Understanding Educational Aspirations And Expectations

Understanding Educational Aspirations And Expectations It is no longer questioned that high education level and human capital formation promote human well-being and are one of the main preconditions for economic growth (Romer, 1989:28). Moreover, along with evolving globalization, competition and economic challenges world is facing, returns to academic achievements have become larger than ever (Harmon and Walker, 2001:39), and low academic achievements can be seen as a constraint for economic independence. It has been observed that during the World financial crisis unemployment has risen exactly among the less educated people  [1]  . Therefore, it would be just natural if we would see more young adults, from both genders and all ethnic and social groups, reaching for higher educational levels and taking advantage of possibility to gain higher returns. However, evidence shows that educational attainment among youth differs significantly (e.g., Betz and Fitzgerald, 1987). Therefore, the question remains: why equally talented individual s with similar abilities and initial preferences make different academic choices, and why some of them end up in lower paying jobs and occupations? Economists have tried to explain this phenomenon with the existence of credit market imperfections, which individuals from less advantageous backgrounds might be facing (Loury 1981, Galor and Zeira 1993, Piketty 1997). However, these hypotheses are questioned in a large body of literature. Although in developing countries credit constraints might be a partial explanation for differences in educational attainment, this does not fully explain the differences in the developed world. Evidence shows that in developed word families facing economic constraints, when it comes to education, represent only a small part of the community (Cameron and Taber 2002). Besides, nowadays there exist many organizations and funds which are providing scholarships and financial help to students from low income families  [2]  . Therefore, it is essential to look for other, more internal reasons that could explain differences in educational choices and attainment among young adults with equal abilities a nd preferences. For being able to understand and change ones educational and career choices, it is crucial to understand what determines his or her aspirations. However, explaining it is not a straight forward task. Aspirations are determined already in early childhood and are prone to changes throughout the life. Moreover, sometimes high educational aspirations are not sufficient to guarantee a better outcome. This phenomenon exists due to aspiration-expectation gap, when ones desired goals do not coincide with the expected outcome due to the disbelief to a successful result. This pattern is especially observed among women and certain ethnic groups. Therefore, it is not only crucial to look at the level of educational aspirations, but it is also essential to ask if ones aspirations are always fulfilled. Although a considerable amount of literature has examined educational and career aspirations of young adults, the existing literature tends to provide somehow different conclusions; therefore, a comprehensive and critical literature review, overlooking different factor influence ones academic and career aspirations, is still missing. The purpose of this study is to contribute to an understand of how factors like gender, ethnicity, peers, parents, teachers and self-efficacy beliefs influence young adult academic and career aspirations and decision making. This thesis will also explain why sometimes high aspirations for girls and Black students do not lead to higher educational outcomes; the existence of an aspiration-expectation gap will be supported by the latest empirical data. Further, this thesis will discuss the existing policy measures aimed to promote and raise children educational attainment. Hence, the research questions of this thesis are: What are the determinants of educational and career aspirations? Why high educational aspirations do not always lead to better outcomes? What are the existing policies and projects in order to raise ones educational and career expectations? The focus of the thesis will be qualitative studies and will be based on an extensive literature review, covering various study fields, explaining the determinants of educational and career aspirations (Part I). Part II will provide different theories explaining an aspiration-expectation gap for girls and Black students; the existence of it will be supported by the latest quantitative data from U.S. Census Bureau 2010. Further Part III will concentrate on the overview of the policy measures and government projects that have been implemented in order to raise ones expectation level and close the aspiration-expectation gap. Chapter 1 Literature review of the determinants of educational and career aspirations This chapter introduces the determinants of educational and career aspirations and expectations. It begins with an introduction of the necessary definitions. Further, it is explained how ones aspirations and expectations are formed by providing different views and findings from an existing literature. 1.1 Defining educational and career aspirations It is believed that student educational and career aspirations are the most relevant factors determining ones future educational attainment (Gottfredson 1981; Trice and King, 1991). Therefore, it is essential to understand the exact meaning of aspirations. However, there has not been reached a consensus of one and certain definition; therefore, various explanations have been provided by different authors. Markus and Nurius (1986) have reported aspirations as ones ideas and hopes of possible selves, i.e., what a person would like to and what would not like to become or achieve. In psychology, aspiration level has been defined as the level of quality of a task which one desires to attain. It is a determinant of an individuals performance level in the future. It has been hypothesized that aspiration level varies from persons to person and place to place and is determined by factors that may change and influence aspirations level during the lifetime  [3]  . Likewise, the Wisconsin model  [4]  , which is a socio-economical model developed by Sewell and his colleagues in 1969 meant to explain ones social mobility and its determinants, provides definitions of educational and career aspirations. The educational aspiration level variable in the model is explained as the level of education one would like to attain, e.g., not continue higher education after high school, finish vocational school or attains college or university degree. Sewell et al. (1969) defines career aspiration level as ones ambitions and thoughts about their future occupation. However, some studies have suggested that high educational aspirations do not necessarily lead to high educational attainment (Empson, 1992; Conroy, 1997). Gottfredson (1981) has identified this phenomenon and has provided explanation to it. She suggests the existence of realistic aspirations or expectations and idealistic aspirations. The former is applied when ones educational and career aspirations are tempered by knowledge of obstacles and opportunities (Brown, 2002: 91), while the idealistic aspirations are ones desired goals and ideal education and occupation, in other words best possible life outcome. If there is a difference between these two types of aspirations and ones idealistic aspirations do not reflect ones expectations or realistic aspirations, there exist an aspiration-expectation gap (Danziger and Eden, 2006). Hence, in this thesis Gottfredsons theory about two types of aspirations and Danzigers and Edens definition of aspiration-expectation gap will be used. Firstly, determinants of idealistic aspirations will be discussed. Later this thesis will elaborate on the external factors that shape ones expectations or realistic aspirations. For the sake of simplicity, in the following text this thesis will refer to realistic aspirations as expectations while to idealistic aspirations as aspirations. 1.2 Determinants of educational and career aspirations and expectations Understanding the exact elements that determine ones educational and career aspirations and expectations is a tricky task. Existing evidence shows that there are many factor and circumstances that can shape them in a positive or negative way. Therefore, to contribute to a clearer understanding, in the following sections this thesis will deeply and broadly examine the determinants of aspirations and expectations. 1.2.1 Initial endowments determinants of ones aspirations We will firstly look at the initial endowment determinants, i.e. gender and ethnicity, which influence ones aspirations. These factors are extremely powerful in shaping ones academic and career aspiration level already in an early childhood. 1.2.1.1 Gender: Gender effect has a relevant role in determining ones aspiration level. A considerable amount of literature has focused on gender-related differences in academic and career aspirations (Howard, 1979; Betz and Fitzgerald, 1987; Danziger and Eden, 2007). Different views exist on the nature of the differences among both gender aspirations. Patton and Creed (2007) has argued that male students tend to hold higher aspirations for education level and position in the labor force, while Mau and Bikos (2000), approaching the same question, found the opposite. They claimed that girls are more likely to hold higher aspirations than men. Overall, most of the studies have supported Mau and Bikos (2000) view (Figure No.1) (e.g., Clift and Vaughan 1997; Butlin 1999; Anisef et al., 2001; Perry et al., 2009). Also, during the last decades female educational attainment and workforce has increased rapidly (Schoon, Martin and Ross, 2007); however, it has been observed that not too many women expect to follow careers which are mainly associated with the opposite sex, such as science and technology, despite the fact that these careers usually yield higher salary. This pattern becomes even more compelling as there is no evidence observed of differences i n quantitative abilities in tasks related to science and technology between both genders (Betz and Hackett, 1981). Figure No.1: Source: Looker, D. And Thiessen, V. (2004:Figure 1) 1.2.1.2 Ethnicity: Research has shown that educational and career aspirations vary across different ethnic groups. However, the results found in different studies yield different conclusions. It has been wildly assumed that the highest educational aspirations are held by Asian (especially Chinese) students (e.g., Cheng and Stark, 2002; Willitts et al., 2005). Their high aspirations are formed earlier than ones for other ethnic groups and are held constantly high throughout life (Kao and Tienda, 1998). Most of the researches contacted have found that White boys have the lowest aspiration level between all the other ethnic groups (Figure No.2) (Dillard and Perrin, 1980; Strand, 2007) and their educational achievements during the last years have increased less than for other ethnic groups (Figure No.3)  [5]  . White boys were found to hold lower aspirations than their Black peers in the research conducted by Wilson and Wilson (1992). Contrary, Cook et al. (1996) discovered that middle class White male s had higher educational aspirations than low-income African American males. However, this conclusion does not seem straight-forward as the differences might be also explained by the economic factors. Figure No.2: Figure No. 3: Data source: S., Strand (2007: 39) Data source: Department for Children, Schools and Families: Statistical First Release, England (2010: 12) Although, Strand (2007) has found that Black Caribbean and Black African students might have higher academic aspirations than White students, their higher educational attainment seems to be much lower (Figure No.4). Therefore, a question arises: what are the factors that do not allow high aspiration transformation into high achievements? The answer lies in the aspiration-expectation gap on which this thesis will elaborate in chapter 2. Figure No.3: Source: Jusan Ng (2011) 1.2.2 External factors determinants of ones expectations In the next two sub-sections, this thesis will concentrate on external factors, i.e., peers, teachers and parents, which can positively or negatively influence ones academic and career expectations. 1.2.2.1 Peer effect: A variable studied in the literature concerning the determinants of academic and career expectations is the peer effect. The peer effect refers to the positive or negative influence significant others have on ones expectations and level of achievement (e.g., by providing one with feedbacks, models or norms how they should behave, think and act in certain situations). Among their peers young adults develop their identities and self concept; therefore they are essential socialization agents for a young individual (Bandura, 1989; Brown et. al., 1994; Black, 2002). Although, some have argued that children expectations are more likely to be shaped by the characteristics of a family than by the characteristics of peers (Duncan et. al., 2001), relevant amount of the literature shows that peers play a crucial role in influencing ones achievement level and educational expectations (Peterson et al., 1986; Willms 1986; Goldstein et al., 2005). Ide et al. (1981) examined ten studies published form 1966 to 1978 that concerned the peer effects influence on ones academic achievements and expectations. In all these studies, they found a significant correlation. This finding is consistent with Downs and Rose (1991) who argue that peer effect is contributing to the construction of ones behavior and academic expectations. Another, slightly different view is held by Haller and Butterworth (1960) who look more critically on the straight forward correlation between ones academic expectations and peer influence. Although, they do not reject it, they emphasize that the initial factors, like characteristics and family backgrounds, could play a key role in bringing together similar individuals in that way forming homogeneous groups of peers. According to Jonsson and Mood (2008) children with high academic expectations and achievements are likely to connect with those sharing the same interests and expectations. Oppositely, adolescents, who have worse attitude to school and lower expectations, will most probable be attracted to peers with similar views (Ryan, 2000). In sum, it has been found that being around a certain group of people will have an effect on a persons future, specifically, it will impact the academic level or career one will expect to achieve. However, the degree of the importance of peers is ambiguous as different studies yield different results. 1.2.2.2 Teachers and parents influence: As discussed earlier peers have a certain influence on shaping ones academic expectations (e.g., Peterson et al., 1986; Willms, 1986; Black, 2002); however, a significant amount of literature points out the importance of familys and teachers influence on children long term decisions, e.g., occupation considerations (Jurkovic and Ulrici, 1985; OBrien, 1990; Furman and Buhrmeister, 1992; Wall et al., 1999; Duncan et. al., 2001). It is believed that teachers and parents can positively influence ones confidence and beliefs of his or her abilities, thus, persuading that the person is capable of being successful in further life (Van Auken and Stephens, 2006). According to Wall et al. (1999) parents as a support and role model have influence on ones conception about educational and career opportunities. Parents social support is directly linked with students school experiences, achievements and behaviors (Nurmi, 1987). There also exist a positive correlation between parents expectations for their child and childs expectations for himself (e.g., Davies and Kandel, 1981; Hossler and Stage, 1992). Family support can encourage the student to devote bigger effort to learning and school tasks (Gilbert et al., 1993). It is also observed that children who have the highest self-efficacy are the ones with the biggest family social support (Dubow and Ullman, 1989). In contrast, the ones with low family cohesion are more exposed to depression, low self-efficacy and self-esteem (Moran and Eckenrode, 1991; Cauce et al., 1992; Hirsch and DuBois, 1992). Moreover, Wall et al. (1999) has claimed a stronger correlation between young male expectations and the family support than the one for girls. In the research by Roper, (2008) it was shown that parent expectations and student GPA are correlated (Table No.1). Children with higher grades tended to have parents with higher expectations for them. According to De Coulon et al. (2008) also parents education level plays a significant role in formation of children expectations. In their research, they found a significant correlation between low literacy rates of parents and low test scores by their children. It was shown that parents with the lowest literacy skills were the least supportive and encouraging in relation to education. As a result, children with such parents were more likely to report dissatisfaction with school and develop low educational expectations. Table No.1: Source: Roper (2008: 2) A significant amount of literature has discussed parents and family role in shaping ones expectations, however, the body of literature about teachers expectation influence is rather small. Cheung (1995) found evidence on positive teacher influence on ones academic achievements. Teacher support has shown to have a bigger influence on women, student from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic minority perceptions of academic and career opportunities (Ellis and Lane, 1963; Wall et al., 1999). However, it is often blamed that teachers have insufficient expectations for their students, especially for students in rural areas and for certain student groups (Bishop, 1989; Hilliard III, 1991). It is shown that teachers tend to establish better contact and attitude forward students with higher ability (Bamburg, 1994). This is seen as a problem because children tend to internalize and adopt teacher perceptions about their abilities, which as a result, in case of low teacher expectations can lead to psychological constraints for self-efficacy and self-esteem (Raffini, 1993). To sum up, a considerable body of literature has shown that teachers, parents and peers can influence ones academic and career expectations. Young adults tend to internalize expectations that others have about him or her and accordingly adjust their own educational and career expectations. 1.2.3 Self-efficacy beliefs As already discussed, all of the beforehand mentioned factors, i.e., gender, ethnicity and social support, have an effect on shaping ones behavior, thoughts and attitudes towards different tasks, education levels and occupations. However, in order to be able to reach the aspired goals it is also extremely beneficial that one has a high self confidence in what he is doing. It was shown that teachers and parents have the ability to influence ones self-beliefs what in turn leads to higher or lower level of academic expectations of that individual. Therefore, this section will discuss why high self-efficacy beliefs, i.e., ones belief that she or he is capable of producing certain level of performance to attain certain goals (Bandura et al., 2001), are important in determining the outcome. The importance of self-efficacy on ones educational expectations have been wildly studied in the literature (e.g., Bandura, 1994; Lent and Brown, 1996; Nauta et al., 1998; Brown Lent, 2006); it has been proven that individuals self-efficacy beliefs have a significant importance in promoting positive outcomes and reducing the possibility of negative outcomes (Oyserman et al., 2006; Destin and Oyserman, 2009). Students who have high self-efficacy are more productive, efficient and confident about their performances than their peers with the same ability but lower self-efficacy. It has been also shown that they put more effort and are more concentrated on the task than others, as well as they are more committed to their goals (Bandura, 1997; Schunk and Pajares, 2005). Therefore, the ones with high self beliefs perform better and based on better outcomes have higher future academic and career expectations (Brown Lent, 2006) (Figure No.5)  [6]  . Figure No.5: Source: Looker, D. And Thiessen, V. (2004: Figure 10) Chapter 2 Aspiration-expectation gap In the previous chapter, determinants of ones academic and career aspirations and expectations were discussed. It was shown by the evidence from the existing literature, that girls are more likely to hold higher aspirations than boys (e.g., Clift and Vaughan 1997; Butlin 1999; Anisef et al., 2001; Perry et al., 2009) and Black adolescents hold higher aspirations than Whites (e.g., Wilson and Wilson, 1992; Strand, 2007). It was also shown that social support has an influence on forming ones expectations. However, high aspirations do not always lead to high educational attainment and high position in the labor force (Strand, 2007). It has been suggested that the problem lies in the difference between aspirations and expectations. Unfortunately, often academic and career expectations of girls, Black Africans and Black Caribbean students are lower than their aspirations due to some perceptions in the society, perceived barriers or even academic feedback (e.g., Gottfredson, 1981; Armstrong Crombie, 2000). As a result, this can lead to underachievement and lowered self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura et.al. 2001). This chapter will approach this phenomenon by providing existing and relevant theories that tend to explain the reasons of an existing aspiration-expectation gap for females and ethnic minorities. Later, empirical data obtained from U.S. Census Bureau results will be provided to help us to confirm or reject some of the existing theories and hypothesis, therefore, giving the final concussions. 2.1 Gender: One of the explanations for different gender-related career expectations is that women career decisions are more complex than those of men. This arises from a bigger involvement in family and children lives or possible early pregnancy (Vonderacek et al., 1986; Lucas et.al., 1997; Eccles, 2005). Even more, women academic and career expectations can be shaped by existing stereotypes or strong gender identity because of social role perceptions (Eagly, 1987; Akerlof and Kranton, 2000; Danziger and Eden, 2007; Gupta et al., 2008). 2.1.1 Stereotype activation theory: Gender stereotyping can influence a persons decision making when it comes to academic or career choice (Heilman, 2001; Nosek, Banaji and Greenwald, 2002). Gupta et al. (2008) examined the impact of stereotypes on both genders intentions to follow traditionally male-related occupations. They found evidence showing that people were likely to internalize stereotypes and act according to them, choosing tasks associated with their own gender. This pattern is more observable if the stereotype is wildly accepted in a culture (Heilman, 2001). According to Day (1990) many women have high aspirations; however, usually they do not expect to be able to have the occupation they would like to in case it is more male-dominated. Wall et al. (1999) was examining the correlation between career expectations and career aspirations. As a result, they found inconsistency between women career expectations and aspirations, i.e., their expectations were most of the time lower than their aspirations. The phenomenon was explained by stereotypes in the society about gender-related jobs and women beliefs about the limits of what they possibly can achieve. 2.1.2 Social role and socialization theory: Another important theory explaining differences in men and women career and academic expectations is the social role theory. The theory, developed by Eagly (1987) is based on the historical division of men and women roles in the society, where women were associated with household responsibilities while men had responsibilities concerning livelihood of the family. Consequently, career expectations started to differ among men and women. Furthermore, the gender-related roles were usually transmitted to future generation making the distinction between appropriate gender roles in the society even stronger (Eagly, 1987). Moreover, the academic and career expectations are shaped by socialization processes people experience in childhood. Socialization shapes people perceptions of what is appropriate for themselves and for others, including what is expected from both genders (Seymour, 1999). Further, in early childhood children learn these roles associated with their gender, which in turn, shapes later perceptions about different types of jobs and influences their academic and career expectations (Danziger and Eden, 2007). According to Eagly and Wood (1999) and Franke et al. (1997) both genders tend to adjust their expectations in accordance with their social roles and expect to have occupations connected with their own gender (Dunne, Elliott and Carlsen, 1981). This leads to men occupying men-related professions and attaining higher educational levels while women tend to enter more female-related studies and jobs and attain lower educational levels (Powell and Butterfield, 2003). Although, gender stereotyping has been diminishing and the gender gap in education has been decreasing (Power and Wojtkiewiez, 2004), there are still fewer female than male representatives in men-related studies and profession fields (Powell and Butterfield, 2003); this shows that Eaglys (1987) social role theory is a considerable attempt to explain the differences between female and male academic and career expectations. 2.2 Ethicity: There are two main views, respectively structuralist and culturalist, that tend to explain differences in educational attainment between ethnic groups. 2.2.1 Structuralist theory: According to structuralist perspective, differences in educational choices between ethnic groups can be explained by external factors. The most influential factor, following structuralist theory, shaping ones expectations is the teacher support. This view has been supported by Ellis and Lane (1963) and Wall et al. (1999) who state that teacher support have an influence on ethnic minority students perceptions about academic and career opportunities. Unfortunately, most of the time teacher expectations are negatively correlated with ethnic minority group students expectations (Strand, 2007). In his report, Strand (2007) found evidence that teachers are likely to develop lower expectations for certain ethnic groups, especially for Black students. They also tend to hold unequal attitude towards White and Black student behaviors due to racism and social stereotypes. This, as a result, leads to a situation where ethnic minority students, following teacher beliefs about them, lower their ow n expectations of the possible outcomes regardless to their initial high aspirations. This, in turn, can explain the differences in educational attainment between Black students and their other ethnicity peers. However, the hypothesis, that educational expectations and attainment between ethnic groups can be fully explained by racism and social stereotypes have been criticized. Modood (2003) has argued that Asian students tend to face more social pressure and racial harassment than Black Caribbean and Black African students, yet their achievements are outstanding and there is no evidence that Asian students would experience aspiration-expectation discrepancies due to the racism toward their ethnic group. Although, there exist several problems with the structuralist core assumptions, their ideas present useful and testable information that helps to explain and understand the reasons behind Black African and Caribbean student aspiration-expectation discrepancies. 2.2.2 Culturalist theory: According to culturalist point of view, differences in educational choices rise from internal factors, like internalization of historical and social norms or constraints. Therefore, culturalist perspective can partly fill the missing holes in the structuralist theory and explain why, for example, Asian students perform better than their Black peers although are both prone to racial harassment. Caplan et al. (1991) has argued that Asian performance is significantly better than one for other ethnic groups due to their cultural perceptions and understanding. It is claimed that Asian students tend to hold higher sense of responsibility for their family and prioritize self-reliance more than students from other ethnic groups, especially, Black Africans and Black Caribbeans. It is observed that Black Caribbean boys on average experience bigger peer pressure than other ethnic groups. They are exposed to the pressure to adopt the lifestyle of street culture, which negatively influences their academic performance (Sewell, 1997). Ogbu and Fordhams (1986) have contributed to the explanation why Black students tend to have low educational attainment despite the fact that they are holding high educational aspirations. They focused on two opposite ways how students are thinking and behaving, i.e., acting White and acting Black. Due to the previously mentioned peer pressure of adopting the street culture, acting White, i.e., doing well at school, is not seen as appropriate behavior for Black students. Therefore, Black students choose to keep their identities and are avoiding acting White, what results in lower educational achievements and attainment than in case of an absence of this pressure. Another factor that triggers the low educational attainment for Black African and Caribbean students is the socio-historical factor (Ogbu, 1991). Based on the historical roles in the society for Black population, Black African and Black Caribbean students may under value the necessity of investment in education. This is due to job ceiling they might feel they are facing. It has been suggested that Black people do not have the same economic opportunities as White people in the job market. In a recent study, Fouad and Byars-Winston (2005) found that, despite the high aspiration level among the Black students, they expected fewer job offers and opportunities than their White counterparts. Therefore, it is easy to understand why Black student do not see education as an essential tool for being able to gain a high position in the labor force and their academic attainment is lower than the one for other ethnic groups. This in turn, unfortunately, has resulted in a tendency that Black peopl e are overrepresented in low skilled jobs and are a considerable propo

Looking for Alaska Essay

In Looking for Alaska by John Green, the protagonist, Miles â€Å"Pudge† Halter, is very dynamic. In the beginning of the book, Pudge had no friends and was looking for what he calls the â€Å"Great Perhaps.† So he goes away to boarding school and meets â€Å"The Colonel†, Takumi, Lara, and Alaska. They were all immediate friends but Alaska and Pudge were drawn to each other. Pudge went from only having his mother and father at his going away party to having lifelong friends that really care about him. An important personality trait Pudge has that helps him grow throughout the story is How does the main conflict in the story impact the protagonist’s development? (Think about how the conflict gets resolved and its influences on the protagonist) Reader’s Discovery In Looking for Alaska, John Green demonstrates that even after tragedy, life always goes on. Connecting Literature to Reality All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. To me, this quote means that not all changes are for the better. Sometimes things happen that make someone or something worse than before. A change can either be good or bad; a step forward or backward. Examples: 1) If one or both of your parents lose their job, then that could be a bad change for your whole family. You might not be able to afford some things. 2) Failing a grade could be considered a step back instead of a step forward. 3) Having a serious injury could also be a step backward. You might not be able to do as much as before.

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Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and Church Architecture

American architect Bertram G. Goodhue (born April 28, 1869 in Pomfret, Connecticut) was an innovator who combined Gothic and Hispanic designs with modern ideas. He revolutionized church (ecclesiastical) architecture by reawakening Medieval traditions, with a focus on modern detailing within traditional designs. His fanciful Spanish Churrigueresque buildings for the Panama-California Exposition brought new energy to Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in the United States. Later in his career, Goodhue moved beyond Gothic ornamentation to explore classical forms, designing landmark buildings such as the Nebraska State Capitol. Goodhue could not afford to attend college, although he was a known sketch artist throughout the New Haven military academy he attended. Instead of college, at age fifteen he went to work in the New York office of Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell. For six years he studied under James Renwick, Jr., architect of many public buildings and churches, including Smithsonian Institute Castle in Washington, DC and Grace Church and St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City. In 1891, he joined Ralph Adams Cram and Charles Wentworth in a Boston partnership that later became Cram, Goodhue Ferguson. The firm opened a branch in New York City, which by 1913 Goodhue had made his own. Although Goodhues early works were noted for their high Gothic style, he later adopted a Romanesque style. By the end of his career, his work tended toward simple, classical lines. The Los Angeles Central Library, completed after his death, has elements of Art Deco design. Today Goodhue is considered an American modernist. Youve probably seen his work, without knowing it. Goodhue is said to have invented two font styles: Merrymount, designed for the Merrymount Press of Boston; and Cheltenham, designed for the Cheltenham Press in New York City; Cheltenham was adopted by The New York Times for their headline typeface and by the L.L. Bean company for their distinctive logo. Goodhue died in New York City on April 23, 1924. Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Architectural Drawings and Papers, 1882-1980 are archived at Columbia University in New York. Selected Projects Attributed to Goodhue: Bertram G. Goodhue was a known collaborator in architectural projects. The 1910 Cadet Chapel at West Point in New York is attributed to Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson, although Goodhue was the lead architect. Projects from his own New York City office took advantage of a growing United States market of public and ecclesiastic architecture from coast to coast. His most notable works include the First Baptist Church (1912) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the Church of the Intercession (1915) and St. Bartholomews Church (St. Barts, 1918) both in New York City. California works include the 1915 Panama-California Exposition Buildings in San Diego, the 1926 Los Angeles Central Public Library (LAPL), and the 1924Â  Master Plan for the California Institute of Technology. In between New York and California look for the 1922 Nebraska State Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska and the 1924 National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, DC. In the Words of Goodhue: ...the trouble in our houses today is that we want everything to seem rich and extravagant—we want money, and then we want to show it in our surroundings. —from The New York Times, A Renowned Architects Home of His Own by Christopher Gray, January 22, 2006 [accessed April 8, 2014] Learn More: Bertram Goodhue: His Life And Residential Architecture by Romy Wyllie (2007)Buy on AmazonBertram Grosvenor Goodhue by Richard Oliver, MIT Press, 1983Buy on AmazonAlice in Wonderland - A Play With Illustrations by Bertram GoodhueBuy on AmazonA book of architectural and decorative drawings by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, 1924Buy on Amazon Source: The Alexander S. Lawson Archive, Ithaca Typothetae at www.lawsonarchive.com/april-23/ [accessed April 26, 2012]

A Study On A Sum Of 40 Male Rats - 1738 Words

A sum of 40 male rats (8 weeks of age) will be purchased, 20 obese and 20 lean rats from Charles River Laboratories in as represented in Vendrame et al9 and Terra et al15. Male rats will be used instead of female rats to decrease the variables that may modify results due to hormonal alterations during the experiment. The rodents will be purchased from a pathogen free facility to decrease the chance of infection and fed a chow based diet during the first week of transportation to the lab. The use of experimental rodents will need to obtain approval from the University of Maine Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee9. Researchers will have appropriate training to use the Small Animals Research Facility and for humane handling and care†¦show more content†¦10 lean rats and 10 obese rats will consume this diet for 8 weeks. Tissue Collection Modeled after Vendrame at al9, the rats will fast overnight and be anaesthetized with 95% CO2 - 5% O2 for approximately 2 minutes. A cardiac puncture will exsanguinate the specimen. The blood serum will be immediately collected, centrifuged at 3000g for 15 minutes at 4 C, and stored at -80 C17. The perivascular tissue will be extracted from the thoracic aorta and snap-frozen by liquid N2 until later use. Inflammation In order to determine inflammation within the PVAT and plasma, methods of data collection will utilize quantitative real time RT-PCR and an ELISA kit to assay lipid serum measurements9,15 as to determine cytokine and adipokine concentrations. Inflammatory markers The inflammatory markers presented below have the capability of influencing one another and are intertwined through mechanisms that influence the progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. It is important to assay multiple chemokines and adipokines that are altered in function during times of stress to ensure the statistical and evidence based portions of experiment are reliable. 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Previous study on nasal cycle elaborates the cause for this oscillatory function in different view that Nasal Cycle is regulated by the autonomic nervous system, such that unilateral sympathetic dominance in one nostril causes vasoconstriction and decongestion, whileRead MoreAnimal Extinction2994 Words   |  12 PagesConservation Union have assessed, one in four mammals, one in eight birds, one in three amphibians, one in three conifers and other gymnosperms are at risk of extinction. The peril faced by other classes of organisms is less thoroughly analysed, but fully 40 per cent of the examined species of planet earth are in danger, including perhaps 51 per cent of reptiles, 52 per cent of insects, and 73 per cent of flowering plants. By the most conservative measure - based on the last centurys recorded extinctionsRead MoreFor Against by L.G. Alexander31987 Words   |  128 PagesSingapore Contents TO THE TEACHER I page I It s high time men ceased to regard women as second-class citizens smoking 6 2 World governments should conduct serious campaigns against 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 3 Television is doing irreparable harm 4 Any form of education other than co-education is simply unthinkable 5 Camping is the ideal way of spending a holiday 6 New fashions in clothing are created solely for the commercial exploitation of women Read More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 PagesStatistical Association’s Joint Committee with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability for Grades K–12. In addition to her texts in introductory statistics, Roxy is also co-editor of Statistical Case Studies: A Collaboration Between Academe and Industry and a member of the editorial board for Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown, 4th edition. 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INTRODUCTION 1.1 Indication NiX is indicated as an aid to smoking cessation treatment. 1.2 Background and Rationale Currently

Open-source mobile application development Free Essays

string(156) " lost their lives in the 21 000 events recorded in â€Å"the most comprehensive source of natural catastrophe data in the world† \(Munich Re AAA, p\." Application Development for Emergency Data Collection This Master degree project identified disasters and emergencies as a global humanitarian and technological challenge. Emergency management organizations’ need for access to accurate and up-to-date information about the emergency situation, to help respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of disasters and emergencies, present a challenge to the field of Genomics. Today the use of remote sensing technologies presents an Increasing number of lotions. We will write a custom essay sample on Open-source mobile application development or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are types of spatial data, however, e. G. Submerged, invasions or otherwise hidden features that still require emergency field personnel and volunteers to interpret and record. By utilizing the increasing ubiquity and computational power of modern smoothness, in order to reach a large number of potential users and volunteers, a mobile application for emergency field data collection was developed. It was developed as a component of a system that, In order to be as collaborative, adaptable and accessible as possible, also to resource-poor organizations, was, with a minor exception, completely open-source licensed. Field trials were held that, due to low participation, could not conclusively evaluate the application and its general applicability to emergency field data collection. They did, however, provide an adequate proof-of-concept and showed that it was possible to apply the application and the Implemented system to a specific emergency field data collection task. The system has great collaborative potential, achieved through openness, mobility, standards compliance, multi-source capability and adaptability. Its administrators re given a high degree of control that lets them adapt the system to suit the current users and situation and its flexibility make it widely applicable, not only for emergency management. From literature, the field trials and the experience gained while developing and using the application, some Ideas for Improving the application and the system were discussed and some future research topics were suggested. Acknowledgements The author would like to express gratitude to: his supervisors – for helpful read-through, comments and suggestions and for their positive attitude which helped him believe In the project throughout its velveteen, his family and friends – for their interest and curiosity, Sandra Person, for her support, understanding and valuable comments, and to all the participants of the Field Trials: Thank You! Appendix 3 – Field Trials Instructions and 63 Appendix 4 – Application User Guide (non-final version)†¦ Dictionary and Abbreviations API Application Programming Interface; can be described as a group of pre- constructed software components that developers can combine and use for creating new software. A collection of algorithms, classes and/or data structures for e. G. Performing specific tasks or communicating with other software. Disreputableness request A type of request standard published by COG (2013) and used by WFM clients to retrieve information about a specific layer offered by the WEST. DECADE The Android application developed as a case study during this thesis project; â€Å"the Emergency Data Collector for Android†Ã¢â‚¬ . EEOC Emergency Operation Centre, a location where emergency management leadership can gather to receive and analyses information, including spatial data, and coordinate rescue and relief efforts (Cutter 2003). Excitability’s A type of request standard published by COG (2013) and that is sent to WHAMS or WFM services to query the service for available layers, options and capabilities in general. Gadget request A type of request standard by COG (2013) that is used for requesting map images from a WHAMS. GIS Geographic Information System; a system capable of managing and using spatial data, aiding in activities such as data collection and storage, viewing, map creation, manipulation and analysis. GEM Geography Markup Language, a spatial data standard published by COG (2013). For further description see Table 3. GAPS The Global Positioning System; a system of satellites that broadcast signals which allow devices with GAPS receivers to calculate their position on the Earth. Layer A layer is a digital representation of a collection of physical features, such as roads, buildings, lakes etc. Each layer consists off specific geometric type such as a Point, Line or Polygon and has common attributes, such as road length, building use category or lake area. A layer can be displayed on a map e. G. By querying a geopolitical server. COG Open Geopolitical Consortium; a consortium of government agencies, universities and companies that develop common open standards promoting geographic information accessibility and interoperability (COG 2013). Open-source Refers to computer software for which the license includes a number of access and use rights to its source code, defined by the Open Source Initiative (OSI 2013). That is, users may for example look under-the-hood of the program, modify it or any purpose and forward it to other users directly. SO Operating System; a basic device software that manages platform for managing and interacting with all other applications on the device. Server Refers too geopolitical server, see Figure 3, whose address can be stored in DECADE. It is a computer software system which can be sent queries over the Internet, in this case for geographic information to display on top of Google Maps, and to which data can be uploaded. SF Simple Features Specification; a spatial data standard published by COG (2013). SLD Styled Layer Descriptor, an COG (2013) web map styling standard. For further description see Table 3. Smartened A hand-held device for mobile voice-, text- and data communication that has a fast Internet connection multiple sensors, including camera and GAPS receiver. Its hardware is powerful enough to browse web pages and run advanced computer programs (mobile applications). Often uses large (for hand-held phones) touch-screens. Spatial data Data with a spatial component, I. E. Coordinates, that are defined by an SIRS and that bind the data to physical locations or geometric features. SIRS Spatial Reference System; a system defining how coordinates relate to locations on Earth. WFM Web Feature Service, an COG (2013) web mapping interface standard for serving geographic features. For further description see Table 3. WHAMS Web Map Service, an COG (2013) web mapping interface standard for serving map images. For further description see Table 3. 1. Introduction Since 1980, 2. Million people have lost their lives in the 21 000 events recorded in â€Å"the most comprehensive source of natural catastrophe data in the world† (Munich Re AAA, p. You read "Open-source mobile application development" in category "Papers" 49). Total global material value lost due to natural disasters during the period is estimated at 3800 thousand million IIS$, with a distinctly rising trend both n the annual rate of loss (Maureen and Breathe 2011) and the annual frequency of reported natural disasters. In addition, technological disasters (e. G. Industrial or transport accidents) contributed with on average 9000 deaths per year during the last decade, 2002-2011 (FRI. 2012). One tool for improving emergency management is quick access to accurate and updated information about the emergency situation or disaster. Such information can be of vital importance for emergency management to enable distribution of the right resources to the right places at the right times and for proportioning the efforts which have the greatest benefit. Much of this essential information has a spatial component, such as extents and locations of damaged areas, the locations of spatial data, are useful in all phases of emergency management (Cutter 2003; Al- Shuddery 2010). There are, however, challenges to overcome in the utilization of spatial data and geographic information systems (GIS) in the context of emergency management, as recognized by e. G. Geezer and Smith (2003) and Manicurist (2005). One such challenge is providing decision makers and field workers with access to data that are accurate and sufficiently up-to-date for their specific purpose. For data that cannot be captured with remote sensing techniques, such as satellite data and aerial photos, or stationary monitoring networks (see e. G. Liana et al. 005), emergency management organizations have to rely on field data collection by employees and/or volunteers. As pointed out by EL-Gamely et al. (2010), recent improvements in software and hardware technology have enabled real-time access to and collection of spatial data in the field. Many groups have utilized the increasing ubiquity and capabilities of modern smoothness for developing field data collection systems (e. G. Enhances et al. 009; Clark et al. 2010; xx et al. 2010; White et al. 2011; Chem. et al. 2012; Decant et al. 2012; Went et al. 2012). Several of these groups have developed such systems as open- source projects, which can potentially benefit society in terms of supporting collaboration between developers, allowing derivative work to build upon previous achievements and allowing less resource-strong communities access to these useful data collection tools. This project builds on these notions of open access and collaboration in creating a free and open mobile GIS and field data collection system. A system that is tailored award emergency management and has a high degree of scalability and adaptability to organization-specific needs. It makes use of existing open-source technologies for the server-side architecture and for the development of a mobile application, henceforth known as DECADE (the Emergency Data Collector for It only requires distribution of DECADE and the server address to those devices. 1. 1. Aim The main aim of this thesis project is to develop a mobile application as a component of a complete open-source system for emergency field data collection. A secondary aim is to evaluate the mobile application to discern whether it is applicable to emergency field data collection and how it can be improved for that purpose. 2. Background This chapter describes the context in which DECADE may operate* and why it is useful. By defining and describing disasters, emergencies and emergency management, and by outlining the role of spatial data in emergency management, the rationale behind its development is illustrated. Undertaken and examples of the technology, standards and open-source licenses available to it are presented. This will provide background for discussion about and aid in the development of the proposed system architecture and the implementation f DECADE that is presented in the System Design and Case Study chapters. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISON) is developing a body of terminology for use by the emergency and disaster management communities. It is intended to improve the work to reduce disaster risk by making the use and understanding of common vocabulary consistent throughout the community (UNISON 2009). To help promote this common understanding this report will, where applicable, use the definitions proposed by the UNISON. 2. 1 . Disasters Emergencies To understand the importance of emergency management and the environment in which DECADE and the proposed system (see section 3. . ) could be utilized, the nature and frequency of disasters needs some attention. The following definition of â€Å"disaster† is proposed by the UNISON: â€Å"A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cop e using its own resources. † – UNISON 2009, p. 9 To study disasters, there are several database projects that record disasters and related information. Some of these databases are created and managed by re- insurance companies (e. . Munich-Re and Swiss-Re). Since these companies provide insurances for other insurance providers, when disastrous events cause widespread damage, they are often paying a significant part of the recovery costs. Thus, in addition to e. G. Universities and governmental organizations, these re-insurance companies have a natural interest in studying disasters and emergency management. Table 1 : Catastrophe categorization developed Jointly by Munich Re, CREED, Swiss Re, the United Nations Development Programmer (UNDO), the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre (DARK) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISON) in 2007. Source: FRI. 2012, p. 251-252. Natural disasters Biological Insect infestations, epidemics and animal attacks. Geophysical Earthquakes and tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and dry mass movements (avalanches, landslides, recalls and Climatologically Droughts (with associated food insecurities), extreme temperatures and wildfires. Hydrological Floods (including waves and surges) and wet mass movements (avalanches, landslides, recalls and subsidence of hydrological origin). Meteorological Storms (divided into nine sub-categories). Technological Industrial accidents Chemical spills, collapse of industrial infrastructure, explosions, fires, gas leaks, poisoning and radiation. Transportation Transportation by air, rail, road or water. Miscellaneous Collapse of domestic or non-industrial structures, explosions and fires. Natural catastrophes are by far the most common and the most costly type of event, both in human and economic losses. According to the ME-DATA database, during 2002-2011 (not counting non-natural, non-accidental events), natural catastrophes caused almost 13 times as many deaths as technological causes and in excess of 37 times as much economic damage (FRI. 2012). Among the types of natural catastrophes, in all parts of the world meteorological and hydrological catastrophes are the most numerous (Munich Re AAA). When it comes to fatalities, however, most are caused by geophysical events or, as in Europe and Africa, climatologically events. Asia, being the largest and most populated region, suffers the largest number of catastrophes, the most fatalities and the highest amount of overall economic losses, while North America alone has 65 % of the world’s insured losses (Munich Re AAA). In recent years, current and future changes in the global climate have been projected o cause meteorological, hydrological and climatologically extreme events to become more frequent or more intense in many areas (Parry et al. 2007) and an increase in the number of, as well as losses from, weather-related disasters have been identified (Bower et al. 007; Maureen and Breathe 2011). However, as the work by Maureen increase in losses. It may be, as argued by Bower et al. (2007), that it’s mainly the increased susceptibility of human societies that is causing current increases in losses, due to expansion of settlements into sensitive areas and further arbitration leading to a concentration of population and wealth at risk. In any case, the need for better resilience to catastrophic events in human societies is increasing, and significant efforts to improve emergency management before, during and after an emergency event are being made. . 2. Emergency Management DECADE and the proposed system for which it is designed are intended to be used for emergency management, which incorporates all aspects of how communities handle emergency situations. It involves risk assessments as well as planning and education for improved preparedness. It involves policies, guidelines and routines for how to organize participants and resources available, to best respond to the events homeless and for recovering efficiently in the hours, days, months and perhaps years after an event. It also involves how communities learn from mistakes and take steps to reduce future susceptibility to similar events. More succinctly put emergency management is: â€Å"The organization and management of resources and responsibilities for addressing all aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and initial recovery steps. † – UNINSPIRED, p. 13 In what form emergency management is used depends on the type of emergency that is being considered, but different strategies may be more or less general in their applicability to different types of events (see Table 1). The different phases of emergency management are commonly described as forming a cycle (Figure 1; Cutter 2003; Manicurist 2005; EL-Gamely et al. 2010) with some form of categorization of the relevant emergency management activities. Figure 1 depicts one such interpretation using three phases based on the definitions below. Response: â€Å"The provision of emergency services and public assistance during or immediately after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected. † – UNISON 2009, p. Recovery â€Å"The restoration, and improvement where appropriate, of facilities, livelihoods and living conditions of disaster-affected communities, including efforts to reduce disaster risk factors. † – UNISON 2009, p. 23 Mitigation â€Å"The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters. † Preparedness â€Å"The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions. – UNISON 2009, p. 21 Preparedness can accordingly be thought of as part of the mitigation phase, although it’s sometimes defined as a separate fourth management phase (e. G. Abdullah and Lie 2010). The duration of the phases shown in Figure 1 can, according to the definitions above and those mentioned by Cutter (2003) be approximated to hours to weeks for the response phase and months to years for the recovery phase. The mitigation phase lasts indefinitely or until a new emergency event occurs. As explained by Manicurist (2005); each emergency management phase should ideally be conducted in a way that facilitates success in the next phase, but in the ease of rebuilding societies in the recovery phase this is often overlooked in favor of quickly restoring societies to their previous states. Emergency events can occur in many different ways, as shown in Figure 1 by the three arrows representing the emergency event. They can strike with full intensity immediately and then slowly subside, like an earthquake which is followed by smaller after-shakes. They can slowly increase in intensity until they abruptly end, like a drought becoming increasingly severe until rain comes and quickly rejuvenates vegetation and fills rivers and lakes with water again. They can strengthen and weaken gradually, eke a flooding disaster during which the water level slowly reaches its peak and then slowly retreats again. Events can also be singular surprise events, as the figure in Cutter (2003, p. 440) might indicate, which are over before any sort of response can be organized. Such events might be e. . Sudden landslides or singular earthquakes. In line with the above definitions, the overlapping of the phases depicted in Figure 1 illustrates, first, that the response phase can begin while the emergency event is still ongoing. Second, restoration of facilities in the recovery phase can start (and might even be necessary) revived. Thirdly, it illustrates that mitigation concerns should be addressed already in the recovery phase so that the recovering s ociety will be more resilient to future emergency events. Regarding societies’ resilience to catastrophes, it can be defined as: â€Å"The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions. † Building resilience in a society includes many kinds of activities both aimed at reverting catastrophes from occurring or reducing their impact and at improving how the society can respond to and recover from them (Table 2). A notable prevention strategy used in many countries is using land-use planning to restrict development in hazardous areas, albeit with different approaches to assessing risks and what actions to take (e. G. Contain et al. 2006; Galvanic et al. 2010). Other mitigation strategies include e. G. Construction regulations, warning systems, protective structures such as flood barriers (Godchild 2003; De la Cruz-Arena and Tilling 2008; Galvanic et al. 2010) and evacuation plans (Chatterer’s et al. 009). While many such strategies may be effective, there is also a need to ensure that plans and regulations are properly enforced. This is not always the case, especially in poorer countries, as discussed by Kenny (2012). Table 2: Examples of strategies for mitigating catastrophe effects and for improving response and recovery after catastrophes. The division indicates whether they aim to prevent or reduce damage or to improve handling of damage after the event. Mitigation Response and Recovery Land-use planning Insurance against losses Construction regulation Education and Awareness Warning system development Response plans Protective structures Improvement of tools for emergency management Plan and regulation enforcement SAID development for improved decision making With regard to coping with (responding to and recovering from) catastrophic events, building economic buffers to ensure the availability of resources, I. E. Insurances, is a common strategy. Munich Re (AAA) estimate that approximately a quarter of the financial losses that occurred due to natural catastrophes 1980-2012 were insured. Of these insured losses, 81 % occurred in North America and Europe (Munich Re AAA). Kenny (2012) also notes that the victims themselves still pay most of the cost How to cite Open-source mobile application development, Papers

Law International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Question: Discuss about the Lawfor International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Answer: Introduction: The panama papers are those documents which are recognized as an unpredictable leak of 11.5m files from the database of Mossack Fonseca, which is the 4th largest law firm of the world. These records were received by the German newspaper Sddeutsche Zeitungfrom an anonymous source, and this newspaper shared the records with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Then these records were shared by ICIJ with large number international partners, which also include the Guardian and the BBC. This leak shows how the rich and powerful people use the tax havens to hide their wealth, and these documents are reliable because they are related to the database of the worlds most secretive companies that is a Panamanian law firm. In this report, firstly we state about the panama papers and other topics related to these papers. Subsequently this report is concluded with brief conclusion. About Panama Papers: As stated above, panama papers are the biggest leak of the 11.5m files, and these files show how clients of Mossack Fonseca are laundering the money, dodge sanctions, and avoid tax. There is one case in which company offered fake records of ownership related to American millionaire for the purpose of hiding money from their authorities. This case is a direct breach of an international regulation which was designed to stop money laundering and hide money. This leak is the biggest leak of the history, and data related to this leak was released in 2010 by the Wikileaks organisation. Amount released by Wikileaks related to this data is equal to the population of San Francisco, and amount related to data of panama papers is equal to the population of India (BBC News, 2016). This leak shows how the rich and powerful people hide their wealth and money by using tax havens. The leak was of eleven billion documents from the company which is considered as worlds most secretive companies which shows how this law firm helps their clients in money laundering, dodge sanctions and also in tax evasions. About Mossack Fonseca: Mossack fonseca is the law firm based on panama and this firm mainly provided the services of incorporation of companies in offshore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands. They receive yearly fee for administering the offshore firms, and also provide services related to wealth management. This firm is based in panama but it conducts its operation in all over world. Website of this company includes global network of 600 peoples who are working in 42 countries, and this company also have various franchisees around the world where affiliates which are separately owned by someone is set up create new customers and they have exclusive right to use the brand name. This company conducts its operations in varius tax havens such as Switzerland, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, and in the British crown dependencies Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. As per the company, they are conducting these activities from last 40 years and they have never being charged for criminal offence. Company further stated that offshore companies are used for the purpose of legitimate transactions through due diligence and company also regrets on misuse of its services (BBC, 2016). Tax revenue was increased by the president of French, Francois Hollande for those who commit fraud. Peoples Who are in the Papers: These documents reveal the name of 12 current or former state heads, and also name of sixty peoples who are related with the current or former leaders of the world such as Prime Minister of Icelandic, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugson, who had interest related to wealth of his wife and such interest is not declared. Papers also include the name of brother-in-law of China's President Xi Jinping, and president of Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, president of Argentina Mauricio Macri, the late father of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, and also the three childrens of Prime Minister of Pakistan that is Nawaz Sharif. These documents also reveal the case of million dollar money laundering which was closely related to President of Vladimir Putin. According to the director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Gerard Ryle, these documents covered the day to day working of Mossack Fonseca from last forty years, and he also stated that this leak probably will be the biggest leak of the world because of the extent of the documents (Bilton, 2016). Some parts of the documents shows that some important members of committee of Fifas Ethics, Uruguayan lawyer Juan Pedro Damiani and his firm legally assist the seven offshore companies which are related to the former vice president of Fifa. These documents also contain information that almost more than 500 banks which also include their subsidiaries and branches, registered almost 15600 shell companies with Mossack Fonseca. Allegations were denied by lenders that they are helping their clients in any way for the purpose of tax evasions by using the offshore arrangements in complicated manner. These documents shows the various ways in which rich people are able to use the offshore secretive tax regimes for exploiting resources, and these papers also reveal the name of 12 national leaders, 143 politicians, their families and close associations in the world. Allegation on Mossack Fonseca were not ended yet, and as per the legal papers filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas claimed that this law firm had incorporated 123 shell companies in Nevada for the purpose of stealing the million dollars from government contract by former president of Argentina, and as per the demand raised by subpoena, law firm must provide the details related to money flow through Nevada companies, but Mossack fronseca denied to provide his information because of the confidentiality of their clients (OCCRP, n.d.). Working of Tax havens: There are number of ways to use the tax havens, and these ways are used for hiding the true owners of money, origin from which such money is generated and paying tax on money. The main allegations are related o the creation of shell companies, which shows outwards that they have legitimate business but from inside they are empty as shells. These companies are incorporated only for the purpose of managing money or hiding the true owners of the money. The panama papers which are leaked from the law firm uncover number of cases related to suspected money laundering which are run by the close associates of Vladimir Putin. However, there are number of uses of tax havens for the purpose of money laundering and avoiding tax. For example-methods for avoiding tax re similar for all whether they are the wealthy businessman who decide to avoid tax or any dealer of drugs at international level or for the head of the brutal regime. As per the statement given by the Mossack Fonseca, they are always complied with the protocols stated at international level and ensure that companies incorporated must not use for tax evasions, money laundering, and terrorist finances and other illicit purposes (Bloom, 2016; Moneyterms, n.d.). Criminal offence: On 26th November 1983, six robbers robbed at the Brinks-Mat warehouse at Londons Heathrow Airport. Robbers tied the security guards and pour gasoline on them, lit a matchstick and threatened them to set fire unless they opened the vault of warehouse. Thieves robbed almost 7000 gold bars, diamonds, and cash. At the time of departure, one of the thieves said Thanks ever so much for your help. Have a nice Christmas,. According to the media of British stated this crime as the crime of the century. A huge amount from loot was never recovered which includes cash reaped by melting gold and selling it. Where such money went was the biggest mystery. After the leak of documents it was revealed that law firm and its co founder Jrgen Mossack, help the thieves to hide the money by tied the company to Gordon parry, a dealer of London who commits the offence of money laundering for the Brinks-Mat plotters. As per the records, after the sixteen months of robbery, the law firm incorporates a panama s hell company named as Feberion Inc., and Jrgen Mossack was also the nominee director. Nominee director is the person who has control over the company on the paper but they do not conduct the activities of the company. In 1986, Mossack write an internal memo which shows that he was aware that this company managing the money received from famous theft of Brinks-Mat in London. This company does not directly used for illegal purpose but company invested its money through those bank accounts and properties which was sourced as illegitimate. Records also shows that law firm does not help the authorities to gain access on Feberions assets, but it took steps which prevent the U.K. Police to gain access over the assets of the company. Leaked records also show that when two certificates are obtained by police which controlled the ownership of the company, Mossack Fonseca took steps for issuing 98 new shares by feberion because of which control of the company wrested from investigators. Mossack does not ended its business relationship with feberion till the period of 1995 that is after the 3 years parry was sentenced to imprisonment for his role in Gold Caper. Mossack Fonseca said that all the allegations related to robbery of Brinks-Mat are false, and founder of Jrgen Mossack never had any dealings with parry, and he never contracted the police for any matter related to this case (ICIJ, 2016). Pulitzer Prize for Investigation: Pulitzer Prize was won by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), for the investigation conducted related to panama papers because these papers reveal the offshore shell companies and tax havens. These papers are leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. This investigation also includes the strong network of 108 news organizations (The Indian Express, 2017). This prize was announced by Columbia University, for investigating the panama scandal and provides explanatory reporting on this matter. The Board of Pulitzer prize awarded the investigation which was conducted for year by using the collaboration of 300 reporters on six continents for uncovering the offshore shell companies of tax havens (ICIJ, 2017). Conclusion: After considering all the facts of this report it is clear that Panama paper are those unpredictable leas which include almost 11.5 million papers and uncovered the faces of rich and powerful people of the world. These papers show how rich and powerful people hide their wealth through the offshore shell companies in tax havens for the purpose of avoiding the tax. These papers not only reveal the cases related to avoiding tax but also include number of cases which involve money received from criminal activities such as Brinks-Mat robbery. The papers are leaked from the database of panama based law firm that is Mossack Fonseca. These papers include the names of wealthy businessman as well as leaders of different countries and their family members such as brother-in-law of China's President Xi Jinping, and president of Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, president of Argentina Mauricio Macri, the late father of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, etc. therefore, this leak is considered as most shocking and biggest leak of the history. References: BBC News, (2016). Panama Papers QA: What is the scandal about. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-35954224. Accessed on 24th April 2016. Bilton, R. (2016). Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-35918844. Accessed on 24th April 2016. BBC, (2016). Panama Papers: What the documents reveal. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-35956055. Accessed on 24th April 2016. Bloom, J. (2016). Panama Papers: How assets are hidden and taxes dodged. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-35943740. Accessed on 24th April 2016. Moneyterms. Shell company. Available at: https://moneyterms.co.uk/shell-company/. Accessed on 24th April 2016. The guardian, (2016). What are the Panama Papers? A guide to history's biggest data leak. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers. Accessed on 24th April 2016. ICIJ. Giant Leak of Offshore Financial Records Exposes Global Array of Crime and Corruption. Available at: https://panamapapers.icij.org/20160403-panama-papers-global-overview.html. Accessed on 24th April 2016. ICIJ, (2017). Panama Papers Wins Pulitzer Prize. Available at: https://panamapapers.icij.org/20170410-pulitzer-prize.html. Accessed on 24th April 2016. The Indian express, (2017). Pulitzer Prize for Panama Papers investigation. Available at: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pulitzer-prize-for-panama-papers-investigation-indian-express-4609712/. Accessed on 24th April 2016. OCCRP. Panamanian Law Firm Is Gatekeeper To Vast Flow of Murky Offshore Secrets. Available at: https://www.occrp.org/en/panamapapers/mossack-fonseca/. Accessed on 24th April 2016.