Invisible Man By Ellison Essays (2055 words) - Invisible Man

Invisible Man By Ellison "Who the hell am I?" (Ellison 386) This question puzzled the invisible man, the unidentified, anonymous narrator of Ralph Ellison's acclaimed novel Invisible Man. Throughout the story, the narrator embarks on a mental and physical journey to seek what the narrator believes is "true identity," a belief quite mistaken, for he, although unaware of it, had already been inhabiting true identities all along. The narrator's life is filled with constant eruptions of mental traumas. The biggest psychological burden he has is his identity, or rather his misidentity. He feels "wearing on the nerves" (Ellison 3) for people to see him as what they like to believe he is and not see him as what he really is. Throughout his life, he takes on several different identities and none, he thinks, adequately represents his true self, until his final one, as an invisible man. The narrator thinks the many identities he possesses does not reflect himself, but he fails to recognize that identity is simply a mirror that reflects the surrounding and the person who looks into it. It is only in this reflection of the immediate surrounding can the viewers relate the narrator's identity to. The viewers see only the part of the narrator that is apparently connected to the viewer's own world. The part obscured is unknown and therefore insignificant. Lucius Brockway, an old operator of the paint factory, saw the narrator only as an existence threatening his job, despite that the narrator is sent there to merely assist him. Brockway repeatedly question the narrator of his purpose there and his mechanical credentials but never even bother to inquire his name. Because to the old fellow, who the narrator is as a person is uninterested. What he is as an object, and what that object's relationship is to Lucius Brockway's engine room is important. The narrator's identity is derived from this relationship, and this relationship suggests to Brockway that his identity is a "threat". However the viewer decides to see someone is the identity they assign to that person. The Closing of The American Mind, by Allan Bloom, explains this identity phenomenon by comparing two "ships of states" (Bloom 113). If one ship "is to be forever at sea, [and] K another is to reach port and the passengers go their separate ways, they think about one another and their relationships on the ship very differently in the two cases" (Bloom 113). In the first state, friends will be acquainted and enemies will be formed, while in the second state, the passengers will most likely not bother to know anyone new, and everyone will get off the ship and remain strangers to one another. A person's identity is unalike to every different viewer at every different location and situation. This point the narrator senses but does not fully understand. During his first Brotherhood meeting, he exclaimed, "I am a new citizen of the country of your vision, a native of your fraternal land!" (Ellison 328) He preaches to others the fact that identity is transitional yet he does not accept it himself. Maybe he thought it distressing being liked not for being his true self but because of the identity he puts on or being hated not for being himself but because of his identity. To Dr. Bledsoe, the principal of the black southern university where the narrator attended, the narrator is a petty "black educated fool" (Ellison 141). To Mr. Norton, a rich white trustee of the black university, the narrator is a simple object intertwined with his fate, a mere somebody, he explained to the narrator, that "were somehow connected with [his (Mr. Norton's)] destiny" (Ellison 41). To the organizers of the Brotherhood, Jack, Tobitt, and the others, the narrator is what they designed him to be. They designed for him an identity of a social speaker and leader, and to his listeners and followers, he is just that. Those were his multiple identities and none were less authentic than the others because to his onlookers, he is what his identities say he is, even if he thinks differently. The narrator always had a desire for people "who could give [him] a proper reflection of [his] importance" (Ellison 160). But there is no such thing as a proper reflection because his importance varies among different people. Subconsciously, he craves attention. He wants recognition and status, and wants to be honored as someone special. He must feel that he "can have no dignity if his status is not special, if he is not essentially different"(Bloom

How the policies of new right and new deal have changed from the 1970s till now The WritePass Journal

How the policies of new right and new deal have changed from the 1970s till now How the policies of new right and new deal have changed from the 1970s till now IntroductionBibliographyRelated Introduction This assignment will be looking at how the policies of new right and new deal have changed from the 1970s till now; it will also be looking at the changes that have occurred from the second war. This assignment will also be looking at the new right and new labour, what Beveridge and Keynes were about.it will also be looking at the consensus from the late 1960s and how social scientist retrieved new evidence that poverty and homelessness still exist, the rediscovery era that problems prior to the welfare state are still here. It will then look at the resultant rise in state spending and intervention. It will look at the economic crisis- long term benefits were to blame and it was the underserving’s fault. Political crisis will also be mentioned that fewer people are voting and the green party are not concerned with bankruptcy. The crisis also involved social and internal contradictions. It will then mention the conservative government- rolling back the state, privatisation, cen tralisation, tax cuts for the rich and benefit cuts for the poor. Finally it will look at the new labour-welfare to work, moralising and coalition government changes. There are many different arguments into how the welfare state started developing and attitudes towards the welfare state are very different, The new right came about in the 1970s the new right was a very strong political force and held a very powerful position in many countries throughout the 1970s and 1980s, they came about when economic difficulties overtook global economy in the years after 1973. They also reacted to the consistent amount of public spending that was occurring throughout the 1960s. There are many reasons in which the new right believe in why the welfare state has involved its self in the welfare and industrial societies. What the new right argues is that two false conclusions had been made from the World War 2 wartime experience. The first false conclusion that had been made was that during the war collective purpose is possible and if that is the case then it is also possible in the peace time, and the second false conclusion was that the government had planned th e war and therefore it would be easy for the government to plan the peace. The new right sees that the governments war time successes, and the government shown what it was able to do through the wartime and therefore it should do it. The new right blame two people for the new politics, in whom contributed so much into the continuous development of the welfare state and these two people were known as Keynes and Beveridge. There were three things in particular that the new right blamed Keynes for doing and these three things were that firstly Keynes didn’t like the profit motive at all neither did Keynes like the pursuit of gain, secondly Keynes freed the governments from   budgeting legitimate and finally the ways in which Keynes writings were perceived that â€Å" set the economical literature in Britain on a journey that industrial organisations and the employment of high fraction of the labour force on productive and profitable work were considered to be of secondary imp ortance. (Wiener, 1981 cited in V,G and P.W 1994:16). According to Alcock (2000) there was two simple facts based on evidence for the cause of the economic crisis, the first fact was that the demand for services and bigger and greater service provision, will always take the biggest priority over the resources that were available especially financial within any advanced western society. The second fact was that the changes of demographic patterns in western notions, such as the increase of dependant elderly alongside with the dwindling amount of individuals of working age, the tax base to be reduced wherever it can be financed in any of the welfare states. There were an enormous amount of factors which emerged that argued the political crisis, one of these was that a number of commentators started to question whether or not the welfare state was still needed as it was unable to offer the things it had originally   promised to set out to do. Instead it seemed to be causing positive harm, especially on the responsibility of individuals, it was also suggested by the political crisis that the political institutions were being questioned due to their legitimacy ruling of society because they were in the process of decline. This crisis continued to manifest and this was causing less support for the electoral for the biggest political parties. It had also been said that the political crisis had reflected so much on the bureaucratic control over the welfare state, this meant that the bureaucratises would become bigger not taking into consideration of the efficient., so here is where it suggest that social policies have failed to sort out these social issues when these issues were something they set out to deal with in the first place, it could be said they have in fact made the social issues a lot worse or probably started off a whole lot of new ones. With the rise of divorce, illegitimacy and single parenthood it is clearly shown to be evidence for one of the causes for the social crisis of the welfare state,.one of the main issues and probably the most damaging to address was that of internal contradiction as the welfare state was unable to address this very issue. This assignment will now move onto the â€Å"Big Five† and these five issues came about by the Beveridge Report. Beveridge did a report that identified what he called as the â€Å"Big Five† and it was apparently the â€Å"Big Five† that was stopping Britain from becoming a modern society. The â€Å"Big Five† were known as these five things want ignorance, disease, squalor and idleness. Want referred to people that were in need of financial support to keep them from becoming ill and keep them just above the poverty line. Second was ignorance and this was mainly aimed at poor education. Thirdly was disease and this was to do with the lack of national health care, it needed to be paid for as in these days it wasn’t free. The forth was squalor and this was due to poor housing and slums, and finally idleness was due to the depression of unemployed individuals if all of the â€Å"big five â€Å"could be tackled then Britain would move forward. (Alcock 2000). The conservatives won election in 1979 , Margaret thatcher- rolling back of the state, gradual built up of the state its involving itself more and more, government gets too involved, pulling out â€Å"laissez fraire†. Rolling back the frontiers of the state (people losing homes) state referred to new right, people become lazy and need pushing back into employment. 1979 conservative victory- more people became unemployed, cuts money in other places, homes/towns/transport etc†¦ people become on strike. Thatcher was elected for government in 1979; her intensions were to â€Å"roll back the state† her government was all about making â€Å"cuts† and reducing the public spending to its minimum to allow tax cuts and especially to bring down the rates of income tax. In the first few years of thatcher’s government more and more people became unemployed. The labour government were elected in May 1997, it was made clear that reform was needed, labour were determ ined not to increase the income on tax rates, labour needed to make a turning point within the welfare state after taking over from the thatcher government and four of the main themes that seemed to stand out the most towards the welfare state were an attempt to control public spending, privatisation, targeting and the rising in equality. This new government tried to turn new corners with these four issues. The public spending was to be held for 2 years and the income tax was not to be increased. More money was being spent on the new deal instead to bring down the unemployment levels, and this was initially aimed towards the younger unemployed. 1997-1998 budgets had become higher, meaning that more money was spent on health and education that was planned originally. In October 1998 free funding for university education came into place, but was placed on a means-tested basis for those students who were from poor families, students could access different loans, a grant to help with li ving cost, and a system was set up that allowed the loans to be paid back by a percentage of the students future income (Deacon 2002). Some changes that have occurred from 1970s and onwards ,lone parent families had risen from twelve percent to twenty- three percent between the years of 1979-1995, 80% of these lone parents were dependent on the lowest income benefit from the state and this was known as income support. Public spending had been reduced due to the fact of national income nearly reaching 50 percent in the years 1975-1976. By 1991 18.5 percent of the population were made up from the elderly, (65 years of age for men) and (60 years of age for the women) this had risen by 1971. This wasn’t the only problem that had occurred there was great concern for the state pensions but also the health service including personal social services and nursing homes for pensioners over the age of 85 as this population was increasing fast. (Deacon 2002). Hayek and Friedman – Argue that the state should be reduced to its minimum as we have become slaves to the state, the welfare state is breaking down communities, people are depending too much on the state for money, state involvement undermines the dynamic force within society by interfering with the market, reducing freedom. The welfare state has taken away community networks and left people reliant on the state. Great rise in unemployment, prices drop and this isn’t good for the economy. Rise in low paid work, casual work and women will work for less. Welfare dependency- poor are being blamed- they all have the dole and that’s the reason the economy has gone into decline (Alcock 2000). Here are some of the things that the labour government have achieved since the ending of the World War 2. The labour government got victory and won the election over the conservatives, under the leadership of Clement Attlee, whom promised to tackle Beveridges â€Å"Big Giants†. What labour did for Want was in 1946 the national insurance act came about and benefits were given to the unemployed, pregnant women, pensions for the retired and allowances for the sick, widowed and mothers. 1946 the industrial injuries act, this provided compensation to workers that had been injured. 1948 national assistance act this helped the poorest people within society, poor law, the workhouse and the unemployment assistant boards were scrapped. The things labour did for Ignorance 1994 education act was put forward by the conservatives this was to enable free education for primary and secondary schools for all children, the school leaving age is 15 years of age but later was moved to 16 there was n’t enough money for this to happen at this time so this wasn’t agreed until 1947 when labour passed this act into law. Ignorance And Idleness employment and training act 1948 this established a new workforce, gave funding for school leavers and de mobbed servicemen to train as they had no training for a job after returning from the army. Aimed at regenerating areas of previously high unemployment industrial areas, Squalor 1946/1949 housing acts gave financial help to local authorities to rebuild cities that had been damaged during the war. Between 1945/1949 1.25 million permanent new homes were built. And this doesn’t include the temporarily houses. 1946/1949 rent control act tenants interest were put above there landlords. 1946 new towns act, 14 new towns were to be built. Disease 1948 National Health Service act this was probably one of the biggest to be tackled by labour government. Free accessible health care system to benefit all individuals this began in July 1948. By 1949 8.5 million people had received free dental care, 5.75 million pair of glasses had been issued and 187 million prescriptions had been dispensed. All of these proved to be very expensive, the initial annual budget was to be 187 million but the actual cost per year was 355 million. In 1951 charges were brought in for some services such as dental, eye care and prescriptions. (Chandler 2002). The Crisis is economic, political, social and internal contradictions. The welfare state went into crisis for these four reasons politically the welfare state wasn’t affordable. In conclusion to this assignment it would be fair to say that quite a lot of things have happened with the welfare state over the years, there are a mix of judgements of what the welfare should be doing or rather what it shouldn’t be, for example the new right believe that the welfare state is economically damaging. The issues that have been explored within this assignment are more or less to do with means and ends. It would be fair to say that a majority of individuals or if not all would prefer to live in a society with equality, opportunities, more choice and freedom. The state should be used for common purposes such as protection, health care and education, a large amount of people depend on the welfare state too much and maybe it needs to take a step back. Bibliography http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/5553/1/Thatcherism_New_Labour_and_the_Welfare_State.pdf accessed 06/05/2011 Alcock C (et al) (2000) Introducing Social Policy,Prentice Hall Beveridge, W.H. (1942) Social Insurance and Allied Services, Cmd 6404, HMSO:London. Chandler, M (2002) Britain In The Age Of Total War 1939-45, Heinemann Educational Publishers George V, Wilding P (1994) Welfare And Ideology Pearson Education Limited. Deacon P (2002) Perspectives on welfare Buckingham: Open University Press Midwinter E (1994) The Development of Social Welfare in Britain. Buckingham: Open University Press

Strategic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Strategic Marketing - Essay Example This paper will look at Costco’s foray into the bridal market and its attempt to cater to the readymade wedding gowns segment for brides to be, albeit using the services of Los Angeles designer Kirstie Kelley. Discussion It seems that Costco has been deliberating its move into the market for bridal gowns for some time now. It had already been offering engagement rings, invitation cards and even honeymoon packages for the bride and groom- but the move into designer inspired wedding dresses leaves no doubt that Costco sees a future in this segment of the population that visits its store. Marriages and divorces are increasingly a part of our lives, whether in the media, on film or in real life. The marriage rate has declined since the 1970s, with the median age for first marriage increasing to as much as 28 years for males and 26 years for females- since couples either now wait till they can afford it, or live together and marry later in life. The highest rate for marriages and d ivorces was recorded in Virginia, being 21 per 1000 and 19 per 1000 male residents respectively in 2011 (Morello, 2011). The store will unveil its offerings via in-store trunk shows, which will allow the prospective customers not only to inspect the dresses but also try them on for size and look. The first state to have a show will be California, with arrangements for Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and Washington to follow. Costco has been giving tough competition to target and Wal-mart in the USA and both its sales and profits registered an increase over the last quarter, revenues rising from $312 billion to $320 billion over the period ending November 20 (Daniel, 2011). With the cost of the bride’s dress being a big part of the wedding expenses, Costco’s move will help many to tie the knot in style without being an added burden on their pocket. The average wedding costs $27,000. The business has been growing over the website, where couples can also select invitations and flowers. The initiative has also been highlighted in Costco’s local membership magazine. The six designs being offered range in price from $699 to $1399, compared to the $2000 to $7000 Kelley usually charges for a designer creation. Typically a bride will spend $1099 on a wedding dress, as noted by media company the Knot. The same research also found that there is a wide difference between wedding expenses across the USA, with the high average being around $70,000 in New York and the low being around $12,000 in Utah. All the same, 12 percent of brides surveyed spent over $40,000 on their wedding day. Taking all this into account, we can see how Costco is really making a change in the social phenomena by reducing the cost of wedding gown, ring, invitation and honeymoon package- which is almost everything connected with the event from the bride’s perspective at least- to a manageable level. Its coverage of the entire deal will help many tie the knot earlier and with much less of a financial burden. It is a good way to help local communities as well (Anonymous, ‘Pricing’, 2011). Being the work of a designer, Costco can afford to position its line against other designers of repute- showing how to save and yet look like a million bucks on your wedding day. As the tours go on and the trend gets popular, it can become a major

Security Essentials 5.5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Security Essentials 5.5 - Essay Example Edinburgh correctional facility does not house murderers and sexual offenders. Inmates with murder charges are known to be quite aggressive hence posing threats to the security of the facility. Female inmates are not convicted in the facility because the inmates are subjected to labour that would otherwise not be executable to female inmates. A maintenance priority work plan that entails the generation of annual reports is a security essential in the Edinburgh correctional facility. Annual reports are vital as far as security is concerned because the reports reflect the activities taking place in the facility throughout the year. From the annual reports, possible security flaws can be identified and appropriate action taken to that effect. Annual reports help in maintaining consistency in the security procedures and proper coordination of the security apparatus in the facility. From the analysis of the reports, better and secure work plans can be formulated and in this way security i s improved. Visiting protocols in Edinburgh correctional facility have been put out clearly to ensure that visitors do not compromise the state of security in the facility. Visitation is done four days a week on Sunday, Monday, Friday and Saturday. The timeframe ensures that due procedures are followed, and the visiting is done in a systematic manner without causing alterations to the normal security protocols in the facility. Edinburgh correctional facility has a systematic procedure that governs the movement of prisoners in and out of the facility. The procedures must be followed to the latter. Prisoners move into the facility through building 641 and go out and come back from work through building 640. Systematic movement makes it easy for the guards to monitor the movement of the inmates in this way averting any possible escape plans that may be conceived by inmates. It is impossible for the inmates to establish

The New Deal and Its Triumph Essay Example for Free

The New Deal and Its Triumph Essay The New Deal and it’s Triumph The 1930’s were a time of despair, poverty and distress and those who lived during this time believed it would be better to die, than to continue to live this way. When Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office in 1932, the United States was in the most disconsolate moments of the Great Depression. However, he brought with him a promise, a promise to make things better through a series of reforms he was planning on implementing known as the New Deal. In the first one hundred days following his inauguration as president, FDR, had already put into place a variety of programs, all with the goal to briskly improve the lives of those that had been most affected by the Great Depression and boost the economy. Through these programs FDR hoped to create jobs, lower the amount of people living on the streets, and most of all, uplift the spirits of the American people which had taken the biggest hit of all. The New Deal was a success because even though many minorities were overlooked, the overall population was influenced in a significant positive manner through job creation and governmental aid despite having negative effects in other areas of the country. Although the New Deal was an overall success in the United States, a significant amount of the minorities, especially the African Americans and Native Americans were neglected as opposed to the rest of the population. During the Great Depression, 50% of the African American citizens became unemployed, due to the fact that they were the first to be fired, and the last to be hired. Furthermore, many of the programs put into place by the New Deal, by improving the lives of other Americans, would damage and harm those of the African Americans. For example, as the excerpt from the Gilder Lehman Institute of American History online textbook , when the AAA was put into place between 1933-1934, more than 100,000 black workers who made their living as sharecroppers and tenant farmers were forced off the land (document B). When African Americans had a job, such as in the WPA, their working conditions would be incredibly harsh and unmerciful. These men were forced to work under harsh circumstances and if they didn’t they would lose  their job. A WPA foreman in the South being interviewed by a questioner from the Federal Writer’s Project claimed that, â€Å"As a matter of fact they cannot be sick for more than five days in succession. If they are†¦ they are automatically dropped from the rolls† (document H) demonstrating that these workers cannot afford to be sick if they want to be able to maintain their jobs. Additionally, even though the Black Cabinet was formed during these years, no civil rights reforms became law during the 1930 since the New Deal had no intention of working towards the civil rights movement. Another minority that was significantly overlooked and even negatively impacted was the Native Americans. As Document G mentions, â€Å"Many Indian problems remain unresolved, but every one has been addressed†. Sometimes, by addressing these problems, the government would actually hurt the Native Americans. For example, the Navajo Reduction Program forced hundreds of Indians to kill or sell thousands of their sheep and other forms of livestock; therefore raising the tension between the Native Americans and the government. The New Deal, even though it helped and lessened the economic problems throughout the country, actually weakened the situation of many minorities such as the African Americans and the Native Americans. The overall population of the United States was significantly enhanced by a number of the programs put into place by FDR through the New Deal. Roosevelt made the purpose of these programs and what he intended to do with them clear through he Fire Side Chats. For example, in one of these many chats, he claims, that â€Å"First, we are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million of the unemployed, especially the young men, to go into forestry and flood prevention work (document B) † He planned to do this through programs he implemented a short time after such as the CCC and WPA, which gave jobs to young men all over the country, whether they were skilled or not. Slowly, the effect became clear not only in the amount of young men with jobs, but also in the overall attitudes of those in America, which had begun to lose hope. As George Dobbin, he declares that â€Å"It’s the first time in my recollection that a President ever got up and said, ‘Iâ€⠄¢m interested in and aim to do somethin’ for the workin’ man (Document C)† Norman Thomas would have agreed with this whole heartedly since one of this main  objectives was to try and support the industrial worker and to improve their conditions. The results of these programs being put into place were obvious, as unemployment statistics were brought to light. In only two years, the unemployment rate had gone down from 20.6 % to a 14.2% (document E). These percentages strongly supported the idea that the New Deal programs were helping boost the country’s economy once more. Finally, many of these programs brought assistance to other areas of living. For example, the WPA brought hot lunches to schoolchildren and would serve 500,000 meals a day (document D). This made it possible for many children, living in detrimental conditions, to eat at least one nutritional meal a day. Huey Long, a past governor of Louisiana, would have agreed with this hot-lunch program due to the fact that he believed in the re-distribution of wealth from the rich to the poor, and in this case the money is being targeted to those of more humble background. Many programs put into place by FDR such as the CCC and the WPA significantly improved the wa y of life of hundreds of Americans. Eventually, even though the New Deal brought with it a lot of progress and improved life conditions, there were some areas of every day life it was not able to amend completely. One of these was the spirit of the American people. Songs such as â€Å"No Depression in Heaven† performed by the Carter Family showed the true feelings of those that were still struggling to survive. Lyrics such as â€Å"out here the hearts of men are failing† or â€Å"no orphan children crying for bread, no weeping widows toil or struggle, no shrouds, no coffins, and no dead (document E)† demonstrated how desperate and disconsolate many of the people are still and how they feel that it would be better to die, than to continue to live this way. Other negative impacts of the New Deal on the United States was the continuous discrimination towards woman and the fact that they were paid lower wages by many of the programs put into place such as the WPA or the PWA. Additionally Alden Stevens mentions that, â€Å"the New Deal Indian administration is neither as successful as its publicity says it is,† (document G) showing how improvements were not made in all areas of life in the United States. Furthermore, programs such as the TVA destroyed the environment by flooding hundreds of acres of land in order to build dams and reservoirs. The New Deal did not bring with it only positive effects towards the country. It had  negative connotations as well, those which could be observed in different, minor aspects of every day life. When FDR put into place the New Deal, he had three goals in mind. These were reform, recovery and reconstruction. He pretended to do this through various programs he implemented right away, which included the CCC, the WPA, the SSA, and much more. Slowly the effects of these programs began to be seen all over the country and the overall response was that yes, this program was working. People stopped living on the streets and began working, those who had lost everything now had insurance, and unskilled workers were now learning skills they needed in order to get a job. Even though many minorities were overlooked, and not all aspects of life in America were improved, the general impact of the New Deal was a positive one. Therefore, the New Deal was a success, because through this Roosevelt was able to create jobs and provide governmental aid, despite having slight negative effects in other areas of the country.

Computer System In The Context Of Retail Business :: essays research papers

Computer System in the Context of Retail Business Anthony Wu 11CS2 Today, retailing businesses have to had up to date technology in order to be successful. Accurate, efficient communication sending and receiving can affect the business. So it is very important that to have the latest technology such as computers and networks. Retailing on a local and global scale can also affect how successful is the business. Locally, efficient networking that retailing businesses had allow customers purchase goods more faster such as the new bar-code scanners in supermarkets helps customers reduce time waiting in order to purchase goods. Globally, such as trading, eg: a computer retailing store may like to purchase some stock from over seas, they can make contracts by using the Internet. Computer systems in retail trading on a local and global scale played an important role in today's society. Computer systems such as : the supermarket POS system, provides efficient and accurate calculations when customers purchasing goods. Absolut Software, provides a host of state-of-the-art capabilities vital for increasing sales and productivity. Absolut Software will easily reduce the number of operators and supporting hardware by 15 percent. Absolut Software provides a training mode for novices and a high-speed mode for the experienced. Features: * Complete mailing list management * Promotion tracking * Catalog and telemarketing * Importing sub-system * On-line order entry * Inventory control (multi-site, serialized, lot number, decimal quantities, and style-color-size) * Credit card billing * Computer-driven in-store POS with "Suspend and Hold;" availability displayed * Wildcard search * User-definable extended search * Unlimited text and binary (graphics) storage for key fields * A complete financial (A/R, A/P, G/L) sub-system * E.D.I. And the international network system which brought customers information, e-mail address, and contract forms of customers are interested. A retail computer system can do tasks such as: Stock control is the control and how much stock were around the business, and the price of the items. Eg: Such as the SMART System is a totally integrated and interactive retail business system that includes the following modules: Order Entry, Inventory Management, Sales Analysis, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Monthly Lease, Financial Accounting, Payroll, and Customer Mailing. Modules may be purchased separately if desired. An optional module for contracts and insurance calculation and form printing, known as EZYCALC, is also available and can be integrated into the system. The system was originally programmed for the Retail Furniture Industry but works equally well for any big ticket retail operation. All affected files are updated as each transaction is keyed providing real-time information and reports also the system will handle multiple and remote store operations. Personnel Management is the system which kept the record of employees

Computerized Thesis Enrollment System Essay

Chapter I INTRODUCTION Project Context The evolution in technology caused by the needs especially in business demonstrates that Information System and Information Technology is essential ingredient for success of today’s enterprises. But still, some organizations and offices used the traditional or manual system in managing their information. The Don Bosco High School office, particularly the enrollment committee face tons of work in their daily activities most especially after enrollment because of failure to seek ways and means on how to simplify their task. The tasks are time consuming and sometimes end up with inaccurate reports. Thus, in this paper, the system developers aim to propose a computerized enrollment system specifically of use to the Don Bosco High School Enrollment Committee. According to the website reference.com, a computerized enrollment system is a multi-function processing operation that automatically manages and stores enrollment information. Computerization of enrollment information interrelates different yet interdependent transactions in a systematized and functional way. The use of computerized enrollment systems by organizations to help coordinate people and information is increasing throughout the world. Many experts cite numerous reasons why computerized enrollment systems are viable choices for schools, training programs and workplace operations. Computerized enrollment systems for educational services reduce processing time and human errors. Systems operations proceed faster, more efficiently and with greater accuracy than manual enrollment systems. Systems typically include data protection and backup frameworks. Student enrollees have access to their personal information exclusively. Employee workload is decreased and administrators can spend more time giving students more personalized attention and encouragement. Upon enrollment, new and transferee students will present their credentials to the enrollment committee. The credentials include form 138 (report card), certificate of good moral character, clear photocopy of NSO birth certificate, clear photocopy of baptismal certificate if baptized catholic and equivalent document for non-Catholics. On the other hand, the old students are required to submit their form 138 and summer grade if applicable for appraisal to the  enrollment committee. After completing all the requirements, the enrollment committee will issue an enrollment form for the student to fill up. The enrollment form will be returned to the enrollment committee for verification. If in case there are some fields that were not filled up, the enrollment form will be returned to the student to have it completed. The duly filled up enrollment form will be submitted to window 2 or the assessment window section for verification and validation. The students will need to wait for their names to be announced over the sound system. When student’s name is announced, the student will proceed to window 3 or the billing section window and pay necessary bills. After paying, they will proceed to the library and present their receipt for book rental for them to get their books. Then they will proceed to the Science Lab for the I.D. Finally, they will present again their receipt to the personnel in-charge. In the existing enrollment system of Don Bosco High School, the enrollment committee will sort all the enrollment form according to year level and section. The secretary will input the student details on the computer using Microsoft Excel. After entering all records, the forms will be filed on a folder and will be kept on a filing cabinet by the class adviser. The details about the students entered in the computer will be the basis of the secretary in preparing reports such as enrollment statistics, number of transferees, rep eaters, balik-aral and reports on religious denominations. All these data are sorted out according to year level and gender. Another report to be generated every after grading period is the report card of each student. The secretary will prepare a grading sheet form and distribute it to the subject teachers for them to fill up. Filled up grading sheet forms will be submitted to the class adviser for the preparation of report cards. The adviser will input the grades of each student per subject on the report card manually. Currently, updating records about students such as age, year level, status, number of brothers and sisters studying in the said school are done manually. Every enrollment, students are required to fill up enrollment form to update their records. Their previous records from their previous class advisers will be given to the present class advisers. The present class adviser will be the one to update the records of each student. Another important data that need updates in the student’s profile is the grade for each subje ct. Grade details are updated on the report card  of students by their class advisers and on their permanent records by the secretary. This means that every time a parent wants to check the record of a student, he/she needs to ask assistance from either the class adviser or the secretary. In case when some of the grades are not yet submitted to the class adviser, the parent needs to ask every subject teacher of his/her child. Occasionally, problems are encountered in updating and monitoring students’ records. Since students’ records are only filed in folders and kept in filing cabinets, there are instances that some records are lost or misplaced. In those cases, students are asked to fill up another copy of enrollment form. Students’ records are also hard to find since the class adviser or secretary needs to search the records manually. Every time there are updates on the students’ records, this also means an additional workload to the teachers and secretary since searching and updating records are done manually. Regarding updates on the grades of students, there are cases that grades are not submitted to the class adviser on time. This will be a burden to the parents who will be checking the grades of their children because it will require them to ask the subject teachers one by one. With the manual system, preparation and generation of reports is time consuming and difficult. This is because the secretary can only finish his report after sorting all the enrollment forms after. In the existing system, after sorting all the enrollment forms, the enrollment committee will sort and enter the details of students in Microsoft Excel for them to produce reports such as enrollment statistics, number of transferees, repeaters, balik-aral, and religious denominations; each of this information sorted out per year level and gender. These cause delayed submission of reports to the principal. On the part of the class adviser, preparing report cards of students is also time and effort consuming since he/she needs to write manually the grades of each student on their cards. These difficulties encountered by the employees because of their manual system push them to go for employing modern technology. Purpose and Description With the proposed system, updating and monitoring student’s records will be faster and more accurate. The parent will no longer go to the subject teacher of his/her child one by one or wait for the class adviser; instead  he/she can go directly to the principal’s office and ask assistance from the secretary about the grades of his/her child/children. The secretary will just enter the ID number or the name of the student on the system and all details of the student will be displayed. In updating student records, the class adviser will no longer update manually. All modifications about student’s records will be updated directly to the system upon enrollment. The possibility of lost or misplaced student’s record will be greatly minimized since all student details are already saved in the system’s database and records are back up regularly. The time allotted in generating reports will also be lessened and reports are more likely to be submitted on time at the principal’s office with the use of the proposed system. During enrollment, details about new students and updates about old student will be entered and stored directly on the system. This means that after enrollment, the secretary will no longer enter manually the details of student on the computer. Since the proposed system is capable of generating reports on the enrollment statistics, transferees, repeaters, balik-aral and religious denomination as to year level and gender, the difficulties being encountered by the enrollment committee will be minimized if not eliminated. Another feature of the proposed system is its log-in form with three user accounts, the administrator (secretary and principal), the cashier, and the adviser. The administrator has a full access to the system. The teachers are only allowed to register students and print reports. The cashier has access to the assessment process only. With this, security of student records is secured and enrollment process will no longer time consuming. Objectives The study aims to evaluate the present enrollment system of the Don Bosco High School. It also endeavors to provide effective and efficient way for easy operation and access of student’s record. Specifically, it aims to: 1 Determine and evaluate the existing system in terms of: a Monitoring Student Records b Updating Student Records c Reports Generation 2 Determine the problems encountered by the manual system in terms of: a Monitoring Student Records b Updating Student Records c Reports Generation 3 Propose a solution that would address the problems encountered. 4 Determine the benefits that can be derived from the proposed system. Scope and Delimitation This study restricts its investigation on the existing enrollment system of the Don Bosco High School in Lagawe, Ifugao. The proposed Enrollment System of Don Bosco High School will be designed to cover the major enrollment process of DBHS; student’s registration, monitoring student’s records and reports generation. It secures the important information of the student through personnel log-in. It can save the necessary data that the system should have through a manual process and produce backup into a storage device. The system provides the level of user accessibility. The system is designed to be manipulated only by the principal and the enrollment staff. It is not accessible to others. It is also designed to be reminders about unpaid school fees of the student and also there is an official receipt that can be printed by the system. Review of Related Literature A. COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY Nowadays, technologies have become widely used in everyday lives of people that even simple tasks are done with the help of powerful technological inventions. These are the fruits of the innovativeness and knowledge possessed by men. Computers are making revolutionary changes in the way people live, play and work. In almost every field, computers proved to be valuable assets. For example, the contribution of computers in the business field has been undeniably strong and effective. Computers have the ability to perform a complex and tedious work in a very effective manner resulting to the widespread need of computers inside many establishments. They are needed because of their usefulness like storing, retrieving, and clever of processing information. For effective execution of commands, software, just like the system proposed in this paper, are required to be installed to be able to handle processes in the computer’s working system. The  microcomputer and development of various softwares are not just for scientific and engineering use but as well as for education purposes particularly the enrollment process which is the focus of this study. As soon as people realized that the means to make better decisions and to solve problems faster is at the tip of their fingers through the use of computers, the demand for them increases exponentially. However, a computer is not an independent problem solver. But owing to the speed with which it can retrieve and manipulate large volumes of data, the computer is an essential aid on the problem solving process. Furthermore, electronic equipment permits fast and ecological processing of huge amounts of data. The computer can, with proper programming, process data towards logical conclusions, classify them, and make them readily available for a manager’s use (Greenwald et al., 2005). In fact, data do not become information until they are processed into a usable form that is readable to the users. Information system projects sometimes are initiated to improve the accuracy of the processing data or ensure that a procedure prescribing how to do specific task is always followed (Connolly and Begg, 2004). In this study, a software, specifically a computer-based enrollment system for Don Bosco High School is created using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. Using this language, codes representing a set of commands are organized into one software which when installed will enable a computer to execute enrollment-related-commands from the user. B. COMPUTERIZED ENROLLMENT SYSTEM A computerized enrollment system is a good example of a computer generated process. Computers are almost indispensable to most industries because of its ability to deal with voluminous records. Hence, in most academic institutions, the use of computers is an immense help in managing records and files. With the volume of files such as those from students’ records, finances, inventories, and others needed for its operation, the use of computer has made tasks simpler, faster and more efficient. The use of computers can lessen the workload and provides accurate information needed to the school. As a result, it will benefit not only the student but the administration as a whole. Thus, a computerized enrollment system is very  essential to every school. As an example, Long Beach City College in California, USA has gone live with a new Cognos-based enrollment management system that was designed by Irvine, CA-based professional services firm e2e Analytix. Prior to installing the new system, LBCC which has two main campuses and multiple satellites that support nine schools and 34 departments, handled its enrollment via manual spreadsheets. With no reporting, continuity, or standard practices, and with lengthy error corrections, the school’s enrollment management budgeting and planning took up three months to compile, consolidate, and implement. LBCC tapped e2e Analytix, which specializes in higher education, to design a web-based enrollment management system using Cognos Enterprise Planning software from Cognos Inc. (Ottawa,Ontario). Using Cognos for enrollment management was a unique application for Cognos, according to Dan Galuppo, e2e’s director of professional services, but the result delivers real-time data collection, consolidation, workflow, and calculations to help LBCC enrollment staff in making faster and more informed decisions. On the other hand, although most schools here in the Philippines have their own computers, their functions are not fully maximized. The University of the Philippines has recently developed its own computerized enrollment system together with the other known universities. However, many still rely on the manual system of storing and retrieving files, thus in turn, make work laborious, time consuming, less efficient and requiring more manpower. The Pangasinan State University- Lingayen Campus currently uses the manual system of enrollment. For years, this system has been employed and has indeed been a tedious process on the part of the students as well as the members of the enrollment committee. This entails the long process of filling up forms in three copies (student copy, accounts copy and registrar’s copy), class scheduling, assessment of fees, and issuance of student records. The continued adoption of this usual manual enrollment system has caused numerous errors, unnecessary delays, and has ultimately made the entire enrollment system a slow process to contend considering the influx of students each year. Fortunately, the design, development and implementation of EnrollmentAutomate: Pangasinan State University Computerized Enrollment System is introduced to address this long-standing  slow process of enrollment and already in the process. Technical Background Table 1. Hardware Requirements of the Proposed System Minimum Hardware Specifications Recommended Hardware Specifications Processor – 1 ghz Hard disk – 40 GB free hard disk space Memory – 512 MB Video Card—8 MB Printer – Any Printer Processor – 2 ghz or higher Hard disk –160GB free hard disk space or higher Memory-1GB or higher Video Card—16 MB or higher Printer – Ink Jet