School Prayer Essay Example for Free

School Prayer Essay In simple terms, prayer is talking to God or a god. During that conversation, the person praying may use his or her own words or, â€Å"a set order of words,† such as the Lord’s Prayer to speak to God, may â€Å"request or wish† something from a God. The conversation may be vocal or silent. Questions involving school prayer are among the most argumentative questions posed to the courts. This has been the case decades ago and still occurring today. The history of prayer in the public education system is a story of legal rendering. The relationship between religion and government in the United States is governed by the First Amendment of the Constitution, which both prevents the government from establishing religion and protects privately initiated religious expression and activities from government discrimination. The First Amendment establishes certain limits on the conduct of public school officials as it relates to religious activity, including prayer. The First Amendment says, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, [known as the Establishment Clause], or prohibiting the free exercise thereof [known as the Free Exercise Clause],† (U.  S. Constitution) When deciding a case, the court has to balance between favoring a religion and prohibiting it. Landmark Case: Engle vs. Vitale The Supreme Court has many times held that the First Amendment requires public school leaders to be neutral in their treatment of religion. This means not showing favoritism toward any religion but yet not showing any hostile expression towards any religious doings, such as prayer. One of the most famous court cases involving religion and public schools happened in a New York City school district in the 1950s. Each morning before classes started, students would say a twenty-two word prayer that was created by the school board. Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country. A few parents objected, saying that this school promoted prayer violated the First Amendment. The New York Supreme Court ruled against the parents, who was represented by Stephen Engle. After taking their claim to a higher court numerous times, the court case Engle v. Vitale (1962), finally made it to the Supreme Court. In 1962 the Supreme Court Judges voted, the vote was 6 to 1, deciding that the twenty-two word prayer was unconstitutional. It was decided that the prayer, â€Å"singled out a particular religious practice contradicting the Establishment Clause of the First Amendement. † (Haas 48) This landmark case is one of the significant case laws used in order to determine neutrality in questions of school prayer. It was decided that teachers and other public school officials may not lead their classes in prayer, devotional readings from the Bible, or other religious activities. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U. S. 421 (1962) Violation of the Establishment Clause: Sante Fe v. Doe While school leaders may not lead their students in prayer, according to 105 ILCS 20/5, Students do have the right to pray at school. They must respect the schools policies, regulations, and rules that are in place regarding any disruption to the educational system. This being said, â€Å"students may read their Bibles during study hall or other non-structured time, may say grace, and may discuss religion with their peers during non-directed free time, such as time spent on the playground, on a school bus, in the hallways, or in the cafeteria. † (Braun 184) This student right and Illinois compiled statute was tested in the case of Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe. Santa Fe v. Doe centered on the Santa Fe Independent School District policy allowing student-led prayer before football games. Santa Fe Independent School District had a history of student-led prayer. The students were elected by their peers to lead prayer at a school event. An Appellate Court ruling found that the district’s policy was unconstitutional in accordance with the Establishment Clause. The Court stated that the policy was not only an actual endorsement of prayer, but also a perceived endorsement, and, therefore, sent a message to nonbelievers that they were outsiders and that believers were the favored group in the community If the prayer is student lead, driven, and initiated it does not go against the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled saying, â€Å"The delivery of such a message, over the schools public address system, by a speaker representing the student body, under the supervision of the school faculty, and pursuant to a school policy that explicitly and implicitly encourages public prayer is not properly characterized as private speech† (Santa Fe v. Doe, 2000). Moment of Silence for Prayer: Wallace v. Jaffrey? So far a few things have been decided. The first is that any school-sponsored religious practice is prohibited because it is in violation of the Establishment Clause. The second thing is that students do have a right to freely exercise their personal religious practices as long as they do it during non-structured times; but where does the law stand on moments of silence that schools use for personal prayer times? After court cases such as Engle vs. Vitale it was obvious that religion in schools was diminishing. To counter back at these Supreme Court rulings many states started establishing moments of silence at the beginning of each school day as a substitute for the vocal prayer that had been taken away. These moments of silence are permissible as long as they are done for a secular purpose. Wallace v. Jaffrey is the only case that the Supreme Court has heard on a moment of silence in schools. The case contested an Alabama law that established a moment of silence for the purpose of â€Å"meditation or voluntary prayer† (Wallace v. Jaffrey, 1985). The court found that the statue was unconstitutional because it was enacted solely for the purpose of promoting religion in schools. The majority opinion found that any statute establishing a moment of silence that included the word â€Å"prayer† was unconstitutional. 1985 the Supreme Court concluded that Alabama’s silent meditation and prayer statute violated the Establishment Clause. Alexander 217) Explaining how this ruling came to be, an understanding of how our courts can make such a decision is needed first. The Establishment Clause Tests: The Supreme Court uses three tests to determine violations of the Establishment Clause. The tests may be considered singularly or together to determine constitutionality. The court has repeatedly stressed that the Constitution prohibits public schools from teaching children in religion. But it is not always easy to determine exactly what constitutes teaching or school sponsorship of religious acts. To help explain the establishment clause, which is often a question in issues of school prayer, the court uses several tests. The three main tests include the Lemon, coercion, and endorsement test. Lemon Test: The Lemon test gets its name from the 1973 decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman, in which the Court struck down a state program that was giving aid to religious elementary and secondary schools. The Lemon test is a three prong test, each part being just as important as the other two. Using the Lemon test, a court must first determine whether the law or government action in question has a secular purpose. This prong is based on the idea that government should only concern itself in civil matters, leaving religion to the conscience of the individual. Second, a court would ask whether the state action has the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion. Finally, the court would consider whether the action excessively entangles religion and government. While religion and government must interact at some points while co-existing in society, the concern here is that they do not so overlap and intertwine that people have difficulty differentiating between the two. Although this test has come under fire from certain Supreme Court Justices, it has never been over turned, and it is still used to guide decisions in courts today. Coercion Test: Some justices propose allowing more government support for religion than the Lemon test allows, their support stands with the coercion test. Justice Kennedy created the coercion test in Lee v. Weisman. The coercion test is used to determine whether or not the government coerced participation in the religious activity. In regard to public schools, it is used to determine whether or not students experienced a coercive effect. Based on the 1992 case of Lee v. Weisman, 505 U. S. 577 the religious practice is examined to see to what extent, if any, pressure is applied to force or â€Å"coerce† individuals to participate. The Court has defined that the government does not violate the establishment clause unless it, (1) provides direct aid to religion in a way that would tend to establish a state church, or (2) coerces people to support or participate in religion against their will. Even the coercion test is subject to varying interpretations. This was evident and illustrated in Lee v.  Weisman. Endorsement Test: The third test that was proposed by Justice Sandra Day OConnor is the endorsement test. It was used in the 1984 case of Lynch v. Donnelly, asking whether a particular government action amounts to an endorsement of religion, thus violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Its with this test that a government action is invalid if it creates a perception in the mind of a reasonable observer that a religion is being endorsed or disapproved. The endorsement test has been included into the Lemon test. While the endorsement test has been applied in many cases, it has not produced a conclusive answer to the question of constitutionality in all cases. There is a forth test that is sometimes used in establishment-clause decisions, it is the neutrality test. While the Lemon, coercion, and endorsement test are used in matters of expression the neutrality test is mainly used in issues dealing with funding. Making sure the government is giving neutral aid to public and religious schools with no religious promotion. Because of its dealings and ruling in funding matters, the neutrality test is not often used in issues of prayer in public schools. The Wallace case is legally significant for representing the value of neutrality underlying the Establishment Clause. It also showed the significance for the Lemon test as the main test for evaluating the constitutionality of public school involvement in religion. The Court in Wallace showed its position that the Establishment Clause â€Å"‘requires the state to be a neutral in its relations with groups of religious believers and non-believers. ’† (Lofaso 30) The Court then concluded that Alabama’s moment-of-silence statute violated the Establishment Clause because it failed the purpose prong of the Lemon test: â€Å"The legislature enacted . . for the sole purpose of expressing the State’s endorsement of prayer activities for one minute at the beginning of each school day. Does Location of the Prayer Matter? It was almost a half-century ago that the Supreme Court in Engle v. Vitale established that daily prayer in the classroom is unconstitutional. Since then, this thought has grown due to cases where location of the prayer have been put into question. Now the Supreme Court extends their thinking to include, â€Å"any particular form of prayer which is to be used as an official prayer in carrying on any program of governmentally sponsored religious activity. The Supreme Court continued to keep watch even when school prayer moved outside the classroom to a graduation ceremony. In Lee v. Weisman, principals at public schools in Providence, Rhode Island invited clergy to speak at graduations. The principals provided the clergy with guidelines, which essentially boiled down to keeping the prayers nonsectarian. When Principal Lee invited a rabbi to give a prayer at Nathan Bishop Middle School’s graduation, Deborah Weisman and her parents objected. When the Weismans alleged a violation of the Establishment Clause, the school board argued that an event as significant as graduation warranted prayer. The lower courts agreed with the Weismans and the Supreme Court affirmed. The school board argued that graduation was a voluntary event. The Court dismissed this argument, finding graduation to be an important event in a student’s life that must not be forfeited due to different religious beliefs and that the government must not get involved. In 1992 the Court decided that it was unconstitutional for a member of the clergy to deliver an invocation or benediction at a public school graduation, and that in doing so, the school endorsed religion and required students who were non-believers to accept the religious practices. Conclusion: Supreme Court decisions provide insight into the debate against school prayer. Because of the various Court rulings on the school prayer issue, we do have a foundation to base other decisions off of when issues arise with mixing church and state in the public educational system. Students today can not be forced to recite any prayer that has been endorsed by the school, but they may practice a moment of silence during the school day as long as they are not required to use that time for prayer. Students are also free to exercise their religious beliefs. They may read their Bibles during non structured time and pray as long as they are following the rules and regulations regarding school disruption. If at any time the state gets involved, or the activities become school-sponsored then the religious acts are unconstitutional and violate the First Amendment. It is important to remember that the United States exists today because the founders sought to live in a country free from government interference, especially concerning religion. Individuals are free to exercise their beliefs as long as they are not forcing those beliefs unto others.

Jocasta: Queen Of Thebes

Jocasta: Queen Of Thebes Jocasta: Unacknowledged Misunderstood Surrounded by powerful and royal men, left in the background as if she; Jocasta Queen of Thebes was not important. In Sophocles play Oedipus the King, Queen Jocasta endures a tragic fate of her own. Queen Jocasta is not only imperative to the aiding of the story, but gives an more in depth look into Sophocles tragedy. To many people Oedipus is deemed as tragic individual within the play, but not only he should be focused on, Jocasta has encountered just as many tragedies if not more. She receives news about the murder of her husband king Laius, marries her son Oedipus and commits suicide when she finds out the prophecy from oracle has come true. Many people know the story of Oedipus the king, Oedipus who is prophesized to murder his father and marry his mother. At birth Oedipus is taken up to the mountains with his feet bonded to die, to protect the king and queen from the prophecy of the oracle. Perhaps if the story where told in Jocastas point of view, then readers would understand the amount of devastations she has really suffered. Readers will see that more then anything else; Jocasta is an innocent a victim of circumstances. Pregnant with her first child, Jocasta receives the prophecy from the oracle of Delphi that if she bores a son, he will kill the king and marry her. What would any young and impressionable mother do in that situation; but listen to the wise words of her husband and king. King Laius tells her that they must get rid of the baby. â€Å"I am fifteen and afraid to resist and tell myself it is my husbands right; the gods decree a wife obey her spouse (Jocasta)†. Jocasta, not much of a woman yet, can not do anything more then listen to her husband. She must give up her only child, although it is not what she wants to do, she must because it is her only option. â€Å"The only choice a woman has is that she wed accepting what the gods and men decree (Jocasta)†.Women in Jocastas time had no say no say in thing at all. All decisions were made by the men in their lives, their fathers, husbands and the gods. Women could not complain about the decision made, they could only accept th e decision and live with them. In Ruth F. Eisenbergs â€Å"Jocasta†, Sophocles play is told in Jocastas point of view. Eisenberg retells the story by giving a deeper insight on the struggles Jocasta faced as the young wife of Laius and also as the Queen of Thebes. â€Å"The baby cries, and Laius turns away. He summons a servant and orders me to hand my baby over, threatening me when I cry. The king will keep his own hands clean (Jocasta)†. Young and naive Jocasta must do what she is told by her husband or like Oedipus he might get rid of her. Jocasta could not question the great King Laius, she was not his equal. She was considered below him, like all the women other in Thebes during that time. Secondly, she fell in love with the man that solved the riddle of the sphinx, which happened to be her own son, Oedipus, who she has four children with. After many years of an unbearable and loveless marriage, Jocasta finally finds a man that she truly and deeply cares about. He is everything a woman would want smart, a good leader and loving. â€Å"He was at first my headstrong bull, but now he is what a man, a king, should be. Our love has brought to me the joy that I missed when I was young and thought Id never know (Jocasta)†. Her first marriage was so horrible she never though she would find real love. She is really happy with the man that her second husband is, he was everything King Laius was not. Her second husband gives her four beautiful children, children who she thought she would never have again. Two wonderful daughters and two strong sons, the four children she thought she would never have to give up. Everything was going perfect for Oedipus and Jocasta until the land started to come be dry and would not bare any crops. The people of Thebes began to suffer greatly and Oedipus decides to consult the oracle. Consequently, she finds out that everything oracle had predicted in fact did come true. A messenger from Corinth comes to tell Oedipus about the death of his alleged father Polybus, and asks him to come back to Corinth as the new king. Oedipus refuses because he fears he oracles prophecy will come true. The messenger reassures him that Merope his alleged mother did not have any children, and Oedipus was not their real son. Queen begged Oedipus not to continue to question the messenger but he does not listen. â€Å"In the name of the gods, no! If you havesome concern for your own life, then stop! Do not keep investigating this I will suffer-that will be enough (Sophocles)†. Queen no realizes that the prophecy may have actually come true, she tries to protect Oedipus form the truth but he does not listen to her.The messenger goes on to say that in fact Oedipus is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Queen Jocasta just as shocked as Oedipus if not more, is overwhelmed with as tonishment and pity. â€Å"I cant believe. I cant believe. Oh God. He is my son. Ive loved my son but not as mothers should, but in my bed, in me. All that I loved most, his youth that made our love the summer sun, wrong, all wrong. Vile(Jocasta).† Jocasta is so overwhelmed with guilt, shame and pity. After loveless years of marriage to find someone she really loved and to find out that he is her own son was extremely appalling to Jocasta. Jocasta realizes she was cursed form the day she married King Laius and that it is his entire fault, and because of him she is getting punished. Jocasta ashamed and disgusted cures the god and goddess that she prayed to her whole life. With the truth of the oracle being too much to bear, she could no longer live another day and commits suicide. Victimized by the gods and by her first husband, Jocasta was cursed from the day she was born. Her fate was already decided for her and there was no way around it. Everything she every loved was a cu rse, the five children she more were all curses destined to cause her deep pain. Jocasta Queen of Thebes was surrounded by powerful and royal men, and was left in the background as if she was not important. Queen Jocasta was not only imperative to the aiding of the story, but she gave a more in depth look into Sophocles tragedy. Jocasta should also be as a tragic hero, she had encountered many tragedies. After receiving news about the murder of her husband king Laius, she marries her own son; which was all too much for Jocasta to bear thus prompting her to commit suicide. Consequently, now that the story has been told from Jocastas point of view, readers will have a better understanding of the devastation that Jocasta has endure. Jocasta is in fact really the victim in the play; she is a victim of circumstance and truly has suffered as a result. Works Cited â€Å"Jocasta.† https://teacherweb.com/FL/SAS/Cabrera/Jocasta.pdf. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2009. . â€Å"Jocasta by Ruth Eisenberg.† Jocasta by Ruth Eisenberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2009. . Apollo!. â€Å"Sophocles: Oedipus Rex.† Poetry In Translation A.S. Klines Free Poetry Archive Main Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2009. . Sophocles Oedipus the King. Sophocles Oedipus the King. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2009. .

Role of micro finance in natural disasters

Role of micro finance in natural disasters The impacts of natural disasters are mainly faced by the poor community people in every country. It is very much tough for the poor people to cope with the impacts of natural disasters. Micro-finance has not only generated enormous hope for the poor people in many developing countries but also played a vital role in natural disasters affected areas. In this paper, the roles of micro-finance in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters are illustrated. It has been seen that micro-finance institutions provide support on poor community people prepare for the onslaughts or rehabilitation needs of the disaster victims, show coping mechanism during a disaster hits and how people can wake of a post natural disaster both at the personal level and generally. Key words: Role of Micro-finance, impacts of natural disasters, poor, support, coping, developing countries. Introduction: Over the years, natural disasters seem to have become more frequent across the world, resulting in enormous human and economic losses. Natural disasters take many forms like earthquakes, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, tornados and droughts, which threaten the very existence of the local communities. Further, it has been observed that the effects of natural disasters are more acute in developing countries than in developed ones. Natural disasters have had devastating dev ·as ·tate  Ã‚   tr.v. dev ·as ·tat ·ed, dev ·as ·tat ·ing, dev ·as ·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. .. Click the link for more information.  effects on the poor. For example, in 1998, Bangladesh experienced the flood of the century. Households exposed to flooding had major crop failure, suffered various water-borne diseases, lost shelter, assets and the ability to meet basic needs. Results show that the burden of medical expenditures due to flood-related sicknesses is significantly higher for poorer households, and for households more exposed to flooding. More positively, econometric results indicate that social cohesion built on group-based micro-finance programs provide an informal social insurance that reduces sickness shocks. The strength of group-based micro-credit in coping with natural disasters is yet to be fully explored. Micro-credit may not be effective in the case of a large-scale natural disaster that creates a covariate shock. However, even in the case of a large-scale natural disaster (e.g. 1998 flooding), social capital developed through micro-credit programs is s hown to play a positive role in reducing the burden of sickness shocks. Micro-finance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. At the end of 2009, 1,084 MFIs that were serving 74 million borrowers ($38 billion in outstanding loans) and 67 million savers ($23 billion in deposits). For example, In Indonesian context, micro-financial savings and lending institutions support families to ensure consumption against illness shocks. Micro-finance actually helps the poor and vulnerable poor people. So, micro finance reduces vulnerability and increases coping against socio-economic shocks, including Natural disasters. At the same time, microfinance can provide relief in direct response to disasters. Thus it is possible to make micro finance tools a part of diverse disaster relief programs or response. Objective of the study: Disaster mitigation practices needs to be tied up throughout the life cycle of micro-finance tools in order to make poor community people sustainable and minimize non-financial losses. As just mentioned, the roles of micro-finance in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters are the purpose of this study. This study is prepared based on the following questions: What are the roles of micro-finance in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters, coping mechanism during or after disaster period? What are the main lessons and challenges of micro-finance to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters in poor community? Microfinance and Disaster Mitigation: Some Conceptual Issues The attributes of microfinance, which are applied in reducing household level risks, are relevant for reducing disaster risks too. Microfinance instruments help poor households diversify their income by source and season. They also diversify income by earner as it provides opportunities to women to earn. Multiplicity of income-earning opportunities and asset building through microfinance help poor households in dealing with disasters better. Microfinance also provides explicit and implicit insurance to the households. There is growing interest and constant experimentation in using microfinance in disaster management. The role of microfinance and microfinance institutions in disaster situations, however, is to be clearly analyzed here. Microfinance deals with the poor who are vulnerable to various types of risks. The poor are more likely to be hard-hit hard-hit adj. Badly or adversely affected: Official rescue and recovery efforts were just getting underway in this ravaged port city and more than a dozen other hard-hit towns  R. .. Click the link for more information.  by disasters like drought drought,  abnormally long period of insufficient rainfall. Drought cannot be defined in terms of inches of rainfall or number of days without rain, since it is determined by such variable factors as the distribution in time and area of precipitation during and before .. Click the link for more information., floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. Disasters normally give rise to two kinds of needs, namely relief and rehabilitation. What is required immediately after a disaster is relief to take care of food, shelter, medicine and other immediate needs of the victims. Through its long term impacts of reducing poverty and supporting sustainable development, microfinance reduces the vulnerability of the poor to disasters. Microfinance cannot, however, provide standalone protection against disasters. It must be part of a greater strategy of disaster risk reduction. MFIs must be prepared for disasters by developing disaster management plans that ensure the survival of the MFI and sustainable delivery of its services. Education on microfinance and disaster mitigation is needed for both successful poverty reduction and disaster impact reduction. Microfinance must be linked to disaster mitigation, especially during rehabilitation when the links between recover y and preparedness are clearly evident. MFIs like BRAC, ASA, Grameen Bank, Shakti etc. are working to reducing vulnerability during natural disaster by providingClint-responsive loans, housing improvement loans, adaptation of current lending, emergency reconstruction loans etc. They help to so compulsory savings, voluntary savings, adaptation of forced loans etc. MFIs suggest people for doing Insurance (best established before disaster). MFIs provide money transfer services (remittances likely to increase), Grants and donations (for increasing power and building financial discipline), Livelihood relief (no payment) to the poor community people. Microfinance Institutions also provide non-financial services like training, information dissemination, distribution of supplies etc. In the aftermath of a disaster, microfinance can quickly provide relief, and then support sustainable recovery and rehabilitation. Microfinance institutions can additionally provide post-disaster communication and coordination through their established community networks. Microfinance requires a degree of self-management by clients and is normally community based, thus fostering recovery ownership, dignity and community cohesion during traumatic and unstable times. Microfinance can reduce the cost of post-disaster recovery financing, while reducing aid dependency. At the same time, however, post- disaster aid can distort markets, adversely affecting microfinance performance. Post-disaster activities must be carefully considered to prevent negative long-term impacts on local markets and MFIs. To best reduce disaster impacts on a community, MFIs should offer a suite of flexible products to adapt to specific needs and situations. Links and/or partnerships with the formal financial secto r are needed to enhance liquidity and support institutional and managerial capacity. IV.Cases (Disaster management of Micro-finance programmes): Flood in Bangladesh (1998): Bangladesh is largely a flat deltaic country formed by the confluence of great river systems of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna. These river systems annually drain a vast basin about 12 times its own size. Apart from this, hilly regions experiences flash flood after heavy rainfall and due to frequent depressions in the Bay, Bangladesh experiences regular threats of cyclonic storms, often catastrophic. The role of microfinance services in responding to disaster risks was demonstrated first during the 1998 flood. Bangladesh experienced the worst floods in its history from July to September 1998. The damages to standing crops, livestock and houses were overwhelming. The income generating activities of rural landless people were almost suspended. There had been a huge loss of property and human and animal lives during the SIDR attack in 2007 in the coastal areas of Bangladesh, nearly 4 millions affected, and more than six thousand people died, thous ands of livestock perished, and 0.9 million homes fully or partially damaged. All the MFIs in Bangladesh responded to the unprecedented situation of floods and SIDR. During the floods and cyclones, MFI workers even went on boats to ensure that weekly contacts with all members were maintained. Workers carried money with them and provided immediate interest-free consumption loans so that the members would not go hungry. the MFIs allowed the members to withdraw their savings. Grameen Bank, BRAC, ASA, Proshika, TMSS, CODEC, GUK and many other small MFIs despite a very serious financial consequence for their liquidity, opened access to compulsory savings account in an attempt to reduce the precipitous decline many households experienced in their incomes. In non-disaster times, members of these institutions did not have access to these funds unless they had fully repaid any outstanding loans and decided to leave the MFI. BRAC also operated disaster-related deposits, which allowed members to keep their assets safe from loss or damage due to the floods. A number of MFIs such as ASA and others provided voluntary savings facilities to their members. These facilities provided the members more assistance in disasters than compulsory or disaster-related savings with less negative financial consequences for the MFI. Tsunami -Micro Finance in Sri Lanka(2004): The December 2004 tsunami is one of the worst natural disasters experienced by Sri Lanka in recorded history. With over 35,000 dead and over 800,000 displaced it is a disaster of a magnitude that the country was ill equipped to deal with. Thirteen of the countrys twenty five districts were affected with the North and East provinces accounting for over two thirds of deaths and nearly 60% of the displaced. Sri Lanka (RADA) estimates that about 150,000 people lost livelihoods about 80 per cent of the affected lost their main source of income; 90 per cent lost their productive assets including the abodes. There were several issues facing the micro finance sector even pre-tsunami. The micro finance market has been pluralistic with high penetration by many different types of institutions, employing a wide range of micro finance models and methods. Bulk of micro credit is funded through Government banks and programmes, through subsidized credit, w hich is not sustainable. Agro Micro-Finance, BRAC, Arthacharya Foundation were working in Sri Lanka during tsunami. While these MFIs might be fulfilling their social mission, they were not charging interest rates that would achieve cost recovery. Capacity building of these institutions was a priority. Agro Micro-Finance was operating in eight districts in Sri Lanka, many of which were affected by the tsunami. Arthacharya Foundation is a national not-for-profit NGO functioning in seven districts. This organization is working with a large number of donors in promoting micro enterprises through savings and credit, and also working in health and sanitation. BRAC set up operations in Sri Lanka for undertaking post-tsunami rehabilitation activities. BRAC has quickly expanded the outreach as well as loans since establishing operations in Sri Lanka. Within a year of operation the number of clients reached has touched 26,373 making it one of the larger MFIs in Sri Lanka. Well established man agement practices and systems have enabled the MFI to quickly scale up. Though the initial operations were through grant funds from BRAC and Oxfam NOVIB, BRAC has recently approached commercial banks for loans for expanding its loan portfolio. Pre-tsunami, voluntary savings was offered by four MFIs and compulsory savings by ten MFIs. Overall, there have been several positive developments due to post-tsunami funding by donors. Lessons and challenges of micro-finance: As we look broadly at micro-finance as an industry, and at specific experiences in the natural disaster context, it is possible to draw several broad lessons: Microfinance cannot be a financial safety net to an entire affected community, but can play an increasingly constructive role in disaster preparedness and response as it expands its range of products and services. Establishment of long-term relationships between individuals and MFIs allow poor households access to existing MFI products that can help reduce some of the hardships caused by natural disasters. Preparedness of the MFIs staff and systems is the key to providing timely response to clients. Timing of MFI services matters to clients: emergency loans must be available quickly after disaster strikes, while reconstruction support is useful once the household has fully passed the emergency stage. Along with these broad lessons, there are also clear bottlenecks that limit the role MFIs currently play in natural disaster response and mitigation: Most MFIs do not have the liquidity position (or access to a Disaster Loan Fund) to respond quickly or fully in a disaster context. MFIs-from management, to field staff, to reserves, to information and communication systems-are not currently prepared to either weather or respond to a natural disaster situation. MFIs have not considered client needs from an emergency perspective; rather products and services are primarily geared to day-to-day business or household concerns. Demand for special services may be small, yet may require significant institutional investment. Therefore, individual MFIs are unlikely to invest in developing or maintaining these services. Regulatory restrictions and limits to institutional capacity will keep most MFIs from mobilizing voluntary savings for the foreseeable future. Findings of the study: Although the concept of using microfinance for disaster mitigation is a novel idea, the relevance of microfinance under disaster conditions especially for the poor is yet to be fully established. Microfinance even under normal circumstances faces quite a few limitations in bringing about improvement in livelihood. While microfinance can ensure livelihood protection by reducing various shocks and vulnerability, it cannot lead to livelihood promotion unless it is accompanied by other equally important measures like training, market linkages and technology development. As micro-finance institutions involved in livelihood restoration interventions, they are aimed at establishing funds that could be used in normal situations and during times of disaster. Their main aim during normal times was disaster preparedness. By taking up various activities aimed at disaster preparedness, they secured livelihoods and resources, improved the lives of the communities, made them less vulnerable and bet ter equipped to face disaster. In case of an emergency, the projects assisted the communities in mitigating mit ·i ·gate  Ã‚   v. mit ·i ·gat ·ed, mit ·i ·gat ·ing, mit ·i ·gates v.tr. To moderate (a quality or condition) in force or intensity; alleviate. See Synonyms at relieve. v.intr. To become milder. .. Click the link for more information.  the effects through loans reserved for the purpose. Insurance could be a useful instrument of risk mitigation for the poor especially under disaster situation Micro-insurance can take up under MFIs to provide protection to the women against loss of life, accidents, prolonged pro ·long  Ã‚   tr.v. pro ·longed, pro ·long ·ing, pro ·longs 1. To lengthen in duration; protract. 2. To lengthen in extent. .. Click the link for more information.  illness and hospitalization, and damage or destruction of houses and household assets. Thus, both during normal and disaster times, the MFIs funds were used mainly through loans. The core objective of the MFIs is to reach out to the most vulnerable among the target groups. As observed in the study, the members would like to depend upon MFIs for their social, economic and emotional security. For protection and improvement of their livelihood, they need diverse financial services. Many of them would like to take up income generating activities to strengthen their economic base. Moreover, no significant attempt is made by these interventions to adopt an integrated approach required for improving the livelihood of the disaster-affected households. Given the fact that the members of the poor households in the study area are faced with many social and economic constraints like illiteracy, severe caste and gender discrimination, and landlessness, m ere introduction of microfinance may not help them in bringing about any significant improvement in the livelihood. VI. Methodology: The study mainly uses secondary sources. Secondary data on Flood in Bangladesh (1998) was colleted from Bangladesh Country Report by Sirajul Islam (INAFI Asia Bangladesh) and Tsunami Micro Finance in Sri Lanka (2004) was collect from Review of Post-Tsunami Micro Finance in Sri Lanka by Girija Srinivasan. Moreover, I have taken help from different websites and books. VII. Conclusion: Reducing the Poors vulnerabilities to disasters and emergency situations is the role of micro-finance in disaster risk mitigation. It can immediately relieve financial burdens caused by the on set of calamities, especially if savings and micro-insurance is included in the package of services. It can further support consequent initiatives for sustainable disaster recovery and rehabilitation. Since, MFI is private in nature; it has great potential to provide financial and non-financial services in all stages-relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development. However, micro-finance services alone cannot immediately translate into a stand-alone successful disaster recovery enterprise but needs to form part of an over-arching disaster risk mitigation strategy. The success of the microfinance industry in various disasters is indicative of future accomplishments in exploiting microfinance for pre- and post-disaster mechanisms. While micro-finance can be an entry-point for the delivery of sustained services in disaster situation, it still needs the prompt provision of services from the government, like installation of damaged infrastructure and other rehabilitation interventions and active participation of other civil society groups for training, counseling and organizing. A more thorough understanding of microfinance and disaster mitigation is needed for poverty reduction and disaster impact reduction. Finally, it can be said that micro-finance institutions can be an entry point or a point of convergence of poverty alleviation and disaster mi tigation programs.

Middle East Paper -- essays research papers

The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis erupted after the partition made by Great Britain on November 29, 1947. Immediately after the decision to make Israel a separate, independent state, there were massive attacks on both sides. Upon reading the first set of articles, I felt that the Palestine's unnecessarily attacked the Jews and that they deserved the land being given to them. But the first set of articles I read were incredibly biased toward the Jewish perspective and, I think that because of this, I presented a distorted view of the situation. Now that I have read the second packet, I understand that many of the Arabs must have felt helpless about the situation, and even startled by the numerous attacks and massacres by the Israelis. I now believe that the reason that the fighting started was because both sides felt that they had an obligation to uphold their religious beliefs and, also, justification to do what they did. Both the Arabs and the Jews felt that it was their sacred duty to keep or regain their land. The Arabs thought of the partition as an automatic declaration of war against them. Therefore, they thought that they had to counter-attack the Jews in order to keep their land. One of the biggest massacres that the Jews waged on the Arabs was the attack on Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948, when 250 men, women, and children where killed. The first set of articles that we read did not mention anything about the ruthlessness of t...

Charles de Secondat, Baron De La Brede Et De Montesquieu Essay

Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu was born in 1689 to a French noble family. "His family tree could be traced 350 years, which in his view made its name neither good nor bad." (The Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, p. 68) Montesquieu's views started to be shaped at a very early age. A beggar was chosen to be his godfather to remind him of his obligations to the poor. Montesquieu's education started at the age of 11 when he was sent to Juilly, a school maintained by the Congregation of the Oratory. From 1705 to 1709 he studied law in Bordeaux. "From 1705 to 1709 he was a legal apprentice in Paris. There he came to know some of the most advanced thinkers of his time: Fredet, the Abbe Lama, and Boulainvilliers.(Ibid.). In 1716 Montesquieu got a seat of president a mortier in the parlement of Guyenne from his deceased uncle. Even though he did not like his job he believed parliaments were necessary to control the monarchs. In 1721 Montesquieu published the Persian Letters, which he began working on while studying in Bordeaux. The book was a success. In the Persian Letters Montesquieu showed how relative all of the French values were. Even though the technique used in this witty book was previously used by other writers, Montesquieu did a great job making fun of the European values. At that time he already believed in the immorality of European practices such as religious prosecution. The book gave roots for Montesquieu's later arguments and ideas. When in 1728 Montesquieu, with the help of his Parisian connections he got elected to the French Academy, he was happy to sell his office of president a mortier. In the course of the next three years he traveled all over Europe, visiting Germany, Hungary, England, Holland, Austria, and Italy. It is not surprising that out of his European tour the country which had the greatest impact on his later work (just like it did on Voltaire's) was England. During his stay there he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. After he returned to France the second portion of his carrier had began. He became a full time writer, traveling between his La Brede estate and Paris. It is during this period that the C... ...e world will always be remembered. Montesquieu can easily be considered a model Enlightment figure. His ideas produce a mild paradox. He wanted change for the better without crushing the current government. He wanted to educate the people of a country, but was not a radical, and therefore didn't include the peasants. He respected reason, and used it to help the mankind by creating an idle society. He critisised religion, and yet had faith in God. As a whole he tried to improve things without turning the world upside down. He was the model figure for the steady advancement of the human civilization. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Hollier, Denis , A New History of French Literature, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1989. 2. The Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, p. 467-476. 3. Loy, John Robert, Montesquieu, New York, Twayne Publishers, 1968. 4. A History of World Societies volume II, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, p. 669-679. 5. Robert Shedlock, Lessons on World History, 1980, p. 38a-38c.

Articles and Essays Essay

Today’s teenagers seem to have more time and less responsibility and supervision than the last generation’s. It’s quite common to see teens â€Å"hanging out† at shopping centers, fast food restaurants or where ever they can get together to socialize. Usually, they just have fun and enjoy themselves, but sometimes problems occur. Teenagers who are bored and looking for something to do are likely to get into trouble and become involved in unhealthy, inappropriate or illegal activities. The increased number of unoccupied and unsupervised teens in may be related to the loss of many family farms and business and to the increase in single parent families. Many teens in the last generation were expected to share the responsibility and work of a family farm or business. They were supervised, learned important skills and didn’t have time to get into mischief. Today, most parents work away from the family, and teens are left to occupy themselves . Also, single parents and parents who are both working are often unable to adequately supervise their teenager’s activities. Teens need free time to spend with friends, relax and have fun. They need to learn how to find appropriate, healthy activities and entertainment. Free time can teach them important skills they will need as adults. Unfortunately, too much free time can cause problems. Not all teenagers are able to find appropriate, healthy activities and entertainment for themselves when they are not occupied and supervised. Following are some things parents can do to help teens learn to be responsible, have fun and stay out of trouble. †¢Set specific rules about family expectations, such as time to be home, chores and responsibilities, etc. Allow teens to help make decisions about rules and consequences. †¢Give younger teens specific responsibilities and chores. offer opportunities to earn extra privileges or money for doing extra chores. Allow teens to spend money they earn on things they want. †¢Encourage older teens to get a part time job. Jobs provide and opportunity to meet people, learn new skills and earn extra money. †¢Talk with older teens and encourage them to think about their goals and what they would like to be doing when they are adults. Help them plan activities working toward their goals. †¢Know where teens will be. Call and check occasionally, or ask them to check in periodically. If they are at home, ask a family member, neighbor or friend to stop by if possible. †¢Encourage teens to become involved in community programs, recreational activities and special events that they are interested in. Check into activities available in the community, such as scouting, softball, YMCA, camps, church activities, clubs, etc.

Balanced Budget Amendment

As we discussed and read about this week in our class, the topic of the US Budget and how, why and what should we do about it has become a topic with many views and opinions. The United States of America currently holds over 16 Trillion dollars in debt based on our governments spending practices for the last ten years. Two wars, numerous fiscal collapses and cliffs, a bubble popped housing market, looming medical care costs from a socialized healthcare law and a recession have caused the government to acquire enormous amounts of debt.This debt with caused by what seems to be from irresponsible spending on both the Legislative and the Executive Branches have done nothing to lessen this deficit. One idea that has been discussed not only in Congress, but on prime time news networks is the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment. A Balance Budget Amendment (as recently seen in House Bill HJR2, 28 NOV 2011) would require that Congress balance its budget every fiscal year unless a three-fif ths majority of both houses approved of maintaining a deficit[1].In a CNN Poll, conducted by ORC International, 74% of Americans surveyed would be in favor of a constitutional amendment to require a Balanced federal budget. So, why did it miss passing by the House of Representatives 23 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed? In the graph we see that federal debt will remain above 73 percent of GDP, far higher than the the 39 percent seen over the last four decades as stated by the Congressional Budget Office. This level is of debt is unsustainable to the our economy and a Balanced Budget Amendment may be the answer to get wasteful spending under control and reduce out national debt.There is a lot of debate for a Balanced Budget Amendment in the United States. The trade-off between â€Å"discipline† and â€Å"flexibility† is at the core of the debate surrounding the establishment of a Balanced Budget Amendment[2]. Those who oppose a Balanced Budget Amendment argu e that it may limit the scope and power of the Government to fully discharge its duties. Under this version of the amendment , three-fifths of congress would have to vote suspend requirements, the government would have to cut expenditures or raise taxes during a recession.This in theory would make the recession worse and limit the ability of the government to use fiscal policy to stabilize the economy. Also, Congress could simply devise special budgets to get around the requirements. An example would be to take some programs â€Å"off budget†, which means that they would not be counted towards the total amount of expenditures by the government and not counting them as part of the Official Budget. However these expenditures would have to get funded from somewhere.Third, Congress could issue regulations or impose mandates or requirements on businesses or other government regulations as non-budgetary ways to get programs funded and these actions could have serious ramifications on the taxpayers and economy. Those in favor of the Balanced Budget Amendment say that if we look at the States within the US who have Balanced Budget laws (all but Vermont have some form of budgetary regulation) there are excellent examples we can use in drafting an amendment which could work for this country.Marina Azzimonti, writes in her article, â€Å"The Political Economy of Balanced Budget Amendments†[3] several very good theoretical findings supporting ways that Congress can use the lessons of the States in drafting a Balanced Budget Amendment that introduces a rule that restricts deficit spending and limits increases in government debt. Her first point is that stricter budgetary rules induce policymakers with discipline regarding how money is spent. Reducing these expenditures it is argued supports positive economic growth by lowering interests rates , higher savings rates, and hence more consumer confidence and economic growth.Also the inclusion of an â€Å"Escape Clause† proposes that a bill to increase revenue or public borrowing may become law if two-thirds of the members of each house approve it. Thus allowing the government to be able to meet certain â€Å"emergencies† to include war, national crisis, or natural disaster. Proponents of these amendments also that running deficits over the long term or persistent deficits can be dangerous as well. When the government runs persistent deficits , a increasing portion of consumer's savings is used to purchase government debt instead of being invested in private capital goods .This is called â€Å"crowding out†, and this effect lower output and incomes in the future. Growing Federal Debt can lead to a sudden fiscal crisis in and of itself. This type of crises can occur when debt levels become so large in relation to the economy's output that the government has difficulty selling it. Current and potential bondholders lose confidence with the governments ability to repay its d ebt and refuse to buy anymore. The government is then forced purchase new debt at higher interest rates, often leading to inflation, reduction in government services and rograms and increased economic hardship on its citizens. There are several good examples of this type of debt crisis in Argentina, Mexico and Greece. The US saw a version of this in 2011, when S&P concerned with the US climbing debt and its credit worthiness reduced its credit rating or the ability of the country to borrow money at lower interests rates. A federal Balanced Budget amendment based loosely on those instituted by the States of this country has many benefits. One such advantage is that a Balanced Budget Amendment can reduce inefficiencies in spending.Azzimonti argues in a theoretical environment model, Politicians tend to be short-sighted since they have no guarantee of being being reelected next time around. This short-sightedness often leads them to increase spending to their constituencies now through excessive deficit spending and accumulate too much debt. These deficits are are less politically costly than raising taxes, which often is a good way for a politician to get voted out in their next election. However, with fiscal restrictions in place politicians are forced to take long view and be fiscally responsible.This leads into the next positive of a Balanced Budget Amendment, and that is reducing future financial burden on taxpayers. When the government releases bonds to be purchased, it agrees to repay its holders in the future for spending today. Those repayment burdens are placed on future taxpayers who may not have received the benefits of current spending. This future tax burden also can hamper long term interests rates today, which can hamper economic activity in the short term.Despite arguments both for and against enacting a Balanced Budget Amendment, Congress needs to come to a solution regarding its fiscal policy. The Federal reserve Bank can not continue to print money to stimulate the economy, and the government can not keep spending money wastefully and hope for our economy to get better. The American People deserve a government that is responsible with its wallet and looks out for all Americans in making the economy stringer and reducing the national debt for future generations.When properly explored and drafted, and if Politicians can agree, transcend party lines and focus on getting spending and debt under control a Balanced Budget Amendment could work to makes the United States financially stronger and more prosperous than ever before. Resources O'Sullivan, Sheffrin and Perez Economics: Principles, Applications and Tools 7th Ed 2012 Azzimonti, Marina. â€Å"The Political Economy of Balanced Budget Amendments. † Business Review Q1 2013 Eddlem, Thomas R. â€Å"Before the Income Tax: How the Federal Budget Government Balanced the Budget Before 1913. The New American February 2013 McCullouch, J. Huston. â€Å" An Improved Balanced Budget Amendment. † The Independent Review Fall 2012 ——————————— [ 1 ]. McCulloch, J. Huston. An Improved Balance Budget Amendment (Art). Independent Review, Fall 2012 [ 2 ]. Azzimonti, Marina. The Political Economy of Balanced Budget Amendments (Art). Business Review, Q1 2013 [ 3 ]. Azzimonti, Marina. The Political Economy of Balanced Budget Amendments (Art). Business Review, Q1 2013