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

Research Paper Example This also affects the jobs and the overall medical facilities and the same will be discussed under this subheading. Major Problems: Major problems caused by Illegal immigration will be discussed in this part and a comprehensive analysis of how to tackle the same will also be discussed in this part. Solutions to the problems: Once the problems are discussed, possible solutions will be discussed. The ways to stop illegal immigration will be discussed; this has been a long standing problem in the US and it is high time to deal with it. How to Restrict Illegal Immigration: This section will throw light upon the solutions to deal with this menace. Laws must be made stricter in order to ensure no illegal immigration takes place, only then can countries witness an unprecedented growth. Conclusion: Summing up the main points discussed in the paper and presenting a logical conclusion that will solve all the problems. Immigration can be of two types, one is legal and the other one is illegal. Legal immigration involves many hassles, there is a lot of paperwork involved but illegal immigration is different. People who know that they are ineligible for legal immigration try their hands at illegal immigration and many succeed immigrating into another country illegally. This has ramifications and this paper will shed more light upon the ramifications of immigration. The United States of America is a developed nation and there are many foreigners who have ensconced themselves in the country. There are many people in Mexico who try to sneak in illegally through the Mexican border into the United States, the personnel in the United States is well aware of this problem and have already taken measures to ensure that no illegal immigration takes place. People are always looking for shortcuts and they always find ways to simplify their work but at times these shortcuts can cost them dear. Immigration is a very complicated procedure, the paperwork involved can take months but this i s the legal way of doing things, illegal ways are adopted because people have no time and patience to do things legally, there are many illegal immigrants in the United States at this moment. Legal immigration becomes illegal when a person whose visa has expired decides to overstay in the country, this is also illegal immigration. A person whose visa has expired must approach the concerned authorities and extend the visa so as to ensure that they do not have to face any serious problems. The personnel have become aware of this problem and the procedure has been changed to deter people from overstaying in the country once their visa has expired. â€Å"Ten million illegal immigrants live in the US, according to estimates by academic and government agencies, although Bear-Stearns investment firm analysts claim that the US illegal immigrant population "may be as high as 20 million people." (â€Å"Illegal Immigration†) Every year millions of people sneak illegally into another co untry by crossing the border line, this is very common in the United States of America. This is called illegal immigration, in other words, people who do not have work permit or any kind of permission from the government to come and stay in that particular country. The same affects the health facilities in the country and negatively impacts the overall healthcare facilities in the USA. Research has found that illegal immigrati Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 12 Research Paper Example he helm of the leadership of Ghana upon the achievement of that country’s sovereignty in 1957, and is furthermore given credit for touching off an avalanche of independence movements that ran through the rest of Africa in the ten years following that achievement of independence. He would be ousted from power in 1966, via a coup, but by that time 40 countries all over Africa had been able to achieve independence and freedom from the hands of their European masters. For this reason, and for the strength of his leadership and his ideas relating to the importance of a free Africa and other key tenets, Nkrumah is regarded as a key political figure not just in Ghana but in Africa as a whole, apart from the influence and stature bestowed on him in the international stage as well. On a worldwide basis, many of his ideas and views have substantial weight and impact, including those that he held relating to national and regional development, a united and free Africa, and socialism, amon g others.1 His views on socialism, more of which shall be said later, were however tempered by a politics that was considered to be one of conciliation and friendship towards the western powers to some extent, and that means being friendly to some of the west’s ideas on democracy and democratic principles. 2 His ideas meanwhile on the unity of Africa as something that is urgent and necessary, a must, with the unity redounding to many benefits, political and economic, for the whole of Africa, is something that is said to have been validated by moves in Europe at unification, as well as in other places. 3 That said, some of his ideas relating to socialism and the adoption of socialist economic principles, such as the nationalization of aspects of Ghana agriculture, are said to have met with financial and personal disaster for the country and for its farmers, among others, tempering the positive assessment of Nkrumah’s role in the development of Ghana and African politics and economics.

Information Technology Act Paper Essay Example for Free

Information Technology Act Paper Essay Information Technology Acts Paper Shawanda Donelson BIS/220 March 31, 2012 Jacquelyn Jones Information Technology Acts Paper In the 1990s the Internet became popular, which children then had unsupervised access. Children were exposed to porn and other harmful materials. Congress tried to stop it and put it into law, but each direction it went was determined as being unconstitutional. To an extent, technology finally prevailed. Congress should not pass a law penalizing distributors, but they should pass a law that would affect those who receive Federal funding. Pornography has been around since the 1970s, which was controlled from minors. On December 15, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Children’s Internet Protection Act. This act puts restrictions on receiving federals funds. They must use technology and policies that filters or blocks certain material from being Internet accessible. These young children are being targeted because they do not fully understand the dangers of using the internet inappropriately. Therefore, if their parents are not educated about the dangers of Internet predators it makes it harder to educate their children. The Federal Trade Commission gave Congress a report in March 1998, showing that the children’s personal information did not have enough protection from hackers and predators. On April 21, 2000, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was put into law. The act applied to online services and commercial websites aimed for the attention of children. COPPA law attacks online communication which is sexually explicit that lacks artistic, scientific, serious literary, or political value (Child Online Protection Act and Child Online Privacy Protection Act, 2002). Conclusion In conclusion, the main advancement of technology was the Internet of both acts, one prevented others from collecting information from children, and the other prevented others from sending information to the children. The type of information that was disseminated was controlled by the development of the software technology. Both laws resistance were major, not from collecting or sending information but from people who they are trying to protect. References Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). 2003). In Websters New Worldâ„ ¢ Computer Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/entry/webstercom/children_s_internet_protection_act_cipaChild Online Protection Act and Child Online Privacy Protection Act. (2002).

Advantages and Disadvantages: Event Driven Process Chain

Advantages and Disadvantages: Event Driven Process Chain The reason to choose UML to create a model among the other choices is its simplicity and ease of use. The structure of the end model obtained using UML is easy to design. The given case on hospital procedures was simple to understand but when comes to addressing the problem with a model, its an entirely different story. This is because the given case consists of four core issues and each issue has to be addressed properly. We identified the actors use cases, functions and their attributes at the first place. The very next step was to interpret the identified elements into graphical units. These are pretty much the steps involved in designing the model using UML. The first constraint to arise was how to handle external actors while using use case diagrams. Next on the priority list was whether to implement the model using swim lanes or normal flow when it came down to activity diagram. With reference to the hospital case, the entity à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½general practitionerà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ which was suppose to be interpreted as function it was rather used as a external actor. Similarly the standard swim lanes which were to be used in accordance with activity diagram protocol were replaced by using the alternate normal flow diagram. The initial work of interpreting the given problem into workable modeling units was carried out. It was followed by dividing the complex issue into small modules so as to achieve better efficiency. The model is highly influenced by à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½modular programming approachà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. That approach helped us a lot in understanding the complex issue by dividing it into number of sub-issues and addresses them individually. These collections of smaller solutions ultimately added up to the consolidated solution. Reflection on the modeling process: (EPC) It was an entirely different approach from UML model. As far as we are concern, this model is an enhancement of a basic flow chart. This is because, the shapes, the flow and the structure the model is highly influenced by a flow chart. The model required extensive analysis to segregate the model units from the given case. It takes quite some time to get accustomed to new rules of modeling difficulty arises when we tried to give a base model for the entire case so as to give a skeleton approach. Adding to the complexity, the use of logical connectors and splitters was a tedious job. Modeling the various issues and the core processes posed a variety of problem during the early stages. For example usage of logical splitters and connectors was different from using other branching structures. And also the rules of using units like à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½eventsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½functionsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and the others was to be kept in memory prior to joining them with the other units. The structure of the model was a long one when compared with that of the previous model. Some portions of the problem given had to be modified, which in process gave away parts of the literal components. Adjustments and modifications were carefully tailored so as to meet the conditions and rules of how the model to be made. The work was to pick out units with reference to EPC such as events, functions and organizational units etc. we identified events from all the core issues which were to be followed by functions. In a similar fashion the other model units were sorted out. After that these individual units were integrated as according to the rules of EPC. The areas in which logical connectors were to be used were identified and the connectors were put into their place. This ensures proper structure and flow of process. Reflection on the modeling Language: (UML) This is because; the given case is simple but an elaborate one. Thus, a reader could easily identify the number of entities involved and their roles and still could progress through the entire model which is an elaborate one without losing the track of the process. How and when a reader could get confused with the different models depends on the knowledge of the user, that goes as a different topic altogether. But even an ordinary reader could spot the persons, the different processes and the flow of the model readily and easily. And also the UML diagram itself is quite easy to design which involves few graphical elements. Unlike other modeling languages, UML emphasizes on à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½use casesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ which are in essence are nothing but notations of the essential activities results and the functions which constitutes to the entire process. It helps the user to easily get used to the protocols of using use cases and implement them. Since the actors and external actors are depicted against the use cases, its easy to connect the performers of the action and their sub sequent results. Complexity of producing a suitable model for business process is reduced to a greater extends. As far as the hospital case is concerned, UML is the most suitable modeling language to aid the user as well as analyst due to the above said reasons. This case produces four core processes starting from admission of patient till the discharge of patient, which involves quite a lot of actors and their functions which in turn produce the given results. One could easily interpret statement into the business model using UML by just using a handful of graphical units without any ambiguities. We say this so because, the four critical issues are addressed with the specific actions being transferred into particular use cases one after the other in a typical UML fashion. Each actor is connected to their actions and the directional connectors indicate the flow of action. For example: A nurse in this hospital performs the following actions like allotting bed, recording the admission time, conducting ward rounds, providing medical care and updating registers. It is evident from the above said reasons that the role of nurse involves quite a few activities and these activities are supposed to be recorded and depicted in business model to ensure complete data base of the events and their functions. Adding to these facts, one needs to know that these actions are not consecutive and happened in a sequence ware the activities performed by other actors coming in between them or preceding them or succeeding them. Only in UML we could connect the specific actions performed by distinct actors without getting entangled in the collection of various other functional units. In a nut shell, a reader could grasp the flow of different actors and their functions at the same time in a single diagram. The only substantial drawback of UML is not able to implement logical flow and branching options i.e. in the given hospital case, there are instances were two parallel events occur where one cannot use UML modeling to depict the parallel events occur For example: A nurse provides medical and general care whereas in parallel another nurse prepares the necessary test forms and forwards them to the physician. Using UML we interpreted this problem statement in the following manner à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½provides medical careà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½prepares test formà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½; a reader could not understand whether these two processes occurred at the same time or at different instances. So these processes were placed one after the other and connected to a à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nurseà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. From the above example we can infer that UML does not aid plotting of parallel events. The key factor missing in UML is a lack of logical decision makers and branching functions example in discharging of patient, there is logical branching condition which needs to be satisfied, the condition is the patient is to be cured of diagnosis or else the entire treatment cycle has to be read. It is not possible in use case diagram as these two unique events need to be addressed as separate use cases rather than branched activities or events. Comparison of Languages: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Logical connections and decisions cannot be performed in UML use case models and it could be done in EPC. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ We have faced little difficulties while addressing parallel processes in use case diagram. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Structure and integration could be expressed more efficiently in EPC rather than UML. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Only in UML we could connect the specific actions performed by distinct actors without getting entangled to other functional units. Advantages of UML: UML is the popular approach of visualizing and documenting the software systems design. UML gives object oriented design concepts and ità ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s independent of specific programming language. UML is a popular and technique for documenting and modelling system. It ensures set of symbols to represent graphically the various components and relationships within the system and UML can be used for business process modelling and requirements modelling, it mainly uses to support object oriented system analysis and to develop the object models. Real time UML, this approach is the application of UML to design the real-time system. It emphasises the system with structural and behavioural language models and those designing modelling include the architectural mechanical and detailed design .Object oriented methodologies have employed in the construction of the real time system. The introduction of IT for hospital case is expected to be a major issue in re-designing the processes. Therefore, some of the functions will be speeded by developing suitable software and hardware artifacts. To do so, the business models should be seamlessly matched to software engineering models. As a standard, UML seems to be currently the best choice for expressing such models Disadvantages of UML: UML has still no structure and specification for modeling user interfaces. From our point view, the main disadvantage of this model is lack of formality. UML is used in a implementation process and we wish to use it for our stage of this process for consistency and to protect the user translating work into a innovative language. The other related reason is simply that if users are familiar with UML it may be worth keeping it, as a à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½front endà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to a formal language. Advantages of EPC: One of the main advantages of the EPC is that it is both powerful and easily understandable for end-users. EPCs are often used for capturing and discussing business processes with people who have never been trained in any kind of modelling technique. Although EPCs can be understood even by untrained personnel, the same models can be refined and used for the requirements definition of an information system. This is one of the reasons that both many end-user companies and many software vendors are using EPCs for business process modelling. The existing connections with traditional modelling methods (e.g. data models, such as the entity relationship- model) have been very useful for developing information systems for process-oriented organizations. Therefore many users have asked for a similar kind of connection between EPCs and UML diagrams. Comparison of process: ? UML is richer of concept than ARIS because of the presence of Stereotype, and this enables a higher view of modelling for specific cases. ? ARIS allows personalisation of the model as one concept is represented in many symbols.The software platform also allows integration of business and IS concepts. ? EPC method and UML have different scopes of business modelling. There is a need to use one language in both software and business fields. ? Logical connections and decisions cannot be performed in UML use case models and it could be done in EPC. ? We have faced little difficulties while addressing parallel processes in use case diagram. ? Structure and integration could be expressed more efficiently in EPC rather than UML. ? Only in UML we could connect the specific actions performed by distinct actors without getting entangled to other functional units. Reasons for choosing EPC: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The EPCs meet the requirements to put forward with respect to the ease of understanding by non-specialist in modelling. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ EPCs can offer a multi-level view of the process, since a function in an EPC could be explained in more detail by means of another EPC. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ EPCs give a consistent, formally supported process oriented language that can ensure simulation of the processes. Comparison between EPC and UML: When comparing the EPC and UML for modelling business processes, there are some aspects from which we can view the correspondences and differences between these two methods. The comparisons can be mainly grouped into three aspects: Context: This aspect covers in which context the EPC or UML are developed and used. Both diagrams can be used for modelling business processes, but both have different contexts under which they are developed. Ambiguity: In modelling business processes, it is possible that the EPC or UML diagrams that are created would be ambiguous. Examples of this are implicit decisions, possibility of having blocking, etc. Therefore it is necessary to take a look at the exactness or ambiguity of the diagrams constructed with EPC or UML Activity Diagram. Notation/Terminology: Both the EPC and UML activity diagrams have similar concepts à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ such as fork/join, branch/merge, atomic/extended activity, etc à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ but they are represented using different notation and terminology. Some notation does not have a counterpart in the other diagram. This indicates the semantic differences between them. Therefore we will compare both notations and terminologies to see the correspondence of symbols of one diagram in another diagram and the differences between them. Context Even though the EPC and UML Diagrams are used or can be used to denote business processes, they were developed in different contexts. This pragmatic difference comes from the different modelling approaches that drive the EPC and UML. There are two approaches to model a system. Process-oriented modelling: In process-oriented modelling, the main focus of modelling a system is the process inside the system. A process consists of sequences of events triggering activities. The events themselves are the results of other functions apart from initial events that trigger the whole process. By introducing logical operators, this event-driven control structure can be expanded to a complex control flow illustrating relevant decisions and potential for concurrency that happen in the process. This process-oriented modelling is the basis for the EPC, which found its way as a standard for modelling business processes of an enterprise. The basic EPC model can be extended by further semantic components to illustrate the elements participating in the process such as information objects and organization units. Object-oriented modelling: In object-oriented modelling, the main focus of modelling a system is the objects inside the system. A system is a bunch of objects that have relationships among them. These objects communicate each other by exchanging messages. An object is a discrete and differentiable entity in a system. Each object has properties and exchanges messages through operations. This object-oriented modelling is the basis for UML, which is mainly used in software development such as enterprise information system. Initially activity diagrams are targeted for modelling the dynamics of internal objectà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s actions. Because of its characteristics similar to flowcharts and its capability to visualize concurrent activities, they can be generalized to model operations, use case scenarios, workflows and business processes. Exactness: The formal description of EPC can be used to analyze the syntactical correctness of an EPC diagram. However in practice there are still some problems regarding the exact meaning of some elements in the EPC. The ambiguities arise from the analysis of how elements in an EPC diagram interact in a flow of process. Those ambiguities are: Conjunction of start events: An ambiguity concerning the modelling of start and end events occur in the EPC. It is obvious that nodes without input edges are the start events and similarly nodes without output edges are the end events. But the interpretation is left to the reader, which combination of start and end events he should see as admissible, that is, as seen in reality. The problem becomes obvious when there exists à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½events from the sideà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ meaning start events in the middle of the process which has been started some time before by the first start events. These usually represent communication with external entity. However this conjunction of start events is not explicitly modelled in EPC. Semantics of logical connectors: There are three logical connectors in EPC, that is, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connectors. In chapter two we have already discussed how to connect these logical connectors to events and functions in the control flow. We know that because an event cannot be used to make decisions, an event cannot be followed by logical connectors à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Nevertheless there is also an ambiguity in the semantic of logical connectors, especially in the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connectors. Consider the case in figure 4.1. In the case of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector, the function F1 can only start when both events E1 and E2 occur. That is clear, the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector serves to synchronize by waiting until both events have occurred. In the case of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector, the switching rule of the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½exclusive orà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector says that if either event E1 or event E2 occurs, the following function F1 can start. One question arises, what does the rule mean, when both events occur one after another, for example E1 occurs first then after some time E2 occurs? Can the function then run twice: The first time after the occurrence of the first event, and the second time after the occurrence of the second event? There are several interpretations for what the modeller wants to express, when he uses this connector: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ When both events occur at the same time, they block the following function, or à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Both events cannot occur at the same time, or à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ When the following function starts, then exactly one of both events must have occurred. For the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector, the following rule applies: when at least one of the events occurs, the following function can start; when both events occur at the same time, the function can only start once. A similar question arises for the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector as for the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ one à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ that is, whether the function runs once or twice. Again, there are several interpretations when the events occur one after another, but in the case of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector it is obvious that when both events have occurred the function is not blocked. E1 E2 E1 E2 E1 E2 AND XOR OR F1 F1 F1 Two events arriving at one connector Deadlocks and Loops: For simple EPC graphs it is easy to analyze whether the graphs work or not, but for complex graphs we need a tool to analyze them. It is possible that even when the graph is semantically correct according to the definition of EPC, still an analysis shows there can be deadlocks when executing the process according to the diagram. A deadlock means that in reality when the start events occur à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ thus the process runs à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ after some time the process is stuck somewhere in the graph unable to reach the end states. Possible causes of deadlocks are mismatches of logical connectors à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ especially in complex graphs where connectors link to other connectors à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and different interpretation of logical connectors. For an example an à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector can work either in à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ mode or in à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ mode. If an opening à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector works in à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ mode but the closing à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector works in à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ mode or the other way around, a deadlock would happen. This can be solved if the closing à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½knowsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ in advance in which mode the opening à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector works. Another possible problem discovered by graph analysis is looping. A loop may cause a process to run forever. This is usually not intended to occur in business processes. Notation/Terminology Since both EPC and UML Activity Diagram serve to visualize processes and workflows, both diagrams have similar notations for some common terminologies such as activities, branches and merges, forks and joins, etc. as well as some notational differences between them. These notational correspondences and differences will be discussed here and we will use the result of these notational comparisons for the translation from EPC to UML. The notational correspondences and differences of both diagrams can be categorized as follows: Functions and Activity/Action States: Both the functions in the EPC and activity/action states in UML Activity Diagrams are the active elements that represent what a person of an organization unit or an actor in a use case diagram do with respect to the process. Therefore it is clear that functions and activity/action states represent specific business tasks within a company. That means that they share the same role within their respective diagrams. An activity or a function usually takes some extended time to execute. Events: In the EPC an event is a passive element that triggers a function and is a result of another function. The events can also show the change of status of an object over the process chain. There is no correspondence of events in activity diagrams, even though the activity diagrams are based on state diagram, but the states are mostly activity states, while an event is not an activity. Nevertheless if we take a look at the example of EPC some of the events, especially those that are the direct results of a function, are redundant. For example in the figure 4.2 the result of the function à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½capture requirementà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½requirement capturedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ which means that the resulting event is just to show that when the function finishes control will pass to the event which in turn triggers the next function. However in activity diagram this intermediate result is not explicitly declared. This is because the transition in activity diagrams means that as soon as an activity state finishes it does not have to wait but instead it will trigger the next activity. Control flow and Transitions: Control flow in the EPC corresponds to the transitions in UML Activity Diagram. Control flow is used in a process-oriented approach to show the process chain over time from one event that triggers a business function that in turn results in another event. Activity diagrams are based on state diagrams in which transitions are defined; transitions show the change of states over time. Control flow and transitions are instantaneous; they are assumed not to take so much time. However in the EPC, between two functions there can be some time for the control/token to be kept in an event. Logical connectors: Logical connectors allow the splitting of control flow in the EPC and transitions in activity diagrams. For the splitting regarding to taking a decision between different alternative paths, both diagrams have a similar construct, which is known as branch/merge. The branching and merging of control flows in the EPC is represented using the logical à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector plus the events following it. The same mechanism in activity diagrams is implemented using the decision diamond symbol and transition labels. Both diagrams also support the notation of parallelism known as fork/join. The forking and joining in the EPC is shown using the logical à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector while in activity diagrams it is shown using the synchronization bar. Actually a synchronization bar corresponds to an à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector together with the events before it, because a synchronization bar waits for all transitions to arrive. The main difference between EPC an d activity diagrams in the case of logical connectors is that EPC supports à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½inclusive orà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector while there is no notation in activity diagrams to denote the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector. Organization units and Swim lanes: An organization unit in the EPC is attached to a function its responsibility for the respective business task. In the activity diagrams this is accomplished by arranging the activities that belong to the same department in a company or activities being done by the same actor in a use case into swim lanes. Iteration Activity diagrams support the notation for iteration which is not available in the EPC. The comparisons between EPC and activity diagrams are summarized in the following table: EPC UML Context Process-oriented modelling Object-oriented modelling (business oriented) (IT oriented) Exactness/Ambiguity à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Event from the sideà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, deadlocks, loops, logical connector semantics Notation/Terminology Active Element Function Activity/Action state Passive Element Event Process chain Control flow Transition Logical connectors Branch/Merge à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector Decision diamond Fork/Join à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector Synchronization bar à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Inclusive orà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector Actor Organization unit Swimlane Iteration à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½*à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (multiplicity sign) Summary of comparison between EPC and UML Translation between EPC and UML Diagram In translating from EPC to activity diagram and the other way around, we will use the results from the comparison between EPC and UML Activity Diagram as already discussed before. To translate from an EPC diagram to an activity diagram, the following guidelines can be used. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Determine the organization units involved in the process chain together with the functions that each of the organization is responsible for. Align the Organization units into separate swim lanes in an activity diagram. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Transform each function into activity/action states in the activity diagram and put it in the swim lane of the organization unit being responsible for it. If the function is a complex hierarchical function (which is also called a process), the refined EPC for that specific function can be either drawn as a complex activity state (meaning that inside the activity state we must specify some actions performed in the activity as well as entry and exit actions) or it would be better to draw the function in a separate activity diagram. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Transform the corresponding logical connectors from the EPC into the corresponding elements in the activity diagram. The branches and merges represented by à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connectors are transformed into decision diamonds and the forks and joins represented by à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connectors are transformed into synchronization bars. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Connect the activities and decision diamonds or synchronization bars according to the control flow in the EPC. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Add the start event(s) and end event(s). It is possible to have multiple start events and end events. This can be considered as multiple start events in the EPC or can also be considered as several scenarios in one diagram. However, there are some problems with regard to the translation from an EPC to an activity diagram: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ As can be seen from the comparison, not all logical connectors for splitting and joining the control can be modelled in a straightforward way. The main problem is with the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector; there is no corresponding element in activity diagram to represent this logical connector. One solution is to express this à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connection in terms of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½XORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ANDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connectors. To show this, we know from the logic theory that for two variables x and y, the following equation applies: Using this equation we can translate two alternate paths taken based on an opening and a closing à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connectors into the following diagram: OR F1 F2 F1 F2 F1 F2 OR The branch/fork solution for the elementary or-connector However if the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ORà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ connector connects more than two alternative paths the resulting translation in the activity diagram would be very complicated. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The organizational responsibility for activities is expressed in activity diagrams using swim lanes. However, swim lanes are not sufficient for modelling advanced and precise organizational relationships. These are important for example for the definition of workflows when support through workflow management systems is intended. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Another problem with respect to translation from EPC to activity diagram is related to the loss of important information contained in events and information/resource objects. Some of the events are related to the change of state of an information/resource object. We can show this change of objectà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s state as an object with the object flow in an activity diagram, but if there are many information/resource objects in an EPC, they would make the diagram very hard to read. à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The definition of activity diagrams as state machines is quite problematic for applying activity diagrams according to the UML definition for business process modelling because actually not all business functions can be regarded as internal action states, e.g. interaction with outside business units. A reverse procedure can also be applied to transl

Bilingual Education Essay -- essays research papers fc

Bilingual Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education is very important. There use to be a time when you didn’t have to go to school. When it was only important for men to have an education. Times have really changed. Now it is crucial for everyone in our society to have an education. Survival is the main reason: a cohesive society is another. Our schools today need to keep Bilingual education as a tool for teaching: not only for the sake of our society but also for the sense of our culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bilingual education in our schools is crucial: but still there is talk about banning the use of foreign language in the instruction of our young children. We have to work to change that kind of attitude. We have to proceed from the assumption that bilingual Marquez 2 education is a sound educational proposition for all children and that it addresses the needs of all the constituencies of education. Now more than ever the words of Thomas Jefferson ring with special meaning: in 1977, in a letter to his nephew, Jefferson said: â€Å"Bestow great attention on Spanish and endeavor to acquire an accurate knowledge of it. Our future connections with Spain and Spanish America will render that language a valuable acquisition. The ancient history of that part of America, too, is written in that language†. (qt. in A Relook ’66). Hispanic leaders should plan an initiative to help Hispanic youths do better in school. It's a coming-together as a community to deal with a very pressing issue. The organizations should be composed of public officials, Marquez3 students, educators, administrators, and business people and should try to determine the biggest problems facing Latino students in their community. These groups need to work together to develop a statewide agenda. Hispanic students, according to some studies, lag behind other students in classroom performance; have the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group in the country; and, according to federal data, are less likely to pursue higher learning(Tucson ’66). We as a society, need to have a school system that prepares our students for higher education if that is their choice. Society needs to work together to change the educational process for Latino students. Consider these numbers, which we drew from As A Relook at Tucson ’66 states† Minority groups are being shortchanged by more than 20... ...important factors that influence student outcomes. There is much more work left to do by the schools if we are to enable LEP students to achieve at high academic levels. Improvement would have to focus on teachers, teaching, academic content and standards, Marquez14 accountability, school-wide leadership, program integration, parent involvement-and effective use of the native language to assure high level and meaningful learning for all students from the time they enter school. Proposition 227 removes an important tool -- use of the native language -- from the hands of educators it would only serve to make even more difficult the challenges of school improvement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A society with no education cannot compete in the modern world. We as a society need to fight to keep Bilingual education as a teaching tool in the schooling system. Marquez15 Works cited A relook at Tucson ’66 and beyond. Washington D.C. 1973. Leibowitz, Arnold. A bilingual education act: a legislative analysis. Virginia, 1980. The world book encyclopedia. (E vol. 6) Chicago: World Atlas Krashen, S. Under attack: The case against Bilingual Education. Culver City CA: 1996

Case Study One- Rio Tinto: Redesigning HR Essay

1. Synopsis Rio Tinto, an international London based mining and mineral company was severely impacted by the global recession in 2008. Such an impact forced unprecedented workforce reductions worldwide and decentralized HR management had to be brought in under a single umbrella to insure an orderly and efficient system that would support the organization’s future productivity. This new proactive approach to management, utilization of technology, and preparation of the employees proved to help save the company and set the stage for continued future operations. 2. Answer the Questions Q1. How did Rio Tinto’s revamping of HR help with minimizing the potential problems with the reduction in force? The entirety of management to engage in strategic human resource planning is what had been revamped in the Rio Tinto organization. Engaging in centralized global planning, maintaining effectiveness, awareness in serving the best interests of the entire organization, and not carrying out decentralized single focused HR at all sixty individual business sites was a positive, yet necessary culture shift leading to increased efficiency. The intention to control issues and serve the best company interests were to maintain integrity, hold down costs (which could have been in legal fights and time), sensitivity to those affected persons and business units, and establish a data management system that handles international staffing and succession planning. What role would an HRIS have to play in managing a RIF? The role of Human Resource Information System(s) in any organization is to give employee asset visibility to enable management decisions and planning easier. In a perfect world, all employee records from hire to decision time would give a more complete picture on all employees past, present, and future value to the organization. The comprehensiveness of a database with all the intricacies loaded in to handle future plans, regional requirements,  training and education, critical skills, performance data, and succession planning allows managers the ability to see exactly where to eliminate positions and personnel that do not add to organizational productivity. Q2. Without a consistent philosophy, policies, and approaches to reduction in force (or any other disruptions in the future) what would the likely reactions from employees be? The first collective employee reaction management will see, whether the entire reduction in force plan is revealed, would be that of the union(s) being up in arms that there will be any employees getting the pink slip. The on the job efficiencies and reduction in productiveness could occur if employees become disenfranchised and are left wondering on whether they have a job tomorrow. Managers and employees who generally have a minor trust issue normally will withdraw from each other, which will result in work team dysfunctional behaviors and creativity will stalemate. If left to its own devices, strikes, walkouts, or employee sabotage could become the extreme results of poorly constructed philosophy, policies, and management approaches. 3. Describe a Similar Personal Experience During the mid-to-end of the 1990s, during my career in the US Army, we had a reduction in force (RIF) that was conducted very poorly. The perceived best interests (Washington politics) for the organization and centralized decisions were implemented without regard for the work units spread across the globe. There was no real use of a common sense approach to succession planning and ultimately we lost an unacceptable amount of mid-level managers that caused a knowledge gap that took nearly ten years to correct. At the time, the HRIS was not fully in place with management understanding the capability of the tools possible in making decisions. Changes since that time have improved in teaching management to leaders and in the near future, a RIF is on the way with the drawdown after we get our forces back here from the Middle East. We should watch and evaluate the historical lessons of the past.

Before You Were Mine by Carol Ann Duffy Essay

â€Å"Before you were mine† is a poem written by a daughter about how she imagines her mother’s life ten years before the daughter was born. The author describes the photo of her mother with two of her friends. They â€Å"shriek at the pavement† and seem to be sharing a joke, young and lightsome (line 4). She knows that the thought of having a child one day doesn’t occur to her mother when she was young and had a lot of dreams. Now remembering her own childhood, Duffy thinks of how she used to play with her mother’s red shoes and imagines when her mother might have worn them. She remembers how her mother used to teach her dance steps when she was a little girl. The poem is a four stanza one, each stanza being made up of five lines, with some variation in length of line. The first two stanzas focus purely on the life of the mother before the daughter was born, whilst the third stanza opens with a reference to the daughter’s birth and then moves to the daughter’s vision of her mother in her earlier life, thus providing a link with the previous stanzas. The fourth stanza begins with a recollection from the daughter’s younger life with her mother, and then takes us back once again to the mother’s days of dancing. I consider that the language contributes to the mood of the poem. The poem is written in first person narrative voice. There are many references to her mother as very happy – â€Å"you laugh / the bold girl winking in Portobello†, â€Å"you sparkle and waltz and laugh†(lines 13-15). The author’s mother’s life can be perceived as flashy. Her mother is likened to Marilyn Monroe: â€Å"Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn† (line 5). Duffy’s mother dreams of â€Å"fizzy, movie tomorrows† (line 7). The poem is written in the present tense, as if the events of the photo are happening now. I suppose in this way the poet tries to make her mother’s past as real as possible. It seems juicy to read a poem in which a daughter imagines how full of life and fun her mother must have been before she was born. Her admiration of her mother is shown in a direct way, and words such as â€Å"shriek†, â€Å"sparkle† and â€Å"fizzy† image the carelessness of youth. Throughout, the poet is very possessive of her mother. References to her appear constantly: â€Å"I’m ten years away†¦ †, â€Å"I’m not here yet†¦ †, â€Å"I remember†¦ † (lines 1, 6 and 12). The word â€Å"mine† appears in the title and the poem actually concludes with the same words as the title, as if the poet is locking her mother in a firm embrace of words.