The Interactional View by Watzlawick Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Interactional View by Watzlawick - Essay Example The Interactional View says that the first axiom is people are always communicating, even when they are not saying anything. It says that communication is content plus relationship. Content is what people say, while relationship is how people say them. Metacommunication is also the relationship, which the way people communicate about their communication. The last time my grandmother and I talked, the content of our topic is dating. She warned about dating white Americans because of her stereotyping that they can have very sexual views of women. I did not want to correct her that even Chinese men also have sexual views of women. Then, I told her that I am not currently dating any white or any other ethnic or racial group, but if I did, it should not be a problem because I own my heart and life. She got angry and yelled at me over the phone and hanged up. I was very hurt, but I called her again and said sorry. I remember now that my metacommunication regarding this topic is angry and d efensive. I have disrespected my grandmother. To understand more my communication with my grandmother, I can use the concepts of complementary interchange, one-up communication, one-down communication, and one-across communication. Complementary interchange means that parties know that they have power differences. One-up communication is a move to control the exchange, one-down communication is a move to give control of the exchange, and one-across communication is the move to level the control of the exchange.  

Philosophy - Human Freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophy - Human Freedom - Essay Example The essay "Philosophy - Human Freedom" states the human freedom. However, this formal agreement known as the law or the legal system and it is steadily and constantly developing and changing as the new circumstances and situations arise. (Sections of this law, normally those that deal with human rights, are actually less changeable and some times are referred to as constitutions.) Therefore, our constitution is defined and supported by the legal systems. A general fallacy the regard freedom is to automatically believe that it is a by-product of the modern democracy. The only freedom practically bestowed by democracy on its members is that they have the right, that is, every few years to cast their votes for one of a set of the representatives who will administer or run the nation on their behalf. Whereas modern democracy is an essential basis for free societies, it necessarily doesn’t guarantee freedom. The fact that job falls to the legal system, which isn’t greatly in fluenced by the periodic voting, is the reason why freedom campaigns always involve legal challenges. According to Wolf, nevertheless, democracy can only be considered an agent of freedom if grants the people meaningful voting choices, that is, not just a choice of two or three political parties which only have cosmetic differences, but if it ensure that the citizens have the undistorted and evenhanded information that is necessary in making a choice that is in their interest (similarly, a mass media and educational system. that is free from undue corporate and government influence. Sometimes, people may want to use their democratic rights in restricting freedom (for instance, in the places of gun ownership, GM foods, stem cell research, fox hunting or war against terror and pedophilia. This is due to the fact that freedoms normally conflict with each other: what freedom means for an individual or group of individuals is always a restriction for another. For instance, the freedom to breathe fresh air depends on the restriction of freedom for the factories to generate or produce as much pollution as the wish. Thus, the freedom support is usually a balancing act between the combined long-term interests and the short-term interests of individual or group people. Under law, we find that corporations are considered individual people and hence are afforded many of the same rights. Today, we are living in democracies that are greatly hostile to long-term and common freedom. The choice of political party during election time is rather restrictive, though still essential, and the mass media is nearly wholly corporately owned and thus influenced, which consequently opens up to influence by the government, recompense for political favors to those organizations. This implies that the people’s mind is strongly being manipulated in making voting choices that aren’t really in their best interest, but in the short-term interest of the corporations and politician s. Moreover, the other thing that tends to manipulate the people’s mind into undervaluating freedom is the fact that the adults much of their working hours working in the corporate environment. I don’t really think corporations are democratic organizations, but instead, they are dictatorial

Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) Benefits

Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) Benefits 1.1 Background Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) has been identified by various environmentalists and conservationists as the best way to offset human-wildlife conflict which impedes local support for national parks (Hulme Murphree 2002). By channeling tourism revenue to local residents, conservationists hope to offset wildlife costs and improve local attitudes toward conservation. To date tourism revenue-sharing programs have met mixed success (Western 2001).This study looked at the extent to which revenue sharing policies are put into practice and look at what projects funds are distributed across, beneficiaries of revenue sharing and the criteria used to determine them and look at implications for inequality, the livelihood impacts of revenue sharing and determine whether policy makers meet their commitments and the constraints to revenue sharing around Bwindi impenetrable National Park in Uganda. The growth in tourism industry has been one of the most profitable in national and communal economies in the Africa that were recently recognised by international and other global activists of development and environment concern. This has resulted in the need for several governments to transform from their earlier practices of managing tourist areas in conformity with the need to protect the environment and improve peoples livelihoods. As one of the ways to protect the environment and promote tourism, several national parks officials in Uganda like in many other parts of Africa have barred people from using them freely and tourism is now regarded as a tool to promote conservation and provide people with opportunities to improve their economic situations. Tourism in Uganda has been transformed from the traditional trend of activities based only on viewing animals to one that is ecologically oriented and at the same time benefiting the local communities around them. So-called eco-tourism therefore is an environmentally responsible form of tourism to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature, promote conservation, encourage low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of the local population (IUCN 1992). Eco-tourism aids conservation of the natural environmental heritage through sustaining the well-being of the local people through provision of revenue for planning, management, and evaluation, stimulation of economic tourism through tourist expenditures and even creation of markets for local peoples products (Hulme and Murphree 2001). Local communities here, refers to the group of people living in or near the protected area and usually have to gain or lose something as a result of the distant management and access to resources in this area (FAO 1992). Living adjacent to the Park, these people often pay the highest costs in terms of the park existence or pose the greatest threat to them and receive the least benefits compared to other beneficiaries (Adams and Infield 2003) and yet, it is local communities regarded as holding values and preferences compared to state interests embedded in protected areas. The development and success of eco-tourism put much emphasis towards winning local peoples support and even maintaining positive attitude towards ecotourism and conservation. For eco-tourism to succeed there is need for collaboration and full participation of the local communities in both conservation and management of natural resources, upon which eco-tourism is based (Obua 1996). This helps to create good relationship and a sense of ownership on the side of local people. Failure to do this can be a cause for conflict and resentment between the park management and local people (Mutebi 2003). According to Groove (1993), eco-tourism came up as a result of three basic reasons; First, dissatisfaction among tourists with the standard of mass tourism; second, the increased awareness amongst tourists of their potential impact on the host environments and the indigenous societies; and third, the love for adventure and nature by tourists. The origin and development of ecotourism in Uganda was based on the growing awareness that protected areas were alienated from local people and had many chances to fail without local peoples support (UWA 1996). As a result of this, there has been development of eco-tourism as a variant of conservation and revenue generation because it is believed that eco-tourism can generate revenues that may be re-invested in protected areas to facilitate conservation and improve peoples livelihoods. It is argued that ecotourism helps to provide a sustainable tourism option. This is achieved through its emphasis of the areas carrying capacity concept and the possibility of increasing the well being of people residing around these areas through sharing with them receipts from tourism, as is being done at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) In 1991 BINP was upgraded to National Park status. The shift from Forest Reserve to National Park had more implications than just a change in management. It also had a major impact on the surrounding communities; they were no longer allowed to enter the area. This implied that they no longer were able to utilize resources, as they had done traditionally. People who traditionally depended on forest resources for their survival in terms of energy, building materials and non-timber products for their livelihoods were denied access. The Forest Department used to allow free extraction of the non-timber products of the forest (Namara 2006). In addition to loss of access and control over park resources, people residing adjacent to the national parks bear costs related to wildlife conservation in terms of crop and livestock raids. However, despite the losses and costs suffered by local communities to wildlife conservation, tourism revenues were being collected both at national level and on park gates without necessarily scaling down to local people (Hulme and Murphree 1999). In an effort to manage and distribute diverse natural resources, the government of Uganda embarked on policies, regulations and acts through the parliament to ensure adequate implementation and protection of natural resource use (UWA 2001). A revenue sharing scheme was introduced in Uganda to enable local people benefit from forest resources and improve on their livelihoods. The success or failure of this policy is the core concern of this research. This study sought to investigate if the Uganda Wildlife statute of the 1996 policy implementation that requires 20% of park entry revenue to be allocated to the people residing around the park for their development benefits was achieved. According to the literature available, revenue sharing is under pressure and subject to claims from the Uganda Wildlife Authority to meet management costs in several other National Parks that earn little revenue on their own. These claims constrain adequate distribution and use of revenues to compensate for the real and perceived economic costs foregone for Park conservation among local people. This rise the concern for accountability and transparency in setting up sustainable programs needed to improve peoples livelihoods. These research ob jectives set grounds for finding solutions to such problems. 1.2 Problem statement Despite the growing body of literature on revenue sharing, there are still conflicting debates about the success and failures of community conservation in Uganda (Hulme and Murphree 2001). There is however, a paucity of studies on revenue sharing in Bwindi National Park, a situation that warranted research. It is equally perplexing that studies conducted about revenue sharing in various National Parks, have shown that their benefits are far less than the cost and prospective of resource use within the Parks (Hulme and Murphree 2001). This has been attributed to the fact that revenues obtained from tourism are distributed without frequent planning and understanding of social, cultural and economic contexts of areas surrounding the park. Bwindi National Park has a protection status but local people continue to invade the park and carry out illegal activities like pit sawing and snaring to supplement their subsistence activities (Madden 1999). To solve the tension and conflicts around the Park, UWA, CARE and IGCP embarked on programs like revenue sharing, sustainable use of non-timber resources and conservation education. Hulme and Murphree (2001) reported in chapter to that funds obtained from revenue sharing were used in constructing schools, health clinics and road construction. However, it was not known whether and how revenues intended for community development through revenue sharing benefited local people. This was owed to the fact that there was uncertainty of the revenue sharing policy and practice, community and individual level of access to revenues obtained from the park, and how tourist revenues compensate and support the livelihoods and development of local people. There was thus a need to undertake this study to understand how best conservation could meet local community needs and benefit people residing along the Park in line with national policies, while protecting the environment. 1.3 Research Objectives 1.3.1Goal The goal of this study was to examine park revenue sharing and its livelihood impacts to residents around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, western Uganda. 1.3.2 Specific objectives -To examine the extent to which revenue sharing policies are put into practice and look at what projects funds are distributed across. -To identify beneficiaries of revenue sharing and the criteria used to determine them and look at implications for inequality. -To assess the livelihood impacts of revenue sharing and determine whether policy makers meet their commitments. -To identify the constraints to revenue sharing around BINP 1.4 Justification It is believed and evidenced those good relationships between people and parks are a major element of ensuring sustainable conservation. Due to some benefits associated with people residing adjacent to national parks, community attitudes towards national parks have improved over time. According to UWA, the revenue sharing scheme aims at empowering local communities in local resource management and tends to ensure sustainability and improved rural livelihoods. As a development study student, I thoroughly scrutinised how policy impacts implemented from top government levels without the consent of local people can be a big setback in determining peoples development at the local level. The main intention was to look at which extent revenue sharing policies were put into practice. The concern was whether local people benefited from resources available in their localities; and whether these benefits related to revenue sharing. By evaluating the level of benefits obtained as a result of revenue sharing, recommendations on policies suitable for the local community were made. This research is important for both governments and non-government agencies that are involved in implementing conservation policies. This work intends to identify and look at the gaps between policy and practice, and formulated possible recommendations to ensure better sustainable livelihoods of people living around Bwindi National Park. CHAPTER TWO:LITERATURE REVIEW ECOTOURISM, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND PEOPLES LIVEHOODS The chapter provides a documented review of the general concept of ecotourism as a part of environmental conservation and likens it to the livelihoods of local people. The chapter begins with the history of environmental conservation in Uganda and then links it to natural based tourism as a way of combining tourism and protecting the nature, while developing communities residing around such areas. 2.1 Background of environmental conservation and tourism revenue sharing in Uganda In Uganda like in any other tropical areas, people residing adjacent to forested areas normally depend on forest resources for survival. Before changes restricting peoples access and control over these resources were made, they solely depended on such for income, food, energy, medicine and hunting (FAO 1992). Hulme and Murphree (2001) reported that the international and national conservationists claim that forested areas are vulnerable to human activity and a threat to biodiversity. To counter this, new management policies that restrict peoples access and control over these areas are thus normally established. To ensure protection and control over forest losses, major forest reserves including Bwindi were turned into National Parks and put under a single management unit Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) (Archabald and Naughton 2001), Tourism revenue sharing is not a new idea in Uganda. As early as 1950s, the Chief Game Warden declared: African Local Governments should receive a portion of the revenue accruing from game license fees to increase their interest in faunal matters, and thus encourage them to render greater assistance in the preservation of game and the enforcing of game laws (Archabald and Naughton 2002), This encouraged more reserach in revenue sharing Studies in revenue-sharing started early in 1952 and sustained until Independence in 1962. In general, a part of revenue from tourism fees was given to districts. No attempt was made to channel revenue directly to residents neighboring the park. However the Game Department shot wildlife caught raiding farms and offered local citizens the game meat (Naughton-Treves 1999). They further argued that no official facts that linked revenue sharing payment agreements to local communities with conservation policies While there are reports of local chiefs apprehending poachers, other chiefs and kings continued to hunt wildlife illegally despite revenue-sharing programs. One warden concluded that ‘A far greater awareness of the value of game animals has been shown by the Kingdom Governments and District Administrations, but on the whole they have not made any significant effort to stamp out poaching (Tennant 1963, p.33). Revenue-sharing projects continued after Ugandas independence, but in 1971 the country plunged into a 15-year civil war and the government lost control of wildlife and parks entirely (Hamilton 1984). With peace in 1987, Ugandan civil society began to be rebuilt. Eventually the national government endorsed biodiversity conservation and began shoring up the national park system and ‘upgrading several forest reserves to national parks (Sebukeera 1996). Due to the increased pressure by International donors and other non government organizations the government of Uganda recognized the importance of community-based approaches to national tourism revenue-sharing and adopted a new park policy in 1994. To check the viability of the new policy, a pilot project was established in Bwndi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, in which 20% of revenue/income from gorilla tracking permits would be distributed to local communities residing near the park. Local communities welcomed the pilot project optimistically and it ran efficiently. Uganda National Parks (UNP) regulated that all the parks in the country set aside 12% of their total income for revenue sharing (Uganda National Parks 1994) Two-thirds of tourism revenue was to be shared with local communities neighboring the park, while the remaining third was to be divided between the parks home district government and a central pool at national park headquarters designated for communities surrounding those parks that generated very little income. The 1994 national mandate to share park revenue offered only a vague definition of the target beneficiaries as those people living adjacent the parks that are affected by, and affect the park (Uganda National Parks, 1994). Park level managers defined the target community as all parishes neighboring the park, a definition that emphasizes proximity to the park and pre-existing administrative units. In Uganda, parishes are subdivisions of districts governed by local elected leaders. They border three parks involved in the study extending up to 3 km from the park border in Mgahinga, 7 km in Bwindi, and 8 km in Kibale (UWA 2001). According to Archabald and Naughton (2001), the 1994 revenue sharing policy mandated Park Management Advisory committee (PMAC) with the responsibility to administer tourism revenue-sharing funds for each specific park. Although it was not specified in the national policy mandate, the park management committee decided to elect Parish Park Committee (PPC) representing to represent each parish in all the three study sites, to work as a link between local communities and Park Management advisory committee (PMAC). The 1994 tourism revenue sharing policy required that collected funds be used to benefit projects that would serve to improve high number of peoples livelihoods. However, this policy had to change prematurely after the Ugandan legislation merged Uganda National Parks and the Game Department into the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in 1996 (Archabald and Naughton 2001). The newly amended legislation set a change in revenue sharing policy from that of 1994, which included 12% share of all income obtained from the park, to 20% of fees obtained at each park (UWA 1996). Policy makers hoped the increase in tourism revenue-sharing would result into improved livelihoods and park popularity to local communities (Baliikowa 2008, Archabald and Naughton 2001). The change in TRS policy theoretically intended to increase the amount of money distributed to local communities as an alternative forgone for their free interaction with the park. The policy change and change in management from Park Management Authority Committee to a local parish level committee weakened institutional sustainability for TRS and made the 1996 tourism revenue-sharing policy given less priority and the policy saw a decrease in funds due to the exclusion of fees for viewing gorillas and chimpanzee (UWA 2001). According to Archabald and Naughton (2001) TRS scheme process was still bared with irregularities. Revenues generated under the 1994 mandate were later redistributed to local communities in 1998, four years after policy implementation. This slip in redistributing tourism revenue share continued until 2002 when UWA passed out another policy that started to be implemented in 2001 (UWA 2001). 2.2 Ecotourism Tourism is an ancient activity that has become so diverse in its objectives and setting that it is now broken into a variety of sectors of which one of the most and rapidly growing sectors is that of nature based tourism. Obua (1996) referred nature-based tourism to that is directly dependent on the use of natural resources in a relatively undisturbed state. This is contrary to mass tourism whose development in natural areas has often led to the degradation of the very features that first attracted the tourists to the area. Owing to the above, a new concept was developed with an environmentally responsible approach called sustainable tourism. WTO (1993) defined sustainable tourism as any activity managed in a way that enables it to continue indefinitely. As a sustainable program, ecotourism is the fastest growing segment of the nature based tourism sector. 2.2.1 Ecotourism and the local people To be sustainable, ecotourism must involve local people in its planning, development and management (Obua, 1996). Cater (1994) highlighted that tourism can encourage better basic services such as water and electricity; and also create jobs for local people, increase their income levels and support other social and environmental benefits. Cater further stresses that to link sustainable tourism to economic development, its benefits must have an impact on the livelihoods of indigenous communities to warrant improved management of their environment. Cater further notes that, not only should the local, people receive tangible benefits from ecotourism development but their education and, sensitisation on the importance of conservation is of paramount importance. Dueto the fact that most of the remaining natural forests are under the control of the government in Uganda, ecotourism offers local communities opportunities to become more involved in the management of their village forests and see material benefits coming from them. Rea1isation of the benefits from the parks by local people is often accompanied by a decline in deforestation and poaching (Obua, 1996). This has made ecotourism show potential to provide a practical and effective means of providing social and economic benefits to the local people. Obua (1996) notes that, education levels and income influence local peoples attitudes towards ecotourism. This is because education increases ones awareness of the importance of protection and conservation of the environment and natural resources and determine the extent to which the local people depend on protected area for their livelihood. If provision of such services is not properly implemented however, the local people may harm the con servation goals. This therefore stresses a need for continual monitoring of development programs targeting people surrounding the park. 2.2.2 The success of ecotourism The success of the management of protected areas greatly depends on the degree of support and respect accorded the neighbouring communities. Where protected areas are looked at as a burden, local people can make protection and conservation completely impossible. However, when tourism is seen as a positive development, local communities would combine their efforts together with park management in providing protection to the area from external forces and destruction mostly by the locals. Involving local people is a vital factor in reducing infringements of conservation regulations such as poaching and indiscriminate tree felling. Due to corruption however, conflicts develop owing to non-equitable sharing of benefits offered by conservation bodies and the conservation area itself. This physical exclusion from the very resources upon which they depend for their basic needs threatens to ecotourism development (Laudati 2007). It is important to note that there have to be economic incentives for conservation. A major incentive is to secure, restore, and develop the capacity of ecosystems to generate ecosystem services (including food, timber, pollination, seed dispersal) because this capacity constitutes the very foundation for social and economic development (Daily 1997). Conservation science has a major role to play in identifying the role of functional groups of organisms, their redundancy, and their response diversity in relation to ecosystem services and in recommending ways to sustain diversity in this context. 2.2.3 Impacts associated with ecotourism development The viability of ecotourism has received substantial attention among conservationists as a potential tool for sustainable development Debates about Uncontrolled and controlled or restricted tourism has raised a lot of controversy among scholars. The majority of the literature supports the concept behind ecotourism; however, even the supporters like Cater (1994) express caution over the hidden risks inherent to any nature based tourism activity. The potentially negative impacts from tourism have a number of faces. Uncontrolled tourism may lead to ecological disturbances and environmental degradation; create unwanted social and drastic economic impacts as well. The restrictions meant loss of forest resources and land which was once used by locals for agriculture to maintain their livelihoods. Crop raiding is another problem faced by people living around parks. Despite restrictions and damages done on their crops, efforts to compensate local people who depended on forest resources especially land were insufficient (Balikoowa 2007). This has resulted into increased poverty among local people and there is an urgent need among stakeholders and the Uganda Wild life authority to solve this problem. Alternatively, ecotourism has the potential to positively contribute to the development of an area. However, in order for this potential to be realised, a number of conditions must be fulfilled. These include; the regional market, management capacity, ecological and cultural attractions development, adequate infrastructure, access and security, and well-defined linkages between the local residents and conservation activities (Cater, 1994). Whereas some of the conditions are out of control of most tourism stakeholders, certain conditions can be achieved through active management. In the absence of active management, the true ecotourism potential in any given area will not be realised, and it is highly probable that negative impacts will occur. The concept of ecotourism in conservation helps to ensure deliberate and planned policies geared towards reducing the negative impacts of tourism activities on the environment. This is done by minimising impacts in one place by developing new attractions or activities for tourism in different places. Ecotourism here therefore encourages diversification necessary for development. As a form of integrated tourism where all stakeholders are involved (operators in the industry, conservationists, lawmakers, and local people), it encourages cooperation, planning and support for sustainable development. Ecotourism offers the local people the opportunity to improve their livelihood through the various economic activities that are developed and to participate in nature conservation or environmental management. The need for ecotourism development in Uganda has resulted into the initiation of the revenue sharing program. This implies that 20 percent of the profits from park entry fees are given to the communities. Each parish adjacent to the park boundaries is given a share of the money. The money used to be invested in infrastructure benefiting the whole parish, such as schools and feeder roads. It appeared that this strategy did not have the impact UWA was looking for, a big part of the communities did not link these improvements with the National Park. The strategy of UWA therefore changed, they start focusing on directly improving the situation on household level, for instance by buying goats for the villagers (UWA, 2002). In relation to the above, in order to improve the relation between the local communities and the Park Authorities, people are allowed to gather products from the forest in some areas of the park; this can be done in the so called Multiple Use Zones (MUZ). The products that can be extracted in these zones are medicinal plants, craft materials and seed collection for on-farm planting outside the park. The products that can be extracted are all listed, at this moment 36 species of medical plants and 21 species for basketry purposes are listed. In addition, some farmers are allowed to use the park for placement of beehives for honey collection (Plumptre, Kayitare et al. 2004). These MUZ are not accessible for all surrounding communities, only those communities who have signed a MoU can access the park, these are at the moment the communities in fifteen out of twenty parishes bordering the Bwindi. 2.2.4 Community participation and ecotourism development Cater (1994) defined community participation as a situation where people act in groups to influence the direction and outcome of development programs that will affect them. Agencies promoting any community participation program need to deal with organised entities with conventional procedures for making and implementing group decisions. Cater (1994) further notes that much as generating such an entity is hard, working with existing authorities may not be reaching all of the target beneficiaries or all those whose cooperation is essential to the project. Kiss (1991) stressed that local participation towards the development of an ecotourism project involves all people who are directly affected by wildlife from the protected area or have an effect on it. According to Ziffer (1989), increased local peoples involvement in conservation results into low negative impacts on the environment where as low involvement yields high negative impacts by the local people. 2.3 The UWA Revenue Sharing Scheme In an effort to compensate and sustain people residing in areas adjacent to the parks, conservationists and Uganda Wildlife Authority recognize the need for programs that would benefit local communities who affect and are affected by protection policy of the forested areas. Uganda national parks adopted a revenue sharing policy in November 1995 and the government of Uganda passed a legislation under Uganda Wildlife Statute of 1996, which under section 70 (4) stated that the board shall subject to subsection 3 of section 23 pay 20% of the park entry fee collected from a wildlife protected area to the local governments in the area surrounding the wildlife protected area (UWA 1996). From the collections, revenue sharing was one of the means of improving community park relations soliciting support from local communities around protected areas in order to ensure sustainability (Archabald and Naughton-Treves 2001), and indeed the report continued to emphasise that revenue sharing provided a mechanism of attempting to address fair and just distribution of benefits from protected areas to local communities who bear the biggest cost of protected areas (Hulme Murphree, 2001). My research therefore aimed at identifying whether this policy had been put into practice. Its level of success and peoples perception on revenue sharing among communities residing around Bwindi National Park were looked into. 2.4 Attitudes of the local people towards conservation Allport (1935) referred attitudes to a mental and neutral state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individuals responses to all objects or situations with which it is related. Attitudes are thus not born with but learned and have objective reference, differ in valence and like most psychological concepts; can be deduced from the observed antecedent stimulus and the consequent behaviour pattern. According to Lindberg (1991), local peoples attitudes towards conservation are mostly induced by ecotourisms contribution to the local economy. This can be in form of increased incomes by the local people, increased employment opportunities and even general infrastructure without forgetting participation of all stakeholders at all stages (government officials, protected area personnel and the local people). Contrarily, negative attitudes result from the negative impacts that local people acquire from ecotourism development. These may be in form of inflationary pressure on local economies and exclusion of the local people from management and use of resources on which they depended on for their basic needs (Cater, 1992). The involvement of several stakeholders makes it difficult for policy makers and beneficiaries of tourism revenue share fail to meet their intended objectives which justifies Laudats statement that â€Å" Individuals for whom the projects are intended are minimally consulted, and policies are not negotiated with the input of local residents but are determined and evaluated based on institutional core values and foreign parameters of success† (Laudati, 2007), increasing vulnerability of local communities as a result of poor coordination and management between Uganda Wildlife Authority and National policy makers. 2.5 Constraints to revenue sharing Constraints to revenue sharing stats with the vague manner in away which benefactors are defined by some scholars For instance, according to Uganda National Parks (1994) beneficiaries are defined as people living adjoining the parks that are affected by, and affect the park. Thus, Agrawal (1997) arg

War from the 16th Century to the Invention of Gunpowder Essay -- Artil

War from the 16th Century to the Invention of Gunpowder The invention of the powerful artillery guns would change man’s role in warring engagements. The artillery guns at first were very limited by their own design. The guns were very heavy and had to be transported by water, which meant that only towns and fortresses that were close to a body of water could be attacked with artillery also known as the cannon. There were also some fortresses that were impervious to the early cannon attacks based on strong designs or natural defenses. The French were able to penetrate the round shaped castles and large walls during the late 1400s by using concentrated fire of several small guns instead of a few large ones. A new design of smaller walls that were built in uneven lines, like a star shape, was implemented to strengthen the area called crownworks or hornworks. Other modifications of new designs included lower and thicker walls, gun towers that projected at an angle, intervals of guns for fields of fire, wide and deep ditches, and pillboxes. Of course with the new design of castles came new ways to attack. Some effective ways to attack these castles, but also rare ways to attack, were by surprise, by storm, or by treachery. The most common way to attack the castles were long term engagements that consisted of either surrounding the castle or getting in close enough that the castles guns would be ranged over the position. The long-term methods consisted of starving out the population, forcing surrender, or by mining and bombardment from close range. The use of firepower also began to put an end to the use of headlong charges and hand-to-hand combat during the Renaissance years. The differences between firearms and the bow were obscene at the beginning of the rifle’s evolution. An archer could accurately hit a target at lengths of 200 meters and discharge ten arrows a minute, whereas the arquebus, or rifleman, only had accuracy at 100 meters and took several minutes to reload. Although the new weapons at primacy did not have the accuracy or the range of the bow, the Italians immediately implemented them into their arsenals. The greatest advantage of the early rifles was that the weapon could be mastered in a matter of months, but it could take up to ten years to master the bow. Eventually the muskets overtook the battlefield, replacing t... ...rength of China laid in the overwhelming amounts of personnel serving in the armed forces. Japan made quick use of the new weapons, but concentration was not focused on rapid reloading. The Japanese put more training into accuracy and developed the volley in order to maintain a succession of well-aimed shots. The castles of Japan were also modified to sustain against any type of horizontal attack. The walls were built in front of the hills and backed strongly by the earth. Once stability was restored the Japanese empire began a phase of demilitarization by outlawing guns, tearing down fortifications of defeated enemies, and forbidding books concerning military matters. In both empires of the Far East, sieges were made by mass assaults, mining, or blockades rather than by bombardment. WORKS CITED Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West 1500-1800. (Cambridge, United Kingdom:Cambridge University Press, 1996). Chap 1-4 Preston, Richard A., Alex Roland, and Sydney F. Wise. Men In Arms: A History of Warfare and its interrelationships With Western Society. (Belmont, California:Wadsworth/ Thomson Learning, 2001). Chap 8

Pre-Tensioning in Civil Engineering

Introduction : The idea of pre tensioning has been around for centuries and has been applied to many forms, such as: wagon wheels, wooden barrels etc. In these cases heated metal is made to just fit an object. When the metal cools it contracts and induces prestress into the object thereby strengthening it. The idea of pretensioned concrete has been around since the late 19th century, but its use was limited by the quality of materials available at the time. It wasn’t until the 1920s that materials of a suitable quality were available in sufficient quantity to allow pretensioned concrete to be used with confidence. The pioneers of this field were Freyssinet, Magnel and Hoyer. Description: In pre-tensioned concrete tensile elements such as cables, ribbons, or rods are clamped under calculated tensile stress (Stage 1). Concrete is cast around these elements and allowed to cure( Stage 2). When fully hardened the clamps are released and the stress is transferred within the rigid concrete (stage 3). As long as a load is applied within the design limit, the concrete structural element will never be subjected to tensile stress of sufficient force to cause failure. Pre-tensioning can be used in pre-cast as well as in cast-in-place construction. Most of the pre-tensioning construction techniques are patented although the basic principle used in all of them is common and is well known. Hard drawn steel wires which are indented or crimped are preferred for pre-tensioned elements because of their superior bond characteristics. Small diameter wires of 2 to 5 mm are mostly used in the form of strands comprising two, three or seven wires. High Strength Concrete mix: Pre-stressed concrete requires concrete which has a high compressive strength, with comparatively higher tensile strength. Low shrinkage, minimum creep characteristics and a high value of Young’s modulus are generally deemed necessary for concrete used for prestressed members. Uses: Common uses include Railway Sleepers, Communications Poles, Pretensioned Precast â€Å" Hollowcore† slabs, Pretensioned Precast Double T units –for very long spans, Pretensioned precast inverted T beams – for short-span bridges, Pretensioned precast PSC piles, Pretensioned precast portal frames. Alternatives: The alternative to pre-tensioning is post-tensioning. In a post-tensioned beam, the tendons are stressed and each end is anchored to the concrete section after the concrete has been cast and has attained sufficient strength to safely withstand the prestressing force. In the posttensioning method, tendons are encased in a duct or sheath or coated with grease or a bituminous material before placing them in the formwork to prevent them from becoming bonded to concrete. Advantages: Prestressed concrete has the following advantages 1. Since the technique of prestressing eliminates cracking of concrete under all stage of loading, the entire section of the structure takes part in resisting the external load. In contrast to this, in reinforced concrete, only the portion of the concrete above neutral axis is effective. 2. Since the concrete does not crack, the possibility of steel to rust and of concrete to deteriorate is minimized. 3. Absence of cracks results in higher capacity of the structure to bear reversal of stresses, impact, vibration and shock. 4. In prestressed concrete beams, dead loads are practically neutralized. The reactions required are therefore much smaller than required in reinforced concrete. The reduced dead load weight of the structure results in savings in the cost of foundations. The neutralization of dead load is of importance in large bridges. 5. The use of curved tendons and the pre-compression of concrete helps to resist shea r. 6. The quantity of steel required for prestressing is about 1/3 of that required for reinforced concrete, although the steel for the former should have high tensile strength. 7. In prestressed concrete, precast blocks and elements can be assumed and used as one unit. This saves in the cost of shuttering and centering for large structures. 9. Prestressed concrete can be used with advantage in all those structures where tension develops, such as tie and suspender of a bow string girder, railway sleepers, electric poles, etc. 10. Prestressed concrete beams usually have low deflection.

Case studies

Mudflats Biscuit Manufacturing Plant Roles Mudflat is said to be a leading businessman in the hill country who owns the largest and the one and only state of the art biscuit manufacturing plant in the country that was running for more than 30 years. His business constitutes over 2000 employees and his products had a 70% market share in the local market. He also exports his products to 20 countries including USA. Roles Mudflat also had other business Interests In the field of hotels, travel, apparel and plantation.He is a father of two children who has completed their Master Degrees in Bangor n the field of IT and Fashion Design. His belief was that it's his prime responsibility to look after the welfare of his fellow employees' and their families and his character towards them was more of father than an owner of the plant Itself. He also proved that paper qualification does not matter when It came to real life business. Them in order to enjoy his retirement. He then appointed his son Reason as the Director Operations and his daughter Rossini as the Director Marketing.Overall analysis of this case is to see as to how the new management approach is different to that of the old management approach of managing the biscuit manufacturing plant. 2. Question 1 – Discuss about the leadership approach of Roles Mudflat and how the company was benefited for many years with his self-learned management skills and main drawbacks of the process. The leadership approach used during the reign of Roles Mudflat at his manufacturing plant is a mixture of Autocratic approach, Democratic approach and Paternalistic approach.As an autocratic he decided that his manufacturing plant would be more controlled if he did not recruit professional managers. Through practicing autocratic approach he was able to make quick decisions, this was rather unofficial as he was facing constant changes in the environment due to competitiveness in the local as well as the foreign markets. It was ra ther a challenging thing for Roles Mudflat to be looking into his workers needs as they were needed to keep his business from falling apart.Through democratic approach Roles Mudflat was able to create an environment as such that he appointed his most senior employees as Supervisors to overlook employees under thereby encouraging decision-making amongst them. He also believed in an open-door policy, which encouraged employees to come to him whenever and whatever time they wanted to talk to him. This resulted in building the employer and employee relationship which built trust in-between, encouraged team- work amongst his fellow employees and so forth. Finally, as a paternalistic Roles Mudflat was more looked as a father rather than a boss.This is so because he believed that the people working for him were the best assets he possessed. He not only looked into the needs of his employees, he also extended an extra hand towards the needs of their families too. He supported his workers by giving 02 month bonuses, provided soft loans to purchase a motor cycle to errors who worked more than 05 years, distributed a dry ration pack worth of RSI. 1000/-, offered scholarships to their children whom were selected to universities, provided books and other accessories to needy children. Society, without which survival of the company would be damaged. And he also was a people person, although he did not have an HRS to look into the needs of the employees he happen to do it the way he understood how to manage people. The benefits gained through Roles Mudflat with his self-learned management skills are however very few compared to that of the drawbacks. He believed in an open or policy, whereby all employees' feedback was considered and he acted upon accordingly. This policy improved the morale of employees to a greater extent and had a direct impact to the turnover.When employees feel that their decisions and feedback are accounted for they gain a sense of belongingness and tr ust which helps Roles Mudflat retain his fellow employees. Another benefit is that Roles Mudflat has a 70% market share in the local market, exports his products to 20 countries including USA, caters to the needs of over 2000 employees and also together has won over the society through certain CAR projects. The little knowledge of management he has, had helped him not only look into the internal environment but also to cater to the external environment too.The drawbacks of the leadership approach used by him is such that, it is the result of lack of interest of the leader that leads to his adopting this style. This proves poor management and makes the employees lose their direction and focus. Roles Mudflat has no interest about the future of his business, I. E. No mission or vision of the business, no career development for his employees. According to the case, his most senior employees are Just Supervisors. They have no development beyond that because he does not see the importance of such a promotion for such employees.This may be due to his lack of knowledge of how to manage people or more or less the reason as to his lack of interest to take his business forward. There is no proper organizational structure that illustrates the positioning of the employees of the manufacturing plant. He has no set procedure and policy of how the business has been running in the past and how it came to be. This is necessary for the next heir who would be taking over. Without this policy or procedure no one can put two and woo together and continue the business, or to survive in the competitive market. . Question 2 – What are the shortcomings of the new approach taken by the young directors and their team to the change the process? The new approach taken by the young directors and their team to the change the process was rather costly. Rather than providing internal promotions they hired two Secretaries as Personal Assistants to the newly appointed directors. Six manag ers were hired for the core functions of the company namely Production, HRS, Quality, Supply Chain, Marketing and Finance.The managers were the newly appointed directors' classmates. They failed to identify manpower requirement, through internal recruitment. They incurred a lot of finance on unnecessary expenses like for instance; Reason came to understand that the company was running without a vision consultant in the country to come up with an attractive vision and corporate plan. Reason made available printed cards to all employees with the vision and mission statement and spent one million rupees on fixing digital boards with the company's vision.The HRS introduced a new incentive scheme based on individual performance and informed all employees that their annual bonus will be based on performance appraisals. Here the new management failed to inform the employees as to how their performances were going to be appraised and as to what they had to do in order to improve their curre nt performance. Employees had no one to go with their grievances as they were not given much attention as compared to Roles Mudflat. Employees were highly denominated as they faced difficulties communicating with the new management.The new directors failed to integrate the culture of the company's vision and mission. There was a clash between the previous culture and the existing culture. Reason and Rossini were too busy recruiting new blood to the organization that they ailed to realize the damages it was doing to the company. The employee turnover increased by 25% of the first three months Reason and Rossini took over the company. 4. Question 3 – Being the HRS Manager, what is your proposal to young directors to implement best HRS practices and processes in this 30 year-old company with over 2000 employees?When we look at the business that Roles Mudflat maintained for the past 30 years and the manufacturing plant that is now about to reach extinct, we could see that the mai n reason for this unsuccessful turn is the lack of knowledge the new management as about the culture and the business itself that was run by their father. As an HRS Manager, before I implement best HRS practices and processes I shall first speak to the employees and learn from them about the manufacturing plant. This is done so as to get a wider picture of the business as a whole, and as to how it was controlled by Roles Mudflat.Through this I could derive his secret of managing people and do a comparison of before and after the new management took control. As it is the employees are much disgusted over the way they have been treated and how much they have been ignored. So as an initial step I would involve employees in helping me to work out a SOOT of the past and present and get their valuable comments or suggestions, if any. Based on the SOOT analysis, I shall look into the areas that were lacking much expertise.Initially, the HRS manager should be able to fix the denominated sta ff and to do so he/she has to be very open to them, allow them to speak about their problems bothering them. Later, recruit a counselor to help those employees whose minds needs special attention. The HRS Manager should effectively encourage employee engagement benefit from owe employee turnover, greater customer satisfaction, a solid corporate culture, improved performance and communication, and higher commitment to the core values and objectives of the organization which had been embedded during the initial period when Roles Mudflat was leading.HRS Manager should also clarify the strategic direction by means of articulating the Vision, Mission and Values of the organization. HRS Manager should also integrate HRS programmed through HRS practices. For instance, by establishing a Staffing and Recruitment Policy it well help the organization to develop an effective recruitment tragedy in order to attract qualified workers who are committed to the organization's goals.The HRS Manager s hould also be able to identify the short-term and long-term human resources needs through a HRS planning process in order to mitigate resignations. HRS Manager should also develop a compensation policy. This is done by identifying goals and objectives of the organization by considering the competitiveness in attracting and retaining employees and whether performance is tied with pay increases. HRS Manager should also provide for training and development programmed so as to eater to all employees in need of training. Case Studies Case Scenarios Read the following scenarios. Answer, in a 50- to 100-word response, each of the following questions: Scenario 1 Sophia has been removed from her family and placed into foster care for the second time in the last 2 years due to her mother’s ongoing substance abuse. Sophia has missed many days of school and often comes to school dirty and wearing clothes from the day before. Sophia’s mother does not think she has a problem and blames the system for once again taking her daughter. 1. What can a human service professional do to help this family?They can have the family go to family counseling; also have the mother take substance abuse classes or to a drug rehab program. Then go talk to the foster care center and talk to Sophia and see why see is missing school and wearing dirty clothes. The human service can tell Sophia if she want to go back home she need to go back to school and get good grade and wear clean clothes to school then she can go back home with her parents Sophia would be my first focus because kids are most vulnerable. I would place Sophia in temporary foster care and set up biweekly meetings to understand her point of view of her current situation.I would also check her school attendance. And see if she needs some counseling to talk to someone about how she feels. We have a duty to protect that child not only from her living situations but also by placing her into a caring, loving family that will not allow this to happen. If she eventually comes to realization that this temporary situation could become a permanent situation maybe she will engage in the services offered and take things seriously the second time around, but never allow her to think it’s too late to make a change with her life. 2.How might the family’s previous involvement with the child protection system affect their willingness to engage in services the second time around? The family's previous involvement could be that they were not infor med of why their child was being taken out of their care and they are just upset about the whole situation of having her taken away. The case worker could have just taken the child and gave no explanation or propose a plan to help the family provide a stable environment for their daughter which would make anyone unwilling to engage in services. I would hope that the mother would realize the longer it takes her to seek help and stay clean the longer it will take for her daughter to return home. If she eventually comes to realization that this temporary situation could become a permanent situation maybe she will engage in the services offered and take things seriously the second time around, but never allow her to think it’s too late to make a change with her life. I am sure the child is very insecure of the Human Services at this point.Especially due to the fact that she has had so many issues with them in the past, and nothing has been done, at least nothing that was making a positive impact on her future. I personally feel having a closer relation with this child and building up trust may be a very positive approach. Social service workers are helpers. One asset that we possess in this profession is the ability not to judge. In this profession, just like our lives, we see people progress and regress. It does not stop our willingness to help.However, we do change our tactics to help these individuals with each failed attempt. Scenario 2 John has been homeless for most of his adult life. He is often seen on the medians of busy intersections asking for food and money or wandering through the park talking to himself. John used to seek housing in a homeless shelter but often chooses to sleep in the local park. During the winter, the local homeless coalition attempts to talk to John about staying in the shelter but he refuses.Staying out in the cold has led John to being hospitalized on several occasions, but he maintains that he is better off without anyone ’s help. 1. If you were a case manager for the homeless coalition what would you do to try and help John seek appropriate housing during the winter months? I would try to talk to John to see what happened all through his life and why he is homeless and why he refuses to stay in the shelter. There could be a mental or emotional underlying issue that could factor his reasoning with himself.I would try my best to offer John alternatives such as appropriate housing or shelter, along with assigning him to a case worker to follow up with and seek for resources. I would try to offer counseling and build that trustworthy client-caseworker relationship in order for him to understand and believe there are better ways to live in this world. Identifying the skills he may lack as well. It’s obvious John may be suffering from depression, lack of trust, and low self-esteem. The longer John remains in this state of mind it will be hard for him to get all his needs met. Adults, childre n and youth who have Developmental Disabilities are offered programs that range in intensity and setting according to their needs and desires – from highly supervised residential programs to job coaching and supported living. The Network strives to protect the welfare of individuals at-risk in numerous ways. I feel getting John involved in an organization like this one where he was taken care of and receiving meds I feel he would be on the path to a healthy happy life.In this case it would be good to know what disciplines John most likely fit into. Psychology would be my choice. I would attack his mind and behavior for a solution. 2. How does John’s outlook about receiving help affect his ability to get his needs met? John has too much pride in his self to accept the help he needs. He is already got it set in his mind that he can make its own his own without any help from anyone. He thinks this is a handout to him. Many homeless have this mentality and they live day to day on the streets.John (as well as the many others) need to be reminded that these programs are here to help and are not a handout in any way, most of the programs that are out there for the homeless are set up to assist those in getting back on their feet and off drugs and the street. This is going to be a process in which we may have to take baby step to get the job done. First we must get John to trust us, and let him know we are his friends looking out for him. We must get him to a doctor, get him medicated and get his mental illness under control so he understands us and his situation better.I believe after those two steps we will see huge improvements in him, and I’m sure he will also want to make great changes in his life. . Resistant means they have to attend but they don’t participate, they miss their appointments, So, We want to give John whatever services he will accept. Scenario 3 Juan often runs away from home because his parents constantly fight and oft en blame him for their issues. Juan runs away for 2 to 3 days at a time and will do this at least once a week. When he is at home, he typically does not follow the rules and will yell at his parents and siblings.Juan has a history of defiant behavior, but his home environment has often been chaotic. Juan’s parents have been through family counseling, but they feel it was not helpful and are reluctant to do it again. Juan sometimes will run to a local group home that takes in runaway youth. 1. If you were a counselor at the group home, how might you work with Juan to get him to stop running away from home so that he is not sleeping on the streets? I would try to talk to Juan to ask him why his parents are fighting about and why does he think he is the blame.Then ask him has he ever sat down and had a talk with his parents to see if he can help them out being he is the oldest in the family. I would try to get Juan to understand that the only blame he should take responsibility for would be any deviant behavior that he does. His parents fighting and him being blamed for it is just a way for them to pass the buck onto him and make him feel bad. He is not responsible for his parents fighting and once he can realize that and put measures of emotional protection he would not feel the need to run away. However I would encourage Juan to seek positive ways to handle and deal with the stress from home, whether becoming involved with sports or other positive groups. Juan would be offered therapy and anger management classes. Trying to figure out what makes him the angriest and we both figure out a solution to the problem so that he can remain in his home every night and learn the importance of rules as well. . Parent’s sometime worry when they don’t know where their kids are, therefore, causing arguments.I would show him ways he could be an influential key to the other kids in the house. 2. How might you try to work with the family even though they ha ve participated in family therapy previously and did not find it effective? I would try talking one on one with each family member. Since I have already talk to Juan, I would talk to his mother to see what she has to say and how she feels. Then I would talk to his father to see if he has been in Juan’s life from birth to now. After talking to the parents then I would talk to his brothers and sisters to see how they feel about him.Once I have completely talked to everyone I can understand what really happen or have a whole picture of all the problems. Then I will bring the whole family together and let them express how they really feel and how they want to stay a happy family. Encourage the parents to understand and accept the fact that there is a problem in the home and it starts with them. As a counselor there would be weekly follow up visits with the family. The family would be offered resources and as a whole we all work together to find a solution to the problems inside t he household.I am a firm believer that one should never give up. And as a human services worker, I will never give up on a patient or a family. Maybe, they weren’t ready to change with the first session, I feel we must give up all we got in order to show change and get a positive result. To break the ice, I would start by asking questions like, â€Å"What do you see the problem being? † This gives the parents some since of control in helping the problem. I would suggest marriage counseling to stop the arguing. There has to be another reason for their arguments other than Juan running away.