy was from text-books or from the study of the anatomy of animals. â€Å"The year 1300 is almost exactly the date for which we have the first definite evidence of the making of Human dissections, and the gradual development of anatomical investigation by this means in connection with the Italian universities† (Munro, 1921, p374). 1. 4 Degrees The system of degrees was common to all universities during the thirteenth century. There were three grades of degrees – Bachelor, Master and Doctor. After the three year? s course of trivium at the Faculty of Arts had been completed, the student entered upon quadrivium, and became a â€Å"commencing† bachelor or a â€Å"determiner†. According to Mullinger the â€Å"determiner was called upon to preside at certain disputations in the schools, and to sum up, or determine, the logical value of the arguments adduced by respondent or opponent. † (1888, p25). This meant nothing more than the student? s apprenticeship to a master but it was his admission to a degree of Bachelor of Arts (Verger, 1992). Performing the act of determining – to be tested in public disputations – made him a bachelor of arts. To be tested in public disputations meant that â€Å"a student was permitted to present himself for a test as to his ability to define words, determine the meaning of phrases, and read the ordinary Latin texts in Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic (the Trivium), to the satisfaction of other masters than his own† (Rashdall, 1969a, p28). According to D. R. Leader a bachelor of arts was â€Å"in effect a journeyman master who partially shared in the masters? privileges of lecturing and presiding at disputations† (1994, p22). This term as H. C. M. Lyte states, â€Å"was used in a technical sense at all the medieval universities, to denote a student who had ceased to be a pupil, but had not yet become a teacher† (1886, p7). The Bachelor was a student-teacher who was seeking to obtain a license to teach in his own right. At the end of quadrivium the bachelor was formally discharged from the state of apprenticeship and he could entreat the chancellor for the degree of master. If the masters of his faculty decided that he was a suitable candidate for the magisterium both by his learning and character, he was received into the brotherhood of teachers and became an â€Å"inceptor†, the candidate. After he passed the actual, â€Å"rigorous† examination which consisted of a disputation upheld by the candidate over a particular question, he was regarded as â€Å"graduated† but was not qualified to teach in the university. The â€Å"graduated† had to also pass the public examination. It was a ceremony during which he performed his first magistral act, usually a disputation with students, on a theme of his choice. There was no possibility of failing. After all these statutory requirements the â€Å"inceptor† received the degree of master and he was authorised to lecture. However, he was obliged by oath to act for two years as a regent or teacher. This period was known as his â€Å"regency†. This rule guaranteed the supply of teachers for the university (Green, 1969). J. Verger says that â€Å"the general attitude at the end of the Middle Ages was that the title gave its bearer genuine social dignity, giving him access to the world of the privileged, indeed, to that of the nobility† (1992, p145). If the Master of Arts wished to enter upon a further course of study, he had to pass through similar steps of bachelorhood and magisterium in one of the superior faculties as well. The terms â€Å"Master† and â€Å"Doctor† were at first synonymous, but during the fourteenth century the title â€Å"Doctor† began to be used instead of â€Å"Master† for the chief degree in the Faculties of Law and Medicine (Verger, 1992). As F. P. Graves expressed â€Å"the degrees â€Å"master† and â€Å"doctor† seem to have been originally about on a par with each other. .. As soon as a candidate was successful in the one, he immediately proceeded to the other, upon which occasion he received both the license to teach and the doctor? s degree† (1914, p92).

Benefits of Sustainable Water Management in Bangladesh

Benefits of Sustainable Water Management in Bangladesh Food security and surface water management has become a critical need in Bangladesh because of growing demand of food and water. With vision of enhancing food production and employment generation, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Bangladesh gets involved at local level surface water management in 1962. As an apex public organization, LGED performs overall planning and management of surface water at local level by confirming people participation. With past experience, LGED started participatory Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) in 1995 and built about 580 sub-projects where stakeholders involvement in decision making process has become an integral part of sustainable development in surface water management. The purpose of the paper is to explore the potential contributions of sustainable surface water management in socio-economic development through food production and employment generation at the rural level. It reviews relevant external secondary data sources and internal SSWRDSPs which include sub-project based field data obtained for formulation, implementation, and performance evaluation of SSWRDSPs. Primary sources included extensive field visits, household survey and sub-project beneficiary and Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) interviews. Transcripts of field visit, field notes, and relevant literature are analyzed on the basis of themes, patterns and datas of interrelationships among those that addressed the research goal. To ensure true reflection, quantity and quality of data gets highest degree of priority. It is found that well-designed management of surface water resources is vital and essential in ensuring food security and rural employment. 1. Introduction Peoples in the developing countries are in emergency of essentials—food and water, shelter, energy and health although the scenario is quite opposite in the developed nations where the people are facing the difficulties of affluence (Roome, 2002).To attain the food demands of 2050, food production is needed to increase by 3 times. Historically agricultural production is the most suitable way of food production and only that can provide better diets for the people all over the worlds (Avery, 2002).To meet the controversy on the sustainable way of food production this paper tried to established that the participatory approach in surface water management is the most sustainable way of using surface water to increase agricultural production as well as the food production for the future. Now, sustainable food production as well as food for everyones is a global demand. A rising population of Bangladesh with declining agricultural land has put the countrys future food security at risk, especially when salinity in the coastal belt, and droughts and depleting underground water level in the north have become constant realities (Palma, 2010). According to a projection of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics the countrys population will be 170 million by 2020 (BBS, 2001; Population Council, 2010). Bangladesh currently has 8.44 million hectares of cultivable land, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. With 1 percent decrease of arable land due to building of new houses, industrialization, and urbanization the cultivable land area will come down to a little more than 7.0 million hectares in 2020 (MoA, 2007a). Bangladesh had to import nearly 2.0 million tons of food grains in the last fiscal year on top of around 30 million tons of rice and wheat produced domestically (Palma, 2010). These factors might lead to a decrease in productivity as was projected by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007). Though presently the situation of food security appears quite satisfactory, but the scenario was significantly different in past and also its future may not look the same due to increasing population and climatic changes. In 1971-1972 the area under rice production was 9,278.00 thousand hectare and the production was 9889.20 thousand metric ton (BBS, 2008). Due to different initiatives by the government through different organization such as Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) cultivable areas and production increasing day by day such as in 2005-2006 the rice production areas augmented into 10, 529.09 thousand hectare and the production increased into 24, 569.27 thousand metric ton (MoA, 2007b; BBS, 2008). Past experience can be argued that those achievement due to better surface water management preservation and use of surface water, training of farmers to address the depletion of underground water. Otherwise, it was and will be difficult to ensure food security for the ever increasing population (Palma, 2010). However, it is stated that Bangladesh faces some significant challenges in the next century. A combination of population growth, a reduction of arable land and the increasing living standards, will place pressure on food and water security in the country (Khoo, 2010). Brundtland commission (1987) stated that the sustainable food production is the production which should meet the needs and desire of the people without negotiating with the natural resource for the next generation (Roome, 2002). In this light, Participatory approaches in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) for agriculture can be focused as the most sustainable eco-friendly farming as well as sustainable surface water management and food production system. The soil and Water Conservation Society of America stated that the Agricultural farming through surface water management is the most sustainable food production method as it has a unique capability of keeping the soil fertile without remarkable erosion by integrated management system (Avery, 2002). More steps for sustainable food production can be taken as the food production system does not create any negative impact on the environment (Heap, 2002). Moreover, in the face of rapidly changing national, regional and global ec onomic environment, Bangladesh agriculture is facing the challenge to reinvent itself to withstand competition and at the same time continue to provide food and employment opportunities for the vast majority of the population (MoA, 2006). 1.1 Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and its Involvement The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), whose origin dates back to the Rural Works Programme (RWP) initiated in the early 1960s, developed rapidly throughout the 1980s and 1990s. RWP was a component of the Comilla Model of rural development pioneered by the famous Aktar Hamid Khan at Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) nationwide this was started in the early 1960s (Rahman, Rahman Rahman, 2007). In 1982 RWP switched to the Works Programme Wing (WPW) under the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development Co-operatives (MoLGRDC) (MoLG, 1982). Subsequently the administrative decentralization act of 1982 converted it into the Local Government Engineering Bureau (LGEB) in 1984 (MoLGRDC, 1984). With the needs for rural infrastructure development in the country and the readiness of LGEB to take on more responsibilities, LGEB was upgraded as the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in August 1992 (LGD, 1992). It is widely recognised that the role of infrastructure in economic development is significant and often greater than that of investment in other forms of capital (World Bank, 1994). Mujeri (2002) argues that rural infrastructure including irrigation structure play an important role in the socio-economic development of rural areas. Rural works Programme (RWP) and the Thana Irrigation Programme (TIP) and micro-finance have been seen as two interrelated sub-strategies for achieving poverty alleviation (MoLGRD, 1979; MIP, 1998). Comilla Model tried to integrate these two strategies and considered that the breakdown of the interrelationship between the RWP, the TIP and the co-operative would result in undermining of the whole rural development effort through the Comilla experiment (Sen, 1996). With mission and vision of Comilla model of A.H. Khan, LGED got involvement in escalating food production and facilitating food marketing through surface water management by excavating/re-excavating drains and canals, digging new canals, repair and construction of bunds and embankments, reclamation of land for productive purpose, repair and construction of bridges, repair and construction of earthen and pucca roads meant for irrigation and communication in the name of Works Programme and Thana Irrigation Programme (GoEP, 1962). The TIP program gave responsibility to the Union Parishad (UP) members to find out available surface water resources to plan for utmost irrigation coverage by Low Lift Pumps (LLPs). UP members formed project committees under the RWP to re-excavate irrigation canals for better agricultural production (GoEP, 1962). With the same objectives as of TIP, LGED started Canal Digging Programme (CDP) in 1979 initially on voluntary basis and later on with the assistance from Food for Work (FFW) to de-silt sediment filled channels all over the country to boost-up water storage capacity of channels for irrigation. The CDP aimed to increase irrigation water supply, drainage improvement, tree plantation on canal bank and fisheries development. The program implemented 3,276 km of khal re-excavation, 429,597 pond re-excavation projects and 382 hydraulic structures. The benefited area covered under CDP was about 419,500 hectares (IWRMU, 2008). In parallel to CDP, under Rural Employment Sector Programme (RESP) funded by SIDA and NORAD, LGED initiated development of small-scale water resources schemes to increase agricultural as well as food production and rural employment generation in 1986 and the programme was continued up to 1996 (MPIUS, 1998). The project implemented 60 small-scale schemes in six districts (Kurigram, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Gopalgonj and Shariatpur). IDP covered about 20,530 hectares of cultivated land benefiting 51,230 farm families (RESP, 2000; IWRMU, 2008b). LGED has performed excellently in implementing the rural infrastructures in collaboration with local users to increase food production and consequent employment generation (Faruqee Choudhury, 1996). With an aim to provide dry season irrigation facilities by using surface water in increasing rice and non-rice crops production especially in the coastal belt LGED first implemented two rubber dams in Coxs Bazar District in 1995 on a pilot basis. Inspired by the success of the pilot projects, the Government considered rubber dams for wide replication and, consequently, construction of more rubber dams was taken up all over the country. LGED has constructed eleven more rubber dams in 1999-2007 (DoAE LGED, 2005) and started to construct 10 more rubber dams in 2009-2014. Participatory irrigation management and OM have been adopted for the rubber dam projects (DoAE LGED, 2009). 2. Objectives To surface the initiatives of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in food security and employment generation through surface water management with participatory approach. To present the state of the art of the participatory surface water management process in sustainable socio-economic development by increasing crop as well as food production and thereby employment generation in the rural areas of Bangladesh 3. Methodology A detailed and systematic approach was followed to achieve the objectives of this study using two methods. First a broad review of external secondary data sources associated with the topic that included water and food production, irrigation, gender and development, employment generation, surface water management etc. and internal SSWRDSPs which includes the sub-project based field data obtained for formulation, implementation, and performance evaluation of SSWRDSPs were made. Pre-project data were compiled from sub-project appraisal reports while the monitoring and evaluation data were drawn from the Management Information System (MIS) unit of IWRMU, LGED and various project reports. Field information was fetched through befitting exercise supported by the SSWRDSPs and the IWRMU of LGED collected the post-project data after completion of the projects. Methodology of the study also involved two tier exercises. Firstly, information of the pre-status of the sub-projects areas were drawn from relevant published materials and field records and secondly the post-status of the sub-project areas from data obtained from MIS unit. Primary sources included extensive field visits, household survey and sub-project beneficiary and WMCAs interviews. Field workers of Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) were involved in the surveys and interviews. As the author is a fulltime employee of LGED and posted in the IWRMU as a Senior Assistant Engineer (Operation and Maintenance) and also in-charge MIS unit of IWRMU of LGED, got opportunity to involve in every steps of sub-project implementation cycle. Transcripts of field visit, field notes, and relevant literature were analysed on the basis of themes, patterns and datas of interrelationships among those that addressed the research goal. 4. Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Projects of LGED Taking lessons from the performances of the earlier water resources development projects, LGED facilitates sustainable use of water resources with the participation of local stakeholders along with Local Government Institutions involving public and private sectors, communities and individuals in the implementation of Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) to improve the socio-economic condition that includes food production and employment generation. The Project is implemented in conformity with the National Water Policy (NWP) that stressed integrated water management. The NWP has defined the role of the Local Government Institutions and given the mandate of implementing flood control, drainage and irrigation (FCDI) projects having command areas of 1,000 ha or less to increase the food production and employment generation (MoWR, 1999). The NWP states that water resources management requires involvement of the public and private sectors, communities and indiv iduals that benefit from the delivery of water-related services. Because, the ultimate success and effectiveness of public water resources management projects depends on the peoples acceptance and ownership of each subproject / project (MoWR, 1999). The first project was in the name of Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) (1995-2002). The project aimed at sustainable growth in agricultural production as well as food production and incomes of about 140,000 farm families in western Bangladesh through the establishment of about 300 small-scale water resources development schemes (LGED, 1995). The phase-1 of SSWRDSP finally completed 280 subproject covering 165,000 hectares of cultivates land that benefits 142,000 farm families in 37 districts (IWRMU, 2008c).The main objectives of the Second Small-Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) are to enhance agriculture and fish culture and to take effective steps in poverty alleviation through improving the surface water resources in different regions of the country (Rahman, Rahman Rahman, 2007). With the success and gathered experience from SSWRDSP-1 LGED started the 2nd phase of SSWRDSP covering larger areas in 61 districts of the country in 2003(LGED, 2001). The 2nd phase of the project is completed in 2010 (LGED, 2010a) and implements 300 sub-projects all over the country covering 163,000 hectares of cultivates land that benefits 154,000 farm families. The 3rd phase is started in 2010 in the name of Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project (PSSWRSP) and implementing throughout the country with an aims to develop 300 new sub-projects and for rehabilitation of 160 existing sub-projects (LGED, 2010b). It could be mentioned that another Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Projects funded by JICA also implementing by LGED from 2008 covering 15 districts of greater Mymensingh, Sylhet and Faridpur having a plan to implement 300 sub-projects (LGED, 2010c). In implementing these projects, LGED is very much careful about participatory water management pro cess (MoWR, 2000). It has developed a very innovative framework of participation for addressing local peoples views in development initiative in water sector (LGED, 2009). The local people participate in all stages of the project cycle- identification and feasibility, design and institutional building, construction and first year OM (Operation Maintenance), sustainable O M and their participation is formulized through forming a Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) in each sub-project. After completion of the sub-project, the WMCA takes the responsibility of operation and maintenance of the subproject infrastructure (LGED, 2009). Capacity building of WMCAs is another important aspect of the project. Line agencies of the government imparted training to the WMCA members for their capacity building and LGED has signed memorandum of understandings with the agencies concerned (MoWR, 2000). Moreover LGED ensure the stakeholder participation to make the project effective and su stainable development as the interests of the community promotes a convergence among the government, development partners and other stakeholders, is considered as a key strategic step for sustainable investment (FAO, 2010). Monitoring of the completed 580 Sub-projects of the SSWRDSP shows increasing trend in cereal and non-cereal crop as well as food production. The increased crop/food production is due to increased cropping intensity in the subproject area and that intensity generates more employment in respective area. Evaluation of the project has been done by different agencies at different time. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and WL I delft hydraulics, the Netherlands jointly evaluated the project. In addition Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under Ministry of Planning Bangladesh also evaluated the project and their findings are very much positive. In general, the evaluation agencies concluded that SSWRDSP has shown a very encouraging development in developing Socio-Economic conditions that includes food production and employment generation in the Sub-project area (BUET, BIDS delft hydraulics, 2 003; IMED, 2005). The project follows a participatory approach of implementation where local people play vital role in all stages of the project cycle. 5. Framework of participation The overall participatory process in subproject development adopted by the LGED is a combination of two parallel but interrelated processes: â€Å"Institutional† involving software elements and Technical involving hardware elements Sub-project implementation is participatory and the whole cycle of subproject development process is sub-divided into four distinct stages as presented below (Figure-1) (LGED, 2009). Stage 1: Identification and Feasibility In consultation with local stakeholders, the Union Parishad (Council) kicks off sub-project proposals. The LGED Upazila Engineer submits it to the Upazila Development Coordination Committee for approval. If approved, the proposal is forwarded to the Integrated Water Resources Management Unit (IWRMU) and to the Project Management Office (PMO) through the LGED Executive Engineer at the district level. IWRMU pre-screens the proposal during a multidisciplinary field reconnaissance. This is followed by (i) Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and (ii) Feasibility Study (FS). Each subproject is reviewed and approved by District Level Inter-Agency Project Evaluation Committee (DLIAPEC). Stage 2: Design and Institution Building Following the approval of DLIAPEC, engineering design and establishment of Water Management Association (WMA) are done along with motivational awareness campaign among stakeholders. Process of establishing WMA is initiated under the legal framework of the Cooperative Societies Act (National Parliament of Bangladesh, 2001). Contracted NGO facilitator creates awareness, generates local enthusiasm in the local water resource systems, promote membership enrolment, assist in collection of beneficiary contributions, and conflict resolution. The WMA is registered with the Department of Co-operative (DoC) and becomes WMCA. The IWRMU undertakes engineering design work in consultation with stakeholders and discusses for their approval. This process concludes in the signing of a formal implementation agreement by the WMCA, Union Parishad and LGED Executive Engineer at district level before tendering for the works or contracting Labor Contracting Societies (LCS). To sign the implementation agree ment, the WMCA must have achieved (i) enrolment of at least 70% of beneficiary households; (ii) collection of beneficiary contributions equivalent to an annual OM requirement and deposited in a joint account by LGED and the WMCA; and (iii) approved plans in consultation with people-affected by the environmental mitigation and resettlement (land acquisition) (MoWR, 2000). Stage 3: Construction and First Year OM Civil works are tendered to contractor and earthworks awarded to LCS groups comprised of local landless, disadvantaged destitute males and females. The WMCA supervises construction through a 7-member committee trained on construction monitoring including one man and one woman from the concern Union Parishad (LGED, 2009). The WMCA forms OM sub-committee and prepares schedule, beneficiary list and maps, and plan comprising operating guidelines, and maintenance and resource mobilization plans. The IWRMU provides on-the-job training that helps WMCA to (i) undertake annual inspection, (ii) identify maintenance needs, (iii) prepare and implement annual OM plan, and (iv) collect OM fees. After observation of the infrastructures management performance during the first year of OM, the sub-project is handed over to the WMCA through a formal lease agreement with LGED (ADB LGED, 2009). The WMCA receives support of agricultural extension and fisheries departments to prepare agriculture and fishe ries development plans and to organize training for WMCA representatives who work as liaison extensions to beneficiaries (ADB, 2008). Stage 4: Sustainable Operation and Maintenance This stage starts after sub-project handover and continues throughout its lifetime. Continuous monitoring and support is provided by the IWRMU of LGED and other partner agencies. The WMCA and O M Committee receive regular training so that they are able to carry out O M of the sub-project. The WMCA Prepare O M Plan, Undertakes routine maintenance works and collects O M fees from direct beneficiaries in proportion to their land area benefited by the sub-project. (LGED, 2009) 6. Participation ‘Participation was first advocated in the context of development authorization in the 1950s due to failed development policies which were thought to lack integration of public concerns throughout their planning. Thus, participatory methods were encouraged as fundamental measures of development. In this process marginal groups (poor, women, indigenous and ethnic minorities) should come together with project authorities to share, negotiate and control decision-making processes (Lisk, 1981; WB, 1985). In each subproject of the SSWRDSP of LGED the organization in the name of WMCA is formed. The WMCAs play basic role to functionally represent beneficiaries in all processes of the sub-project cycle. The stakeholders participation is assessed by institutional and OM activities in the sub-project area. Institutional activities: Institutional activities are assessed by WMCAs functions. These include membership, beneficiarys contribution, capital formation and use and holding of meetings in each subproject. These are monitored quarterly through Upazila level Community Organizers (CO) and district level Socio-economist. WMCAs progress on institutional activities and their capability development in 580 subproject areas as monitored in December 2010 are as follows: WMCA membership: The WMCAs provide an excellent means to address the needs of a range of special interests. The membership in 580 WMCAs consists of 183,831 males and 70,723 females from an estimated total of 297,300 households. Average membership covers about three-forth of the total households. Women all over the world play an active role in agriculture, thus contributing to food security (IFAD, 2007). The WMCA members include marginal, small, medium and large farmers; landless; women and fishers. Women comprised one-third of the first management committee of each of the WMCAs and about 25% of the total membership as the National Policy for Womens Advancement, provides a significant commitments of the Government to equality of women and men which are also reflected in the national poverty reduction strategy that emphasizes the importance of womens rights and opportunities for progress in the battle against poverty (GoB, 2009; ADB, 2010). Each WMCA members elect a Management Committee with at least o ne-third women members. The Management Committee is supported by OM, agricultural, fisheries and credit management subcommittees. Regular Management Committee Meeting and Annual General Meeting are conducted by the WMCAs. Beneficiaryscontribution: the beneficiaries contribution construction of infrastructure in 580 sub-projects amounted (US$1,190.141) of which 89% was collected from the farmers beneficiaries of the water resources development. WMCA capital: These WMCAs have established a capital base in all sub-projects through shares and savings by the members. In 580 sub-projects, the capital accomplished well in excess of Tk 129.82 million (US$1,829). The capital is being used in supporting micro-credit, procurement of agricultural inputs, and other small-scale business enterprises operated by the individual WMCA. WMCAs have set up micro-credit programmess and have loaned to 26,900 male and 12,937 female members. The average size of each loan is about Tk 2,500 (US$ 366). Since the capital formation the cumulative investments of the WMCAs is Tk 110.1 million (US$1.55 million). The DoC inspects and audits the accounts of the WMCAs. The WMCA members have increased their income with investment of micro-credit on quality seed production, poultry farming, milking cow, beef fattening, vegetable production, aquaculture, seasonal crop storage, and grocery shops. WMCA capability development: The WMCAs members are given training to increase their capability in institutional management, capital formation, credit management, sustainable agricultural and fisheries production, improved farm practices, environmental management and subproject OM. Relevant departments and institutes support the project in training need assessments, course development, materials preparation and organisation. LGED has signed memorandum of understanding with the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Department of Cooperatives (DoC), Department of Fisheries (DoF) and Department of Livestock Service (DLS) to support the subproject beneficiaries (LGED, 2006). The DoC supports subproject WMCAs in institutional strengthening and financial management. Field level official of DAE, DoF and DLS support the sub-project farmers and fishers in the preparation and implementation of agricultural and fisheries production plans and use of improved technologies. This has created opportunity for the integratio n and complementary of support services provided by the government departments and sustainable water resources uses for food production with the formation of cooperatives in the sub-projects areas. Three approaches are adopted to provide training to the WMCA members that included beneficiary farmers, fishers and women. The first approach is to identify and communicate with existing relevant programmes and to ensure that WMCA members have access to these programmes. The second approach is that where a need for a new programme is identified, the Project develops the material, testes it by conducting a number of programmes, and then transfers the training material to an appropriate institution. As an example, this is the approach used in establishing management training for the WMCA at the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development. A third approach is used especially for new programmes. The Project works with the relevant institution to jointly prepare the curriculum and training materi als. The training is then delivered by that institution and further developed based on feed-back from participants and monitoring systems. This approach is used in the training delivered by the DAE Agricultural Training Institutes. General improvements during the course of the Project attributable to training impact were observed, in the nature of the institutional support provided to the local stakeholders, in the type of agriculture practiced within the Project area, in aquaculture, and in homestead food production patterns. All of these activities are imparted and monitored by IWRMU LGED. Operation and maintenance (OM)activities: The sub-project beneficiaries prepare annual OM plans and budget and mobilise local resources for the OM costs. LGED initiated extensive training programs for the WMCA OM sub-committee members to perform regular OM for the completed sub-project handed-over to them. The OM sub-committee is responsible for the preparation of annual plan and collection and utilization of funds for OM. Annually each WMCA collects OM fund from the farmers at the rate of 3.0% and 1.5% of the total cost for the subproject earthworks and hydraulic structures, respectively (ADB, 2008; ADB LGED, 2009). Table 1: Operation and Maintenance (O M) Budget (Taka-million) Budget 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 Subprojects No. 233 254 260 289 331 297 372 580 Contribution of GOB 2.99 7.39 15.89 20.48 22.25 24.39 30.73 47.5 Voluntary Labor Contribution 0.41 1.12 2.06 2.53 3.32 3.49 4.19 5.94 Total Collection (Taka) 3.4 8.51 17.95 23.01 25.57 27.88 34.92 47.5 % of voluntary contribution 12.1 13.2 11.5