Personal statement media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal statement media - Essay Example The media today is a powerful tool in this age of communication and its magnanimity is appealing to me. The growth in the media in the past few years has been immense as there have been ventures in coverage of all sorts of events and stories from world news, local news, politics, sports, art, music, culture and generally anything of human interest (Thussu 2009, Pg. 22). It is an exciting time to join the media especially due to the changes and the innovation that is going on at the moment; I would like to be part of this industry and inject my ideas into it as well. I have an ambition to start my business in media later on in life and entry into media school is the first great step in starting that journey. By studying media in the university, I will learn the fundamentals of media as well as discover means of channelling my passion of music and poetry into the media. I hope to realize my dream and would appreciate you granting me the chance to study media in your

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of youth justice policies in England and Wales since 1997 Essay Example for Free

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of youth justice policies in England and Wales since 1997 Essay Introduction When Labour took office in 1997 they claimed that they would be tough on crime and the causes of crime. The first 6 months were unprecedented, with six consultation documents being released on youth and crime each containing its own proposals these were first published in Tackling Youth Crime, Reforming Youth Justice (Labour 1996). To start this essay I will first discuss Labours 1997 White Paper, No more excuses: A new approach to tackling youth crime in England and Wales, where policy was laid out and then later legislated in The Crime and Disorder Act 1998. From this I will evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of the various elements of this policy which will include the aims of the youth justice system. Then in the second part move to evaluate the abolition of the doli incapax, the reparation order and parenting order. Thirdly I will evaluate the child safety order, local child curfew, final warning scheme, action plan order. The fourth part will be an evaluation of the detention and training order and new arrangements for secure remands of 12-16 year olds. And finally the establishment of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, Youth Offending Teams and the duties of the local authorities and other agencies to make sure the availability of the appropriate youth justice services. And then finally bring all my findings together to produce a clear and comprehensive conclusion; which I believe has many strengths and some weaknesses. The Labour governments 1997 White paper, No more excuses: A new approach to tackling youth crime in England and Wales is a document which sets out labours programme of reform for the youth justice system in England and Wales, it aims are a clear strategy to prevent offending and re-offending, that offenders, and their parents, face up to their offending behaviour and take responsibility for it, earlier, more effective intervention when young people first offend, faster, more efficient procedures from arrest to sentence, partnership between all youth justice agencies to deliver a better, faster system Home Office (1997). According to the Home Office (1997) the aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending by young people. And the Crime and Disorder Bill has in it a requirement that it is the duty of all people working in the youth justice system to uphold these. The requirement covers all the youth justice agencies in England and Wales like the police, social services the probation services and others working in the Youth Offending Teams, the Crown prosecution service, defence solicitors, the prison services and courts and the way they deal with young adults. The claim is that this will provide unity between them all and that everyone is striving for the same purpose. The government will also complement this with a new proposal for a new Youth Justice Board for England and Wales who will give advice on how to set standards and how to monitor performance. Also this will not take over or supersede practitioners previous roles, but will support them to understand their actions and choices when they deal with young people this can help to stop offending and can prevent avoidable delays; such as the chances of offending when awaiting sentence can be reduced, also making young people responsible for their own behaviours which can help youths understand and change their behaviours. Also community and custodial penalties whose priorities are on the causes of offending which can be enforced can help. This duty that has been stated is a clear strength bringing the various agencies and services in the same line and having one clear aim of what the task ahead is this also eliminates any confusion that might have existed. The government according to the Home Office (1997) proposes that an aim of youth justice system and the duty discussed previously and their practitioners would be supported by more complete, non statutory objectives for these agencies. These would support the proposals made by Jack Straws Youth Justice Task Force which is a variety of people and groups that have a high knowledge of the system and have now issues of victims and representatives of the governmental departments. The Task Force stated their recommendations for preventing offending which were, a speedy administration of justice so that the accused matter can be sorted out quickly, confronting offenders with the consequences of their actions, for themselves their families, victims and their communities. Punishment which reflects the seriousness and the persistence of the offending. Also to support reparation to victims by the offenders and to strengthen the responsibilities of parents and to help offenders to fix their problems and to build a sense of the personal self. This is also strength as all involved have a good knowledge of the problems and the system and would be a good resource to the system to have. And also what the Task Force has recommended is also a good step forward as it is these that have stopped the system from being efficient. Moving onto the abolition of the doli incapax the reparation order and parenting order. The doli incapax according to Muncie (2009:275) In England and Wales, children fewer than 10 could not be found guilty of a criminal offence, and the law for many years believed that those under 14 were incapable of criminal intent. But during the 1990s the doli incapax, which had been in the law since the 14th century, was being challenged by both the right and the left. This was due to the Bulger case, the policy was put under review by the conservatives after the 1994 High Court ruling. Three years later it was abolished in the Crime and Disorder Act, the reasons given for this were so that they could convict young offenders who wreaked havoc on communities this was based on the fact that they believed that 10 and 13 year olds could capable of knowing between right and wrong. This was against what the UN had recommended for The UK which they had made in 1995 then 2002 to come in line with the rest of Europe but the government went totally in the other direction. They gave no direction to the courts and to the youth offending teams that overall child welfare is the main consideration. This is a weakness as it contradicts what Labour had said in there White Paper, and the fact that the YOTs would be confused with conflicting policies. This legislation manages not to take the childs age into consideration and this can be seen just by looking at the rest of Europe are the children in the UK not the same. The reparation order is for young adults to understand the cost of their actions and to take responsibility for them. What is asked is that they repair the damage caused directly to the victim through mediation if they both agree or to the community indirectly cleaning up graffiti and other tasks around the community. This would be managed by the YOT, this can be a real strength in the rehabilitation process giving something back to the victims and the community and being able to see the damage they have caused helping to change their lives around. Also the parenting order which has been stated by the Home Office (1997) to be created so that it can give support to parents so they can control their children. The order requires parents attend a counselling or guidance session once a week for 3 months and if the courts think that it is needed then a requirement to make sure that children attend school and to see that they get home on a certain time. This is also a strength as it forces parents to be responsible as some parents let their children do what they want to and so this is a good way of making parents act so that they can help their children from offending. Now moving onto the child safety order, which according to the Home Office (1997) has been developed to safeguard children who are under ten where there is risk that these children will be involved in crime or signs of anti social behaviour can be seen. This could be available to local authorities in the family proceeding court. A court would be able to make a child stay at home at a certain time or ban them from going to certain places. They could also stop certain behaviours like truanting; this could also be combined with a parenting order. And if these are not obeyed then the local authority can start proceedings. The strength of this is a the combination of the two orders as it can be most effective this way by handing responsibility 2 both parent and child giving maximum results. Then there is the Local child curfew which is for the Childs own good and to stop neighbourhood crime and disorder and states that children should not be out without supervision at night. This can be used by the local authorities and police but they would have to get permission from the Home secretary. Also the council could then bar children under 10 from certain public places after certain times. These can last for up to 90 days and if these are to be extended then police and local community. The strength of this is that it involves the local community so determining whats best for the members of their own community. Then there is the final warning where the Home Office (1997) has replaced the cautioning with a statuary police reprimand, what happens is that the police can decide to reprimand a child and give them a final warning or to bring criminal charges to the offender. What then happens is a community intervention programme is forced which makes the offender and his family address the causes this behaviour which can help solve the problem. What the final warning entails is that the first offence the offender can receive a reprimand by the police if the crime is not that serious and if it carries on then a another final warning or criminal charges can be pressed. But on no grounds must 2 final warnings be given. The strength of this is that it lets the offender know that they will be strict and will not put up with it again a final warning is a final warning. Also an action plan order which is like a community penalty for young offenders, this is a small, rigorous programme where community intervention is used combined with punishment and rehabilitation so that the offenders behaviour can be changed and more crime can be stopped. The strength in this lies in the way that it uses various methods simultaneously like community intervention, punishment and rehabilitation which can only increase the chances of success. Moving onto and new arrangements for secure remands of 12-16 year olds. The Home office (1997) state that the government should have undeniable powers to remand to secure accommodation. For young people who are of the age 10-16 and are awaiting trial. And so The Criminal Justice Act 1991 and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 included in its provisions to amend the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 which was to allow courts to remand 12-16 years olds directly to secure local authority accommodation with certain conditions. But this was not put into operation. The conservatives had started a building programme which was for 170 new local authority secure places, there completion date was 1998. But Labour said that these would be not enough. And so declared to use the Crime and Disorder Bill to implement court ordered remand power on some groups of youths. Priority would be gives to 12-14s then girls of the age 15 and 16 and also boys of that age when places become available. This is due to courts believing that these children are vulnerable and they are emotionally and physically immature and so there is a danger that they could harm themselves, this is also strength as it recognises that they are still young but this also does contradict other policies in this White Paper which it does on many levels. Also detention and training orders, these will give powers the Home Office (1997) states can be used for 10-17 year olds and courts can use these only if it is a very serious crime and if they are persistent offenders and the court believes it is needed to protect the public. This will also added to 10-11 year olds but would only be permitted by parliament if seen to be needed. The length of the sentence will be divided, half of it will be in custody and half in community supervision and this also could be adjusted if good behaviour is seen. This is a good as it does not just impose a detention where by this can harden the youth and in some cases lead to further crimes but with the community supervision would let the offender know that they have been given a chance to mend their ways. Then Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2002:560) discuss Labours new youth justice which is the forming of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and the Youth offending Teams (YOTs); and also what takes place through this legislation is a restructure of non custodial penalties in the youth court. So considering Labours main aim of having a youth justice system which prevents offending by children and young adults, the way labour went about this is to impose order from the centre. There tools to enable this was a catalogue of legislations, also the then Home secretary Jack Straw formed a youth justice task force the aim of this was to keep a tight link with all the other agencies involved with young offenders. Due to the section 41 of the Crime Disorder Act the YJB had turned into a non departmental public body which was then sponsored by the Home Office. The job of the YJB was to monitor the running of the youth justice system and the provision of the youth justice services and also the national standards and establishing the right performance measures. What also the 1998 Act made possible was for the home secretary to give the board more powers which included the YJB becoming the commissioning body of all the placements that are under 18 in a secure facility on remand or have a sentence from the courts. The YJB was also given control over commissioning places including prison services YOTs, secure training centres (STCs) and local authority secure units. This is also strength as it brings together all the agencies under one roof you could say and so the aims are understood by all and are the same this can only help. This brings me to managerialism, the reason the YJB and the YOTs were set up in the first place was because according to Muncie (2009:297) investigations from the Public Accounts Committee, Audit commission and the National Audit Office recommended and supported subjugating professional skills independent managerial ideals of what works, which could attach certain resources to credible and successful outcomes and which could initiate responsibility to law and order from a central state to a sequence of semi independent local partnerships which will include privatized bodies and voluntary agencies. Words such as individual need, rehabilitation, reformation, penal purpose and due process are replaced by techniques of classification and actuarialism, risk assessment and resource management changes all the earlier understanding of law and order from understanding motivations of crime to making crime bearable through universal coordination. This is a total difference from earlier ways and managerial system is thought to lower the standard or expectations of what a government can achieve in the youth justice system. This to me is a weakness as it is being run like a business which always has its priorities in cost and reduction, but also I can see strengths to as it can be more efficiently run with professionals running it with the right knowledge. The Act also contained anti social behaviour orders. Muncie (2009:317) explains that they are usually refer to a variety of things such as youths that hang out causing trouble making a nuisance of them and to their neighbours, making noise, vandalising property, littering, and causing graffiti to public property and drunkenness. This has been a priority in England and Wales, the key to New Labour was to strengthen the ability of the criminal justice system so they could treat disorder and the lack of respect but serious crimes too as it was clear that disorder was rising and was affecting neighbourhoods and also that it was a sign of times to come more serious crimes. The police and courts were said to be powerless against the nuisance and the anti social behaviour that was being caused and that this was being mixed in with impunity. Second at the centre was a program and wish not just to reduce crime and disorder, but to encourage a process of civil renewal and civic responsibility. Third the broken windows theory was taken aboard a it was believed that a failure to accept zero tolerance policing of lesser serious offending and signs of disorder could only further destroy already deprived and marginalized communities. The Anti social behaviour order (ASBO) was the flagship of New Labour in their 1998 Crime and Disorder Act. Muncie (2009:318) explains that this is a civil not a criminal order and can be given by the police and local authority to anyone that is over 10 years of age whose behaviour can cause alarm, distress or even harassment. The minimum time an order can last is two years. But if you breach the order it will be treated as a criminal offence and the punishment for this can be up to two years in prison for juveniles and five years for adults. Certain local authorities went even further and started to experiment with Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) which were for even lower levels of behaviours and for lower ages those below for ten years of age. And if they are given an order then they must agree and to take steps to correct their behaviour, the steps will be decided by local youth offending team (YOT) and their parents must also agree on the steps. Initially when the ASBO was introduced it was said that it was for adults that were nuisances to their neighbours, but this statement was later changed and became for young people and areas that high crime rates became the targets of this order. The Home office review, 58% were made on under 18 year olds and a further 16% on those aged between 18 and 21. There are certain steps in this that are positive but to me there are inherent weaknesses to, like to give anti social behaviour order and lock youths in their houses and stop them from going into certain locations can work but does not address the real problem, and Labour could try and find the cause of these problems as this to me is just breeding further adult criminals and as we have seen lately getting an ASBO is something t o show off so demoralising it entirely. So to conclude I have found that Labour have a lot of strengths in their Youth Policy but have inherent weaknesses which stem from various contradictions in the policy. The strength that I have found are first of all is the duty that has been put into the legislation, which brings various agencies and services together, which unifies them and sets a main agenda that all must adhere to as it is in the legislation to follow the duty and eliminates any confusion that might have existed, and another strength is to support these by the task force which comprises of professionals and people in the field that can offer the best advice. Also the reparation order is a strength as it forces parents to be responsible as some parents let their children do what they want to and so this is a good way of making parents act so that they can help their children from offending and make them responsible. Then the child safety order, the strength of this is a the combination of the two orders as it can be most effective this way by handing responsibility 2 both parent and child giving maximum results. Then the local child curfews strength lies in the way it involves the local community so determining whats best for the members of their own community. Then there is the final warning where the strength in this lies in the way that it uses various methods simultaneously like community intervention, punishment and rehabilitation which can only increase the chances of success. Which brings me to secure remands of 12-16 year olds which is also a strength as it recognises that they are still young but this also does contradict other policies in this White Paper which it does on many levels, the detention training programme has strength because it does not just impose a detention where by this can harden the youth and in some cases lead to a life of crime but with the community supervision would let the offender know that they have been given a chance to mend their ways. The forming of the YOTs and YJB is strength as it brings together all the agencies under one roof you could say, and so the aims are understood by all and are the same this can only help, and managerialism is strength as it can be more efficiently run with professionals in charge. Now I will just conclude my findings of the weaknesses which are; the abolition of the doli incapax to me is a weakness as it manages not to take the childs age into consideration and this can be seen just by looking at the rest of Europe, are the children in the UK not the same. Another weakness is the ASBO to lock youths in their houses and stop them from going into certain locations can work but does not address the real problem, and Labour could try and find the cause of these problems as this to me is just breeding further adult criminals and as we have seen lately getting an ASBO is something to be proud off and to show off so demoralising the order entirely. There are strengths and weaknesses in this policy but I have found the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Bibliography Home Office, (1997), White Paper, No More Excuses: A new approach to tackling youth crime in England and Wales Muncie, J. (2009), Youth and Crime, 3rd edition, London, Sage publications Maguire, M. Morgan, R and Reiner, R. (2002), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 3rd Edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Goldson, B. Muncie, J. (2006), Youth Crime and Justice, London, Sage Publications Baldock, J. Manning, N. and Vickerstaff, S. (2007), Social Policy, 3rd edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Race-Based Traffic Stops in the US Essay -- racial profiling, police st

Imagine driving home, on a pleasant evening, after a tedious day at work. Just as you are about to arrive to your neighborhood, you notice blue and red flashing lights and pull over. It seems the police officer has no reason for stopping you, except to search your vehicle because of your suspiciously perceived skin tone. This unnecessary traffic stop, designed for people of colored skin, happens on numerous occasions and has been termed Driving While Black or Brown. Racial profiling is the act of using race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed a crime. Race-based traffic stops are dangerous for people of color, since they can happen anytime; various African Americans and Latinos modify their driving habits in uncommon ways. For example, some completely avoid predominately white suburbs, in fear of police involvements for looking out of place. Some intentionally drive ordinary vehicles or change his or her dressing style, and others who drive long distances even factor in extra time for the inescapable traffic stops (Harris). â€Å"From 2005 to mid-2008, approximately eighty percent of total stops made were of Blacks and Latinos, who comprise twenty-five percent and twenty-eight percent of New York City’s total population, respectively. During this same time period, only about ten percent of stops were of Whites, who comprise forty-four percent of the city’s population† (â€Å"Restoring a National Consensus†). Ray Kelly, appointed Police Commissioner by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, of New York in 2013, has not only accepted stop-and-frisk, a program that allows law enforcers to stop individuals and search them, but has multiplied its use. Kelly argued that New Yorkers of color, who have been unevenly targeted un... ...inspired action at the state and local level. The ACLU calls on legislators in every state to pass laws that will allow the practice of traffic enforcement to be statistically monitored continuously. Fourth, the Justice Department should ban racial profiling in all federally funded drug interdiction programs. Fifth, the fifty largest cities in the United States should voluntarily collect traffic stop data (â€Å"Restoring a National Consensus†). Earl G. Graves said, â€Å"Fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King expressed his dream that African Americans would someday be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character, the line between the suspect is a black male and black males are suspect remains dangerously thin.† Our nation needs to follow the five-step plan outlined by ACLU to allow our members of society safety and equal rights for one another.

V for Vendetta

Brainwashed or Truly Embraced? V for Vendetta By Alan Moore and David Lloyd â€Å"16. Was Evey brainwashed by V or did she truly embrace V’s ideals† A teenage girl saved by V while she became involved with a gang of London’s secrete police while looking for a way to escape her social, economical and emotional needs. That’s how Alan Moore and David Lloyd introduce Evey Hammond, a fictional character and one of the protagonists of the comic book series V for Vendetta. Growing up on Shooters Hill in southeast London, she lost both her parents, and was struck by poverty.Trying to escape poverty she became a prostitute at only 16 years old. When she approached her first potential customer, which happens to be a Fingerman, a member of Norsefire’s secret police the man tried to rape her, but she was saved by a mysterious man in a Guy Fawkes mask and black cloak, which calls himself V. Being a naive young women, Evey falls for this V character and from that day on shows what could be questioned as a brainwashed by V, or a loyal follower of his unique ideals.If we divide the book into three different sections, we can see how Evy Hammond changes her point of view towards V ideals throughout the comic book. At the beginning we can see how she wasn’t totally convinced by his ideals, way of manipulating and spreading his thoughts but was still loyal to him even though she stayed at his house for convenience and protection rather than for loyalty. Since V appeared and saved her from those Fingerman, Evey showed an expression of gratefulness and relief him.In page 11, panel 3,8-9, we see how sad, nervous and lost she felt in the presence of the secrete police thanks to the sexual tension between them. After V appears in page 12, panel 6 we see how Evey expression changes, showing relief and emotional stability compared to her previous face expressions and gestures. Even though she realizes what she is leaving behind, she doesn’ t think its valuable enough to turn down V? s proposal about going to live with him even though she knows she might be getting involved with a potential terrorist. When she arrives to V? s ? house? he had an idea of what kind of person V was and still didn’t fear or ran away as a regular 16 year old girl would have done. In page 18, panel 2–5 we can perceive she was in her comfort zone regardless of the situation she was passing through. The act of staying not only shows us the instantaneous loyalty and gratefulness she feels towards V, but the desperation in which Evey was before being saved by him. As time starts passing, Alan Moore and David Lloyd, starts to modify Evey Hamond character, revealing a doubtful, confused side, which the readers did not know of.This personality trait is reflected when she doubts about V’s person under the masked, having the bravery to ask him if he might be her father. Through the second thirds of the book we see how Evey loyalty start to increase each time regardless of the physical or psychological distance that is between these two characters. When she is kicked out of The Shadow Gallery, she is left in the streets with nothing but V’s memory, because who thought they were going to see each other in a not so far away future?She goes to a friend’s house who gives her a place to sleep, food, and comfort, which is more likely what a teenage girl needs. Around this time was that we started to notice the strong connection there was between these two characters. Even after he had the nerve to kick her out she was still loyal to V, this is the point where we start to believe it’s a true loyalty instead than a game of manipulation and brainwashing as V’s common games. In page 124, panel 7-9 we see how even in a daily basis, she keeps thinking of him even though she tries to hide or forget it.When V captures Evy, someone who supposedly he loves, he tortures her physically and psycholog ically, until her breaking point. When asked to testify against V, her loyalty was so pure and profound, that she preferred to die for him that to say the reality of where he was hiding. Distracted and brainwashed by the emotional weight of Valerie’s story (pg 154,panel 6), we question again if her loyalty is pure or if it might be one of V tricks. If her loyalty was all a mind game, V was managing to do a great job do to the fact that not everyone would risk his/her life to say no words about the location of a terrorist.V keeps Evy locked up until she is tortured and manipulated to the extreme where she finally sees justice through V? s point of view. When she does, she is finally allowed back to the Shadow Gallery. Using such extremes to convince Evy of his perspective makes the reader question, once and for all if she is brainwashed or truly follows his ideals. Reaching the conclusion of truly embracing his ideals thanks to her strong determination about dying instead than revealing about her sentimental partner.When she is finally free from the cell, she embraces V ideals completely, to the extent that she even plans to execute his cruel plan, and to respect his death wishes about leaving his mask on regardless of his state. The moment one is completely sure about this loyalty is in my own favorite panel, located in page 251panel 8, a panel full of symbols that convey a unique message to each reader. Mimicking V? s smile, this final panel, close to the end demonstrate that even though Evy Hamond might not have believed in V? ideals at the beginning of the book, she grew to adopt them as if they were of her own. She got so involved in her new life living with the guy in the Guy Fawkes mask that she forgot her complete identity thanks to his manipulation, torture and charm. Giving V the tranquility of dying knowing that the idea survived his death rather than dying with him. —————————†”————– [ 1 ]. Potential terrorist, considering the fact he just blew up the House of Parliament in her presence.

E-Hr in P&G

Introduction to Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a multinational corporation that provides consumer products in the areas of pharmaceuticals, cleaning supplies, personal care, and pet supplies. The global consumer goods company was started by William Procter, an English candle maker & James Gamble, an Irish soap maker in 1837, and has been well established since then, ranking fifth place of the â€Å"World's Most Admired Companies† by Fortune Magazine . P constantly strives to provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improves the lives of the world’s consumers , where P brands serve 4. billion people in more than 180 countries. A High Performing Organization Being a multinational corporation, P values its people as the company’s most important as-set and source of competitive advantage, and understands that its success greatly depends on the strength of the talent pipeline. The Human Resources department inevitably plays an im-portant role to the company, responsible in attracting the top talents, managing P talent globally to enable career development and growth across businesses and geographies and de-veloping leaders at P around the world in every business, in every region and at every level. In view of the fast technological advances, P continues to stay at the global frontline by in-corporating e-HR into its everyday processes such as selection, recruitment and training. The use of the Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) was also able to increase administra-tive efficiency and produce reports that have the potential to improve decision making for managers. E-HR not only provided human resources departments with the opportunity to make information available and accessible to managers and employees, but was also able to improve the company’s overall efficiency and effectiveness. With all its efforts over the years, P has been widely recognized as the industry’s global in-novation leader and brand-building leader of the industry, being consistently ranked by leading retailers in industry surveys as a preferred supplier and generating $82. 6 billion dollar of sales in 2011 alone. The HR department was also awarded the â€Å"2010 Asian Human Capital Award from Singapore's Minister for Manpower†, a highly recognized award in the industry. Technology in HR Functions Training & Development Early 2000s Being a global company that has hundred years of history, P&G owes its success partly to its large pool of capable and well-trained workforce. P&G trained its workforce on a regular basis. Since early 2000s, P&G sees the need to share product information and knowledge to its em-ployees quickly, while keeping its employees skilled and knowledgeable. P&G thus appointed Saba Learning Enterprise to develop an Internet-based learning system to be used by over 100,000 of its employees in over 70 countries . Through the collaboration with Saba Learning Enterprise, P&G were able to have a scalable system which featured various functions through its web compatibility. Powering the RapidLEARN initiative , Saba had helped P&G to consolidate multiple Learning Management Systems (LMSs) into one that improved the company’s global learning pace, thus reducing its costs greatly . New strategies and direction could be passed on to its employees with great consistency. Through the development of such integrated system, P&G was thus able to meet the needs of various business requirements. As a result of this, number of employees that utilized e-learning had increased from less than 5% to over 25% . It was estimated that such initiative had resulted in cost savings of around $14million after 5 years. In 2003, P&G moved on to engage BrightWave, UK e-learning developer, to transform its in-house presentation materials into an online training program, a 2-hour stand alone modular course, for its employees . Late 2000s With the success of Saba since early 2000s, the system had undergone multiple upgrades and customization. By 2009, the Saba system provided online training to over 90,000 of its em-ployees. There was an average of 16,000 individuals among P&G’s employees that made used of its online training each month. Such success leads P&G to expect an online training growth in the near future. To support such anticipation, P&G planned to improve its learning management system in terms of its availabili-ty, tracking, learning process governance and application support . As a result, P&G decided to assign Accenture in developing its learning management system for 6 years. Prior to the transformation, P&G had over 200 training administrators that provided decentra-lized Tier 1 support, with multiple vendors providing support on more serious application issues on Tier 2 and Tier 3 . Over a period of 3 months, all support services from Tier 1 to Tier 3 had been successfully migrated to Accenture to meet several objectives such as creating a consis-tent development on its application system, having a reliable learning system with high availa-bility, as well as improving the control of its learning process . To meet the increasing demand that P&G was expecting, it moved its Saba-based RapidLEARN to a clustered environment. Today, P&G had a reliable LMS which was scalable to meet the increasing need of web-based training across the globe. More than 90,000 of P&G’s employees now have access to the system. Today †¢Online system To enable all its employees be updated with the most up-to-date trainings, all of P&G’s em-ployees have access to a website (P&G’s online system) listing all the available courses, with details such as timing, course descriptions, and illegibility. P&G’s employees are to sign up for all the trainings online through a common online system. With online registration, em-ployees are able to understand the details of the course as well as select the suitable sche-dule for the courses quickly through a simple click. New courses can be search and signed-up courses can be dropped through the same online system. Aside from the course listings, the webpage also has other information (guidelines) that guides its employees through their own learning path. The system contains detailed infor-mation on the career stage at which certain trainings should be taken. Trainings are categorized into â€Å"General Trainings† which covers soft skills such as leadership and business communications and â€Å"Functional Trainings† which covers expertise knowledge such as finance and marketing. All these trainings are also categorized according to different career stage. As a result, the availability of the guidelines aims to help its employees sign up for the suitable courses during different career stage. E-learning For online trainings or the so-called â€Å"e-learning courses†, employees are able to complete the course at the leisure of their own pace. The system will track the attendance and progress of each employee in the trainings. In fact, employee’s attendance record for all courses attended is readily available online. Some of the common e-learning courses include training on procedures, standard business models , and business ethics. Upon completion of such courses, there will be compulsory tests which the employees have to pass. According to one of the employee’s experience, while such e-learning courses provide them with the necessary information, the knowledge absorbed is very much short-term. Some-times, employees will end up skip the on-line courses and move on directly to the tests by guessing the correct answers so as to pass the tests. Such ‘short-cut’ approach defeats the company’s purpose of having online trainings and wastes the resources of the company. †¢Trainings across the globe Being a global company, the company carries out its e-learning globally. The same trainings are made available to all of its employees at different countries. For other trainings that are not carried out online, the company provides the same content to be used globally. The ac-tual trainings will, however, be carried out by P&G at different regions and offices separate-ly. The trainers for such courses often come from P&G’s employees. These are keen employees who sent to external trainers to receive trainings. As a result of that, the training content of non-online trainings (despite having the same content across the globe) may vary slightly depending on the trainers’ style and expertise. In any case, not all trainings can be attended by all employees. Some training has specific requirements of having to meet certain career stage. Hence an approval status is needed before the employee can attend it. There are also certain trainings which can only be at-tended by certain employees upon recommendation from the managers. Therefore, em-ployees have to take note of such details as well as the location of trainings as an employee in Singapore could not simply attend trainings that are held in United States. The overall benefit of having such a complete online system in its training system is to allow P&G’s employees to realize their own learning progress and to direct them into knowing what kind of skills they need to develop further in the future. It also serves to save employees time by providing the employees the flexibility of completing the trainings at the own time. E-Recruiting With nearly 300 brands worldwide, P&G places high importance in the people and values the talent of every individual. The company spare no effort in attracting suitable talents into its company and promises to offer exciting new challenges, tremendous growth and support, and a chance to touch and improve lives daily for every of its staff. In the modern era, there have been an increasing number of people who are dependent on technology and the internet. In the past, people used to flip through job ads in newspapers. However in this age of internet technology, more people are increasingly turning to online job portals such as monster. com, recruit. et and efinancialcareers. com. USA Today reports that 95% of the college graduation class of 1997 used the Internet as the medium of choice for their job searches while a recent study by JWT Specialized Communications found that 70% of active job seekers are more likely to use the Web than traditional job hunting methods . The increasing popularity of these new and rising recruitment channels provide fresh and innovative ways that P&G can tap onto for thei r recruitment efforts, instead of relying only on personal network or head hunters. One example of such a channel is the increasingly popular use of online job por-tals (e-recruiting) in a candidate’s job search. P&G’s human resource team was able to identify the fast and moving trends of technology and in turn capitalize on the accessibility and availability of the internet to incorporate into its hiring process, making e-recruiting a part of their overall recruiting strategy. The key to successful e-recruiting is by providing a good job site which would make it easy for candidates to understand and apply and for the company to accomplish its goals of attracting the right talent. McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm, identified recruiting as a critical issue in its 1998 report, The War for Talent, where McKinsey points to various demographic and industrial changes that are making it harder to recruit and retain good employees . A Fast Company article on the report also reiterated the importance of talent, stating that â€Å"The most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent: smart, sophisticated businesspeople who are technologically literate, globally astute, and operationally agile. And even as the demand for talent goes up, the supply of it will be going down. By providing a good e-recruiting website, P&G is able to benefit as the website has acted as an effective filter, making it easy for the correct candidate to apply and deter the wrong applicants from applying. Other benefits of e-recruiting include huge cost savings. Research has shown that e-recruiting is not only faster than traditional channels but the efficienc ies of e-recruiting can also cut the amount of time needed to identify, interview and hire for a vacant position, in turn helping a company to save as much as $8,000 per hire over traditional hiring channels . Considering the scale of P&G with more than 129,000 employees worldwide, the amount of cost savings is substantial by just making 10% of it hires through e-recruiting. A unique website domain was devoted to P&G’s career centre: http://jobs-pg. com/, with a link to a similar interface easily accessible, appearing on the home page just beside the â€Å"Investor Relations† tab, signifying that P&G values e-recruiting as much as it cares about its investors. This career website has been designed in a very user friendly manner, where one is able to search jobs by category, location or groups, enabling candidates to be able to identify the area of interest or job they would like to apply quickly. P&G’s hiring process is then spilt into 5 gen-eral stages, namely application, assessment, initial interview, final interview and the offer, with specific instructions on what is required for every individual step. †¢Application This simple application process instituted a â€Å"paperless† online application system allowing electronic applications to be submitted 24 hours a day and helping the company to find ap-plicants in a timely manner. The information required in the application stage includes con-tact information, education, resume, questionnaire, confirmation and a summary. Appli-cants are also able to save the application as a draft first before completing it at a later time, allowing greater flexibility. †¢Assessments P&G uses online assessments to measure skills and accomplishments that generally do not emerge from interviews. These assessments are beneficial and well received by the appli-cants as it not only allow the company to assess the abilities of the applicant, but also help determine if it is equally beneficial for the applicant to continue through the hiring process, in turn acting as a screening stage for both parties. Examples of the online assessments are: oSuccess Drivers Assessment: â€Å"Assess your background, experiences, interests and work related attitudes and measures your compatibility against P&G compe-tencies for defining successful job performance† oReasoning Screen: â€Å"Measures your cognitive ability. This is important because the nature of our work is complex and continually changing† †¢Initial Interview Behavioural based interviews used to know more about the applicant’s previous accoplish-ment and the applicant relate to, compare with and connect with the company’s Success Drivers. †¢Final Interview One-to-one or panel interviews to find out in greater detail about the applicant’s skills and capabilities. This is also an opportunity for the applicant to get a more in depth understand-ing of P&G’s unique culture, values and endless opportunities. †¢Offer An offer of employment will be first notified through a phone call before a confirmation with details is given through the electronic mail. The comprehensive and descriptive steps of e-recruiting has allowed P&G to achieve a competi-tive advantage in attracting global talents to its company by making job postings available and conducting a firsthand filter of the job applicants through the several stages of recruitment in place. The advantages of e-recruiting for P&G include the ability to reach a wider range of audience, being cost effective and achieving a faster recruitment cycle. With cost effectiveness and a faster recruitment cycle being discussed previously, the ability to reach a wider range of audience is especially important for a global company with job openings suitable for people from all over the world. Opportunities/ Recommendations P&G faces many opportunities that it can tap onto for growth. With the constant increase in the use of internet revolutionizing the way people communicate and interact, majority of the companies today have incorporated e-recruiting into their recruitment strategy. Therefore there is a need for P&G to tap into new opportunities to further enhance and improve its current e-recruiting strategy. In conducting the field research of e-recruitment in P&G, it could be seen that technology was greatly used in the application, assessment and offer process, but not applied in the initial and final interview process. Hence P&G could actively test alternative methods of recruitment such as using audio and video conferencing or a real-time virtual Business Game Challenge in the interview stages to continue develop its recruitment strategy. For training wise, our group believes that P&G could have regular pop-up quizzes which test its employees on the general contents of the past trainings that the employees have attended. This serve to add on the recall on the employees and reminding them about knowledge taught such that it will prevent the employees from forgetting the training content after attending them. This is to ensure that all the resources that P&G develop are put into good use. Such pop-up quizzes, though simple, could serve as a constant reminder about the need of being aware of such knowledge even though they may not use them directly on a day-to-day basis. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, we see that talent is the key resource that drives P&G forward and helps the company to remain on top in today’s competitive market. Realizing this, P&G never let loose its effort in finding the right talent and providing them with proper trainin. The company want to ensure that all of its employees share the same values and are equipped with the most up-to-date product knowledge in a consistent manner. In order to do this efficiently, the use of technology in its e-HR system has proven to be an ef-fective and efficient method that keeps the company ahead globally. With change being the only constant in today’s world, the continuous upgrades in its HR system as well as review on recruitment process are some of the key efforts which require great efforts and are of high importance to the success of the company. Considering the size and global positioning that P&G has, keeping its e-HR competent is therefore the key to success. ? References Fast Company (1998). â€Å"The War For Talent†. Retrieved 22 December 2011 from http://www. fastcompany. com/online/16/mckinsey. html Mark. H & Jakob. N (1999). E-Recruiting. Creative Good Inc. McKinsey & Company (2001). â€Å"The War For Talent†. Retrieved 22 December 2011 from http://autoassembly. mckinsey. com/html/downloads/articles/War_For_Talent. pdf CNN Money (2011). â€Å"World’s Most Admired Companies†. Retrieved 20 December 2011, from http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2011/snapshots/334. html Procter & Gamble (2011). Purpose & People†. Retrieved 20 December 2011, from http://www. pg. com/en_US/company/purpose_people/index. shtml National Center for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (January 2002) â€Å"Asia-Pacific e-learning Alliance: A Report on e-Learning and Best Practices† Retrieved 19 December 2011, from http://unpan1. un. org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN011272. pdf SABA Customer Overview (Se ptember 2001) â€Å"Procter & Gamble†. Retrieved 21 December 2011, from http://www. betacom. com. pl/files/other/PnG_v4. pdf National Center for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (January 2002) â€Å"Asia-Pacific e-learning Alliance: A Report on e-Learning and Best Practices† Retrieved 19 December 2011, from http://unpan1. un. org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN011272. pdf Training Press Releases (11 April 2003). â€Å"Procter & Gamble use BrightWave†. Retrieved 20 December 2011, from http://www. trainingpressreleases. com/news/brightwave/2003/procter-gamble-use-brightwave Accenture (2009). â€Å"Helping Procter & Gamble strengthen a culture of high performance through its learning program†. Retrieved 21 December 2011, from

buy custom Understanding Gene Therapy essay

buy custom Understanding Gene Therapy essay Introduction Genes are the basic physical and functional units that enhance heredity. They are capable of encoding instructions that guide processing of proteins by the body (Yashon Cummings, 2012). The processed proteins facilitate most of the life functions and form a better percentage of the cellular structures. When genes are altered, the encoded proteins are rendered ineffective and unable to function normally. This is what causes genetic disorder in a person. According to studies that have been conducted, almost everybody unconsciously carries some defective genes (Giacca, 2010). Lately, there has been increasing attention to the treatment of genetic metabolic diseases. These are diseases that develop as a result of defective genes that cause enzymes to be either absent or generally ineffective and inefficient. Enzymes function in the human body to catalyze metabolic reactions (Giacca, 2010). When these enzymes are ineffective, metabolic processes are slowed down or just fail to take place . This paper seeks to discuss gene therapy, illustrate examples of this treatment approach, discuss the risks and complications, associated with it, and outline some of the ethical principles that guide gene therapy as a method of treatment of genetic disorders. Definition and Understanding of Gene Therapy Gene therapy has been developed to help treat the genetic disorders that result from dysfunctional enzymes. Gene therapy is, thus, a treatment approach that involves replacement of faulty or absent genes with working ones so that the body is able to effectively process and produce correct enzymes or proteins and consequently be able to deal with the root cause of a genetic disease (Kelly, 2007). It is a process that involves introduction of normal and functional genes into the cells of a person, which carry the defective genes so as to enhance reconstitution of the missing protein product. It is a medical treatment process that helps in the correction of a deficient phenotype so that the normal amount of gene products is synthesized by the body. The first gene therapy trial was performed by French Anderson and R. Michael Blaese on a four year old girl in 1990 (Kelly, 2007). In order to perform gene therapy, somatic cells are modified by transferring desired gene sequences into the ge nome. However, for this to succeed, somatic cells are required to ensure that the genes that are inserted to correct the disorder are not carried down to the following generations. Examples of Gene Therapy Gene therapy has been applied widely in the treatment of genetic disorders. This is because almost all cells in the human body contain genes. This makes genetic therapy feasible in virtually all cells of the human body. Gene therapy has been performed in the cells of the body and the ovum or sperm cells. There are, thus, two broad examples of gene therapy; the somatic cell gene therapy and the germ line cell therapy. Somatic Cell Gene Therapy Somatic cell gene therapy entails introduction of genes into body cells or tissues in order to treat a disease in an individual that has been medically diagnosed to have genetic associations or origin (Wintrobe Greer, 2009). This enhances expression of an exogenous functional gene into another persons somatic cells. This genetic therapeutic approach is considered to be non-reproductive since somatic cells, where it is involved are not reproductive cells. There is consensus that this gene cell therapy is safer than other approaches because it only has influence on the targeted cells in the patient. The introduced cells are not, therefore, passed down to the future generations. The effects of a somatic cell gene therapy end with the individual who is treated. This implies that the genetic disorders that are treated through the application of somatic cell gene therapy do not have a bearing on the children of the patient. Somatic cell gene therapy is used to correct errors, relating to metabolism. For example, phenilketonuria has been treated through somatic cell gene therapy. This disorder results from the bodys inability to metabolize phenylalanine. The therapy facilitates elimination of the amino acid. Although this therapy is applicable, it does not address all inborn errors, related to metabolism (Kelly, 2007). In the case of a disorder resulting from abnormal alleles for an essential enzyme that leads to deficient metabolic functions, somatic cell gene therapy has been successfully applied as a treatment strategy. In this treatment practice, a copy of gene, capable of expressing the essential enzyme and enhancing the required metabolic function, is introduced. The cloning genes that are involved in the genetic metabolic dysfunction/disorder are identified. The normal genes are, then, introduced into the prover cell within the body, especially in the area, where metabolism is required, while cont rolling the expression of the gene within the limits of the therapeutic and safe levels (Brown, 2010). There are two sub-examples of the somatic cell gene therapy; the ex vio and the in vivo. The in vivo method involves changing of the cells within the body of the patient. The genes are transferred to cells within the body of the patient. This transfer of desired genes inside the patients body led to the derived name of this method. The ex vivo somatic cell gene therapy involves exterior-focused therapeutic approach (Benigni Remuzzi, 2008). The cells of the body are modified outside the body before they are transferred back into the body again. In some therapeutic trials, the cells from the patients own blood or even the bone marrow are removed, grown in the laboratory for some time before they are transplanted back. During this process, the cells are exposed to the virus that carries the targeted gene. The entry of the virus into the cells enhances insertion of the target gene into the DNA of the cell. The cells are, then, given time to grow in the laboratory before they are again t ransferred into the body of the patient through venal injection (Kelly, 2007). This example of somatic cell gene therapy is referred to as ex vivo because the cells are treated outside the body. Germ line Gene Therapy Germ line gene therapy is a treatment approach that involves delivery of gene to sperm or egg or directly into the cells that are responsible for their production. This example of gene therapy might help in preventing defective genes from being transferred to the subsequent generations. The act of modifying genes at the initial stages of embryonic development is also preferred since it serves as a way of correcting defective genes both in the germ line and within the cells of the body (Wintrobe Greer, 2009). In cases when the germ line gene therapy is carried out in the early embryologic stages like during pre-implantation diagnosis and in the vitro fertilization, genetic transfer could be affected in every cell within the developing embryo. However, there are reservations with the germ line gene therapy. This is because of its risks, especially with the possibility of a permanent therapeutic effect that may affect the following generations through genetic inheritance. Risks, associated with Gene Therapy The risks, associated with gene therapy, are various. These risks relate to the way, in which the genes are delivered. The normal genes that replace defective ones, in a gene therapy process, are usually delivered through carriers, which are normally vectors. Most of these vectors are viruses, which researchers use due to their unique ability to carry genetic material into the cells of a gene (Hutter, 2010). This poses a great potential for risks. To begin with, since gene therapy involves introduction of new foreign cell into the system, the body is bound to react through its immune system. The virus that is introduced into the body through gene therapy may cause the immune system to react and attack the new cell in the same way it reacts to other pathogenic and disease-causing organisms or cells. Such immune responses may not only cause complications in the bodys immunity but also lead to other medical and health complications such as inflammation, toxicity and organ failure in som e extreme instances. Gene therapy can also lead to viral spread. The process involves use of viruses to transfer the desired gene into the body. Hutter (2010) cited that since viruses have the capability of affecting more than one type of body cells, there is a possibility that viral vectors that are used in genetic transfer may end up infecting cells other than the targeted cells. All the cells that contain mutated or missing genes may, thus, be affected. This can be a very unfortunate occurrence since even the healthy cells may end up being affected by the vector-carrying virus. Thus, gene therapy may lead to viral spread, which, in turn, might cause other health complications and spread diseases or illnesses including cancer (Hutter, 2010). Perhaps, one of the greatest risks, associated with gene therapy, is the possibility of the virus to reverse to its original form. Viruses are used to transfer the required genes into the body cells to replace the defective ones that are causing enzyme and other somatic dysfunctions. However, the viruses that are used as vectors or carriers of the desired gene may recover their initial viral and infection ability and cause diseases, once they are introduced into the body through gene therapy (Abraham, 2008). This possibility is quite unfortunate given that gene therapy in itself is originally meant to be a treatment method, which should not lead to the spread of other diseases in the process of treating another disease. The risks of gene therapy have been registered, especially with regard to the ability of the virus to spread and induce tumor formation within the genome (Kelly, 2007). Scientists and researchers have registered their reservations and concerns that if the new genes get inserted or introduced in the wrong spot within the genome, there are chances that the insertion may cause tumor formation (Kelly, 2007). This has been observed by geneticists and scientists in some of the laboratory clinical trials. Besides, the new DNA that is introduced into the body during treatment through gene therapy may end up affecting the reproductive cells of the patient, especially where germ line gene therapy is involved. This may cause changes in the genetic composition and affect the children that are born after one is treated through gene therapy. Complications with Gene Therapy Although trials of gene therapy have significantly been successful, there are a few reservations that have been reported. The few complications that scientific and genetic researchers have realized with gene therapy relate to the medical and health issues that gene therapy as a treatment procedure might cause in a patient. For example, gene therapy has been associated with T-cell leukemia (Abraham, 2008). When the retroviral vector was inserted inappropriately near the proto-oncogene LMO2, the result was a proliferation of uncontrolled mature T cells, which causes T-cell leukemia in a patient. This complication is caused by the lack of both the B and T cells (Gibbs, 1996). Such a complication that result from gene therapy may expose a patient to further medical complications, including the use of bone marrow transplant that is retrieved from a histocompatible sibling of the patient. Unfortunately, this is often not easy to secure or procure. Thus, gene therapy may lead to other compl ications, some of which are very severe and can even be fatal. Gene therapy may lead to interruption of important genetic sequence and harm the cell instead of resolving the genetic and cellular defects that the treatment targets. This is because the retroviruses that penetrate the immune defenses into the target cells often affect the cells in an unpredictable manner. Abraham (2008) cited that the retroviruses may even insert the therapeutic gene at unpredictable position within the cells DNA. This is what might lead to interruption of very important genetic sequences that might have been going on within the cells DNA. Even in the cases, where gene therapy succeeds, the new genes always end up in the dormant parts of the cells DNA (Brown, 2010). In the dormant stretches, the new genes often do not get switched on as frequent enough to be able to make the much required genetic difference in the patient who is undergoing treatment (Gibbs, 1996). Ethical Concerns, surrounding Gene Therapy Gene therapy is a medical treatment involving alteration of the bodys set of basic genetic messages. Since it touches on the very processes that guide life and its characteristics, this treatment approach has raised and continues to raise various ethical issues. One of the ethical concerns that gene therapy is raising is its fairness in terms of the use of the genetic information that is disclosed during the diagnosis and treatment procedures. There are concerns, relating to the use of the genetic information (Cummings, 2009). For example, many people are in a dilemma with regard to the person who should be entitled to the access to the personal genetic information of the patient and how such information will be used. There are concerns about the privacy and confidentiality of the genetic information that is retrieved in the course of gene therapy. Since it is private and personal information, pressure is piling on the need to keep genetic information very private and confidential un der all circumstances. Genetic therapy is often associated with stigmatization. The psychological impact that is created by a persons genetic difference should, thus, be well taken care of before gene therapy is approved. For example, there are concerns about the perceptions of the society towards an individual who undergoes gene therapy. The members of the minority communities are particularly vulnerable to social stigma, associated with gene therapy. Besides, being a complex procedure that has great potentials for risks and complications, there is need to seek adequate informed consent from the patient and the family members before gene therapy is carried out on a patient. This is because gene therapy has very close link and relationship to the reproductive aspects of an individual (Cummings, 2009). The healthcare personnel, thus, need to carefully counsel the patient and the family members about the risks, the limitations and the implications of gene therapy. This ethical aspect is very essential given the clinical issues, uncertainties, complications and risks that are associated with gene therapy. Conclusion Gene therapy is increasingly becoming acceptable and a popular method for treatment of genetic disorders and gene-related diseases and illnesses. Although germ line gene therapy exists, it is still outlawed in most states like the entire European Union because of its implications. Somatic cell gene therapy is, however, acceptably practiced as a treatment method. However, the complications and risks that are associated with gene therapy still limit its use considerably. Thus, there is a need for scientists to evaluate further the safe, effective and efficient ways of using gene therapy as a treatment procedure for genetic disorders giving careful attention to the ethical concerns that this procedure raises. Buy custom Understanding Gene Therapy essay

Free Fall essays

Free Fall essays Objective: To measure the acceleration of gravity using a tape timer DC power supply Mass Piece Procedure: We started by calibrating the tape timer. We do this so that we know how long it takes for the hammer to strike down each time. We did this by starting the tape timer and pulling a sample piece of tape through it while someone timed how long it took for the tape to be pulled through. We did it three times, however, we never adjusted the voltage, as that would change the period of the timer. Afterwards, we counted the dots and found the average. The average that we found is the period of the hammer arm. Afterwards we found the period of the hammer it was time to measure the acceleration of gravity. We constructed a support to hold the tape time in the air (like the one above). We then ran a strip of paper through the time and attached a mass to it. We made sure that there was no slack in the paper, and that it could fall uninhibited to the floor. Then we started the tape timer and let the mass fall. Finally we measured the distance between the dots on the paper strip and recorded it in our data tables. Data: We used a ruler to measure the dots, and a ruler only measures to 1/10 of a cm (.1). We had to estimate to get the hundredth place. 1) Why would you have to remove the slack before letting the mass fall? A: We had to remove the slack before letting the mass fall because if we didnt, then the pa ...