Theoretical aspects of the phenomenon of child soldiers and scientific Essay

Theoretical aspects of the phenomenon of child soldiers and scientific issues related to the topic - Essay Example During colonial campaigns, armies would capture the children of prominent chieftains and raise them according to the colonial nation’s customs and laws. Nazi Germany used Hitler Youth movement to try to fight the Allied forces in the closing days of World War II. However each of these cases was isolated by time and geography. They were also exceptions to the level of armed combat which children performed. Ancient wars involved minors as charioteers and armor bearers for adult warriors. This practice can be found in the Bible. War in the middle ages was fought by strong men who had the physical strength to fight in those wars. Children were only used for support roles as they could not be participants in armed combat. The Roman army for instance required physical fitness as criteria for military service which only adult combatants could perform. Fighting with swords, spears, shields and heavy weapons required the use of adult combatants. During the middle ages, military units comprised of knights, heavy cavalry and infantry were extensively used in combat. They used armor and weapons which only adults could perform. The modern era of warfare began with the use of gunpowder. The modern nature of conflict saw the extensive use of muskets, cannons and cavalry against opponents. The weapons and training required to operate these weapons could only be performed by adult combatants. The adv ent of the industrial age also revolutionized the concept of warfare. By the twentieth century, modern armies were now using tanks, cannons, artillery, fighter jets, submarines and naval warships against each other. Again the use of children was mostly for support roles rather than combat purposes since the expertise required to train and use these weapons was only possible for adult combatants. During the middle ages, young boys were used as squires but their

History &The Philosophies of Enlightenment Essay Example for Free

History The Philosophies of Enlightenment Essay The Enlightenment, also named the Age of reason, was an era for the period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The term â€Å"Enlightenment† also specifically talks about a rational movement. Moreover, this movement provided a basis for the American and French Revolutions. During this period, philosophers started to realize that by using reason they can find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. Enlightenment philosophers believed that all human beings should have freedom of religion and speech. Furthermore, they wanted to have a government of their own and a right to vote. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were two very important philosophical thinkers of their time. John Locke was a prominent thinker from England, and Thomas Hobbes is perhaps the most complete materialist philosopher of the 17th century. John Locke believed that people are good, and they should have natural rights such as life, liberty, and property but Thomas Hobbs main focus was how human beings can live together in peace and evade the danger and fear of civil war. John Locke (1634-1704) was one of the most significant and powerful philosophers during the Enlightenment era. Both the French Enlightenment and Founding Fathers of the American Revolution drew on his thoughts. John Locke suggested that the human mind was a tabula rasa (blank slate). There were no innate ideas known from birth by all people and society forms people’s mind. Since all people share the same undeveloped usual features, people are all equal and they determine their liberty. Locke said all human beings are equal expect women and Negroes because they are closer to the state of nature therefore they are less civilized and this led to the American Revolution. Lockes most important work of political philosophy was the Two Treatises on Government. He argued that the power of the king is derived from the people, each person has a right to hold property, and if ruler takes this property from people without their own permission, people can depose and resist him. . Thomas Hobbes is another philosopher in 17th century who argued that people were naturally wicked and could not be trusted to govern. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was born in London. He finished his college education at Oxford University in England, where he studied classics. Hobbes was English philosopher, scientist, and historian, best known for his political  philosophy, especially as expressed in his masterpiece Leviathan. In his boos he described the â€Å"state of nature† where all persons were naturally equal. He said that people are frightened of violent death, and every single human on the planet has a right to protect him/herself in any way possible. He assumed that its in people’s best interest to avoid war. Moreover, he believed that life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Although John Locke and Thomas Hobbes do have some similarities, they have different opinions about most of their political arguments. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two of the great political theorists of their time. Both created great philosophical texts that help to describe their opinions about man’s state of nature in addition to the role of government in man’s life. Both of them believed in individualism. Two years after the end of the English Civil War, Thomas Hobbes published Leviathan. He believed people had a good personality, if they were left to their own plans, life would become â€Å"a solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.† He said if people give some of their freedom, they can have a harmless life. He believed people are always in competition with each other for the best food, shelter, money, and so on. Hobbes supposed the best way to protect citizens would be to have a sovereign that is threatening and supreme. . Lockes view of the state of nature says that humans have limits as to what people should or should not do. In contrast to Hobbes, Locke believed that humans are generally nice to one another, and we will not bother one another. Therefore, in Lockes state of nature, humans are peaceful. Locke believed that people had the basic principles needed for a civilized society, so they were allowed to have natural rights such as life, liberty, and property. Locke believed rather than each person being equally at risk of death, each person was equally free and sovereign. The Enlightenment was an era of free thinking and individualism. Different philosophers had enormous role in this era. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were philosophers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Both philosophers had very strong views on freedom and how a country should be governed. Hobbes had more of a negative view on freedom while Lockes opinions are more positive. Work Cited FernaÃŒ ndez Armesto, Felipe. The Exchange Of Enlightenments: Eighteenth Century Thought. The World : A History. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010. 738-65. Print. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on John Locke (1634–1704).† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 14 Mar. 2013 SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679).† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

Software Piracy :: essays research papers fc

Software Piracy: A Worldwide Problem Software piracy is defined as the illegal copying of software for commercial or personal gain. Software companies have tried many methods to prevent piracy, with varying degrees of success. Several agencies like the Software Publishers Association and the Business Software Alliance have been formed to combat both worldwide and domestic piracy. Software piracy is an unresolved, worldwide problem, costing millions of dollars in lost revenue. Software companies have used many different copy protection schemes. The most annoying form of copy protection is the use of a key disk. This type of copy protection requires the user to insert the original disk every time the program is run. It can be quite difficult to keep up with disks that are years old. The most common technique of copy protection requires the user to look up a word or phrase in the program's manual. This method is less annoying than other forms of copy protection, but it can be a nuisance having to locate the manual every time. Software pirates usually have no trouble "cracking" the program, which permanently removes the copy protection. After the invention of CD-ROM, which until lately was uncopyable, most software companies stopped placing copy protection in their programs. Instead, the companies are trying new methods of disc impression. 3M recently developed a new technology of disc impression which allows companies to imprint an image on the read side of a CD-ROM. This technology would not prevent pirates from copying the CD, but it would make a "bootleg" copy differ from the original and make the copy traceable by law enforcement officials (Estes 89). Sometimes, when a person uses a pirated program, there is a "virus" attached to the program. Viruses are self-replicating programs that, when activated, can damage a computer. These viruses are most commonly found on pirated computer games, placed there by some malignant computer programmer. In his J anuary 1993 article, Chris O' Malley points out that if piracy was wiped out viruses would eventually disappear (O' Malley 60). There are ways that a thrifty consumer can save money on software without resorting to piracy. Computer companies often offer discounts on new software if a person has previously purchased an earlier version of the software. Competition between companies also drives prices low and keeps the number of pirated copies down (Morgan 45). People eventually tire or outgrow their software and decide to sell it.

Mary Parker Follett Essay

The newest addition to the collection of books about Mary Parker Follett is a contribution by Joan C. Tonn entitled Mary P. Follett: Creating Democracy, Transforming Management (BUS stack HN57.T695 2003) The press release for this book is available here. Recently a new book about an older management theorist arrived in the Business Library. Published by the Harvard Business School Press, the contributors included Drucker, Mintzberg, Bennis and Kanter. Perhaps it was because the book was published by that press with comments by those people, that the subject attracted more attention than usual. The title of the book is Mary Parker Follett – Prophet of Management: A Celebration of Writings from the 1920s (BUS stack HD31.M334 1995) and the subject is obviously Follett who was a social theorist earlier in this century. A considerable amount has been written about Follett and her theories concerning organizations and management. Since the material is scattered over a long period and across different academic disciplines, this brief introduction and bibliography is designed to help you quickly find material relating to the â€Å"mother† of management theory. Obviously the place to begin is with the new collection of her writings mentioned above. It also contains evaluations of her positions, a useful epilogue by Paul Lawrence and a bibliography of Follett’s writings. For a brief biographical sketch see the appendix in Integrative Management: Creating Unity from Diversity, by Pauline Graham (HD 38.G68) as well as the essay by Graham in Mary Parker Follett – Prophet of Management (BUS stack HD 31.M334) which she edited. For an earlier biographical piece see Vol. 4 of theInternational Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, â€Å"Follett, Mary Parker† (DBW reference H 41.I58). The University of Western Ontario has a solid collection of material by and about Follett and there have been some works about her that were produced on this campus. In 1992, David Hurst wrote an article for Business Quarterly with the title: â€Å"Thoroughly Modern – Mary Parker Follett† (Vol. 56, No.4, Spring). Two masters theses have also originated here and they reflect the inter-disciplinary nature of Follett’s work: Science and Service: M.P. Follett and the Profession of Educational Administration by A.M.H. van den Heuvel (EDU stack AS42.L85.V265) and Mary Parker Follett: An Application of Her Management Theories to Educational Administration by Lorraine Vanderkerckhove (EDU stack AS 42.L85.V29). WORKS BY MARY PARKER FOLLETT Creative Experience (BUS stack BF 57.F6 1951; DBW stack BF 408.R67 1970) Dynamic Administration: The Collected Papers of Mary Parker Follett [electronic resource] (BUS stack HF 5547. F6). Weldon has an additional copy of the 1941 edition. Additional copies can be requested from storage, including 1 copy of the 1965 edition. Freedom & Co-ordination: Lectures in Business Organization (BUS stack HD 57.7.F66 1987). This work contains 6 lectures: â€Å"The Illusion of Final Authority†; â€Å"The Giving of Orders†; â€Å"The Basis of Authority†; â€Å"The Essentials of Leadership†; â€Å"Co-ordination† and â€Å"The Process of Control†. The last essay is also found in another volume available here at Western: Papers on the Science of Administration, ed. by Gulick and Urwick, p.159 (JF 1351.G8). The New State – Group Organization, the Solution for Popular Government (DBW stack JC336.F57 1918). The Speaker of the House of Representatives [electronic resource] (DBW stack JK 1411.F67 1896). For recent samples and discussions of Follett’s works see: Management Theory: From Taylorism to Japanization (BUS stack HD31.S22); Writing About Business and Industry (DBW stack HF5718.3.W74 1995);Management and Gender: Issues and Attitudes (BUS stack HD6054.4.U6K37 1994); Management and Organizational Behavior Classics (BUS stack HD31.M2917 1993); Great Writers on Organizations (DBW stack HM131.P74 1993); International Management Handbook (HD62.4.T47) and Classics of Organization Theory (DBW stack HD31.C56 1992). SELECTED WORKS ABOUT MARY PARKER FOLLETT In addition to some of the sources noted above, articles about Follett may be found by searching electronic databases such as Proquest. Articles that pre-date the electronic databases may be found by searching a variety of print indexes; some articles are noted below and others may be found quickly by looking at the M.A. theses noted above. Follett has also been the subject of many doctoral dissertations and they may be quickly located by searching Proquest’s Dissertations & Theses. Two dissertations that can be consulted are: Mary Parker Follett: Pioneer in Organizational Theory by Linda Brown (HD31.F667B76) and Scientific Management and Administrative Reform in Education†¦ by Kathleen Schwartz (HD 30.12.S39). â€Å"Sibyl of a Modern Science†, Business Week, Nov. 21, 1964, p.96 â€Å"Mary Parker Follett, Civic Leader Dies†, obituary, New York Times, Dec. 21, 1933, p.21, col.1 (DBWMFM AN 2.N5) â€Å"Mary Parker Follett: The Enduring Contribution†, Public Administration Review,Vol.28, No.6, 1968, p. 520 (DBWPER JK1.P85) â€Å"No occupation can make a more worthy appeal to the imagination either from the point of view of service it can perform, or from the tremendous interest in the job itself, than business management†. MPF. Mary Parker Follett Facts: Known for: pioneering ideas introducing human psychology and human relations into industrial management Occupation: social worker, management theory writer and speaker Dates: 1868-1933 Mary Parker Follett Biography: Modern management theory owes a lot to a nearly-forgotten woman writer, Mary Parker Follett. Mary Parker Follett was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. She studied at the Thayer Academy, Braintree, Massachusetts, where she credited one of her teachers with influencing many of her later ideas. In 1894, she used her inheritance to study at the Society for Collegiate Instruction of Women, sponsored by Harvard, going on to a year at Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1890. She studied on and off at Radcliffe as well, starting in the early 1890s. In 1898, Mary Parker Follett graduated summa cum laude from Radcliffe. Her research at Radcliffe was published in 1896 and again in 1909 as The Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mary Parker Follett began working in Roxbury as a voluntary social worker in 1900. In 1908 she became chair of the Women’s Municipal League Committee on Extended Use of School Buildings. In 1911, she and others opened the East Boston High School Social Center. She also helped found other social centers in Boston. In 1917, Mary Parker Follett took on the vice-presidency of the National Community Center Association, and in 1918 published her book on community, democracy, and government, The New State. Mary Parker Follett published another book, Creative Experience, in 1924, with more of her ideas about the creative interaction of people in group process. In 1926, she moved to England to live and work, and to study at Oxford. In 1928, Follett consulted with the League of Nations and with the International Labor Organization in Geneva. She lived in London from 1929 with Dame Katharine Furse of the Red Cross. In her later years, Mary Parker Follett became a popular writer and lecturer in the business world. She was a lecturer at the London School of Economics from 1933. Mary Parker Follett advocated for a human relations emphasis equal to a mechanical or operational empha sis in management. Her work contrasted with the â€Å"scientific management† of Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915) and evolved by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, which stressed time and motion studies. Mary Parker Follett stressed the interactions of management and workers. She looks at management and leadership holistically, presaging modern systems approaches; she identifies a leader as â€Å"someone who sees the whole rather than the particular.† Follett was one of the first (and for a long time, one of the few) to integrate the idea of organizational conflict into management theory, and is sometimes considered the â€Å"mother of conflict resolution.† In a 1924 essay, â€Å"Power,† she coined the words â€Å"power-over† and â€Å"power-with† to differentiate coercive power from participative decision-making, showing how â€Å"power-with† can be greater than â€Å"power-over.† â€Å"Do we not see now,† she observed, â€Å"that while there are many ways of gaining an external, an arbitrary power —- through brute strength, through manipulation, through diplomacy —- genuine power is always that which inheres in the situation?† Mary Parker Follett died in 1933 on a visit to Boston. After her death, her papers and speeches were compiled and published in 1942 in Dynamic Administration, and in 1995, Pauline Graham edited a compilation of her writing in Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management. The New State was reissued in a new edition in 1998 with helpful additional material. Her work was mostly forgotten in America, and is still largely neglected in studies of the evolution of management theory, despite the accolades of more recent thinkers like Peter Drucker. Peter Drucker called her the â€Å"prophet of management† and his â€Å"guru.†

Persuasive paper on video game violence Essay

Today’s youth live in a time where video games are a fixture of entertainment. Video game consoles are found in almost every home, including a child’s bedroom. I believe that the portrayal of violence in video games is not the reason for the increase of violent acts committed by and against youth. Parents and the government should understand it is not the fault of the game itself. Modern parents should be engaged in the messages their children are receiving from video games and the images they are allowing them to witness. Creating more laws and legislations surrounding the sale and content of video games will not provide the protection that parents think they will. I believe that parents who refuse to engage in the content their children are exposed to must educate themselves actively and be aware of what their children are observing when they play video games. They need to actively seek out information about the game and what types of content it contains before their children start to play. Parents should not solely rely on the rating provided by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), an independent board that provides ratings to video games. Games with the rating of Everyone, or â€Å"E†, contain mild violence. According to a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association where 55 video games were played, â€Å"27 games (49%) depicted deaths from violence† (Thompson and Haninger). Parents who do not take the time to learn about a game first risk their children killing in the game that is rated for â€Å"Everyone†. Children need their parents to talk with them and explain that what they are seeing is not real and that violence like that is not appropriate behavior. A study by the American Psychological Association found that game players self-reported that â€Å"game playing was found to elicit more fear than anger, depressed feeling, or pleasant relaxation, and respectively; however it elicited more joy than fear† (Ravaja, Saari and Turpeinen). Desire to commit violence was not one of them. Parents also need to set clear boundaries on what is appropriate and what is not for their children, based on their own beliefs. The violence portrayed in video games exists without a call to action. The games do not command players to go outside of the game and commit the same acts. It is also not the duty of lawmakers to limit accessibility or ban content all together because they fear that the violence could incite an incident. The British Medical Journal originally published findings from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study. The study was conducted over 10 years and included more than 11,000 children. It â€Å"did not find associations between electronic games use and conduct problems, which could reflect the lower exposure to games and/or greater parental restrictions on age-appropriate content for games† (Parkes, Sweeting and Wright). Parents should determine what is right for their children and what is not. The boundaries of every family are different and need to be enforced by the parents. The creators and retailers of video games often become the scapegoat for lawmakers and government officials when a violent act occurs that involves or is perpetrated by youth. Parents rely on their legislators to take up their causes and seek out laws that will promote their cause. Regulating video games on their behalf is one of those causes. Legislative bodies across the country are looking for ways to prevent incidences of violence, especially gun violence like what occurred in Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut and the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The state of New Jersey outlined a plan last year that included measures to limit and restrict how retailers merchandise games in retail outlets and would require parental consent for kids to purchase games rated â€Å"Mature† or â€Å"Adults Only† (Friedman). The state of Massachusetts also considered legislation that would assemble a group to â€Å"investigate the influence of violent video games and to find if there is a connection with real world violence† (GamePolitics Staff). However, these, and other laws being debated across the country, face a significant legal road block. Video game retailers already take precautions and preventative measures to keep certain games from being purchased by children and further regulation on a legal level is not needed. The Supreme Court heard Brown v. EMA, a case against California’s laws that restricted the sale of certain games to teenagers based on state’s determination that they were violent. The basis of the case came down to a First Amendment issue because California’s specifically singled out video games and no other form of media. The Court struck down California’s law and ruled â€Å"the games, like books and movies, are protected under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech. The Supreme Court also said it found no convincing link between the games and real world violence† (Friedman). Justice Antonin Scalia stated, â€Å"Psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children do not prove that such exposure causes minors to act aggressively† (Friedman). Regulation by the government is a clear-cut defense for parents who battle with their kids about certain games being purchased and played. It is easier to tell a child that they cannot have something because someone else restricts it and not because the parent forbids it. It means the child is not upset with the parent and diverts their displeasure. Parents do not have to be the â€Å"bad guy† because a law takes care of that for them. I have personally witnessed parents telling kids that they cannot purchase a particular game because it is too graphic or not for their age. Most of the children are less than pleased by the response and show it. I imagine most parents want to avoid that reaction from their child in a store. Creating legislation that the Supreme Court found infringes on the collective’s First Amendment rights or circumventing the current self-regulation of the video game retailers is not the solution. Today’s parents should stop seeking a solution for interference outside of their own decisions as a parent by increasing legislation on games. Parents to the next generation are severely taxed by the demands of day to day life. The one item that they cannot be relaxed about is the entertain they choose for their children. Buying a video game console and unleashing a child into the world of gaming is almost a rite of passage for parents, especially parents that grew up playing Super Mario Bros. It is unwise to do so without rules, boundaries, and some due diligence on their part. They should be educating themselves on the games and need to be reviewing game content information available from web sites like IGN. com. Parents should be supervising their kids playing the games that they may not be familiar with yet many do not. They should also be looking at what they can control in their own home, including utilizing parental control settings on the consoles themselves and restricting online and downloadable content. Parents should not lean on lawmakers to establish those confines for them nor does not lie in society’s hands. The ultimate responsibility lies with parents who are willing to unplug what video game content they do not want their child to play. Works Cited Friedman, Matt. â€Å"Game over? Christie’s plan to restrict video games would likely be overturned, experts say. † 24 April 2013. NJ. com. Web. 3 March 2014. GamePolitics Staff. Massachusetts State Senator Proposes Study on Violent Video Games. 14 November 2013. Web. 3 March 2014. Parkes, Alison, et al. â€Å"Do television and electronic games predict children’s psychosocial adjustment? Longitudinal research using the UK Millennium Cohort Study. † British Medical Journal (2013). Web. Ravaja, Niklas, et al. â€Å"The Psychophysiology of James Bond: Phasic Emotional Responses to Violent Video Game Events. † American Psychological Association (2008): Vol. 8, No. 1, 114-120. Thompson, ScD, Kimberly M. and Kevin Haninger. â€Å"Violence in E-Rated Video Games. † Journal of the American Medical Association (2001). Web.