Theodore Roethke and The Waking :: Waking Essays

Theodore Roethke and The Waking In describing the way he receives life's lessons and learned experiences, Theodore Roethke uses repetition of two different sentences and a simple rhyme scheme to help the reader understand his outlook on how to endure life. The two sentences repeated throughout the poem are "I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow" and "I learn by going where I have to go" [with slight variation in the latter]. "I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow" shows up in stanzas 1, 2, 4, and 6 and figuratively means that Roethke awakens in the morning and learns from the day's experiences. Unlike most people, Roethke does not rush through the day as if he expected another. He lives through the day in a calm and slow manner so that he learns about life without missing anything along the way. At night, he falls asleep content with the day's experiences and awakens the next morning in the same slow manner. When Roethke states "I learn by going where I have to go" in stanzas 1, 3, 5, and 6, he declares that he goes anywhere and everywhere to experience all that he can. He observes rare things throughout his journeys and makes mistakes along the way, but wherever he goes, he locks the experiences in his memory and repeats the cycle. The repetition of the sentences in the poem set a tone of determination and perseverance to enjoy all of life's experiences that come Roethke's way. The emotion portrayed by the sentences is an uplifting feeling because Roethke observes and enjoys even the most trivial aspects of life such as when "the lowly worm climbs up a winding stair." The rhyme scheme initiated by the author follows the rhyme scheme ABA in the first two stanzas, CDA in the third through fifth stanzas, and ABAA in the final stanza. This particular rhyme scheme creates a comfortable flow of overt rhyming. In the first two stanzas, the rhyming is the same (ABA) as Roethke talks about how to experience life by feeling. The rhyme scheme changes in the third through fifth stanzas as the focu s in the topic changes to how Roethke epitomizes his "experience by feeling" idea by sharing the specific examples of the worm and the ground. The last stanza returns to an ABAA rhyme scheme much like that of the first two stanzas.

Rural-Urban Linkages, Their Role in Sustainable Development

Although policy makers and the development community have widely used the phrase â€Å"rural development. The concept of rural development has changed significantly during the last 3 decades. Until the 1970s, rural development was synonymous with agricultural development and, hence, focused on increasing agricultural production. This focus seems to have been driven primarily by the interests of industrialization to extract surpluses from the agriculture sector to reinforce industrialization. With the focus on increasing agricultural production, the stated objective of most countries was to promote smallholder agriculture. Over time, this smallholder agriculture-centric concept of rural development underwent changes. By the early 1980s, according to Harris, the World Bank defined it as â€Å"†¦a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people—the rural poor. Four major factors appear to have influenced the change: increased concerns about the persistent and deepening of rural poverty; changing views on the meaning of the concept of development itself; emergence of a more diversified rural economy in which rural non-farm enterprises play an increasingly important role; and increased recognition of the importance of reducing the non-income dimensions of poverty to achieve sustainable improvements in the socio economic well-being of the poor. The establishment of the Millennium Development Goals has significantly reinforce d the concerns about non income poverty. With the paradigm shifts in economic development from growth to broadly defined â€Å"development,† the concept of rural development has begun to be used in a broader sense. It is also more specific, as Harris noted â€Å"in the sense that it focuses (in its rhetoric and in principle) particularly on poverty and inequality. † In more recent years, increased concerns on the environmental aspects of economic growth have also influenced the changes. Today’s concept of rural development is fundamentally different from that used about 3 or 4 decades ago. The concept now encompasses â€Å"concerns that go well beyond improvements in growth, income, and output. The concerns include an assessment of changes in the quality of life, broadly defined to include improvement in health and nutrition, education, environmentally safe living conditions, and reduction in gender and income inequalities. â€Å"Today there seems to be a universal consensus that the ultimate objective of rural development is to improve the quality of life of rural people. As the concept of rural development changed so has the focus and approach to tackling and planning for rural development also change. Thus as already explained, today rural development is an integrated concept that that requires an integrated approach to development . thus the focus now is on sustainable development; hence an integrated sustainable rural development strategy is used to plan for rural development. However in order to successively design a strategy for integrated sustainable rural development, one must take into consideration rural-urban linkages because of the significant role it plays in sustainable rural development. Before proceeding with a discussion about the role that rural-urban linkages play in integrated rural sustainable development strategy, it may be necessary to define rural-urban linkages. In general, â€Å"rural-urban linkages† refers to the flow of (public and private) capital, people (migration, commuting) and goods and services (trade) between rural and urban areas. It is important to add to these three economic flows, the flow of ideas, innovation and information. These rural urban linkages could be expanded as; * The movement of people between rural and urban households many of which are of circular nature. These include temporary migration(as in seasonal moves ) and labour migration including weekly commuting; * The more permanent migration of people from rural to urban areas and vice versa. * The movement of people operating from a single rural urban household as in daily commuting or school trips, shopping and short term visits. * The movement of resources such as money and remittances, commodities and services. * There is also the more permanent type of linkages found mostly in infrastructure such as roads railway lines water and electricity telecommunication etc. Over the past few years, interest in the linkages between urban and rural areas has increased considerably. This is clear, for instance, from the activities of the United Nations. The Habitat Agenda, adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul in 1996, states that â€Å"policies and programmes for the sustainable development of rural areas that integrate rural regions into the national economy require strong local and national institutions for the lanning and management of human settlements that place emphasis on rural-urban linkages and treat villages and cities as two ends of a human settlements continuum. † (UNCHS, 1997: 93-94). however, Studies of rural urban linkages indicate that the nature of the linkages differs from one place to another and differs for different sectors in the same place. It is equally necessary to identify successful practices that promote local rural and urban development and alleviate poverty, using rural-urban linkages, and to build the capacity of rural and urban local governments to review, adapt and replicate such practices. The growing understanding and the pool of good practices should form the basis for capacity building of local governments. Among the above linkages the ,focus would be on the point 1 and 4 that’s the migration and the economic exchange of goods and services and their implication on rural development . this is because they are among the important rural urban linkages necessary for integrated sustainable rural development. These would be dis cussed shortly. To begin with the economic exchange between urban and rural areas can be beneficial or detrimental to either or both areas . hus with economic links between rural and urban areas, the extent to which economic development in the one area benefits or obstructs economic development in the other area. For instance an exclusive focus on rural areas would result in an under-investment in urban areas and this would limit the growth of the urban sector and its ability to absorb the rural labour surplus. Likewise an exclusive focus on urban development would produce similar results, because it would accelerate rural-urban migration and reduce food production per capita (Richardson, 1987: 210). Reardon (n. d. : 8-9) distinguishes three stages in the development of rural non-farm sector and of rural-urban linkages: †¢ During the first stage, rural non-farm activity tends to have a production or expenditure linkage with agriculture while farming directly employs a large share of the rural population. Rural non-farm activity tends to centre on the countryside itself, with little dependence on rural-urban links. Rural non-farm activities are mainly home-based and small-scale production of goods, mainly sold locally. During the first stage, agriculture tends to depend on local supplies of farm inputs and services and on local processing and distribution of farm products, usually carried out by small to medium-scale firms. †¢ A greater mix of situations characterizes the second stage. The mix includes activities based on linkages with agriculture as well as on other, separate activities (e. g. tourism, mining and services), although the latter did grow out of a historical rural non-farm sector based on linkages with agriculture. The share of rural population dependent on farming is lower than during the first phase. Rural-urban links as the basis for rural non-farm employment have a greater weight than in first stage with nascent sub-contracting of rural companies by urban or foreign businesses and a rapid rise in the labour force commuting between the countryside and rural towns and intermediate cities. †¢ The third stage shows an intensification of the characteristics that differentiate the second stage from the first stage. There is a greater weight of urban-rural links manifested by the greater importance of more advanced forms of business linkages, such as subcontracting arrangements and labour commuting. A number of other tendencies also characterize this stage: the expansion of subcontracting beyond light durables to medium durables. The great heterogeneity of the non-farm sector in rural areas implies that there is little scope for general, broad, policy prescriptions. This observation may well provide an important lesson for our thinking about the process of policy formulation. A wide variety of interventions may be required to promote the non-farm sector, each tailored to specific local conditions. Decentralized decision-making may be necessary: mechanisms should be devised whereby local information flows upwards so that the localized bottlenecks are relieved and specific niches can be exploited (Lanjouw, 1999: 9). From the above it can be realised that, rural-urban linkages can play an important role in economic development and poverty alleviation in urban and rural areas. However,it is important to recognize that the nature of the rural-urban linkages differs from one place to another and from one function to another. As Douglas (1998) has pointed out, a particular urban centre may play a crucial economic role for the surrounding rural areas in one respect, while the rural area may completely bypass that same urban centre and link directly to more distant urban centres and cities in other respects. It is, therefore, dangerous to generalize about the nature of rural-urban linkages and to base policy interventions on such generalizations. What is necessary is the recognition of (a) the existence a regional economy as a reality, rrespective of administrative boundaries, and (b) the need to develop knowledge about such regional (i. e. sub-national) economies (World Bank, 2000). The development of this knowledge should be demand-driven, as urban and rural local governments come to recognize their shared interests and constraints. The political impetus for this process of knowledge development may be t decentralization. In order to distribute economic and social opportunities equitably, the Government s hould strengthen grassroots economies that can provide sustainable incomes for the rural population. The Government should establish economic clusters that link rural and urban areas, and the cluster-based economic development should be consistent with the economic potentials, preferences and functions of each area. Another important rural urban linkage that has immense implication for today’s rural development is the rural urban migration. Thus the movement of people between rural and urban households . these include temporary migration and labour migration. Rural-urban migration reduces population pressure in the rural areas and, thereby, should improve economic conditions and reduce rural poverty. However, disparities between urban and rural areas in terms of income and employment and the availability of basic infrastructure and services persist. Urban areas offer more and better opportunities for socio-economic mobility of the poor and rural-urban migration, therefore, will continue. Labour migration could result in shortage of labour force for productivity in the rural areas which would intend result in low productivity and underdevelopment in the rural areas. Whereas the urban areas may not also be able to absorb the all the labour from the rural areas ,resulting in unemployment and increase in sanitation costs and government expenditure. it also increase population pressure in urban areas resulting in pressure on the few social amenities in urban centres. in this case, rural urban migration has more adverse effect on rural development. In addition to the above, Circular and temporary migration is already a common pattern in many countries, but working and housing conditions in the urban areas may not always be conducive to this form of migration. Housing is often an acute problem for temporary migrants who prefer to rent rather than to own housing, because they feel that their home is in the rural areas. Temporary migrants are sometimes not entitled to urban services and this makes their life in the urban areas more difficult than necessary. Local governments and private employers in the urban areas should accept temporary rural-urban migration as inevitable and perhaps even as desirable, and they may consider measures to facilitate such forms of rural-urban migration. For instance, Remittances are a crucial component of rural households’ incomes and a key element of the continued links between migrants and their home areas across all wealth groups. In northern Mali, migrants’ remittances have become probably the most important source of family cash, and are used for consumption and for the purchase of consumer goods such as radios and bicycles, but also for the purchase of agricultural inputs or for investment in livestock. In southeast Nigeria, it would be socially unacceptable for migrants not to send remittances and gifts: financial support to their parental households has greatly contributed to making young women’s migration socially acceptable. Most importantly, remittances and gifts ensure that migrants can maintain a foothold in the home area, and that they will be welcome upon their return. Gaile (1992: 134) argues that the problem is not urbanization as such, because the urban areas need to absorb the additional rural labour. The problem is that migrants have only a limited choice when migrating, because most local economic development occurs in one or a few large cities. He points out that the problem is really â€Å"under-urbanization†, i. e. the underdevelopment of the urban system. The major impediment to the working of the general market and the consequent development of a labour market is the undersupply of centres of sufficient minimal size to provide sites for market development. The above implies that in developing a strategy for sustainable rural development projects that encourages the bridging of gab between rural and urban areas should be considered. This would help reduce rural urban migration. Besides, major effort is required to ensure that the urban areas can absorb the growing urban population and that urbanization will not result in an urbanization of poverty. Small and medium-sized towns can play an important role in the urbanization process by absorbing rural-urban migrants. For instance Economic development in small towns can have a positive impact on the economy of the surrounding rural areas, if the increase in purchasing power results in the purchase of agricultural and non-agricultural products from the surrounding rural areas. This will obviously depend on the types of products produced, their quality and cost and their competitiveness compared to products from other parts of the country (and elsewhere). The development of the local urban economy may also lead to a reduction in rural-urban migration to the larger urban centres and the city and redirect migration flows to smaller urban centres. This in the long run led to sustainable development in both the rural and urban areas. Conclusion and Recommendations From the above discusions, it can be observe that there is growing interdependence of urban and rural areas that reduces the significance of the rural-urban distinction. The flow of people, capital, goods, services and ideas between urban and rural areas, made possible by improvements and cost reductions in communication and transport, is reinforcing the existing rural-urban linkages and more than ever conditions and developments in the urban areas have an impact on the rural areas and vice versa. Rural residents adopt urban lifestyles and occupations; small settlements require urban infrastructure and services; residents of rural areas commute between rural and urban areas; industries move to rural areas; urban waste pollutes natural resources in the rural areas; and agriculture in urban areas is becoming important for both economic and environmental reasons. It is, therefore, an anachronism that governments still design policies and programmes that are focused either on urban or on rural areas, but rarely on both. Rural and urban communities need to have an interest in each other’s conditions, and policy-makers need to consider these when formulating policies and programmes for sustainable rural development. Coordination of decision-making and cooperation between authorities of urban areas and their surrounding rural areas are critical to ensure that the development of urban areas and rural areas support each other. However, the continuing integration of rural and urban areas requires more than simply coordination and cooperation, it requires planning that incorporates rural and urban development. Such regional planning should not be an urban-centred exercise as it often has been in the past. Rural and urban areas need each other and each can benefit when the other’s needs are met. Backward linkages and forward linkages between agricultural production and industry and services can foster positive rural-urban interactions and a virtuous circle of development. However, policies that encourage such mutually reinforcing linkages need to overcome the traditional separation between rural and urban planners. They also need to avoid generalizations and be grounded in the specifics of the regional context (Tacoli, 1998: 13).

Public finance

The researcher by introduction which includes background to the problem, Statement of the problem, Research questions, Objective of the study, Significance of the study, and the scope and limitation of the study. In the second chapter there is literature review, both theoretical and empirical literature review in which there are some terms defined with relevant theories. The third chapter explains about now the study wick be conducted and techniques that will be used in conducting the research study The third chapter shows and explains the schedule of activities, references and bibliography.The fourth chapter give much details of the research topic by answering the research questions both specific and general research questions. It gives a detailed information gathered during the research period so as to give the real situation of the Ministry in relation to the research topic. The last fifth chapter gives the conclusion and recommendation of the researcher in the research area in re lation to the research topic whether the Ministry conduct the situation satisfactory and if there are some added criteria in order to improve the situation in the research area.CPSP: Certified Procurement and Supplies Professional. MTB: Ministerial Tender Board NBMM: National Board for Materials Management PPA : Public Procurement Act IAA: Institute of Accountancy Arusha Head of Department HOD. PMU. Procurement Management Unit NGO: Non Governmental Organization . United States of America USA' CICA. Competition in Contracting Act : Member of the Parliament MP The Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) Head Office is located at the City Centre in Dar-es-salaam at llala Municipal, Pamba Road (Tancot House).The name was officially launched in 1995 and was formerly known as Ministry of works. The ew ministry is the combination of the former Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Communication ; Transportation. It is headed by the Minister Hon. Mr. Andrew Chenge (MP), assisted by Hon . Dr. Maua Daftari (MP) and Dr. Makongoro Mahanga as Deputy Ministers. The ministry of Infrastructures Development is split into two Divisions, namely: 1. Transport Division 2.Communication Division After the introduction of PMS in the year 2003,the ministry adopted a new vision and mission, the proposed functions and structures has put into the new vision, mission and objectives of the ministry. The overall responsibilities of MolD is to structure the transport and communication Infrastructure that is well maintained, providing safe and efficient environment that is friendly and affordable to all parts of Tanzania and one that integrates all modes of transport and communication system economically.Vision of the Ministry: The vision of the ministry is to have efficient and cost effective domestic and international communication and Transport meteorology service to all segments of the population and sectors of National economy with maximum safety and minimum environmental Degradation . Mission of the Ministry: The mission of the Ministry is to have safe, effective and efficient transport and communication and meteorological infrastructures and operations which best meet the socio-Economic needs by improving levels of services at lower costs in a manner which support Government strategies for economically and environment sustainability.Objectives of the Ministry: In order to fulfill the above vision and mission of the sector, the ministry has got the following objectives: To facilitate the provision of adequate, affordable and efficient transport and communication and meteorology infrastructure and services with aximum safety and minimum environment degradation. To ensure a conducive environment for investment in the sector. To improve revenue collection from transport, communication and meteorology service rendered by the sector.To harmonize transport, communication and meteorology standards to those of regional and international groups in which Tanzania is a me mber. To improve services and reduce HIV/AID Intection. Functions of the Ministry. The general function of the Ministry of Communications and Transport are: To initiate and coordinate polices, objectives and strategies on road, railway, pipeline, arine, air transport, posts and Telecommunications. Oversee and co-ordinate performance standards. Monitor and evaluate overall performance contracts.To commercialize and privatize the parastatals in the transport and communication sector The organizational structure of the MolD In order to achieve the objectives, the ministry implements the objectives using five specialized departments at the Head quarter, three regulatory and three Executive agencies: Specialized Departments at the Head Quarters: Department of Administration and Personnel Department of Transport and Communication Department of Accounts and Finance Central Transport Licensing Authority.Regulatory Bodies: Tanzania Civil aviation Authority Tanzania Communication Regulatory A uthority Surface and Marine Regulatory Authority Executive Agencies: Tanzania Airport authority Tanzania Government Flight Agency Tanzania Meteorological Agency. 1. 1 Background to the study Tendering is the method of procurement where by Suppliers, Contractors, and Consultants are invited by procuring entity to compete each other in submitting priced tenders for goods, works, or services (PPA 2004).It is the most popular method recommended by the Act due to its openness, transparency, efficient, and Economy. The history of Procurement Legislation in Tanzania of which tendering found its origin can be traced as far back to 1961 when the Exchequer and Audit Ordinance No. 21 of 1961 was enacted as a Legal mechanism for the purpose of controlling the Public Procurement and Supplies activities. Five years later i. e. 1965 the financial Order part Ill (Stores Regulation 5th Edition 1965) was enacted by the parliament as the guideline to the public Fund by Government officials.Due to the weakness of the old legislation, there was a number of studies carried out in the Country funded by the World Bank to review the Public Procurement System hich eventually found that there was a need for more effective legislation to govern Procurement in the Public Sector to repeal and replace the Exchequer ; Audit Ordinance of 1961, and consequently, Public Procurement Act No. 21 of 2001 came into the e ttect to cater tor the detlciencies ot the old legislations. The enactment of PPA 2001 was only part of the on going Public Procurement reforms.These reforms resulted into the enactment of the PPA 2004 which repealed PPA 2001. The enactment of PPA 2004 was aimed at addressing the deficiencies of the old legislation(s), by enforcing the best practices and professional standards of inancial Management and control of Public properties and resources It is because of this important historical background that TENDERING as a Procurement Method is accorded Importance by the Act due to its o penness, efficiency, economy, and as far as Public Expenditure is concerned.Good practice of tendering reduces total transaction costs and produce timely result, and efficiency use of resources, Poor practice of tendering led to waste and delays and often the cause of allegation of corruption and inefficiency (MasanJa 2004). It follows that the Public Sector particularly the Ministry of Infrastructure Development hould realize the values for money procurement and tendering, among other methods, it must be done in accordance to the existing procedures. 1. 2 Statement of the problem The service oriented organization has a core interest to attain vision and mission.Public Sector in Tanzania, Ministry of Infrastructure Development being one of it, is there to deliver better services to the society, in other hand it spent about 80% of the National Budget on the procurement of goods, Services and works. On realization of this truth the Government has enacted the procurement laws as the gu ide to ensure roper utilization of Pubic Funds. One feature of procurement laws is open/unrestricted tendering characterized by fairness, transparency, and economy.The procedure requires some steps to be accomplished before the contract for delivering of goods, services or execution of work is awarded to the prospective bidder. Open tendering is the most popular procurement method envisage by the Public Procurement Act No. 3 of 2004. It follow that the role of effective open tendering procedures and regulation is to ensure that the system is operated in such away that it reduces the transaction costs, fficiency use of the resources available, efficiency utilization of the time required, and ensure that the system is understood and can be handled by the concerned parties properly.This will Justify the proper use of Public Fund and the attainment of Entitys objectives. The efficiency and adequacies of tendering procedures and quality performance is the end result realization. This is to say that if open tendering is adhered and administrated according to the laid down effective procedures and regulation the end result will be quality of goods, works and services delivered. 1. 3 Research Questions 1. 3. 1 General Question Is open Tendering as a procurement method in Public Sector e 71 32 Specitlc Questions O Are the people involved in procurement?I. e. members, the knowledge of Public Procurement Act 2004? Ministerial Tender Board PMIJ member and HOD have O Are the procedures and Regulation as directed by PPA for open tendering adhered by tender board members or tender evaluation committee or the PMIJ? O Are the tender documents prepared using standard tendering documents as issued by PPRA ? O Can lack of training and understanding of PPA 2004 and their respective regulations contribute to the ineffectiveness of tendering as procurement method? . 4 Study Objectives 1. 4. General Objective The general objective of the study is to evaluate factors that affect the e ffectiveness of open tendering as procurement method in Public Sector. 1. 4. 2 Specific Objectives OTO find out whether the procedures and regulations used for open tendering in the Public Sector are inline with PPA requirements OTO evaluate whether those people i. e. PMU, CTB,;HOD are well involved in the procurement and have the knowledge of the PPA and Regulations. OTO find out whether the lack of procurement capacity in Public Sector contributes to the ineffectiveness of open tendering.OTO check out hether tender documents are prepared according to Standard Tendering Documents and other guidelines (if any) issued by PPRA. 1. 5 Significance of the Study This study has shown clearly problems involved in tendering process including as well as factors hindering proper adhering procedures in Public Sectors. The study may attract the government, donors and NGOs on the need to build Procurement Capacity in the Public Sectors in Tanzania. On the other hand, this study has further served as guidelines for the future reference for those intending to study on procurement laws notably in the area of tendering transactions. . Scope and Limitation of the study his study has been conducted at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Head Office, which is located in Dar-es-salaam City at llala Municipal. The study has based specifically on such areas as Procurement and Purchasing section, Tendering section and Supplies section. The study has examined the factors affecting the effectiveness of open tendering as procurement method in the Public sector. The coverage included system of procurement in tendering process, tendering documents and prospective laws applied.During the research period the researcher expected the following limitations: O On the Job training took a lot of time for researcher to do other work which has no relation with the researcher topic so time for research has beeen limited to acquire the required data through interviews and questionnaires. (J Som e ot the employees that the researcher managed to nave spot interview they became reluctant to give what is real practiced in the organization in fear that the information collected can be presented to the management and investigation can be made to the concerned staff.Successful Tender â€Å"Means a tender selected by the procuring entity as; offering the lowest evaluated cost in case the method of procurement used was competitive tendering or being the most responsive to the needs of procuring entity if the procurement method used as competitive quotations, single sources procurement, competitive selection or where goods or services are of minor value†. Supplier â€Å"Means company, corporation organization, partnership, or individual person supplying goods, or services, hiring equipment or providing transport services and who is according to the contract is a potential party with the procuring entity' Tender â€Å"Means offer, proposal or quotation made by a supplier, co ntractor, or consultant in response to a request drawn by a procuring entity' Works â€Å"All works associated with the construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair or enovation of a building structure, road or airfield†.Lowest Evaluated Costs ‘Means the priced offered by supplier, contractor or consultant that is found to be the lowest after consideration of all relevant factors and the calculation of any weighing for these factors, provided that such factors have been specified in the tender document†. 2. 3 Theoretical basic of the study. Mhilu (2006) in his paper presented during the 21st NBMM Professional Annual Conference contended that an open tendering is the preferred way to promote open and effective competition. He however agreed on the need to bring a balance etween tendering cost and the benefit received, he further enumerated circumstances where open tendering may not be the preferable method to include if; O There is Justification for single sour ce or emergence procurement or OThe cost of an open tendering exceed direct savings that might be enjoyed or OThere are other benefits foregone by using another procurement method.The World Bank guideline (1999) maintained that the objective of tendering is to attain both the classical and contemporary procurement objectives that include transparent and all aspects contributing towards proper administration of tender, hese are proper goods, works and services of right price, through authorization and in a transparent manner. The guideline further continue that, competitive bidding or tendering is the most effective method in attaining the above mentioned objective when properly administered. i Open Tender This is tendering process which is done through open advertisement through widely circulated media such as newspapers of wide circulation. Through the advertisement a procuring entity states its requirements through specification and terms of purchase. Potential suppliers / Contrac tors & Consultants respond to the

The Narative Life of Frederick Douglas essays

The Narative Life of Frederick Douglas essays The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Access to education is a fundamental right. It is what contributes to our ability to sustain communities, cities, and countries. During the pre-civil war period, the right to an education was restricted to only white people. This meant white society could enjoy and reap the benefit of an education while others like Frederick Douglass were forced to endure a life of slavery. It was not only culturally acceptable for blacks to be forced into hard back-breaking work, but this was all they knew growing up; in a life of slavery. The life of bondage into which Douglass was born taught nothing to him other than of slaverys brutality and ruthlessness towards human beings. Uneducated, he remained After Frederick was born, he worked for Captain Aaron Anthony. A cruel man who worked his slaves on the plantation hard and treated them like animals. A good example of this was the fact that, along with the de-humanizing conditions slaves faced, they were also forced to eat their cornmeal mush from a trough. Animals and slaves were treated in similar ways. In the mindset shared by the majority of white people it was culturally acceptable to own, beat, starve, and deprive a black slave of their individuality. Frederick Douglass was a young slave when he was sold to his new captors. Traveling to Baltimore, Maryland to work for Hugh Auld, Douglass, in his new home, made the first leap towards a re...

Should You Send Old or New SAT Scores Expert Guide

Should You Send Old or New SAT Scores Expert Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've taken the old SAT and the redesigned SAT, you may be wondering which scores you should send to colleges. Should you send all your scores? Should you just send your results from the test with the highest average section scores? In this article, I'll explain the factors to consider when determining whether you should send old or new SAT scores. General Differences Between Old and New SAT Scores The old SAT was out of 2400 and the new one is out of 1600. The new SAT combines Reading and Writing into one section score out of 800. Reading and Writing were two separate sections on the old SAT, and both were out of 800. Also, the essay was a mandatory component of the Writing section on the old SAT. Now, the essay is optional- it's its own section and it doesn't impact your overall SAT score. Some schools will require the essay on the new SAT, so check the requirements of the colleges you're applying to. Here's a more thorough breakdown of the old SAT vs. the new one. Most Schools Accept Both the Old and New SATs For the classes of 2017 and 2018, the vast majority of schools will accept scores from the old SAT and the redesigned SAT, but make sure you check the specific policies for the schools you’re applying to. You have to send the scores that the school will accept, and while most colleges will accept scores from either version, some may only accept scores from the new SAT. For example, Yale will accept scores from the old SAT for the classes of 2017 and 2018, but will only accept scores from the new SAT for the classes of 2019 and beyond. Northwestern will accept scores from the old test for the class of 2017, but it's one of the few schools that won't accept scores from the old test for the class of 2018. Look at each school’s website to find its requirements. If you can’t find information there, call the admissions office. Some colleges may only accept scores from the new SAT. Why Does It Matter Which Scores You Send? If you’ve taken the old SAT and the current SAT, you may think that you can send scores from both tests and that colleges will just consider your highest section scores or your highest overall score. Actually, though, that may not be true. Most Schools Don't Superscore Between the Old and New SAT Superscoring is the process by which colleges consider your highest section scores across all dates you took the SAT. Even schools that do superscore are unlikely to do so between the old test and the current one. If you did better on Reading on the old test and better on Math on the new one, colleges probably won't consider both section scores when evaluating your SAT scores. New SAT Scores Are Slightly Inflated Also, schools most likely won’t just focus on the higher overall score between the two tests because scores on the new test are somewhat inflated. For example, an 1100 on the new SAT is equivalent to a 1020 on the Critical Reading and Math sections of the old SAT. Therefore, if you averaged 550 per section on the new SAT and a 520 per section on the old SAT, you actually did better on the old SAT despite having a higher score on the new one. What matters to colleges isn't your score but how well you did relative to other college applicants. What Should You Do? Here are the various options you have if you’re deciding between sending your old scores and new scores. Send Both You’ll have to use this option for colleges that require you to send all your scores. If you're given a choice, sending scores from the old test and the new one may be a good option if you did significantly better on Reading or Math on one test vs. the other, but your overall scores were comparable. Even if the school won’t superscore between the two tests, they’ll be less likely to think you have any skill deficiencies. For example, let’s say you got a 650 in Math on the old test and a 500 in Critical Reading. If, on the new test, you got a 620 on Reading and Writing and a 550 on Math, your overall scores would be similar, but the old test would show much stronger math skills and the new test results would show stronger reading comprehension. Therefore, you can send both if your section scores on the different versions of the test show different strengths or minimize your weaknesses. Also, you may want to send both if you reached your target scores on both the old and the new tests. If you got a 2300 on the old test and a 1590 on the new test, feel free to send both scores. Showing good scores on two different tests may be more impressive to colleges. Use Concordance Tables and Send the Best Score Remember that the scores on the new SAT aren’t equivalent to those on the old SAT; the scores on the new test are slightly higher. Therefore, the SAT has created concordance tables to convert new scores to old scores and vice versa. You can use these tables to determine which score is best and then send the best score. This option probably makes the most sense for the majority of students. Send the Old SAT The argument for just sending your scores from the old SAT is that colleges are much more familiar with the old SAT and may be able to more easily interpret your scores. This could be a good option for students who did the same or better on the old SAT. Because scores on the new SAT are slightly inflated, an equivalent score on the old SAT is more impressive. What's Next? If you've taken the ACT, check out this post for conversion tables from the ACT to the old and new SAT. If you're studying for the new SAT, learn why using Khan Academy isn't enough. Finally, check out this post to understand the importance of the SAT. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Japanese Writing for Beginners

Japanese Writing for Beginners Writing might be one of the most difficult, but also fun, parts of learning Japanese. The Japanese dont use an alphabet. Instead, there are three types of scripts in Japanese: kanji, hiragana and katakana. The combination of all three is used for writing. Kanji Roughly speaking, kanji represents blocks of meaning (nouns, stems of adjectives and verbs). Kanji was brought over from China around 500 C.E. and thus are based on the style of written Chinese characters at that time. The pronunciation of kanji became a mixture of Japanese readings and Chinese readings. Some words are pronounced like the original Chinese reading. For those more familiar with Japanese, you might realize that kanji characters do not sound like their modern-day Chinese counterparts. This is because kanji pronunciation is not based on modern-day Chinese language, but the ancient Chinese spoken around 500 C.E.   In terms of pronouncing kanji, ththere are two different methods:  on-reading  and  kun-reading. On-reading (On-yomi) is the Chinese reading of a kanji character. It is based on the sound of the kanji character as pronounced by the Chinese at the time the character was introduced, and also from the  area  it was imported. Kun-reading (Kun-yomi) is the native Japanese reading associated with the meaning of the word. For a clearer distinction and an explanation of how to decide between on-reading and  kun-reading,  read what  is  On-reading and Kun-reading? Learning kanji can be intimidating as there are thousands of unique characters. Start building your vocabulary by learning the top 100 most common kanji characters used in Japanese newspapers. Being able to recognize frequently used characters in newspapers is a good introduction to practical words used every day.   Hiragana The other two scripts, hiragana and katakana, are both kana systems in Japanese. Kana system is a syllabic phonetic system similar to the alphabet. For both scripts, each character typically corresponds with one syllable. This is unlike kanji script, in which one character can be pronounced with more than one syllable.   Hiragana characters are used to express the grammatical relationship between words. Thus, hiragana is used as sentence  particles  and to inflect adjectives and verbs. Hiragana is also used to convey native Japanese words that do not have a kanji counterpart, or it is used as a simplified version of a complex kanji character. In order to emphasize style and tone in literature, hiragana can take the place of kanji in order to convey a more casual tone. Additionally, hiragana is used as a pronunciation guide to kanji characters. This reading aid system is called furigana. There are 46 characters in hiragana syllabary, consisting of 5 singular vowels, 40 consonant-vowel unions and 1 singular consonant. The curvy script of hiragana comes from the cursive style of Chinese calligraphy popular at the time when hiragana was first introduced to Japan. At first, hiragana was looked down upon by educated elites in Japan who continued to used only kanji. Consequently, hiragana first became popular in Japan among women as women were not granted the high levels of education available to men. Because of this history, hiragana is also referred to as onnade, or womens writing.   For tips on how to properly write hiragana, follow these stroke-by-stroke guides.   Katakana Like hiragana, katakana is a form of Japanese syllabary. Developed in 800 C.E. during the Heian period, katakana consists of 48 characters including 5 nucleus vowels, 42 core  syllabograms  and 1 coda consonant. Katakana is used transliterate foreign names, the names of foreign places and loan words of foreign origin. While kanji are borrowed words from ancient Chinese, katakana is used to transliterate modern-day Chinese words. This Japanese script is also used for onomatopoeia, the technical scientific name of animals and plants. Like italics or boldface in Western languages, katakana is used to create emphasis in a sentence.   In literature, katakana script can replace kanji or hiragana in order to emphasize a characters accent. For instance, if a foreigner or, like in manga, a robot is speaking in Japanese, their speech is often written in katakana. Now that you know what katakana is used for, you can learn how to write katakana script with these numbered stroke guides. General Tips If you want to learn Japanese writing, start with hiragana and katakana. Once you are comfortable with those two scripts, then you can begin to learn kanji. Hiragana and katakana are simpler than  kanji,  and have only 46 characters each. It is possible to write an entire Japanese sentence in hiragana. Many childrens books are written in hiragana only, and Japanese children start to read and write in hiragana before making an attempt to learn some of the two thousand kanji commonly used. Like most Asian languages, Japanese can be written vertically or horizontally. Read more about when one should write vertically versus horizontally.

A Critical Review of the Use of Dogs in the US Army During the WWII Essay

A Critical Review of the Use of Dogs in the US Army During the WWII - Essay Example In the past, the main of role of trained dogs was that that of sentries or patrols. But in modern warfare, dogs had been used the most tactfully. Though in post modern warfare, dogs’ role has mostly been replaced by modern technology, they played a crucial role in the US Army during the Second World War (Blumenstock pars. 2). After the attack on Pearl Harbor Navy Base in December 7, 1941, the US Army led a campaign to inspire the pet-owners to donate their dogs to the army-training camps. The US Army named this campaign as â€Å"Dogs for Defense†. In order to inspire the owner, they further claimed that the dogs would be trained to be accustomed into civil life after the war. Indeed, it was the beginning of the dog-squad in the US military. Subsequently, martial dog training programs were adopted and, in the meantime, a number of dog-training centers were established to facilitate the programs around the country (MWD History, pars. 2). Some of the dog-training centers w ere Gulfport, Fort Carson, Rimini, San Carlos, Fort Washington, Fort Riley, Fort Belvoir, Fort Robinson, Nebraska Camp, Beltsville, etc. During the Second World War, the US Army used dog to perform a number of risky as well as routine jobs. According to the types of breed and performance, the dogs were to be sled dogs, sentry, scouts, mine-detecting dogs, wire-layer, pack-pullers, and messenger dogs. The military training of a dog used to take 8-12 week to be fully trained. By late 1944, the Army selected about seven breeds of dogs to receive the highest performances in war-fields. Among these breeds were German Shepherd, Doberman Pinscher, Collie, Belgian Sheep dog, Eskimo, Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky, etc. During the Second World War, the German Shepherd was the most preferred choice in the army because of its courage, strong sense of responsibility, keen nose, strength, adaptability and trainability. Doberman Pinscher was second to German Shepherd in terms of strength, nervo us power, speed, sensing power, and tractability. Collie and Belgian Sheep dogs were mainly used as messengers for their loyalty, alertness, endurance and agility. Muscular and sturdy breeds were generally used for pack-pull and wire-laying jobs. Alaskan Malamute, Eskimo and Siberian Husky belonged to this group. Among these three breeds, Siberian Husky was the most desired type because of their speed and endurance. During the war, the US dog-squad’s performance was surprising (Blumenstock pars. 2-4). Due to their high sensibility, loyalty and alertness, the military dogs were the preferred options for the soldiers in many war fields. There were many fields where dogs were more skillful performers than the soldiers. During the WWII, the war-theater-wise performance of the US military dogs was great. The dogs showed great performances mainly in two theaters: the pacific theater and the European theater. In 1944, under the command of William W. Putney, the â€Å"3rd Marine War Dog Platoon† played a crucial role in the liberation of Guam from the Japanese occupation. According to the MWD, approved and led by the US Congress, â€Å"Twenty-five of Lieutenant Putney's war dogs gave their lives in the liberation of Guam and were buried there in a War Dog Cemetery with name markers† (MWD History, pars. 2). In the war-field of Guam, the Doberman Pincers breed showed a great performance in guarding and scouting along the frontline of the war. Evading the enemies’ eye, they successfully worked as messengers between the US camps. Several of the success stories are as following: In February 17, 1945, a war-dog called Bruce saved two wounded soldiers from the attack of three Japanese infantrymen. During the nocturnal