Critiquing Internet Sources Essay

Today, the Internet provides an unprecedented amount of information by way of blogs, videos, and podcasts. Conduct a critique of one blog, one video, and one podcast, which provide information that addresses the topic of your Final Research Paper. Assess the authors’ use of bias, validity, and applicability of information. Examine the influence of web-based information on global citizenship and multicultural understanding. Then, compile a list of three factors you believe should be considered when evaluating Internet sources for use in researching information. The paper must be three to four pages in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style. In addition to the three multimedia sources you are analyzing, support your points with at least two scholarly sources. One of the scholarly sources must be from the Ashford Online Library. Cite your sources within the text of your paper and on the reference page. For information regarding APA, including samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar.

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ppendix D: Individual Skills Assessment Questionnaire for the Instructor Directions: The following questionnaire contains the Individual Skills Assessment that must be administered to each student individually as a panel interview. Print enough copies of the ISA Questionnaire so that each interviewer has one copy per student before the panel interview begins. Please see the Instructor Guide section of this courseware for complete instructions on how to conduct the interviews. For each topic, start with Learning Level 3. Circle each of the response criteria that the student successfully includes in his or her response.You may use the scoring table at the end of the questionnaire to tally the student’s score. Note: Each topic includes questions at three levels: o Level 3: Synthesis/Evaluation (Most-challenging questions) o Level 2: Application/Analysis (Medium-level questions) o Level 1: Knowledge/Comprehension (Least-difficult questions) Appendix D: Individual Skills Assessment Questionnaire for the Instructor  ©ITT Educational Services, Inc. 104 Date: 01/12/2010 Individual Assessment Skills Questions with Correct Response Criteria Topic 1: HardwareLearning Level 3: Synthesis/Evaluation Question: 1. You are building a LAN in a company that develops insurance management software. What hardware requirements should be taken into consideration? (TB143, IT1220) Correct Response Criteria: The student addresses why each is important: PC resources needed: Memory, disk drive size, processor size Networking resources: Category 5e cable, hub, switch, bridge, router Learning Level 2: Application/Analysis Question: 1. Describe how the memory manager divides up and allocates memory. (TB143, IT103) Correct Response Criteria:The student identifies the following memory concepts and describes how each works: Virtual memory Shared memory Paged memory Contiguous memory Non-contiguous memory Multi-programming Learning Level 1: Knowledge/Comprehension Question: 1. Identify a ll of the different types of input ports is available on a modern computer? (TB143) Correct Response Criteria: The student identifies the following ports: USB Serial Parallel Video /audio RJ45 FireWire Appendix D: Individual Skills Assessment Questionnaire for the Instructor  ©ITT Educational Services, Inc. 05 Date: 01/12/2010 SCSI Topic 2: Programming Learning Level 3: Synthesis/Evaluation Question: 1. Explain the difference between passing a piece of data â€Å"by value† and passing a piece of data â€Å"by reference. † (IT104) Correct Response Criteria: The student identifies the following data types and describes how each piece of data is passed: Parameter Argument Parameter list Data type Compatibility Reference address Learning Level 2: Application/Analysis Question: 1. Explain the â€Å"scope† of a data statement. 2. What are the implications of misidentifying a l

Saint Agnes Of Rome English Literature Essay

Harmonizing to â€Å" Saint Agnes of Rome, † from Marypages.com, Saint Agnes of Rome was born on January 28, 292, and died at the age of 12. She was raised by a Christian household, and her name means â€Å" pure † in Greek, and â€Å" lamb † in Latin. She is besides known as Ines, Ines de Campo, and Ynez. Her feast twenty-four hours is January 21, in award of the twenty-four hours she was killed ( Terry H. Jones, â€Å" Saint Agnes of Rome † ) . Saint Agnes was a beautiful immature miss, who at the age of 12 was asked to get married a prefect ‘s boy. He offered her gifts, but she refused. She claimed she had a partner who loved her, and she could non get married him. Agnes told the prefect ‘s boy that she was married to Jesus Christ ( Creative Commons ) . Harmonizing to â€Å" Saint Agnes Church Biography † , from Creative Commons Attribution, the prefect ‘s boy was devastated when he heard her answer, and his male parent, the prefect, spoke to Saint Agnes. The prefect asked her why she would non get married his boy, to which she replied she already had a partner. When he learned she was a Christian from one of her retainers, he was pleased, for now he had power over her. The prefect offered Agnes one of two picks, either she would give to his heathen Gods, or she would be sent to the whorehouse and raped. Saint Agnes refused to idolize his false Gods, and so she was sent to the whorehouse, where she said God would protect her ( Creative Commons ) . When she chose the whorehouse the prefect was ferocious, and had her stripped of her apparels. She was taken to the whorehouse, but God gave her grace, and the hairs upon her caput began to turn. They grew until they covered her full organic structure, from her caput to her pess, and her organic structure could non be seen by the work forces who might harm her. At the whorehouse, Saint Agnes found an angel sent from Barton 3 God to protect her. This angel shielded her in a bright visible radiation, so work forces would non see her, nor injury her. Agnes prayed to God and He gave her white garments, which she wore and thanked Him for in supplication ( Creative Commons ) . God protected Saint Agnes, so while she was in the whorehouse, merely one adult male tried to go against her. This adult male was the prefect ‘s boy ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Harmonizing to St Agnes Church Biography, the prefect ‘s boy was struck dead when he attempted to go against her ( Creative Commons ) , but harmonizing to Saint Agnes of Rome, the prefect ‘s boy was merely smitten blind ( Leo ‘s Design ) . However, both beginnings agree that after the prefect ‘s boy was harmed, Agnes prayed to God, and He revived the prefect ‘s boy. When the bishops of the graven images heard of Agnes ‘ title, they cried for her decease, naming her a sorceress. The prefect did non desire to kill Agnes, because she had saved his boy, so he delivered her to his lieutenant. The prefect ‘s lieutenant chose to fulfill the people by firing Agnes to decease. However, the fires parted around her and did non touch her, so she was non harmed. When this did non work, the lieutenant took a blade to her organic structure ( Creative Commons ) . Saint Agnes was martyred by being stabbed or beheaded ( Terry H. Jones, â€Å" Saint Agnes of Rome † ) . After Saint Agnes ‘ decease, Saint Emerentiana buried her ( Creative Commons ) . Saint Emerentiana was Agnes ‘s Foster sister. Agnes was buried following to the Via Nomentana in Rome. Following to her grave is a church, dedicated to her by Constantine ‘s girl ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Constantine ‘s girl had a church built for Saint Agnes, because when she was praying one clip, she fell asleep at Agnes ‘ grave. While she was asleep, Agnes appeared in her dream and said to her, â€Å" Bodensee, work invariably, and if thou wilt believe in Christ, 1000 shalt anon be delivered of thy illness, † ( Creative Commons ) . When she awoke, Constantine ‘s girl was cured of the leprosy she had been enduring from and was whole. Constantine ‘s girl was Barton 4 baptized, and had a church built by Agnes ‘ grave. It is said that Agnes appeared to others as good as Constantine ‘s girl at her grave or church. After her entombment, Agnes was said to hold appeared to her parents with a battalion of virgins, and she told her parents that they should non mourn her, for she is with her partner and love, Jesus Christ ( Creative Commons ) . Another visual aspect Saint Agnes made was to a priest of her church, who wanted to acquire married. This priest had asked the Catholic Pope to be relieved of his services so that he might get married. The Catholic Pope alternatively gave him a ring to give to Saint Agnes, and told him to inquire her to be his married woman. The priest did so, and an image in the church accepted the ring. To this twenty-four hours that ring is on one of the images of Saint Agnes in her church ( Creative Commons ) . Today, on Saint Agnes ‘ feast twenty-four hours, two lambs are blessed at her church in Rome, Italy, and so their wool is sheered. The wool from the two lambs is woven into the cerebral cortexs that the Catholic Pope gives to the archbishops as a symbol of their legal power ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Saint Agnes is the frequenter saint of many things, including misss, engaged twosomes, the Children of Mary, colza victims, and virgins ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Harmonizing to William Benton, she is mentioned in the canon of the Roman mass ( 330 ) . I chose to make my study on Saint Agnes of Rome because of all time since I was in 2nd class I have wanted to be confirmed as Agnes, after this saint. I used to travel to a school called Saint Agnes, and I loved and learned about her there. Saint Agnes could hold chosen a pleasant, easy life and married the prefect ‘s boy, but she chose non to because of her love for Jesus Christ. Agnes traveled the hardest portion of her journey entirely except for God, because her parents likely did non back up her determination, and many people likely thought she was a sorceress. It must hold been even harder because Christians were persecuted more readily so than they are today. Saint Agnes loved and trusted God wholly, and that, even without the fright of decease, is ever hard, even today. She believed in God wholly, and he saved and protected her from Barton 5 all bodily injury until the blade that killed her. I ca n't state for others, but I know that I admire her courage, and wish I could be more like her. I know that when I hear Saint Agnes ‘ narrative it reminds me that anything is possible with God, and it gives me strength to finish whatever challenge may confront me. Barton 6

Bipolar disorder type 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bipolar disorder type 1 - Research Paper Example Treatment is demanding with stakeholders having to deal with the commitments and outcomes that come with treatment and post-treatment procedures. Society has to address the needs of such patients hence need for efficient nursing and health care. With proper medical attention, patients can turn their lives around and become productive in the society. The disorder can be addressed with timely diagnosis and efficient treatment procedures. Health facilities have a key role to play in nursing and care of the affected patients regardless of age. Bipolar is a disorder that is characterized by episodic manic and depressive moods that have extremes in polarity, and may impair the patient resulting in the inability to function in daily life activities. The patient portrays inflated self-esteem, has a tendency to be overly talkative, and has reduced desire to sleep or rest. The patient tends to have new ideas. He engages more in goal and objective oriented activities, and his focus is easily distracted from a given issue. Moreover, patients also portray a daring attitude in engaging in risky activities (Bengesser, 2013). The patient at time is disrupted as the symptoms are severe enough to hamper his ability to engage in constructive activities and engage socially with others. The patient tends to be unrealistic and illogical, and the situation can escalate making him psychotic (Goodwin, 2010). A patient with Bipolar I disorder could experience a minimum of one â€Å"mixed† incident at a given time. As such, the patient g oes through phases of ups and downs (Bengesser, 2013). The patient at one moment is excited, has remarkable self-esteem, but then the situation reverses to a low mood hence the term mixed episode. The patient has no stable mood sequence and the reactions to everyday social situations are varied. The mood swing disrupts him/her and performs poorly in constructive activities (Goodwin, 2010). This would have some implication on

Parent Preparedness When Discussing Child's Sexual Education Essay

Parent Preparedness When Discussing Child's Sexual Education - Essay Example Right when parents begin to assume their responsibility in educating the child, the children seek an escape and thus, generate a communication gap that lead to lack of knowledge transmitted form parent to child. Another argument that sex education supporters raise is that the success rate of abstinence only program are low. One cannot observe any significant difference between individuals who enroll and who do not in this program. In order to frame a sex education program for school counseling, it is a recommendation that one starts with the most basic knowledge and then progresses to higher level of complexities. A very important perspective that needs attention here is the preparedness of parents in terms of educating their children. Experts believe that parents can play a crucial role in teaching children about sex. Introduction The paper aims to address the importance of sex education in adolescence. With the growing number of cases of sexual abuse and rapes, the matter is a pres sing concern for schools and parents all over the world as it is their responsibility to educate the child beforehand. ... Studies by World Health Organization reveal the contribution of healthy sexual development to overall well being of an individual. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, David Satcher, â€Å"sexual health is inextricably bound to both physical and mental health,† (Moore & Rosenthal, 2006). In terms of definition, sexual education refers to "education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and other aspects of human sexual behavior" (Klein, pp. 9, 1992). Although people all around the world accept the importance of sexual health, very few actually agree to the idea of education system to promote it. Main arguments regarding sex education programs involve role of government in family life; limitations to parent’s role in defining a sexual pattern for their children, subjectivity of values associated to sex for instance, gender and po wer etc and above all how does one define a mature sexual behavior for adolescent (Bruess & Greenberg, 2008). In addition, there are also questions as to how can one effectively communicate these ideas to adolescents, the content of such courses and mainly who is better suited to provide this guidance. Sex education has never been this critical an issue. Researches (Reintsma, 2007) reveal that there are 850,000 pregnancies and 9.1 million STIs (sexually transmitted infections) (Moore & Rosenthal, 2006). In addition, 70% females and 62% males have already experienced vaginal sex by the age of 18 in US. It has been a grave problem with little attention given. Moreover, as per U.S Department of Justice, every 2 minutes, a woman is raped. Only in the year 1995, 354,670 females encountered rape or

Marketing Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Analysis - Essay Example Today Systems Insurance fulfills its commitment made to customers by providing auto, home, life and business insurance rooted in the founding values ofhonesty, affordability, and service on the basis that our customers come first. We offer products that will protect you without any hidden surprises. Together with a large network of independent insurance agents Systems Insurance serves more than 5 million insurance Customers in 16 states as well asCosta Rica, and the District of Columbia. With our agents, we continue to carry out the company’s founding purpose: Our Customers know we will work to go the distance to help them with their insurance needs and to recover after any monetary loss. That may be the reason behind System Insurance retaining over 92 percent of Customers, year after year. The following is meant as a guideline to help while implementing a new business innovation, to help the organization evolve and grow through the efficiency and productivity of both Agents and customers. As with most, if not all insurance companies, Systems Insurance wishes to remain profitable while implementing innovative, products, and technology. Increase revenue without increasing the rate of our policies. At Systems Insurance, our company revolves around our dedicated Agents. Our daily goal is to maintain and improve the effectiveness of policies in order to help Agents bring in new customers. Agents depend on the effectiveness of the technology we provide, by providing the best technology we help to ensure we continue to offer the highest levels of customer service Systems Insurance will continue to grow to compete with the largest of Insurance companies. The growth of Systems Insurance Agents has led to a large push in the number of Policy Holders we hold today, as well as the overall organizational footprint. Systems Insurance runs a strict risk management plan,

Managerial Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managerial Economics - Research Paper Example The cost of production is dependent on the materials the firms choose. In this case the building materials are the materials for production. It is to be noted that the firm is earning short run profits which are the driver of new firms into the market. As new firms enter into the market, the demand for the materials for production will rise. The chosen firm will also have to buy the materials at higher costs and therefore, the costs of production will rise (United Nations Department of Agriculture, n.d.). b) The price that the chosen firm charges for their services will depend on two major factors: the competition that the firm faces from other competitors and the real estate market. As there is entry of new firms into the market, there is increased competition which will tend to force the equilibrium price down. Therefore, the chosen firm will be forced to charge less for the remodeling services. c) From the above two discussions it is clear that the firm will have to face increased competition and the costs of production will also increase. When new entrants appear in the market, the share of each of the other firms operating within the same industry decreases. As a result, the profits of the chosen firm will decrease. The firm will now enjoy only normal profits. Managerial Decisions for Firms with Market Power 2. ... How? What evidence might you bring to the hearing? Answer: The Federal Trade Commission is concerned that the merger increased the market power for the firms that merged. However, it is difficult to argue that the market power will not increase if it is assumed that the rivals are close to the size of the merged firms. But it can be argued that the merger was simply aimed to save costs. Suppose the individual firms had to incur some overhead costs while operating as individual units. If it can be argued that increasing market power was not the aim of the merger and if it can be proved that the overhead costs have really decreased while operating as a merged company, then it will provide a foothold in the argument. The concentration of market power will also help to derive the price elasticity of demand. It can also be argued that the market power will not increase as much as in a situation of monopoly and would lack the power to hurt the consumers. In an industry characterized by fir ms that enjoy similar market shares, it is unlikely that the market power will increase as a result of the merger. The search engine market power tremendously increased because of the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo. The deal was allowed as Google enjoyed a fair power of the market. If the deal would not have taken place, both companies would have began to lose market power which could have hurt the consumers. Strategic Decision Making in Oligopoly Market 3. When McDonald’s Corp reduced the price of its Big Mac by 75 percent if customers also purchased French fries and a soft drink, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was hoping the novel promotion would revive its U.S. sales growth. It didn’t. Within two weeks sales had fallen. Using your knowledge of game theory,

Boutique Designers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Boutique Designers - Essay Example "Charles Eames was the first architect to be totally at home with technology. He used technology with an artist's flair", particularly, he with wife Ray Eames 'developed a new method to bend plywood into complex curves over three geometric lanes" (Dezine Holdings Ltd). From 1900-1909, the name Charless Rennie Mackintosh, Josef Hoffman and Frank Lloyd Wright have surfaced with the introduction of Ingram Chair, Hill House Chair and Willow Chair (Dezine Holdings Ltd). In the middle of the century, notable designers like "Eameses, Gio Ponti, Harry Bertoia, Arne Jaconsen and Eero Saarinen led the way in the modernist organic style" as the public went for "warmer and softer furnitures, organic forms, warmer products like timber and upholstered chairs" (Dezine Holdings Ltd). In the 70's to 80's, industrialization has brought forth changes in designers' thoughts. Particularly, "the industrial style or Hi Tech movement developed" and there were great advances in "office furniture and equipment" (Dezine Holdings Ltd). At the closing of the century, the designers pursued "meaning and purpose for their furniture designs" with the exploration of some strange and unusual forms such as the W.W Stool by Phillip Starck (Dezine Holdings Ltd). Karim Rashid is one of the sought-after and bankable interior designers of the modern generation. A half English and half Egyptian, Karim Rashid "was born into an art family" with his father an abstract painter, his brother Hany Rashid "a computer-based organic architecture" and his sister a musician (http://www.rashidglobal.net). It was his father that them art and design (http://www.rashidglobal.net). Rashid, therefore has a strong art influence. "Karim Rashid pursued graduate design studies in Naples, Italy, with ettore sottsass and others, then moved to Milan for one year at the Rodolfo Bonetto studio" (Designboom). He went solo in 1993 and opened his design practice in New York. It is in New York where he designs products for companies such as namb, issey miyake, pure design, fasem, guzzini, tommy hilfiger, sony, zanotta, citibank, and others" (Designboom). Rashid's works were highly praised by Design Awards Bodies. In 2007, he won the title for the Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards Product Design Finalist, "in 2006 with an Honorary Doctorate from the Ontario College of Art and Design, in 2005 with an Honorary Doctorate from Corcoran College, the Sleep05 European Hotel Design Award, and the 2005 Pratt Legends Award. Karim has also won the prestigious I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review, Red Dot Design Award, and Chicago Athaneum Good Design Award numerous times throughout his career" (http://www.rashidglobal.net). Because of his modern and innovative designs, he holds an associate professorial position and is a "frequent guest lecturer at universities and conferences" on industrial design (http://www.rashidglobal.net). Concepts and Works Rashid boasts of "over 3000 designs in production, over 300 awards and working in over 35 countries" (Karim Rashid Inc.) "Like an omnipresent vibrant spirit, he creates and utilizes a global feeling. He is an example of synchronicity in permanent movement. In him, work and person meld, inseparably subjective, manically productive and sensitive" (Karim Rashid I

Personal Experiences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal Experiences - Essay Example Applying Lewin’s change management model, the organization should have ensured that it changes the mindset of its employees before initiating the changing. During the transitional change, the change should have been introduced gradually while putting into account the values and attitudes of the employees. The final stage, freezing, should have involved ownership of the change as part of the organization’s operations. One of my peers wrote on an organizational change involving manufacturing processes. This change can be related with the above-discussed change in that both involve laying off workers and change of duties at work. The two changes illustrate the need to involve employees when making organizational changes. Additionally, the top-level management should integrate the new change within the values, mission and vision of the organization. In order to sustain these changes, leadership, structure, strategy, culture and systems should be

A summery of Blue ocean strategy book Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A summery of Blue ocean strategy book - Essay Example If one has to compete with other industries, they will have to suffer losses and campaigns that could drain them or turn their survival mode on. The book consists of five parts which describe in detail the processes of excelling in business and forming new strategies. The starting section outlines the most important parts of the blue ocean strategy and the importance of forming a low costing evaluation. It derives the concept of ‘value innovation’ in which it is essential and vital to come up with something different than others to that the attention and worth of the product increases despite the cost which it is at – even though the cost should be low so that the product isn’t extremely expensive. The market is always up for something different at not a very high price because then everyone is bound to give it a try. And with the population around in billions, creating a small fortune won’t be that hard. The second part entails how the blue ocean strategy was created. The first principal is to come up with something of which there should be no competition so that the market space is open and unchallenged. It tells to focus on the bigger picture, to dream big and not to just settle for small profits because that is how good business is done. The risk is always there of course but the blue ocean strategy helps in forming the courage to take that risk, especially if there is enough confidence in the idea or the product. The risk that comes up with business is the third part. The scheme and plan with which a strategy is formed has to follow the six principles first. They are good in ensuring an effective and a relatively safe way to start a business. First things first, the formulated plan has to make sense to everyone. Then there are the customers who will not buy the product that have to be unlocked by the three tiers. Following is to know what market is friendly and to make

The Influence of Culture on Tuscan Families Essay Example for Free

The Influence of Culture on Tuscan Families Essay For many, the word Tuscany conjures up images of olive trees, vineyards, Chianti and remarkable works of art. It’s a romantic place with picture perfect landscapes and ancient churches and villages. Tourists from all over the world visit Tuscany each year to take in the sights, tastes and sounds of its glorious culture. Their visit is enhanced if they are familiar with the area’s colorful history, which reaches far into the past and continues throughout many, many cultural changes that make up its present. This essay employs political, religious, judicial and class stories from the region’s vivid history to help us form a picture of what family life in Tuscany may have been like from 1250 to 1500. It was, by all accounts, a great time to live in Tuscany. The region developed its own status after the Roman empire fell, when a series of rulers emerged to take control. By the twelfth century the Tuscan cities were gradually gaining their independence as republics and forcing the nobility to live in the cities (Van Helden 2). The land was fertile and the opportunity for various businesses was great. Most importantly, a class system developed that valued hard work over noble birth. Those high in the hierarchy lived within the same communities as the working class. The elite families that did control the power over the next few hundred years made decisions that would ultimately dictate everything from family tradition to fine art and literature. In the late Middle Ages, just around the fourteenth century, a simple political system was in place. In Italy, there was no political union, but the country was divided into many different town councils (www. greatdante. net, 2) As with many democratic societies of past and present, there were various political parties. Here in Italy, these were called the Guelfi and the Ghibellini. The Guelfi, a group held in favor of the Pope rather than the Emperor, held the majority of the power in the country. This party was especially popular in Florence, where it was separated into two subgroups: the whites (bianchi, in favor of the emperor) and the blacks (neri, in favor of the Pope). The years around 1300 were the ones in which political fights between whites and blacks became stronger and more dramatic (www. greatdante. net 4). At this time, Italy was not culturally or politically unified, which led to a variety of subcultures within Tuscany. There were many different Italian dialects to choose from. A family’s language might have been based on their geographic location, their religion and their political views. For the most part, this diversity did not lead to violence. Instead, it seemed to benefit the region. In addition to the renowned artwork of the time, some of the world’s best writers such as Dante, Petrarch, and Macchiavelli found inspiration in the conflicting viewpoints of the Tuscan communities. In a space of fifty years, during the lifetime of Dante, 1265-1321, Florence transformed itself from a political and economic backwaterscarcely keeping pace with its Tuscan neighborsto one of the richest and most influential places on the continent (Dameron 12). It was one of the world’s most prominent cities for two industries that were necessary for civilized societies: wool and banking. This was the beginning of the Florentine Renaissance that led to such legendary works by Michelangelo, Leonardo and Donatello, among others. We may be familiar with these names, but what about the cultural backdrop from which they prospered? What factors allowed them to flourish during this time period? Business people who were high in government made many decisions, but the Church was -2- also a major influence in the design of the times. In fact, religion, community and business often merged in the minds of Tuscans who placed emphasis in all three throughout their lives. As one author describes it: A busy grain market on a site where a church once stood, for instance, remained a sacred place where many gathered to sing and pray before a painted image of the Virgin Mary, as well as to conduct business. At the same time, religious communities contributed directly to the economic development of the diocese in the areas of food production, fiscal affairs, and urban development, while they also provided institutional leadership and spiritual guidance during a time of profound uncertainty (Dameron 75). Of course, diverse belief systems aren’t always the perfect utopia that history books make them out to be. There was some conflict throughout this age of historic prosperity. Many times community disputes over such things as property and status were settled in a court setting to help eliminate the use of violence. The court systems were relatively new to the Tuscan region in the twelfth century and procedures were quite experimental. Whereas early medieval placita had become largely formulaic by the tenth century, twelfth-century courts and arbitrations generated a variety of documents, including sworn testimony of witnesses, the claims and counter-claims of the litigants, and the judgment of the arbitrators (Radding 3). The documents that remain from some of these cases help paint a picture of what life was like inside courtroom and out. By studying these conflicts, we are able to gain a new vision for the strategies used by families and communities to assert and defend claims. Hearing their voices allows us -3- clues into their personalities, what was acceptable or offensive in that day and age. The documents sometimes provide enough direct speech to reveal how these often humble Tuscans saw the issues between them – the arguments offered by the opposing parties in support of their claims (Radding 4). While we must assume some of the holes in the story, one thing is for certain: the courtrooms of Tuscany were just as diverse as the beliefs of its people. The judicial process evolved over the years between 1250-1500. Private courts, which handled complex arbitrations between parties, spawned more efficient communal courts. Different cities in Tuscany had their own particular systems to handle disputes, as Radding summarizes here: Pisa, a neighbour and traditional rival of Lucca, was quicker to develop urban institutions (starting in the 1080s) and to adopt Roman law, which appears rather suddenly in 1159. Florence was smaller than either Lucca or Pisa in the twelfth century and its institutions were less developed, leaving disputes in the contado largely outside the control of the citys courts. Ecclesiastical institutions, finally, had the option of recourse to church courts, including the papal courts, even for cases whose legal substance was no different from those that secular courts routinely dealt with (8). Despite these distinctive variations, a series of uniformities grew to help define the character of the culture and the communities. Documents could be used a proof, but in societies where land was not surveyed or registered and social relations often were undocumented, public behaviors could be almost as important (Radding 10). Perhaps one -4- reason Tuscany prospered in the medieval times was because they had a civilized process in place to work out their disputes. Sometimes these conflicts were simpler than others; the reasoning by which a solution was reached was often much different than how we resolve conflict today. Such is the case of a boundary dispute with neighboring landowners Passavante di Sesto and Chianne di Ghiandoro. It mattered a great deal whether Passavante’s wife had cut down a certain tree secretly or openly: â€Å"Open, i. e. , public, direct action was a claim to rights; people could see you doing it, and would conclude that, if you were not challenged, you had right on your side. ’(Wickham 83) This example provides evidence that simple claims were considered, even if the reasoning was a bit skewed by today’s standards. The study of Tuscan judicial development is an important point in the exploration of family life, especially considering the marriage rituals. Due to the fact that religion and government played an important role in the culture, both of these components were represented in the marriage process. According to one author, weddings of the Italian Renaissance were different than those found in the rest of Western Europe (Thomas 4). This historian draws from her knowledge of fourteenth century Florence to describe each step of the tradition. If a Tuscan couple wanted to get married, they would first present the idea to both of their families. The first phase was the meeting of the men of both families to draw up the marriage contract (Thomas 5). At this meeting, members of the judicial system, guarantors and arbiters, would be present to help negotiate the dowry and other financial agreements. To make it official in the eyes of the law, a notary was on hand to write up -5- the final contract. The second place took place in the bride’s home, where the bride and groom and their relatives were present, along with a notary (Thomas 6). This is the point where the Church enters the picture. The notary’s job was to ask questions that had been dictated by the Church in order to receive the couple’s statement of mutual consent. Once the couple agreed to the stipulations of the Church, the man placed a ring on the woman’s finger and they were considered husband and wife. It is also worth noting that in Italy at this time the act of marrying was referred to as ‘giving someone the ring’ (Thomas 7). The bride’s family celebrated with a substantial banquet for all. Typically, the final phase of the ceremony concluded at the end of the ring day, when the bride joined her new husband at his home. Escorted by her husband’s friends and family, the bride rode a white palfrey through town to her new home, the way lit by torchlight. In Rome, the spouses met Sunday at church, where they attended Mass and received a blessing from the priest. In Florence, however, the entire ceremony remained secular (Thomas 8). This entire practice eventually succumbed to more pressure from the Church, which required the mutual consent phase to happen within its doors, similar to the way we conduct our traditional marriages today. The marriage ceremony was very much the same throughout all class systems of medieval Tuscany. Of course, the level of pomp and circumstance was the main distinguishing factor between them, but not much else. Social intercourse in its highest and most perfect form now ignored all distinctions of caste, and was based simply on the existence of an educated class as we now understand the word (Burckhardt 2). Due to a -6- flattened hierarchal structure, the birth and origin of a person did not influence their standing in society, with some exceptions. Members of truly elite families who inherited wealth and leisure through generations generally held decision making positions of power. These people worked in judicial systems, law or medicine but were just as respected as those who worked the fields. This was one of those rare times in history when classes were fused. It was a direct result of the dynamic built within city walls, where the nobles and burghlers dwelt together. Here, the interests and pleasures of both classes were thus identified and the feudal lord learned to look at society from another point of view than that of his mountain castle (Burckhardt 4). Families benefited from this in many ways, sons and daughters could marry into a more wealthy family without much disagreement or societal stigmas associated with it. Parents were optimistic for their children, since there were more options than ever to move up and around within the system. This approach differed from the rest of Europe, where English and French chivalry reigned supreme. Those who were knights and valiant warriors were placed on a pedestal and more valued than others, earning higher titles and more land with each adventure. To the Tuscans, the cultivation of the soil, as practiced by the ancients, would be much nobler than this senseless wandering through hills and woods, by which men make themselves like to the brutes than to the reasonable creatures (Burckhardt 8). These Italians respected hard work, family and community consciousness much more so than travel exploits and conquering. According to one early historian: And, as time went on, the greater the influence of humanism on the Italian mind, -7- the firmer and more widespread became the conviction that birth decides nothing as to the goodness or badness of a man. In the fifteenth century, this was the prevailing opinion. There is no other nobility than that of personal merit. The cultivation of the soil, as practiced by the ancients, would be much nobler than this senseless wandering through hills and woods, by which men make themselves like to the brutes than to the reasonable creatures (Burckhardt 12). This way of thinking was quite popular during the time of Dante, who addressed the culture in context with a more traditional hierarchy in some of his writings. Dante, for example, derives from Aristotle’s definition, ‘Nobility rests on excellence and inherited wealth,’ his own saying, ‘Nobility rests on personal excellence or on that of forefathers’ (Burckhardt 12). Even the rich families who prided themselves on wealth did not receive any special treatment in matters of law or politics due to such a strong cultural structure. The Church, in more traditional societies of the time was used as a means to provide for the younger sons of noble families. This was not the case in Tuscany. Bishoprics, abbacies and canonries were often given from the most unworthy motives, but still not according to the pedigrees of the applicants. If the bishops in Italy were more numerous, poorer, and, as a rule, destitute of all sovereign rights, they still lived in the cities where their cathedrals stood and formed, together with their chapters, an important element in the cultivated society of the place (Burckhardt 12). In the meantime, the government supported the humanistic movement. One leader, Cosimo, who lived during 1389-1464, ruled the city of Florence and spent much of his fortune on charitable acts. He fostered a climate of simple living while cultivating -8- literature and the arts. During his rule and that of his sons and grandson, Florence became the cultural center of Europe and the cradle of the new Humanism (galileo. rice. edu 3). This elite family enjoyed the support of the masses, who, for the most part, followed this example to work hard and become educated. But the Tuscan people did more than work. They enjoyed many entertainment options that served as welcome distractions from business and intellectual life. Lorenzo de Medici, Cosimos grandson who was known as The Magnificent, influenced the types of entertainment held and often sponsored the activities. Mystery plays, based on the theme of the Passion (the sufferings of Jesus), were regularly staged for the enjoyment and edification of the citizens (www. learner. org 5). Festivals also served as a way to bring communities together, in addition to celebrating religious holidays. Families brought children young and old to celebrate the feast day of Saint John, Florence’s patron saint. Horse races were held throughout the city and magnificent festivals were especially common in the late fifteenth century (www. learner. org 6). This allowed the populace to convene and relax in a fun setting. Contrary to much of the rest of the civilized world, some of Tuscany’s Church leaders applauded these efforts. The culture was very much steeped in a strong spiritual movement that veered from the traditional way of Christian thinking. A preacher named Savonarola helped to establish its roots among city citizens. His thinking ultimately spread beyond Florence and throughout Tuscan households to change the thinking of many. The idea was simplicity within a time of prosperity. Savonarola was concerned about what he considered abuses by the church and -9- about peoples excessive interest in material goods. He preached against the accumulation of worldly possessions and called for a bonfire of the vanities in which people were to burn immoral paintings, cosmetics, and such entertainment-related items as musical instruments and playing cards (www. learner. org 9). Although his philosophies found many avid listeners in Tuscany’s humanist culture, the Church ultimately condemned him for blasphemy against their beliefs. The Church, after all, was one of the most wealthy establishments in the country. Of course, all good things must come to an end. The Aragonese government, established by the middle of the fifteenth century, started in Naples what followed a hundred years later in the rest of Italy – a social transformation in obedience to Spanish ideas, of which the chief features were the contempt for work and the passion for titles (Burckhardt 15). The caste-focused culture made its way through even the smallest towns by 1500 and what was once considered noble work was quickly sacrificed as Tuscans made a mad dash to find higher places in society within categories such as law, medicine, officer or knight. It is no wonder that the splendor and richness of the area declined steadily after a caste-system was put into place. Families were now forced to live a life that they were born into. Lower class parents would grow their families as large as possible for the main purpose sustaining their own household economy with parents employing children as sharecroppers to increase yield. Some Marxist analyses assume that sharecropping is a form of surplus labor extraction based on increasing labor intensity, because of inherent tendencies of households to exploit the unpaid labor of its family members (Emigh 22). -10- In this way, parents were able to feed their children and participate in the local economy. The slow transition into a capitalist society affected families in different ways. The families who already had wealth in their bloodlines were typically more successful than others. This still required a fair amount of enterprising creativity, but richer and larger families had a better chance to benefit from the system. Once Florentines entered local markets, however, they completely dominated them, because Florentines were much wealthier than local inhabitants and could generally outbid them. Florentines bought land from local inhabitants, who generally still sold land for the same reasons but were rarely able to purchase land (Emigh 17). As a result, local market structures, which might have been successful if they were able to compete locally, were largely eliminated. A problematic economy meant many changes for households. A family who might have owned land for generations was suddenly forced to sell the land in marriage dowries that they couldn’t afford make with cash. Partible inheritance, dowries, and local markets were mutually reinforcing. These practices divided the land into relatively small pieces, which were frequently bought and sold to adjust for the size of a family, to recombine pieces of land split apart by inheritance, to dispose of land at inconvenient locations, and to pay off debts (Emigh 35). The land that was once owned by many was beginning to be bought up by an elite few. Poverty became more rampant and, with it, the decline of education and culture. The change in economy was due to a number of various variables. The onset of the â€Å"Black Death† in 1348 contributed to the reduction of labor supply and increased the need for human capital. A new social norm, that came to prevail in the marriage market -11- with the demise of the feudal system, both contributed to the increase in urban dowries from the 13th to the 15th centuries. In his famous Divina Commedia, the poet Dante Alighieri was the first to suggest that dowry values were increasing in Florence at the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth century (Botticini 1). By the mid-1430s, the average dowry in the city was 820 lire – eight times its value in the thirteenth century. At the same time, the rural dowry stayed constant, perhaps as a result of less class influence. Rural communes, as they were known, were slow to follow trends of the city, and by the fifteenth century they were still enjoying some benefits of a flattened hierarchal society. Village living was still diverse and citizens depended on cooperative relationships between people to prosper, rather than clear-cut social levels. Families lived the simple life that Savonarola preached, not only because it strengthened their communities, but it also was a natural way of life. It’s interesting to note that, although there were more communes in Tuscany than urban cities, there has been little research done to analyze how these families were affected by urban changes. With the help of a humanistic culture and a flattened hierarchal structure, Tuscan families of all class levels flourished. It was a remarkable time for prosperity. The children of this era had numerous opportunities to flourish in a diverse culture that encouraged creativity in all forms of life, especially the arts. The judicial system worked hand in hand with the church to preserve a society that valued hard work and community over greed and power. Once the latter two elements entered the picture, however, lower class households adapted to form self-supporting farms in order to survive the introduction of capitalism. -12- WORKS CITED Botticini, Maristella. â€Å"Social Norms, Demographic Shocks, and Dowries in Florence, 1250-1450. † Society for Economic Dynamics Meeting Papers. (2004): 1. Burckhardt, Jacob. â€Å"The civilization of the Renaissance in Italy: Part 5, Society and festivals. † Athenaeum Reading Room web site. 7 Mar. 2005. http://evans-experientialism. freewebspace. com/burckhardt07. htm Dameron, George. Florence and Its Church In The Age of Dante: Middle Ages Series. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994. â€Å"Dante Alighieri on the Web. † Dante Alighieri web site. 7 Mar. 2005 http://greatdante. net Emigh, Rebecca Jean. â€Å"Economic interests and sectoral relations: the undevelopment of capitalism in fifteenth-century Tuscany. † The American Journal of Sociology 108 (March 2003): 1075. Radding, Charles. â€Å"Review: Courts and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Tuscany. † Rev. of Courts and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Tuscany, by Chris Wickham. Institute of Historical Research web site. 7 Mar. 2005. http://www. history. ac. uk/reviews/paper/raddingC. html -13- â€Å"Renaissance: What inspired this age of balance and order? † Learner web site. 7 Mar. 2005. http://www. learner. org/exhibits/renaissance/florence_sub. html â€Å"The Medici Family. † The Galileo Project web site. 7. Mar. 2005. http://galileo. rice. edu/gal/medici. html Thomas, Kirsti. â€Å"Medieval and Renaissance Marrage: Theory and Customs. † Author web site. 7 March, 2005. http://www. drizzle. com/~celyn/mrwp/mrwed. html Van Helden, Albert. â€Å"Florence and Tuscany. † Connexions web site. 7 Mar. 2005 http://cnx. rice. edu/content/m11936/latest/ Wickham, Chris. Courts and Conflict in Twelfth-Century Tuscany. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003: 83. -14-

How It Feel to Be Colored Me and How to Tame a Wild Tongue Essay Example for Free

How It Feel to Be Colored Me and How to Tame a Wild Tongue Essay Sometimes we know who and what we are, but it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what we pretend to be or bullied into silence allowing ourselves to be made a victim to oppression. In this essay I’m comparing the authors of â€Å"How it Feel to Be Colored Me by Zora Hurston, and How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. Gloria Anzaldua became a victim of oppression by accepting society expectations of the Chicano culture. Meanwhile, Zora Hurston accepted who she is despite who people perceived her as because of her skin color. These two authors defends their personal identities through their cultures in separate ways. In the story How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Gloria Anzaldua feels that the way someone is cannot be controlled it can only be erased; she states â€Å"Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out† (Page 31). Anzaldua was against losing her accent and had an issue with putting her first language as a second. She would rebel as a child when told not to speak Spanish, so she struggled with changing and adapting to the American culture. She believed her culture the â€Å"Chicano† culture needed to differ from others with a secret language they can be able to communicate amongst each other. â€Å"Chicano Spanish need to identify ourselves as a distinct people. We needed a language which we could communicate with ourselves, a secret language† (Page 32). By creating their own slang allows them to connect their identity and communicate reality, values, and things they have in common. Yet, Zora Hurston in the story â€Å"How it feels to be Colored Me† expresses the way she was created doesn’t bother her nor makes her sadden. â€Å"I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I don’t mind at all (Page 145).† Unlike other colored people she doesn’t hate herself for the color of her skin, she’s proud to be created as the person she is without regret. Although, she’s constantly reminded of her culture background it fails to bring her integrity down, because ancestors paid the price of her free start in society, and shouldn’t stop to reflect on choices that wasn’t hers. â€Å"Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the grand-daughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. I am off to a flying start and must I not halt to look back and weep. Slavery is the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me† (Pages 145-146). Zora Hurston doesn’t consider herself a part of her culture who uses their skin color for a bad excuse for why they’re in negative life situations. â€Å"I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who holds that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are hurt about it (Page 145).

The Concepts Of Partnership And Collaboration Social Work Essay

The Concepts Of Partnership And Collaboration Social Work Essay The concepts of partnership and collaboration have become amongst the most critical themes of new Labours social policy, particularly in respect of the delivery of health and social care. (Lymbery, M, 2005) This is the reason why a reflective summary will be produced in which concepts of partnership, the philosophies and the reducing of negative outcomes for professional, client and organization will be discussed in greater depth. Proposals for minimising negative outcomes will also be covered. CONTENT CONCEPTS OF PARTNERSHIP The definitions of partnership according to Collins English dictionary, 1991 is equal commitment or the state of being a partner. Partnership is also defined as a shared commitment, where all partners have a right and an obligation to participate and will be affected equally by the benefits and disadvantages arising from the partnership as defined by Carnwell, R. and Carson, A. in 2008. Partnership defining attributes are trust and confidence in accountability, respect for specialist expertise, joint working, teamwork, blurring of professional boundaries, member of partnerships share the same vested interests, appropriate governance structures, common goals, transparent lines of communication within and between partner agencies, agreement about the objectives, reciprocity and empathy. Antecedents of partnership are as follow: individual, local and national initiatives, commitment to shared vision about joint venture, willingness to sign up to creating a relationship that will support vision and also value cooperation and respect what other partners bring to the relationship. Partnership provides a number of benefits such as social exclusion will be tackled more efficiently, service provision from different organisations will be less repetitive, activities by agencies will be less diluted and the chance of agencies producing services that are counterproductive to each other will be reduced. However, there are also barriers in working in partnership for instance, complexity of relationships, representativeness of wider public, tokenism and excessive influence of the vocal groups, desire of individuals not to be involved in making decisions about their care, threat to confidentiality, role boundary conflicts, inter-professional differences of perspective and threats to professional identity. (Carnwell, R. and Carson, A. , 2008) PHILOPSOPHIES OF WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP In working in partnership, there are few philosophies that underpin partnership working. The philosophies are empowerment, independence, humanity, equity, trust and respect. Empowerment in the context of health and social care is a process through which people gain greater control over decision and actions that will affect their health. (World Health Organisation, 1998) The reason why empowerment is important in the partnership of health and social care context is because they are the vital foundation of developing an honest relationship between client and professional. They also have become accepted principles in social work practice and have received legislative endorsement as the foundation stones of quality relationships between users and providers of community care services as mentioned by Braye, S. and Preston-Shoot, M., in 1993. Without empowerment, a partnership working will not be effective. Independence according to Oxford, 2010 is free from outside control; not subject to anothers authority. Independence in terms of partnership in the health and social care perspective is the ability to make decision that will affect the life of a person without the control of others, be it health professional, family member etc. Other than that, it can also be described as a situation in which a person is not under the power of others. An example for independence in partnership is between a patient and a health professional, the patient should be given the autonomy to choose the choice of treatment that he wants to undergo, not chosen by the professional. Humanity is the quality of being humane according to Oxford, 2010. Equity means fairness. Equity in health means that peoples needs guide the distribution of opportunities for well-being. (WHO, 1998) Equity in partnership means that every client should be treated and given the access to health services equally. The WHO global strategy of achieving Health for All is fundamentally directed towards achieving greater equity in health between and within populations and between countries. This implies that all people have an equal opportunity to develop and maintain their health, through fair and just access to resources for health. (WHO, 1998) A commitment to partnership working can only be fostered if the partnership itself displays openness in the way it conducts its affairs, open book accounting has to be taken to the extreme if a partnership is to be successful. The reason why trust is important in a partnership is because once distrust enters into a relationship, it is bound to fail. As mutual confidence grows at the individual level so it becomes much easier for the partnership as a whole to become more transparent in its working and thus, encourage trust between partners. (Geddes, M., 2005) Trust in the health and care setting is essential because without trust, it is difficult for a client to be open and honest to the professional. Respect in partnership is important because in partnership, partners work together to achieve common goals and this relationship is based on mutual respect for each others skills and competencies and recognition of the advantage of combining these resources to achieve beneficial outcomes. Partnership in the health and social care context can be linked to the key of successful doctor-patient partnerships in which that patient will be recognised as the experts by the doctor. The doctor is, or should be, well informed about diagnostic techniques, the cause of disease, prognosis, treatment options, and preventive strategies, but only the patient knows about his or her experience of illness, social circumstances, habits and behaviour, attitudes to risk, values, and preferences. Both types of knowledge are needed to manage illness successfully, so both parties should be prepared to share information and take decisions jointly. (Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, 2001) MODELS OF CARE IN RELATION TO PARTNERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES Models of care are made up of two models. They are the medical model and social model. In medical model, their thinking is that the disability of a person is of their own fault, their future is on the result of the diagnosis, they also tend to be labelled, their impairment becomes the focus of attention, assessment, monitoring, programmes of therapy are imposed to them, separation and alternative services are the only options, their ordinary needs are also put on hold, they are also only allowed to re-enter the ordinary world if they are normal enough otherwise it is permanent exclusion and society remains unchanged. (BFI, 2009) In this model, the independence of patient is being violated as their therapy is imposed on them, not their own choice. Their equity is also defied as they are being excluded socially. On the other hand, in social model thinking, the disabled person is valued, strengths and needs are defined by self and others, barriers are identified and solutions will be developed, outcome based programme are designed, resources are made available to ordinary services, training for parents and professionals are also provided, relationships are nurtured, diversity are also welcomed and child is included and society evolves to accept the disable. (BFI, 2009) In this model, the client is empowered such as the NHS Expert patient programme in which client take control of their own live without the relying on others. Another strategy that fosters empowerment is the Prosumers in which providers (the disabled person) are also the consumers (supporting other disabled person as a support team). (Dickerson, F., 1998) THE OUTCOMES RECOMMENDATIONS As mentioned in the working in partnership concept, partnership offers various advantages to different level of service user be it users, practitioners and organisations. Alas, it also has its own disadvantages which both will be looked into briefly. In working with partnership, the advantage is that workload between practitioners will be distributed equally according to ones own expertise. For example, the partnership between family nurses, the supervisor and social worker in safeguarding vulnerable child. If babies and young people who may have been, or are likely to be, abused or neglected. Family nurses will refer a child to social worker as a child in need, when appropriate, and will act on concerns that the child may suffer or likely to suffer significant harm. Family nurses will also receive weekly supervision and together with the supervisor work closely with social worker with safeguarding responsibilities. (HM Government, 2010) This benefit both the service user (in this case is children) and organisation that the practitioners work for as work will become more efficient. The Working Together 1999 initiative sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. (HM Government, 2010) Partnership with other organisations both involving statutory and voluntary will benefit service users as competition will arise. This will enhance the service being offered by the organisations involved. As an example is the British Red Cross as the voluntary organisation and local department of social work as the statutory. The NHS and Community Care Act in 1990 split the role of health authorities and local authorities by changing their internal structure, so that local authority departments assess the needs of the local population and then purchase the necessary services from providers such as the Red Cross. Community care ensures people in need of long-term care are now being able to live either in their own home, with adequate support, or in a residential home setting. (UWIC, 2010) This adequate support can be obtained from the Red Cross, such as support after being discharged from the hospital until they are fully empowered of themselves to be independent again. Support is imp ortant as seeking help from professional can help client to recover better. This will benefit both client and also organisation. Albeit partnership offers benefits to everyone, it also has its own challenges. One of the major problems of working in partnership is confidentiality. The more people working together on a case, the chances of information to be breached will increase. Along the way, information could also get lost as well. This is because one party will think specific information is not as important as what other parties will think. To overcome this problem in protecting personal data of a client, the 1998 Data Protection Act is the key legislation which covers all aspects of information processed. Additionally, especially in health and social care, to ensure that this act is put into operation, the Caldicott principle is introduced. (Department of Health, 2010) In general, working in partnership is a great way to tackle issues effectively. However, the idea of partnership does not usually work as what is expected ideally in reality. Partnership working can be difficult to do well, it can be costly if not properly managed and it may not deliver the desired outcomes if the aims and objectives are not clear. On the other hand, it can be reduced by having plans and strategies as a guidance that must be revised after a certain period of time by local authority. The principal purpose of guidance is to provide a framework against which to test potential new partnerships and examine existing ones, to ensure that the Authority can be reassured that the partnership under consideration is one which will contributes positively to its agenda. (Rochford District Council, 2009) CONCLUSION Working in partnership in health and social care is beneficial to all service users, inter professional working and organisational that is involved although it has its own negative consequences. These negative outcomes however can be reduced by referring to guidelines and policies that needs to be updated from time to time.

Three wars that led to the defeat of Napoleon :: European Europe History

Three wars that led to the defeat of Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most powerful men ever to walk the face of the earth. Many believe him to be the first anti-christ, just as Nostradamus predicted. To the troops he commanded, he was known as the "friendly little corporal" , and to the monarchs and kings that he overthrew, he was the "Corsican Ogre" ("Napoleon Bonaparte" ). Some thought him to be a great reformer. Others thought that he was a monster. However, friend and foe alike could both agree on one thing; Napoleon I, Emperor of France and leader of most of Europe for sixteen years, was one of the greatest and boldest military geniuses of all time("Napoleon Bonaparte"). However, like every great leader, Napoleon too had his downfall. Napoleon participated in three wars that led to his downfall: "The Attack on Russia", "The War of Nations", and "Waterloo". Napoleon was once quoted as saying, "A battle is a dramatic action which has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The order of battle which the two armies take, the first movements to come to blows- this is the exposition; the counter- movement of the army under attack form the complication, which requires dispositions and and brings on crisis from which springs the result or Denouement (Gray 6)". Napoleon thought himself to be invincible and God-like. He felt that he had a destiny to be one of the greatest military leaders to ever live. The man thought that he could not be killed on the battle field, he was right. He went from a soldier to the Emperor of France in just ten short years; he fell in less than three. Napoleon led an army of six-hundred-thousand men into Russia (Reihn 159). Napoleon was always very concerned about his soldiers and made sure that they were well taken care of (Segur 58 ). Napoleon attacked Russia from the Neims River on June 24, 1812. As soon as they crossed the Neims, a Cossack surprised them and questioned them. They said they were French and that they had come to make war with Russia. Some of the soldiers chased the Cossack into the forest and fired at him (Segur 68). This made Napoleon very angry. They slept on the bank of the Neims with their weapons in hand. Napoleon also issued a fire ban so that they would be undetected by their enemy.

Vouchers and School Choice are Long Over-due :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

School Choice: Long Over-due    This paper reports on my position on school choice, what I believe is the ideal school choice program and the steps that must be taken to successfully implement school choice. First and foremost, the idea of school choice is not a new concept. Those who could afford it always have had school choice. Now as a potential option for more parents, choice will be constricted by the amount of money and the type of resources (transportation, political influence, etc.) one has.    I approve of the idea of school choice that empowers parents to select their children's school. However, as choice is now proposed this empowerment will not happen for all parents. Those with the least amount of money and resources will have the fewest choices. In cases where lower income parents lack transportation to the school of their choice, the nearest school will most likely be their only option. Also, where will the additional money come from when lower class parents do not have enough to pay for the school of their choice?    According to economist Lester Thurow (1996), the middle class was created by the government's investment in education, i.e., GI Bill. School choice seems like the government's way of sharing the wealth with the middle class in addition to providng more schools to choose from. This effort appears to be an attempt at widening the ever-closing gap between the middle class and the lower class (a.k.a. working poor). School vouchers or educational opportunity grants may even entice parents who send their children to private schools to send their children to public charter schools thereby reducing what they now spend on tuition.    Although school choice does not guarantee a quality education or the employability of graduating students, I believe that school choice will offer competition and have a positive influence on operational efficiency. Based upon conditions in some inner-city public schools (crumbling infrastructure, lack of access to technology, few and/or outdated books, etc.), there will probably be even less students in traditional public schools thereby having a positive effect on reducing the classroom size. This could make teaching in a traditional public school more manageable.    In the readings an argument made for school choice was that children who might otherwise fall through the cracks will be given the chance at an education best suited to meet their needs. Vouchers and School Choice are Long Over-due :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics School Choice: Long Over-due    This paper reports on my position on school choice, what I believe is the ideal school choice program and the steps that must be taken to successfully implement school choice. First and foremost, the idea of school choice is not a new concept. Those who could afford it always have had school choice. Now as a potential option for more parents, choice will be constricted by the amount of money and the type of resources (transportation, political influence, etc.) one has.    I approve of the idea of school choice that empowers parents to select their children's school. However, as choice is now proposed this empowerment will not happen for all parents. Those with the least amount of money and resources will have the fewest choices. In cases where lower income parents lack transportation to the school of their choice, the nearest school will most likely be their only option. Also, where will the additional money come from when lower class parents do not have enough to pay for the school of their choice?    According to economist Lester Thurow (1996), the middle class was created by the government's investment in education, i.e., GI Bill. School choice seems like the government's way of sharing the wealth with the middle class in addition to providng more schools to choose from. This effort appears to be an attempt at widening the ever-closing gap between the middle class and the lower class (a.k.a. working poor). School vouchers or educational opportunity grants may even entice parents who send their children to private schools to send their children to public charter schools thereby reducing what they now spend on tuition.    Although school choice does not guarantee a quality education or the employability of graduating students, I believe that school choice will offer competition and have a positive influence on operational efficiency. Based upon conditions in some inner-city public schools (crumbling infrastructure, lack of access to technology, few and/or outdated books, etc.), there will probably be even less students in traditional public schools thereby having a positive effect on reducing the classroom size. This could make teaching in a traditional public school more manageable.    In the readings an argument made for school choice was that children who might otherwise fall through the cracks will be given the chance at an education best suited to meet their needs.

They Call Him Mr. Gacy Essay -- John Wayne Gacy Serial Killers Law

There are numerous portraits, perspectives, and analyses of the life and deeds of American serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who is thought to have sexually assaulted and murdered 32 boys between 1976 and his arrest in December 1978 (Cahill, 1978; Gacy, 1989). This profile of Gacy compiles a birth-to-death chronology of events and activities that may lend insight to the personality of a habitual liar, model citizen, and serial murderer. Born to Marion Elaine Robinson Gacy and John Hanely Gacy on St. Patrick's Day in 1942, John Wayne Gacy was the second of three children. The alcoholic Gacy, Sr. was both physically and verbally abusive towards the entire family. His special interest in John, Jr. was the litany that he was 'dumb and stupid' and an embarrassment to the family. However John Jr. loved his father and strived to please him. John suffered poor health during much of his childhood. After attending four years in high school John Jr. dropped out leaving home for Las Vegas. He worked odd jobs to include a maintenance position at a funeral parlor. There were few decent jobs available in Las Vegas for John Jr., so he saved up enough money to move back to Chicago. Returning to Chicago in the early 1960's he graduated with a degree from a business college. His first job was as a sales person at Nunn-Bush Shoe Company. Quickly moving up in the company, he was soon transferred to a men?s clothing outlet in Springfield, Illinois and promoted to a management position. John Jr.?s took an active interest in the community and became a respected member of several community organizations: the Chi Rho Club as chairman, the Catholic Interclub Council as a member of the board, the Federal Civil Defense for Illinois, Chicag... ... shock A. Lt. Kozenczak?s discovery and the investigation 1. Background check 2. Search warrant 3. Removal of remains 4. Demolition of the Summerdale home a. Remains found in concrete B. Trial 1. Cook County Criminal Courts 2. Prosecutor Bob Egan a. Manipulative behavior b. Rape and torture c. Premeditated and planned 3. Defense attorney Robert Motta a. Insanity plea b. Thomas Eliseo, psychologist c. Schizophrenic, personality disorder and antisocial behavior 4. The verdict a. Two hour deliberation b. Sentenced to Death C. Poking and Proding into the brain of a serial killer 1. The pieces coming together D. Making Money 1. Artwork 2. They Call Him Mr. Gacy E. The End 1. Denied Appeals 2. Famous Last Words

Exception to Rule of Law Article 14

ExceptionToRuleOFLaw The above rule   of equality is however not an absolute rule and there are   number exception to it v  Ã¢â‚¬ËœEquality of Law’ does not mean the power of the private citizens are the same as the power of the public officials. Thus a police officer has the power to arrest you while no other private person has this power. This is not violation of rule of law. But rule of law does require that these powers should be clearly defined by law and that abuse of authority   by public officers must be punished by ordinary courts.The rule of law does not prevent certain class of persons   being subject to special rules. Thus members of   armed forces are controlled by military rules. Similarly medical practitioners are controlled by medicalcouncilofIndia Certain members of society are governed by special rules in their profession i. e. lawyers, doctors, nurses, members of armed forces and police. Such classes of people are treated differentlyfromordinaryc itizens. Article 14 Permits Classification But Prohibits Class Legislation The equal protection of laws guaranteed by Article 14 does not mean that all laws must be general in character.It does not mean that the same laws should apply to all persons. It does not attainment or circumstances in the same position. The varying needs of different classes of persons often requires separate treatment. From the vary nature of society there should be different laws in different places and the legitimate controls the policy and enacts laws in the best interest of the safety and security of the state. In fact identical treatment in unequal circumstances would amount to inequality. So a reasonable classification is only not permitted but is necessary if society is to progress.Thus what Article 14 forbids is class-legislation but it does not forbid reasonable classification. The classification however must not be â€Å"arbitrary ,artificial or evasive† but must be based on some real and s ubstantial bearing a just and reasonable relation to the object sought to be achieved by the legislation. Article 14 applies where equals are treated differently without any reasonable basis. But where equals and unequals are treated differently, Article 14 does not apply. Class legislation   is that which makes an improper discrimination by conferring particular privileges upon a lass of   persons   arbitrarily selected from a large number of persons all of whom stand in the same relation to the privilege granted that between whom and the persons not so favored no reasonable distinction or substantial difference can be found justifying the inclusion of one and the exclusion of the other from such privilege. TestOfReasonableClassification While Article 14 frobids class legislation it does not forbid reasonable classification of persons, objects, and transactions by the legislature for the purpose of achieving specific ends.But classification must not be â€Å"arbitrary ,artif icial or evasive†. It must always rest upon some real upon some real and substantial distinction bearing a just and reasonable relation to the object sought to be achieved by the legislation. Classification to be reasonable must fulfil the following two conditions Firstly the classification must be founded on the intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or thing that are grouped together from others left out of the group Secondly the differentia must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the act.The differentia which is the basis of the classification   and the object of the act are two distinct things. What is   necessary is that there must be nexus between the basis of classification and the object of the act which makes the classification. It is only when there is no reasonable basis for a classification that legislation making such   classification may be declared discriminatory. Thus the legislature may fix the age at which pers ons shall be deemed competent to contract between themselves but no one will claim that competency.No contract can   be made to depend upon the stature or colour of the hair. Such a classificationwillbearbitrary. The true meaning and scope of Article 14 have been explained in a number of cases  by the supreme court. In view of this the propositions laid down in Damia case still hold good governing a valid classificationandareasfollows. 1. A law may be constitutional even though it relates to a single individual if on account of some special circumstances or reasons applicable to him and not applicable to others, that single individual may be treated as a class y itself 2. There is always presumption in favour of the constitutionality of a statute and the burden is upon him who attacks it to show that there has been a clear transgression of constitutional principles. 3. The presumption may be rebutted in certain cases by showing that on the fact   of the statue, there is no cla ssification and no difference peculiar to any individual or class   and not applicable to any other individual or class, and yet the law hits only a particular individual or class 4.It must be   assumed that Legislature correctly understand and appreciates the need of its own people that its law are directed to problem made manifest by experience and that its discrimination are based on adequategrounds 5. In order to sustain the presumption of constitutionality the court may take into consideration maters of common knowledge, matters of report, the history of the times and may assume every state of facts which can be conceived existing at the time of the legislation. 6. Thus the legislation is free to recognize degrees of harm and may confine its restriction to those cases where the need is deemed to be the clearest. . While good faith and knowledge of the existing conditions on the part of a legislature are to be presumed, if there is nothing on the face of the law or the surro unding circumstances brought to the notice of the court on which the classification may reasonable be regarded as based, the presumption of constitutionality cannot be carried to extent always that there must be some undisclosed and unknown   reason for subjecting certain individuals or corporation to be hostile or discriminating legislation 8. The classification may be made on different bases e. . geographical or according to object or occupation or the like. 9. The classification made by the legislature need not be scientifically perfect or logically complete. Mathematical nicety and perfect equality are not required. Equality before the law does not require mathematical equality of all persons in all circumstances. Equal treatment does not mean identical treatment. Similarly not identity of treatment is enough. 10. There can be discrimination both in the substantive as well as the procedural law.Article 14 applies to both. If the classification satisfies the test laid down in t he above propositions, the law will be declared constitutional. The question whether a classification is reasonable and proper and not must however, be judged more on commonsense than on legal subtitles. Cases D. S. Nakarav. UnionOfIndia The Government issued an office memorandum announcing a liberalized pension scheme for retired government servants but made it applicable to those who had retired after 31 March 1979.The supreme   court held that the fixing of the cut off date to be discriminatory as violating Article 14. The devision of pensioners into two classes on the basis of the date of retirement was not based on any rational principle because a difference of two days in the matter of retiremnt could hav a traumatic effect on the pensioner. Such a classification held to be arbitrary and unprincipled as there was no acceptable or persuasive reason in its favour. The said classification had no rational nexus with the object sought to achieved.MadhuLimayev. Supdt. TiharJailDel hi There were Indian and Europian Prisoners. Both were treated differently. Europian gets better diet. Court held that difference between Indian and   Europian prisoners in the matter of treatment and diet violates right to equality under Article 14 of Indian prisoners. They all are prisoners they must treat equally. SanaboinaSatyanarayanv. Govt. ofA. P In Andra Pradesh. They formulate a scheme for prevention of crime against women.In prisons also prisoners were classify in to two category first Prisoners guilty of crime against women and second prisoners who are not guilty of crime against women. Prisoners who are guilty of crime against women challenge the court saying that there right to equality is deprived. Court held that there is resoanble classification to achieve some objective. TamilNadu  ElectricityBoardv. Veeraswamy The employee were governed by the contributory provident fund scheme. With effect from 1-7-1986 a scheme was introduced.The question was whether the pens ion scheme ought to be applied to those who had already retired before the introduction of the pension scheme the supreme court rejected the claim. As per the rules prevalent at the time the retirees had received all their retiral benefits. If the pension scheme was made applicable to all past retirees, the resulting financial burden would be Rs200 crore which would be beyond the capacity of employer. The reason given for introducing the scheme was financial constraint- a valid ground.The court held that retired employees and those who were in employment on 1-7-1986 cant be treated alike as they do not belong to one class. Te workmen who had retired and received all the benefits under the contributory provident fund scheme cease to be employees of the applellant   board w. e. f. the date of their retirement. They form a separate   class. Thus there was no illegality in introducing the pension scheme and   not making it applicable retrospectively to those who hadretiredbeforeth edate. ConclusionWhat article 14 forbids is discrimination by law that is treating persons similarly circumstanced differently and treating those not similarly circumstanced in the same way or as has been pithily put treating equals as unequals   and unequals as equals. Article 14 prohibits hostile classification by law and isdirectedagainstdiscriminatoryclasslegislation. A legislature for the purpose of dealing with the complex problem that arise out of an infinite variety of human relations cannot but proceed on some sort of selection or classification of persons upon whom the legislationistooperate.Its is well settled that Article 14 frobid classification for the purpose of legislation. Its is equally well settled that in order to meet the test of Article 14 (i)  classification must be based on intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from those that are left out of group and  (ii)  the differentia must have a rational nexus to the objects sought to be achieved by the executive or legislative action under challenge. Article 14 contains a guarantee of equality before law to all persons and protection to them against discrimination by law. It forbids class legislation.

Assessing A Student

In education the main approach of an assessment is to determine what students have learned in a course or program. By determining what and how students learn teachers can oversee student progress, clarify student’s strengths and weaknesses, and keep a journal of these results to better help students. Second grade students are assessed to simply find the areas of struggles in their learning.I created and conducted an assessment on a second grader; the results were to my opinion normal. Creating an assessment based on the common core math standards for a second grader proved very informative. Many second graders are tested on the knowledge that they already know or have learned from their previous grade, I found that in doing this assessment most of the information was familiar to the student, and for the most part much of it was understood.As the assessment continued the student began to show little signs of weakness towards counting money, but he showed strengths of being able to recognize each coin and the value of those coins. Conducting assessments helps teachers to remove the guesswork out of how their students learn and allows them to begin to put together methods and strategies to be able to reach these students and help them stay on top of their learning.In creating the assessment chart I was able to identify the common core standards and compare what level the student should be on and what level that actual student is on in their learning abilities. The standards help with keeping the teacher and the student on a focused path. Being able to chart the results from the assessment gave me the idea of creating a journal for students; this will help with learning progress and minor set backs in the individual student.Setting goals in learning is most important for each student and the teacher, the journal will help both teacher and students stay on top of these goals. I learned that it is very helpful, and important for teachers to conduct review sess ions, these sessions will help struggling students build strength in their weak areas of learning. In conclusion, learning assessments are necessary for both student and teacher, and good idea must first start with a plan and I believe this is what a learning assessment will accomplish.Students need help in being guided in the right direction towards being successful in their learning career, teachers need plans to help be able to guide students in positive learning directions, I believe that the solution to both of these directional paths are conducting assessments and gathering the results of these assessments. Understanding and comprehending taught lessons are key elements to students, and the more a teacher knows about how their students learn the better prepared they can be to teach their students.

Interest Rate Behavior and Lending in Microfinance

An Essay on Interest Rate Behavior and Lending in Microfinance Abstract: This essay analyzes factors which affect interest rate behavior and its subsequent impact on lending in microfinance. Here we have used regression model for our analysis. Furthermore comparison has been drawn among the different sources of loans outside Bangladesh. Here the experience of microfinance outside Bangladesh like India, South and South-East Asia, Latin America has been fully illustrated. This essay conducts analysis on the basis of the existing literatures on Microfinance.Interest Rate Behavior Determinants of interest rate of lending in Micro-finance: * to expand and improve business operation * recruiting personnel , * marketing the services , * improving financial information system, * constructing new offices * Default * Unwillingness to pay * Poor Management * Economic recession * Inability to pay * Staff identifying * Checking creditworthiness * processing loan applications, * disbursing loans, monitoring * collecting repayments, * costs of the space occupied, * communications, transport, * support staff, Grant * Equity * Foundation * Trust * Saving Account We can observe that in MFI lending there is higher interest rate than the commercial bank’s lending rate. The interest rate charged here is higher as cost of funding, processing, cost of risk of loan losses and profit are higher in this case. The graph below shows the different ingredients interest rate. As above-mentioned factors are very much crucial in this sector that is why require extra attention and thereby require the MFI to charge high interest rate. Rosemberg, R. , A. Gonzalez and S.Narain (2009) and Gonzalez (2010), suggest that though small loan provided by the MFI has low default rate but has higher administrative cost that most of the cases cannot be offset by economies of scale. These administrative costs are the single largest contributor to interest rates. Finally, they suggest that, a bigger loa n size may help them to reduce their lending interest rate. Further, they also emphasize if higher loans were received by more experienced borrowers then credit risk would decline and thereby interest rates. Lending in Micro-finance: Accordingly the loan transaction may be described in the following steps.First, the financial firm decides how much to charge and what the optimal loan size to offer must be in order to reach its profitability goal. Once known the value of the lending interest rate and the average loan size the financial institution offers, a potential customer decides whether s/he wants to request a loan. Taking into account the credit history of the potential borrower and its income-expenditure stream, the financial institution builds a risk profile of the individual. With this at hand, they decide where to lend or not. The loan transaction process is given below: P. otler of Groningen university with his vast research wanted to show that profitability will increase w hen lending interest rates and/or productivity and/or the loan size increase or when the funding cost declines . He also showed that The lending interest rate will be negatively correlated with the loan size. So if they wish to achieve a higher profitability it is likely that all else equal they will offer loans of higher size. When microfinance institutions start operations they usually offer loans of small amounts because they do not have much capital or experience and debtors tend to be people without credit history.We find that the lending interest rate is negatively correlated with the productivity of financial institutions and years of operation and positively correlated with the funding costs. What Can Reduce the Interest Rates in Microfinance? P. cotler also shows that probability that financing boosts growth is weakened if interest rates are extremely high. There are two policies to reduce interest rate : * One is to reducing funding cost and * Another is increasing product ivity. How could productivity be raised? Institutional factors such as technology use and management quality and commitment to efficiency should be variables to consider.Further, it should depend on with what capacity loan officers to reach their target clients. Such capacity not only depends on the quality of infrastructure but maybe more important on the geographic and demographic characteristics of the country in which microfinance institutions operate. 1 Effects of Competition over Lending Behavior in Microfinance Competition in a good influencing factor for the markets, consumer protections, efficiency of allocation and incentive for the development of new products. MFI’s enjoyed a monopolistic market in the early years of its inception.Monopolistic market power is associated with allocative inefficiency. Allocative inefficiency refers to the welfare losses as a consequence of high prices a monopolist charge. There is even further loss if the monopolist employs inefficie nt technology (productive inefficiency). Besides, there may not be demands to invest in efficient technology and introduce new products. Therefore, it would be realistic to assume competition can be beneficial in the context of microfinance market as it may result in improved and new financial product designs, better customer services, lower costs and lower interest rates.The other side of the argument is that microfinance market makes use of soft-information and depends on strong MFI-client relationship. MFIs provide financial services for the poor that are considered not creditworthy by the conventional banks. They are often praised for overcoming the problem of information asymmetry and providing loans without collateral requirements. They do so by establishing strong personal relationship with clients. Another tool is the usage of other forms of collateral such as group lending that generates social collateral.Competition and the effort to win clients and expand market share, th erefore, may lead to low screening and lending standards. There are some indications of lose MFI-clients relationship with intense competition. Increased competition is also associated with an increase in information asymmetry, which makes it difficult for MFIs to know about the general debt level of clients. This in turn may lead to manifold borrowing, serious debt burdens, low repayment rates and poor portfolio quality.The effect of competition could go both ways and deserves an empirical investigation. However, very few examine the effect of competition among MFIs and the literature on competition in microfinance is limited. Below is an overview of the few available related works. The focus on making MFIs profitable and financially-sustainable started in the 1980s and 1990s. The essential elements of this approach are competition, regulation and profitability. The essay explores the Latin American microfinance market where the commercial approach to microfinance proceeded rapidly .It describes the market as facing rising competition, which leads to market saturation in some countries. Olivares-Polanco (2005) examines some of the subjective and descriptive evidences. He investigates the effect of competition by mainly focusing on outreach (measured by loan size). His findings show that increased competition results in lower outreach. Navajaset al. (2003) studied competition in the Bolivian microfinance market by focusing on two major MFIs (Casa Los Andes and BancoSol), which collectively have around 40 percent market share.The results suggest that outcome of competition is ambiguous since competition leads to innovation thereby expanding outreach. However, it reduces the ability of lenders to cross-subsidize less profitable smaller loans. In a similar study, Vogelgesang (2003) examines how competition affects loan repayment performance for Caja Los Andes. The analysis indicates competition is related with multiple loan taking and higher levels of borrower ind ebtedness. The probability of default is also shown to be high with higher levels of indebtedness.On the other hand, he argues the probability of timely repayment is high in areas where there is high competition and high supply of microfinance services. Thus, the results seem inconclusive. A theoretical model developed by McIntosh and Wydick (2005) characterizes the effects of competition between MFIs where increased competition leads to increased information asymmetry. As a number of competing MFIs amplify in a market, which makes information sharing between them challenging, borrowers may engage in multiple borrowing which increases the debt level of clients and the probability of default.This in turn can make worse off borrowers with a single lender since this behavior will create an externality by inciting MFIs to respond to multiple borrowing by adjusting interest rates upward. In a Ugandan microfinance market, which McIntosh et al. , (2005) studied, there is a rise multiple bo rrowing and decline in repayment rate as competition intensifies. Other works that do not address the effect of competition among MFIs but present an argument about the possible effects of competition includes Hermes et al. (2009). Their work examines how overall level of financial development in a country affects the efficiency of MFIs.After presenting a balanced argument that the effect of financial development on efficiency could be both negative and positive, they empirically document a positive effect of financial development of efficiency of MFIs. They suggest competition, among other channels, through which financial development could affect efficiency. On a related work, Cull et al. (2009b) investigates how MFIs perform under the pressure of competition from formal banks. Their results show that in a country where there is larger formal bank presence, MFIs tend to deepen their outreach (i. . , extend their outreach to women and also lend in small amounts). However, the effec t on other performance indicators, such as profitability, appears weak. Findings Given significantly large numbers of people in developing countries are financially excluded and the relative success of MFIs in promoting access to finance for the poor, it is not surprising to see MFIs get the attention they are enjoying. With the growth of the microfinance sector and increasingly varied players comes intense competition, which the effects on MFIs outcomes are not clear.In this essay, we take the first approach in measuring competition in a standard way. Interestingly, the measure shows indeed competition is growing in the microfinance market. As a next step, a critical question is addressed, namely what is the effect of increased competition. We consider important dimensions of MFIs’ performance. These are outreach, loan repayment, efficiency and profitability. The results document strong negative effects of competition on performance of MFIs, after controlling for various mac roeconomic and MFI factors.We show competition is negatively related with outreach while it is associated with rising default rates. Furthermore, declining efficiency and deteriorating financial performance is shown to be associated with intense competition. The results might appear rather depressing for microfinance enthusiast, anyone for that matter, who would like to see the sector grow and bring all the positive benefits along. What could be done? These calls for measures that do not put a halt on the growth of the sector rather ensure the (negative) competitive effects are minimized.This may include designing ways that makes sure MFIs do not compromise lower lending standards for increased market share. At the same time, designing ways that promote information sharing between MFIs, so that a borrower that default on one MFI loan could not turn to another MFI in the neighborhood and granted a loan, can contribute to lower delinquency as well as better borrowers’ welfare. In addition, promoting financial literacy among clients may help them in their borrowing decisions, which in turn may limit multiple loan-taking. Finally, as we show in the results, increased competition is negatively associated with efficiency of MFIs.Innovative ways among MFIs that could enhance efficient service provision may also help in ensuring benefits from the growth in the microfinance market. Incentives and Disincentives that Affect Lending Behavior in Microfinance In late 1980s and early 1990s thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and specialized finance institutions around the world initiated micro enterprise finance programs. Most of these programs are financially supported by the international donor agencies or governments to improve the lives of the poor.Therefore, for NGOs micro enterprise finance appears to be socially motivated. Reasons Why Banks Make Micro and Small Enterprise Loans Frequency of Response* % of total a) Profitability of micro and small loans 72 49% b) Changing market conditions and increasing competition in lending to large/medium enterprises 64 44% c) Regulations imposed by the government 25 17% ————————————————- d) Poverty alleviation / social objectives 29 20%Disincentives for Making Micro and Small Enterprise Loans Frequency of Response % of total a) Higher administrative costs 29 40% b) Risky borrowers 12 17% c) Interest rate controls 21 29% d) Not interested in micro enterprises 5 7% e) Lack of network and personnel to serve this market 23 32% f) Other 18 5% Banks’ Lending Behavior and Loan CharacteristicsBanks Age and Their Portfolio Share in Micro/Small Business Loans Out of 148 banks, 119 banks answered to the question on loan portfolio analysis. When these banks are classified according to the number of years since they were established, it is found that the newly established banks, o n average, have a larger share of loan portfolio delegated to small and micro enterprise loans than the older banks. Loan Terms The findings of this research indicate that, the loan terms provided by these commercial banks for small and micro enterprises ranges between three months to six years.On average, the loan term for micro enterprise loans is 2. 4 years and for small businesses it is 2. 9 years. These loan terms are much longer than the loan terms provided by NGOs, which are generally between one to three months. Average Loan Terms for Micro and Small Enterprise Loans Sample Size Average (years) Median (years) Micro 57 2. 4 1. 75 Small 46 2. 9 3. 00 Loan term: In micro and small business finance, the loan term or the loan repayment schedule can affect the ability of the borrower to pay his/her loan back.The shorter loan terms or frequent payments of installments can make it easier for the borrower to pay his/her loan back, whereas the longer loan terms and infrequent payment s of loan installments can make it difficult for micro/small business owners to pay their loan on time. Therefore, the longer the loan term, or the less frequent are the loan installments it is more likely for banks to have higher arrears which indicates a positive relationship between the length of the loan term and the level of arrears for a bank.Average interest rate on micro/small loans: In the micro finance literature, it has been widely accepted that micro and small enterprises are capable of borrowing at commercial, or market interest rates. Furthermore, it is also argued that, if micro or small enterprise loans are subsidized by governments, loan default or corruption may be encouraged which may result in higher arrears in banks’ loan portfolios. These arguments suggest a negative relationship between loan rates and banks’ arrears.On the other hand, the higher nominal interest rate paid on a loan implies a greater cash flow burden on the enterprise hence increa sing the likelihood of arrears. Due to data limitations, other financial costs, such as fees and commissions associated with the loan could not be taken into account in this research. Findings: The higher the loan interest rate given everything else is held constant; the higher will be the rate of arrears.This finding contradicts with the common argument that the micro and small enterprises are capable of borrowing and paying their loan back with a high rate of interest. It is however important to note that micro and small enterprises may show different characteristics in loan repayment with respect to given interest rates. One of the most important findings of this study is that many banks are using inappropriate lending criteria when making loans and managing their portfolio of small business loans.In the case of small business loans the banks that require collateral have higher than average levels of loan arrears. Hence reliance on collateral tends to cause poor borrower evaluati on and inadequate follow up once the loan have been made. It is also found that the level of interest rate charged on the loans is not a factor affecting the rate of arrears for micro enterprise loans but it is a factor affecting the level of arrears for small business loans. Justification of high interest rate in Micro financeSmall businesses normally struggle to find out the sources of fund due to the small size of business where lenders face difficulties to cover up the loan money. From several evidences it is observed that small businesses are very efficient to utilize the funds and can rapidly realize profits though borrowing at very high interest rate. An author explained this through an example of a fruit seller who takes loan in the morning, buys fruit, sells it and pay lender outrageous rates to repay the money by the end of the day.So, It is very critical that though rates are high that MFIs have, small business can cover the spread. How can interest rate be reduced? Evide nces from Bolivia pursue us that interest rate in micro finance sector can be reduced by great regulation and create a competitive environment among the micro finance institutions. If situation looks like that MFIs are managing huge profits in that case government should take some initiatives that will discourage MFIs to make extra ordinary profit.Government can give licenses to new MFIs to create competition. But it should be remember that regulatory framework is a vital element. So, before giving licenses government should strengthen the monitoring function. Then we can expect thatat least some of that profitability will be passed back to the customer either through lower rates, reduced fees or another way. Should Subsidy Be Provided To Reduce Interest Rate? From the very beginning of the history of Micro finance we see that it has been growing at an exponential rate over the years.Many evidences about the recovery rates convince us that interest rate is almost justified so subsid y may create distortion in this sector. According to Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, â€Å"I don’t think a subsidy is the way to go about reducing rates because, in the end, the reason that microfinance has been so successful to-date is that it has always been about sustainability—sustainability of the institutions to recover their costs as well as sustainability of the borrower to make on-time payments. Responsiveness of lending amount to the changes in interest rate: Example from Bangladesh Bangladesh is a poverty-stricken country. It is a great pleasure for marginal people to get loans from MFIs because it is almost impossible for them to manage loan from conventional commercial banks. So, poor people are willing to pay even high interest rate to get loans. Now the question is that how are poor people responsive to increase in interest rate charged by MFIs? SafeSave, a credit cooperative in the slums of Dhaka,Bangladesh, o perate three branches across the city to provide credit.Administrative records kept by this MFI asserts that when interest rate increases suddenly, less wealthy borrowers reduce their demand for loan and they are relatively more sensitive than the wealthy borrowers. Another important thing is that the loan portfolio of this organization shifts from less wealthy borrowers from wealthy borrowers with the increase in interest rate. Influential advocates now argue that poorhouseholds are so insensitive to interest rates so interest rate in micro finance sector should be deregulated.If this is so, microfinance can readily expandto serve the hundreds of millions of currently excluded households, without sacrificingdepth of outreach. This claim is far from clear as a general proposition. First, diminishing marginal returns to capital disregards the possibility of unequal access to non-capital inputs like managerial skillsand human capital by poor borrowers. Moreover, raising interest rates can in principle exacerbate moralhazard and adverse selection, worsening loan repayment rates and screening out the most reliable borrowers.And, while microlenders may still find a pool of customers afterreal interest rates are raised, the customers may not be from the same pool that was reliable, willing and able to pay the lower rates. In addition, Moral perception to keep costs as low as possible for the poor, have compelled thelargermicrolenders in Bangladesh to keep real interest rates below 40 percent per year,even if it means turning to subsidized resources to cover costs (e. g. , Morduch, 1999). The average fees charged by two large lenders in Bangladesh arejust under 30 percent.The Grameen Bank (which is not one of the two) keeps theirinterest rates and fees close to 20 percent per year (nominal) on their main lending products—and they ignore suggestions to raise rates. Experience inside Bangladesh Credit delivery system by Grameen bank Grameen Bank Credit Delivery means taking credit to the very poor in their villages by means of the essential elements of the Grameen credit delivery system. The credit delivery system of this authentic micro-finance is very much well-functioning. The credit delivery is the most productive weapon of Grameen bank to reach the highest number of its beneficiaries.Grameen Bank credit delivery system has the following features: 1 There is an exclusive focus on the poorest of the poor. Exclusivity is ensured by: i) establishing clearly the eligibility criteria for selection of targeted clientele and adopting practical measures to screen out those who do not meet them ii) ii) in delivering credit, priority has been increasingly assigned to women iii) iii) the delivery system is geared to meet the diverse socio-economic development needs of the poor 2   Borrowers are organized into small homogeneous groups. Such characteristics facilitate group solidarity as well as participatory interaction.Organizing the primary gr oups of five members and federating them into centres has been the foundation of Grameen Bank's system. The emphasis from the very outset is to organisationally strengthen the Grameen clientele, so that they can acquire the capacity for planning and implementing micro level development decisions. The Centres are functionally linked to the Grameen Bank, whose field workers have to attend Centre meetings every week. 3 Special loan conditionalities which are particularly suitable for the poor. These include: i) very small loans given without any collateral i) loans repayable in weekly instalments spread over a year    iii) Eligibility for a subsequent loan depends upon repayment of first loan iv)   Individual, self chosen, quick income generating activities which employ the skills that borrowers already posses    v) close supervision of credit by the group as well as the bank staff    vi) stress on credit discipline and collective borrower responsibility or peer pressure    v ii) Special safegaurds through compulsory and voluntary savings to minimise the risks that the poor confront    viii) Transparency in all bank transactions most of which take place at centre meetings Simultaneous undertaking of a social development agenda addressing basic needs of the clientele. This is reflected in the â€Å"sixteen decisions† adopted by Grameen borrowers. This helps to: i) Raise the social and political consciousness of the newly organized groups    ii) Focus increasingly on women from the poorest households, whose urge for survival has a far greater bearing on the development of the family      iii) Encourage their monitoring of social and physical infrastructure projects – housing, sanitation, drinking water, education, family planning, etc. Design and development of organization and management systems capable of delivering programme resources to targeted clientele. The system has evolved gradually through a structured learning process, tha t involves trials, errors and continuous adjustments. A major requirement to operationalize the system is the special training needed for development of a highly motivated staff, so that the decision making and operational authority is gradually decentralized and administrative functions are delegated at the zonal levels downwards. 6| Expansion of loan portfolio to meet diverse development needs of the poor.   |   As the general credit programme gathers momentum and the borrowers become familiar with credit discipline, other loan programmes are introduced to meet growing social and economic development needs of the clientele. Besides housing, such programmes include:|   | i)| Credit for building sanitary latrines| | ii)| Credit for installation of tube wells that supply drinking water and irrigation for kitchen gardens|   | iii)| Credit for seasonal cultivation to buy agricultural inputs|   | iv)| Loan for leasing equipment / machinery, ie. cell phones purchased by Grameen Bank members|   | v)| Finance projects undertaken by the entire family of a seasoned borrower. Three Cs in Credit delivery: Character: means how a person has handled past debt obligations: From credit history and personal background, honesty and reliability of the borrower to pay credit debts is determined. Capacity: means how much debt a borrower can comfortably handle. Income streams are analyzed and any legal obligations looked into, which could interfere in repayment.Capital: means current available assets of the borrower, such as real estate , savings or investment that could be used to repay debt if income should be unavailable. | | The loan disbursement has been robust year after year and profit has also been increasing year after year. The loan disbursement schedule and profit are summarized below: year| Loan disbursement (million Tk)| Profit/loss (million Tk)| 2001| 146538. 20| 58. 45| 2002| 162286. 24| 59. 67| 2003| 183575. 33| 357. 52| 2004| 209166. 76| 422. 13 | 2005| 3248163. 17| 1000. 44| 006| 306368. 63 | 1398. 15| 2007| 356798. 22| 106. 91| 2008| 418903. 07| 1305. 00| 2009| 498311. 47| 371. 57| 2010| 594460. 61| 757. 24| Interest rate charged on different loan on different duration are given below: Description of the loan| EAIR(Old Payment Method)| EAIR(New Payment Method)| 10-Year stable Level Loans @ Tk. 2,000| 350%| 556. 44%| 10-Year Increasing Loans| 18. 48%| 44. 13%| Actual 7-Year Center Loan History| 15. 39%| 35. 57%| The â€Å"Old† Payment System: Under the â€Å"old† system, Grameen borrowers made weekly payments for 50 weeks.Their principal balance was reduced by the full amount of the payment, and no interest payment is credited. The â€Å"New† Payment System: Under the â€Å"new† system, the entire structure of loan payments was altered. The loan payment period is now defined as 46 weeks in length, but factored into the system is the anticipation of 6 official â€Å"national holidays† when the we ek’s payment is suspended. ASA Microfinance in Bangladesh: ASA has been working relentlessly to reduce poverty since its inception in 1978.The formal banking sector in developing countries, like Bangladesh, does not typically provide financial services to the poor. This sector concentrates on large loans to the upper class, thereby completely excluding low income groups. The microfinance movement, however, has shown that there is a thriving market among the poor when financial products cater to their specific needs. The poor are a quite active group in any economy. ASA has shown that their needs can be met while at the same time making the providing institution profitable as well.Up to October 2011 ASA's cumulative Loan disbursement has been BDT 481,381 million (US$ 6,326 million) while loan outstanding (principal) is BDT 44,972 million (US$ 591 million) among 4. 43 million borrowers. At the end of June 2011 ASA's Operational Self Sufficiency(OSS) was 182. 48%, Financial Self -sufficiency (FSS) 118. 82% and rate of loan recovery 99. 83%. The loan disbursement over the years are given below: Year| Disbursement in million Tk. (during the year)| 2008| 61,108,00 | 2009| 61,495,00. | 2010| 68,486,00| 011| 44,835,00| The rate of interest charged by the ASA is given below: Category| Eligible Criteria| Initial Maximum Loan Size| Interest Rate| Loan term| Primary Loan| Economically active poor to undertake or strengthen income generating activities (IGAs). | BDT 8,000-20,000 to maximum BDT 50,000 at first loan cycle. | Maximum 27% declining| 4, 6 or 12 months based on nature of IGAs| Special Loan| Small/micro enterprises or entrepreneurs and traders to promote and scale up production, business activity and employment generation. BDT 51,000-500,000 | Maximum 27% declining| 12, 18, 24 or 30 months based on nature of enterprises| BRAC BRAC, a development organization, was formed in 1972 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. Although it was first set up to reset tle refugees in post-war Bangladesh, BRAC later redesigned its strategies in accordance with its philosophy of poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor. At present, BRAC has a large number of development programs that cover the areas of health, education, credit, employment and training for the poor people of Bangladesh.BRAC carries out licensed banking activities through the BRAC Bank Ltd. and also earns from various income generating projects such as Aarong Rural Craft Centre, BRAC Printers and Printing Pack, BRAC Dairy and Food project, BRAC Tea Estates, andvarious programme support enterprises such as poultry farms, feedmills, seedmills and prawn hatcheries. Microloans: These loans, which range from USD 50 – 700, are given exclusively to individual women who are serviced in a group setting, namely the VO. The VO acts as an informal guarantor by creating peer pressure to ensure timely repayment.Borrowers repay through weekly or monthly installments and deposit savin gs during the regular VO meetings. These loans are generally used for small operations in poultry, livestock, fruit and vegetable cultivation, handicrafts or rural trade. Microenterprise loans (Progoti): These loans, which range from USD 700 to 10,000 are given to both male and female entrepreneurs to support and help expand existing small enterprises which are too small to qualify for credit from mainstream banks. Borrowers generally use these loans to finance shops and small-scale manufacturing activities.A ladder of opportunity :BRAC have developed a ‘ladder’ of financial services to target different poverty groups because we understand that the financial needs of the poor are diverse. The most vulnerable are the extreme poor who do not benefit from microfinance – for this group BRAC have developed a grant-based programme that incorporates asset transfers with non-financial support; BRAC’s Ultra Poor programme. Similarly, it has launched, with the help of the Government, a specific customised product for marginal farmers, which combines access to finance with technical support.Another specialised microloan scheme aims to financially empower adolescent girls, helping them continue their education, build savings and receive livelihood training to start smaller home-based enterprises. The rate of interest charged by the BRAC Bank SL no. | Types of loan| Annual interest Rate| 1| General micro credit (Rural and Urban)| 25%-33%| 2| Micro Enterprise loan| 26%-40%| 3| Ultra poor loan| 22%| 4| Agriculture loan| 22%-33%| 5| Seasonal loan| 26%-33%| 6| Disaster management loan| 2. 8%-21%| Loan Disbursement over the year is given below: Sl no. | year| Loan disbursement(TK)| | 2009| 75680756900| 2| 2010| 38749653600| 3| 2011| 39554248779| 4| 2012| 42235412000| Experience outside Bangladesh There is a vast array of experience outside Bangladesh as microfinance is now a globalphenomenon. The information below is simply intended to give a snapshot of the differentexperiences in a few countries, and to show how the complex issue of interest rates has beenaddressed, either by inaction or explicit action by governments. Figures on interest rates fromvarious countries in different parts of the world are given below, in particular those nearby inAsia.Countries are also mentioned where the government or parliament (not necessarily thesame) has sought to impose a ceiling on interest rates in the twin belief that poor peoplecannot afford to pay the high interest rates charged by MFIs and that it is indeed immoral thatthose who are poor should pay higher interest rates on loans than those paid by richerindividuals. South and South East Asia The table below (prepared for the Joint Donor Strategy initiative) gives a summary picture ofthe situation in selected countries in the S. nd SE Asia Region, showing data assembled byEDA Rural Systems, with the comparative rates in Bangladesh at the bottom of the table forcomparison: Three importa nt conclusions can be drawn from these figures. 1. First, that the interest rates charged by MFIs are invariably higher than the rates charged by commercial banks, on average approximately 100% higher. 2. Second, that in general the rates charged by informal moneylenders vary much more widely than either the rates charged by the banks or by MFIs, and almost always are substantially higher than the rates charged by the MFIs. . Third, the interest rate charged by almost all NGO-MFIs in Bangladesh, 30% effective annual rate, is by no means out of line with what is being charged elsewhere in South and South East Asia. If any person wants to borrow from traditional banking system he has to fill out application form. He has to go to the bank for many times for the sanctioning of loan that incurs substantial amount of transportation cost for him. In addition to high transportation cost, there are some processing cost and commissions charged by banks.Ultimately, Effective interest rate is q uite higher in case of borrowing from traditional banking system. On the other hand, traditional banks can’t cover up administrative cost by providing small loans. Comparison of Interest Rates of Various Sources of Loans in India Quoted Cost and Cost after Adjustment for Transaction Costs From the table we see that there is no transaction cost in case of borrowing from MFIs loan. From the evidence of India, we have found that MFIs are used to make election engineering.The main motive of MFIs is to provide credit to women and poor. But, politicians are trying to use it as a political tool. Government provides subsidy which are distributed through MFIs. Large number of impoverished people is a big vote bank for politicians. In this process government influences the decisions of the voters in time of election. In Tamil Nadu we see that government passed ordinance that MFIs could not charge more than 12% interest that may ultimately drive out huge number of lenders from the marke t.So, poor people have to rely on nonchalant public sector banks and according to Mahajan and Ramola they will not have no recourse except money lenders for borrowing. Interest rate, Lending ; Microfinance Less Dependence on Money lenders, Mahajon etc More economic activities because of easy funding reduce asymmetry of information, rural development possible. Downward competitive environment in informal market. Rise in income level, Purchasing power, Overall standard of living. Production, consumption level increases. ResultEliminate the practice of charging usury, greater financial leverage, only does it help to reduce poverty, it Scales down inequality as well. Fig: Effect of Interest rate, Lending ; Microfinance On the Perspective of Latin America In Latin America, the leading MFIs all operate under a formal legal framework, usually as specialized MFI banks, under the supervision of the central bank. Figures for five of the best known institutions are given below, all of which ha ve substantial numbers of clients (by the standards of the region) and are currently operating profitably.Probably the most interesting (for Bangladesh) is Comparators which has from its inception deliberately targeted poorer clients, as can be seen from the current average size of loans ($277). Leading Microfinance Institutions Primary Indicators (End Third Quarter 2003) The figures below for the same five MFIs show the average rates of interest which they are receiving on their various loan products. Descriptive Statistics | Mean| Std. Deviation| N| NO. CLIEN No of CLIENTS| 94000. 00| 65490. 457| 5| AVG. LOAN Average Loan| 1002. 0| 501. 657| 5| LOANST Total Loan| 78000000. 00| 42361539. 160| 5| Regression Variables Entered/Removed(b) Model| Variables Entered| Variables Removed| Method| 1| NO. CLIEN No of cLIENTS(a)| . | Enter| a All requested variables entered. b Dependent Variable: LOANST Total Loan Model Summary Model| R| R Square| Adjusted R Square| Std. Error of the Estimate| Change Statistics| | | | | | R Square Change| F Change| df1| df2| Sig. F Change| 1| . 169(a)| . 028| -. 295| 48213878. 375| . 028| . 088| 1| 3| . 786| Predictors: (Constant), NO. CLIEN No of cLIENTS The unstandardized parameters tell you the difference in Y per unit change in X whereas the standardized tells you the difference in Y in standard deviations per standard deviation difference in X. With the exception of BancoSol, these rates are all higher than those charged by the NGO-MFIs in Bangladesh (in the case of Compartamos substantially so), but their operating costs are also higher than the leading NGO-MFIs in Bangladesh due largely to the higher costs of staff.Nonetheless all five institutions are profitable and the high returns achieved by the three most profitable institutions have enabled them to achieve the most rapid rates of growth in client numbers in the 21 months covered by thee figures; almost triple by Banco Solidario; more than double by Compartamos; and over two t hirds by Mibanco. Leading Microfinance Institutions: Costs and Interest Rates (End Third Quarter 2003) As reported by Helms and Reille, when BancoSol in Bolivia began as a bank in 1985, it charged a combination of interest and fees equivalent to 65% effective annual interest rate. Today, BancoSol, operating in a highly ompetitive environment, has brought down its costs and charges interest rates on its products yielding the 24% shown in the table above. According to one of the managers at BancoSol, the banks growth from 4,500 to 55,000 clients in just ten years has been possible by its ability to charge sustainable rates of interest. Further, whilst its return on average assets is a modest 1. 6%, its current return on average equity is over 11% (because of the leverage it has been able to exercise on its equity). Conclusion Obtaining financial information from institutions involved in microfinance is no easy task.In most countries because there is no financial authority that collect s it and makes it available to the public. Furthermore, the absence of governmental or organized market supervision means that these entities can freely decide how to measure – if they want to do it– the variables describing their different sources of income and expenditure. Finally, even if there were an informal consensus on how to measure these variables, that would not necessarily ensure that the information is reliable since it is very likely that accounting deficiencies might exist. 1. David L. Wright, Dewan A. H.Alamgir, Microcredit Interest Rates in Bangladesh ‘Capping v Competition’, Donors’ Local Consultative Group on Finance, March 2004. 2. P. Cotler , What Drives Lending Interest Rates in the Microfinance Sector? , August 4th, 2010, Microfinance Workshop, Groningen University. 3. Esubalew Assefa, Niels Hermes and Aljar Meesters, Competition and Performance of Microfinance Institutions, August 2010. 4. Mahajan, Vijay and Ramola, Bharti Gu pta; (August 2003); ‘Microfinance in India – Banyan Tree or Bonsai’, a Review Paper for the World Bank 5. Donoghue, Kieran et al, (June 2002), unpublished manuscript for AusAID ‘ Interest Rates in Microfinance’ . Porteous, David, of Finmark Trust, South Africa (2003); unpublished paper ‘Is Cinderella Finally Coming to the Ball? † 7. Hatice Jenkins, Commercial Bank Behavior in Micro and Small Enterprise Finance, Development Discussion Paper No. 741, February 2000. 8. Microfinance Institutions Under Interest Rates Ceilings, Denis H. ACCLASSATO, Laboratoired’Economied’Orleans (LEO), Universited’Orleans, Preliminary Version, June 2006. 9. Sinha, Sanjay, (2003); ‘Experience in Selected Countries in South and South East Asia on Regulation and Supervision, and Comparative Interest Rates’