Sustainable Supply Chains

Introduction to Sustainable Supply Chains A supply chain is a system in organizations, technology, information, people, resources, and activities that involves moving a product or service from the supplier to the customer.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Sustainable Supply Chains specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sustainable supply chains are supply chains with the ability of helping organizations to grow, protect, and create long term social, economic and environmental value for shareholders involved in bringing products and services to the market. Supply chain sustainability is the management of social, economic, and environmental impacts and the encouragement of practices of good governance through the lifecycle of services and goods. Sustainable supply chain management is the transparent and strategic achievement and integration of economic, environmental, and social goals in an organization in a systematic c oordination of key business inter-organizational processes for improving the economic performance on individual companies in the long term (Pullman, Maloni Carter, 2009). Sustainable supply chains are important to ensure that an organization complies with laws and regulations and to support and adhere to international principles for sustainable business conduct. Organizations adopt sustainable supply chain to reduce costs of operations in order to maximize profits. The organizations acquire the potential of satisfying the interests of stakeholders and the society. Examples of successful sustainable supply chains are those that practices of collaboration. An example of collaboration is â€Å"investment in alternative modes of transportation to reduce environmental impacts and cost of deliveries†.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Some of the modes of transportation inc lude airports, ships and canals. A successful sustainable supply chain is also in major components of management of supplier relationships. It is applied to create efficient way of cutting costs in the retail business (Krause, Vachon Klassen, 2009). For example, Wal-Mart has a Supplier Energy Efficiency Project that are aimed at emission elimination the company’s supply chain.The project’s suppliers â€Å"reduced 3300 metric tons of GHG emissions saving approximately $200,000 costs of energy in 2009†. The suppliers of Wal-Mart were requested its suppliers to show efficiency in management of environmental footprint as a measure of reducing cost and realize this benefit. This could save energy, time, and cost for the company. IBM has a sustainable supply chain in which it conducts studies annually to address the issues in its supply chain. The company prepares strategies to overcome global challenges that arise from globalization to create business value (Pagell Wu, 2009). Difference Between Traditional Supply Chains and Sustainable Supply Chains Have Created Competitive Advantage For OrganizationsAdvertising We will write a custom report sample on Sustainable Supply Chains specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When accurately designed, traditional or conventional supply chains present clientele the advantages of quality enhancement, reduced overheads, and rapid delivery. Sustainable supply chain offer reduced costs and create value in the supply chain. Supply chain managers face challenges of changes in requirements of expertise in today’s business long-term trends. Business trends in recent years involve increasing intensity of competition and demand in environmental protection, resource scarcity, and security arising from the ongoing globalization. Businesses have to adopt better business systems that have the potential of satisfying stakeholders and customers. This makes the tradi tional supply chain insufficient in the modern business world. Under the objectives of a variety performance, a new prototype of a more complicated supply chain is emerging that caters for the needs of sustainable and developing competitiveness. The main differences between the traditional and sustainable supply chain is that the traditional supply chain is a drive of prices and decouple strategically but the sustainable supply chain is a drive of value and couple strategically. This means that management and design of supply chains should deliver specific outcomes, such as security, sustainability, innovation, cost reduction, and resilience (Pagell, Wu Wasserma, 2010). Paulraj (2011) identified that sustainable supply chains create competitive advantage in businesses by managing risks, creating sustainable production, and realizing efficiencies.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Managing business risks minimizes disruptions in business from social, economic, and environmental impacts. Managing business risks also protects the brand value and reputation of the company. Companies can protect themselves from interruptions in their potential supply chains associated with labor, human rights, governmental practices, environmental practices, and suppliers’ human rights by ensuring that suppliers comply with management systems and programmes covering sustainable supply chain management principles. Managing risks ensures that a company has access to resources. A company with a sustainable supply chain has the potential of reducing future liability and additional costs. Therefore, companies with sustainable supply chains understand the different strategies to undertake to ensure productivity and efficiency. Realizing efficiencies occurs when sustainable supply chains reduce costs of energy, transportation, and material inputs. Realizing efficiencies also incr ease labor production and create efficiencies across the entire supply chain. Creating sustainable products involve meeting the requirements of business and customer partners and innovating to satisfy the changing market. A company can reduce costs of supply through creating strong health, safety, and labor practices, increasing the understanding of key processes in the supply chain, and designing systems and processes that reduce required inputs. Companies create competitive advantage through developing new products and improving existing products through collaborating with suppliers on sustainable issues that foster product innovation. Sustainable supply chain creates competitive advantage by providing understanding of the business value and incorporated ideas in the market by competitors. This is addresses as benchmarking against the competitors. Sustainable supply chain enables an understanding of customer, suppliers, and shareholder expectations creating maximum return on the i nvestments of the company. A sustainable supply chain creates a vision for the company providing direction of the company’s strategies and defining the company’s commitment to achieve competitive advantage. The company can evaluate and identify areas that need improvement to create competitive advantage (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann Blome, 2010). Challenges in Building Sustainable Supply Chains Supply chain managers face challenges because of the increase in the requirements of management expertise in the long-term trends of companies today. These trends include the increasing intensity of competition, ongoing globalization, environmental protection, resource scarcity, and the growing security demand in businesses. Businesses are also requiring cost efficient, flexible, and reliable business systems that have the capability of supporting customer differentiation. Modern supply chain managers have to confront complex and dynamic supply chains becoming difficult to predict developments and trends in the long term (Paulraj, 2011). Supply chain management has to come up with additional plans that extend beyond the operational scope of the current activities. Supply chain managers need to understand and identify the new sustainability issues in their businesses and company environment to respond to respond to the changes in the long term trends and to remain competitive. This challenges calls for international, global, and the fragmented supply chain to apply skills of networking and creating efficient supply chain operations that adapt to sustainable demands to create sustainable customer focused supply chains in the long term. This is because sustainable supply chains must be able to create sustainable competitive advantage (Pullman, Maloni Carter, 2009). Challenges of building sustainable supply chains can arise from the weak and non-built relationships of companies with suppliers. It becomes difficult for companies to form strong relationships with suppliers because some of the suppliers are untrustworthy in that they fail to deliver the quantity and quality paid by the company. The owners or managers have to inspect the suppliers, especially in cases in which the suppliers can corrupt the employees easily. Challenges can arise when the company has inadequate capital to pay the suppliers at the required time. The company can strain to pay the suppliers or the suppliers can reduce business relationships with the company. Challenges in building a sustainable supply chain can arise when the suppliers create inconsistencies in price and quality without providing notice to the purchasing enterprise. This means that this change would pass to the customers creating inefficiency in the supply chain (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann Blome, 2010). According to Pullman, Maloni and Carter (2009), challenges can arise when the suppliers have a poor record from the purchasing entity making it difficult for the purchasing enterprise to keep a tre nd of their suppliers in frequency of supply, quality of supply, and prices of supply. This makes it difficult for the purchasing enterprise to build a strong relationship with the supplier. Challenges in building sustainable supply chain can result from poor planning where the purchasing enterprise makes quick decisions on the supplier without taking time to understand the competence of the supplier. This makes it difficult for the supplier and the purchase enterprise to create good relationships when the problems in the supply chain begin to occur. Other challenges arise from unfair competition based on prices, high prices for poor quality of products, lack of customer records and statistics, and interpersonal challenges, such as religious differences, race, and social status. Cases of corruption can arise from the purchase enterprises to suppliers passing on the costs through price increments on the customers. Corruption destroys the sustainability in the supply chains. Challenge s can arise from changes in government levies and taxes. Government taxes and levies affect cost of operations to both the suppliers and the purchasing enterprises leading to additional costs that have to depict in changes in the quantity, quality, and prices of products and services in the market. These changes affect the satisfaction of the shareholders and customers forcing them to shift to competitors. The company profits and resources decrease leading to collapse of some of the supply chains (Pagell Wu, 2009). Management Implications to the Importance and Challenges in Building Sustainable Supply Chains Various enterprises strive to build positive public relations to improve image and reputation essential for attracting and maintaining potential and competent suppliers and customers. A company can improve the nature and frequency of communication to customers and suppliers to maintain or improve sustainable supply chains. Some enterprises offer promotional items and credit to customers in efforts to build strong relationships for sustainable supply chains. Business enterprises reduce prices below that of competitors and improve quality of products to attract customers. This is difficult because cost of production match prices, quantity, and quality and reducing the prices means that the quality or quantity will decline. Enterprises have difficult time managing sustainable supply chains with prices, especially when the business has obligation of satisfying the stakeholders, customers and suppliers (Paulraj, 2011). According to Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann and Blome (2010), business enterprises provide quality and unique services to loyal customers and suppliers to attract and maintain them. This action strengthens their relationships making it easy to build a sustainable supply chain. This has been possible through creation of clubs, especially in retail shops and food points (Lamp, 2011). Enterprises result to supporting sporting events, channels, and teams to nurture prestige and good reputation of businesses. Businesses offer sponsorships and donations to the society to attract the attention and interest in the members in the supply chain. Business enterprises also offer newspapers and special seats to the members of the supply chain to ensure good relationships and image. Businesses enterprises have also put extra efforts in building sustainable supply chains by paying its suppliers promptly and involving the suppliers and customers in their business and personal functions and initiatives. For example, Unilever is multinational company that earns annual revenue of more than $50 billion in approximately 400 brands. It sources from 100000 non-production suppliers and 10000 suppliers of raw materials. The company approximately purchases 3% of the world’s palm oil and 6% of the world’s black tea (Krause, Vachon, Klassen, 2009). Securing sustainable supply chains is critical for sustaining growth and the success of the bu siness in the future. The company has developed tangible benefits in business through sustainable supply chains. The company invests resources and time in building strong relationships with suppliers, customers, and stakeholders. The company achieves this by providing good wage incomes, managing environmental issues, such as climate change and waste, and ensuring good working conditions in the supply chains. Unilever’s ability to maintain sustainability in chain of supply helps in creating cost efficiency in the company operations, improve company’s reputational image, and assist in securing and stabilizing business long-term operations.. Unilever has created competitive advantage successfully through building sustainable supply chains (Pagell, Wu Wasserma, 2010). References Krause, D., Vachon, S., Klassen, R. (2009). Special topic forum on sustainable supply chain management: introduction and reflections on the role of purchasing management. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(4), 18-25. Lamp, C. (2011). Essentials of marketing. New York, NY: Cengage Learning. Pagell, M. Wu, Z. (2009). Building a more complete theory of sustainable supply chain management using case studies of 10 exemplars. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(2), 37-56. Pagell, M., Wu, Z., Wasserma, M. (2010). Thinking differently about purchasing portfolios: an assessment of sustainable sourcing. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(1), 57-73. Paulraj, A. (2011). Understanding the relationships between internal resources and capabilities, sustainable supply management and organizational sustainability. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 47(1), 19-37. Pullman, M., Maloni, M., Carter, C. (2009). Food for thought: social versus environmental sustainability practices and performance outcomes. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(4), 38-54. Reuter, C., Foerstl, K., Hartmann, E., Blome, C. (2010). Sustainable global supplier management: the role of dynamic capabiliti es in achieving competitive advantage. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(2), 45-63. This report on Sustainable Supply Chains was written and submitted by user Camila Harvey to help you with your own studies. 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Study Guideline Essays

Study Guideline Essays Study Guideline Essay Study Guideline Essay How to write your study plan You are more than just a grade report sheet, and the study plan section of your application is your chance to tell us about yourself. Personal statements are not easy to write, and require substantial planning. Entry to Tsukuba is highly competitive, so spending time on writing the best personal statement possible is important. Plan We’re interested in why you chose this course, at Tsukuba, and Japan. Ask yourself; Why did I choose to study this major? Why are you interested in this subject? Is there a specific topic within this field which interests you? Have you studied this before? What do you expect from the program and from the university? Are you aiming to become qualified for a specific job? Why did I choose Tsukuba, rather than another G30 university? Have you investigated the other G30 universities? What was it that attracted you to Tsukuba specifically? Why do I want to study in Japan? Do you have some special attachment to Japan or Japanese culture? What are my long-term goals, and how does studying in Tsukuba help me reach those goals? Do you want to go on to a Masters degree or PhD? Do you want to work in Japan after graduation? What makes me a stand-out candidate? Do you have some special skills or passions which make you a more interesting person? What personal qualities do you possess which make you a good choice for this program? Write Drafts You should have a lot of information on paper by now. That information has to be organised and a draft (or two or three) of your study plan will have to be written. Use separate paragraphs for separate sections, and try to impose a logical structure on your writing. Think carefully about how you want to structure your personal statement. Try to be concise when writing your study plan. The use of concrete examples can help you express yourself clearly. We appreciate that English is some applicants’ second language. However, please try your best not to make spelling errors and use correct grammar and punctuation. Keep your sentences short and simple. Get Feedback Finally, when you’ve written your draft, we suggest giving it a few days and re-reading it. Ask for teachers, parents or friends to read it over and give honest feedback. Give yourself plenty of time to work through numerous versions of your draft, until you are completely happy.

Bullying in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bullying in Schools - Essay Example In general bullying can be defined as powerful child or group attacking those who are less powerful intentionally to cause harm. Bullying can therefore take three forms: physical which generally involve beating, punching kicking, pushing, taking personal belongings etc.; verbal which involve taunting, teasing, nicknaming, making threats; and psychological such as spreading rumors, manipulating social relationships, or intimidation through gestures or social exclusion (Ericson, 2001). Bullying in schools has become such a serious issue that most of the schools are taking steps to prevent it through anti-bullying policies. If we take a look at the statistics it is estimated that 30 percent of American children are regularly involved in bullying, either as bullies, victims, or both (NRCSS, 2001). Besides, researchers have also pointed out that about 15 percent of students are "severely traumatized or distressed" by one or the other bullying incidence, and about eight percent of the students report being victimized at school at least once a week (Hoover and Oliver, 1996; Skiba and Fontanini, 2000). It is a proven fact that bullying is one of the most serious anti-social activities that can harm individuals and groups. ... On the other hand, children who bully are more likely to become violent and aggressive adults (Banks, 2000). It is important to note that even those students who are not directly involved in bullying are affected. Children and teens who often witness bullying at school suffer from insecurity feeling and have a less secure learning environment. They fear that they may become the target of bullying some day. If we take into account the statistics of the real impact of bullying in schools, researchers found that 160,000 students miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by a bully (Fried and Fried, 1996). Roughly about 20 percent of students are afraid of bullying during much of the school day (Garrity, et al., 1997). Weinhold and Weinhold (1998) estimated that 10 percent of students who drop out of school are because of repeated bullying. Besides, 60 percent of students according to Banks (2000) characterized as bullies in grades 6-9 had at least one criminal conviction by the time they reach the age 24. Hence, these statistics point out that there is an urgent need to bring in policies in the schools to control bullying. Strategies to combat bullying Several researchers have said that the most effective means of addressing bullying is through comprehensive, school-wide programs involving students, parents, teachers and counselors (Atlas and Pepler, 1998). It is also important to have special programs designed to reduce the bullying activities in schools. For instance, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, developed, refined, and systematically evaluated in Bergen, Norway, in the mid-1980s, is one of the best-known initiatives designed to reduce

Women in the workforce in the 1970's in comparison to today Research Paper

Women in the workforce in the 1970's in comparison to today - Research Paper Example These definitions and stereotypes have led to expected gender roles in society, most which have developed because of superficial relationships to gender. However, this issue is one which doesn’t realistically construct the identity of individuals. When looking at â€Å"Who’s in Charge Here’ with the Mary Tyler Moore show, it can be seen that gender identity is one which is based on the gender stereotypes and definitions created in society. The result is a construction of both gender and boundaries based on stereotypes, as opposed to realistic expectations. The issue of gender roles in society is one which was first seen with the 1970s show and continues to be a part of society today. Gender Roles from Moore The episode which shows the gender differences in the Mary Tyler Moore show is â€Å"Who’s in Charge Here.† The differences in gender are noted specifically with the news room that Mary is working in. The gender expectations are first divided by those who hold the power within the news room, including the new News Producer, Lou and the News Director, Murray. Within this episode, the gender roles are divided first by the divisions in which the males have more power and Mary remains in the same situation. However, it is quickly found that Mary is only holding to this role because of gender. The power positions which both men have cause Mary to not only complete her work, but also to do the work of Murray and Lou because they don’t understand the situation. By the end of the episode, it is recognized that the positions need to be reconsidered based on qualifications, as opposed to the gender expectations from the news room (Sandrich, 1972). Stereotypes of Gender The episode demonstrated by the Mary Tyler Moore Show is one which constructs identity based on gender and gives the divisions and roles based on this stereotype. This particular concept is one which hasn’t changed today and continues to be a component i n which men and women are divided. The gender differences come first from the idea of competition in which each individual divides according to the individuals who are considered the most powerful in society and create a competitive attitude toward what is occurring. These gender differences are further divided by the power which one holds in relation to the stereotypes and the competitive spirit which is supposed to be a part of the gender. This construction of stereotypes is one which is defined specifically by the patriarchal shaping of society. It has been found that the matriarchal society has the same concept of competition among women because of the environment which is created for survival. The stereotype of gender is one which becomes constructed specifically because of the social order which is in a given culture (Gneezy, Leonard, List, 1637). The stereotypes which have been created within culture are furthered by the expected places in which women and men should have. The concept of work, within the traditional role for women, is one which most were not considered as capable of doing. The main role of women in the patriarchal society was based on the stereotype of staying in the home and caring for the family while men worked in a given office. This created a position with both in society, specifically with the stereotypes and expected gender role that was in society. Family obligations is found to become secondary for men while women often have to adapt to the concept of work structures that require shifts in how one works. This particular stereotype is one which is acted among the majority of individuals in society and is referred to as gender – typing, which one debates about specific roles because of gender (Gustafson, 513). The episode with Moore shows this, specifically as Mary has difficulty deciding

Inclusivity in Education Aspects

Inclusivity in Education Aspects I will explain the political, economic, and social perspectives that surround inclusivity, reflect on my own professional practice and working environment, and identify the policies used, both nationally and locally. I will define my understanding of inclusivity, looking at the political ideology that surrounds inclusivity. Inclusivity is the understanding and providing for different capabilities, using diverse resources for students. Inclusivity is the understanding of students as individuals. It gives the opportunity for all students to become involved in classroom developments. All students should be given the chance to develop interests and experiences at their own pace and style of learning. No student should be discriminated against regarding colour, gender, sexual orientation, religion. For lecturers in todays society, it is extremely challenging to incorporate inclusivity with the students that have developed in the last 10 years of British culture. Students with learning difficulties such as ADHD, Aspergers, and Dyslexia were barely heard of until recent years. Each individual situation calls for totally unique handling of the student without excluding the remainder of the class. Research has identified that teachers may feel there could be barriers to inclusivity: Some of the thoughts are; Every student who attends college should be at a basic level of education before starting a course. The staff may not be prepared to meet the needs of the student The course and other students could be affected To balance some of these negative attitudes; All students have the potential to achieve Many students learn through interaction with others. Teachers make a difference (Idol, 1997) OFSTED published a report dispelling many of the negative thoughts that most of us had in the back of our mind. Ofsted say. An educationally inclusive school is one which the teaching and learning is one in which the teaching and learning, achievements attitudes and the well being of every young person matter. This shows not only in their performance, but also in the ethos and willingness to offer new opportunities to pupils who may have experienced pervious difficulties. This does not mean treating all pupils in the same way; rather, it involves taking account of pupils varied life experiences and needs (OFSTED) The start of Inclusion in Education dated back to the 1970 Education act which ended a practice to a minority of children being given the classification of unable to educate. It stopped classifying children with a learning disability unsuitable for school education. In the introduction of 1976 education act, the government looked at the local education authorities to amalgamate disabled students into so called ordinary schools in both England and Wales. This was never implemented! If it had been, disabled students were to be educated in ordinary schools unless it was impracticable due to excessive expenditure to the relevant educational body. 1978 saw the Warnock report on special education and at the time was the largest investigation into special education of disabled students being integrated into ordinary schools. He reported that the practice was good for some students but not for others. The report also stated that it was important for parents to have a view on their children and their educational process. In 1981 the education act, brought in disabled students to mainstream schools. This stated that other children would not be affected by the integration and resources available to them to assist. This act opened the doors to both disabled and young students from special schools sector to a mainstream school; the act was under much pressure from the professional bodies not to implement it, due to the overall effect on all the students. 1992 saw the audit commission and her majestys inspectorate look into a special needs provision for schools. One of the areas they found deficient was the way children with special needs were not being assessed very quickly and many statements were far too vague. In 1997, mainstream schools were becoming more inclusive with a new green paper on special education. 1998 brought in the human rights act stating no child shall be denied the right to education. The government pushed forward its plans to break down the barriers to help with learning and participation for 100% of students. The special education needs and disability act of 2001 came in and was used to repeal two previous provisos from 1996 regarding a disabled child going into mainstream school provided; it was compatible with the parents wishes and there was efficient education of other children. 2002 finally saw the Disability Discrimination act which gave access to education for both students and prospective students. The law also stated that you could not discriminate against a disabled person in admission arrangements. Local authorities also had to increase accessibility in terms of curriculum and the environment. Although this act was not solely for education it applied to everyone and was definitely a step in the right direction. All schools and colleges that have used these policies have seen an increase in levels of education rise from the early 1970s up to the present date. Before I could carry out my research relating to the organisation I am involved with, I needed to produce a PEST (Appendix 1) and SWOT (Appendix 2) analysis. Firstly looking into factors based around the industry looking into the political, economic, social and then technological issues which would affect us. Once this was complete I looked at the department in which I work, breaking the issues down into depth. Within the SWOT I looked at strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Within all of the topics funding policies, initiatives, weigh heavily, whether as a threat or Strength. With these acts in place my organisation have put together documentation in response from the governing bodies to help develop a clear understanding in the way we should help commit to inclusivity in education. The mission statement of my organisation is: City College is an inclusive, accessible college of further and higher education which provides high quality services to the range of diverse communities within the locality and the region which it serves. To this end, the college is committed to equality of regard and of opportunity for all, irrespective of age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, medical condition, religious belief, or sexual orientation. In its policies and practices the college will seek to enhance the self esteem of all those it serves and to provide a learning environment in which each individual is encouraged to fulfil her or his potential. The commitment to equality of regard and opportunity is a fundamental policy that pervades all college activities and is endorsed by the Governing Body. All members of the college community are expected to uphold the policy and to ensure that their actions embody the commitment. Some of the organisations policies for inclusion are: The commitment to equality of regard and opportunity is supported by the following: Code of Practice on Learning Difficulty and Disability (students) Code of Practice on Gender Discrimination (students) City college Race Equality Policy (staff/students) City college equality and diversity plan These codes are an integral part of the Equal Opportunities Policy. They ensure compliance with, respectively, the Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and the Race Relations Act 1976. They also embody elements of good practice advocated in the Tomlinson Report 1996, Equality, and Diversity Guidance from the LSC and the codes of practice produced by the Commission for Racial Equality. Ofsted use a set of questions when examining Inclusion in schools and colleges. These are the questions on how a college should deal with the situation. Do all pupils get a fair deal at school? This relates to: what they get out of school, particularly their achievements; the opportunity to learn effectively, without interference and disruption; the respect and individual help they have from their teachers; their access to all aspects of the curriculum; the attention the school gives to their well-being and Whether they and their parents are happy with the school. How well does the school recognise and overcome barriers to learning? This is about: the schools understanding of how well different groups do in school; the steps taken to make sure that particular groups are not disadvantaged in school and to promote their participation and success; its strategies for promoting good relationships and managing behaviour; what the school does specifically to prevent and address racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and what it does about cases of discrimination that do occur. Do the schools values embrace inclusion and does its practice promote it? The clues are: how the values of the school are reflected in its curriculum, resources, communications, procedures and conduct; how people talk about and treat one another in the school; the leadership provided by senior staff and the consistency of staff behaviour; What the school intends and tries to do for people like me. Positive inclusion To enforce this statement, the college supports positive inclusion by enrolling any students, with the required qualifications, no matter what their learning capabilities are, however this will depend on whether it is practicable for the student and as long as it does not in any way effect the learning of the others in the class. In past years, discrimination may have taken place with students that showed signs of slower learning ability, therefore this is a positive development for inclusion in todays society. Entry to Employment, (E2E) groups are students with low entry requirements; however the potential is there, by assisting them with additional tuition, to raise their level of education, specifically in maths and English, to gain the relevant qualifications required for the future. To achieve this, the college offer a 22 week E2E course, alongside learning for a level 1 diploma in bricklaying, level 1 key skills in application of number and communication. Not all colleges offer E2E alongside this qualification. Negative Inclusion From the lecturers point of view this is a negative form of inclusion because the E2E qualification, is taught alongside the level 1 diploma and key skills, which is a method that other colleges do not employ due to overloading a group that originally in struggled at school when they were on the same footing as the rest of their class. At school the class would all have been working on the same subjects possibly at the same time. Here the group have come in and been told that they need to attend an extra afternoon to complete Entry to employment paperwork and adult literacy and numeracy classes. This would then be followed up with three days of Diploma work in theory and practical. Two other groups who have the entry qualifications only need to complete the diploma theory and practical content and complete key skills in the time scheduled. There are tools which can be used to help define a disability and help governing bodies and government find strategies in which to find the needs of disabled people. These are categorised as models of disability. The two which are commonly used for education are known as the Social Model and the Medical Model. When these models are correctly used, they will give a basic understanding of disability issues, such as services used and possibly ways of access to work. These models can see disabled people as dependant people in the community this may segregate them from others and force discrimination. This can lead to equality of human rights and the opposite of segregation which is integration. This does not mean one is better than the other but merely that each model can be used in different situations Firstly what passes for a disability? People who have impairment and may experience some form of exclusion as a result are disabled people. People may wear glasses or contact lenses. These may not be discriminated against where as people who are deaf and wear hearing aids sometimes are, and are discriminated against with barriers in communication. People who are included with a disability such as: Physical impairments Deaf people, Blind people People with AIDS and HIV (chronic Illness) Learning difficulties Mental health issues / behavioural problems People who also have hidden impairments such as; Mental stress Dyslexia Epilepsy Language impairments Disfigured people Diabetes http://attitudes2disability.wordpress.com/category/medical-model-vs-social-model/ Medical Model The medical model is used by the health organisation and was devised by doctors. The medical model focuses on the source of the problem on the patient (student) and presumes that the problems will be found with the student. With a more superior method you can go a step further and look into the students personal background and how it could affect their everyday lives. It is basically there to find a cure; it can occasionally fail as it says disabled people are not necessarily sick or cannot be improved by remedial treatment (connectings for community leadership, 2007) Social Model The social model was design for disabled people after the medical model. This particular model has had an impact on the anti discrimination legislation it also recognises that some people have different abilities ranging from sensory, physical ,or psychological variations . This was later extended to include all disabled people including those with learning difficulties and mental health problems. This model can focus on any changes needed in society. Physical structures such as elevators, or ramps would also focus under this model. Medical Model (Thinking) Socal Model (Thinking) The child is damaged Child is valued labelling Strenghts and needs defined by selfand others Diagnosis Identify barriers and developsolutions Impairment becomes focus of attention Outcome -based programme designed Assessment, monitoring,programmes of theropy imposed Resources are madee available to ordinary services Segregation and alternative services Training for parents and professionals Ordinary needs put on hold Relationship nurtured Re-entry if normal enough or permanent exclusion Diversity welcomed , child is included Society remains unchanged Society evolves My second area for topic was looking at Inclusivity of women in construction Inclusivity Fact file: Almost 200,000 women work in construction. Women have been working in construction since the Middle Ages Women account for around 1% of trades people and 11.6% of those working in design and management occupations (Jon Land, 2009) A report From the CIOB (chartered institute of building) back in 2001 indicated Women in the UK construction industry currently accounted for fewer than ten per cent of the UK construction workforce, this reflected their under-representation in an industry that fails to attract and retain women. The research was important because it raises the debate about the advancement in the subject of inclusivity, assessing the barriers faced by women and discussed means of redressing the balance to improve the inclusivity of the industry. Expanding inclusivity, which includes, attracting and hopefully keeping women in construction, is a key priority for the UK. The construction industry in countries facing skill and labour shortages could perhaps combat some of their problems by increasing the number of women in the workforce. This would be a resourceful and positive use for inclusion. In summary, the important issues were: Attracting more women to the industry by not only focusing on young entrants but also returnees to work following a career break, and those who seek a career change. Retention of women in the workforce Understanding the extent of women employed in the whole industry, what are they looking for from the industry? For a number of years women have been moving into professional work such as law, accountancy, and medicine, all of which require high-level qualifications and are considered attractive because of the perceived high level of class status. Today, numbers of women and men are almost equal in these sectors. However, occupational areas such as engineering and the construction trades have not seen a comparable change in the make-up of the workforce. Womens labour market participation has increased over recent years and their employment rates have risen, whereas mens participation in the labour market has declined slightly. Girls now perform better than boys in education and in getting qualifications (Hibbett, and Meager 2003)). With Women making up 50 per cent of the population, more than 46 per cent are currently in the labour market. More than half of the entrants in higher education in colleges are women. Yet in the construction Industry, the percentage of women involved is as little as 11%. This figure includes, Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Site Organisers and Bricklayers. Construction needs variety in it for growth and development. Demand for construction had experienced growth over the past eight years, due to the expanding world population and the necessity for accommodation and a buoyant economy. However, the recent effects of the credit crunch have seriously put the industry, and many others, into a decline. The industry could not afford a skills shortage at such a time because when the economy rallies and improves, the need for skilled workforce will be of paramount importance. Construction and engineering learners are 90 per cent men, whilst hairdressing and beauty therapy are dominated by women who make up 91 per cent of learners. The exceptions are in higher education, which are dominated by male students in areas such as, computer science (80 per cent), engineering and technology (85 per cent). Female-dominated subjects include education, and beauty, although most of this research was based between 2001 -2004, surveys have been carried out as recently as 2009 by the CIOB and their conclusion was that :-(Sonia Gurjao, 2001) A number of factors have contributed to the industrys skill shortages. One of the most significant reasons is the lack of new recruits joining the industry. At the end of 2007, ConstructionSkills predicted that the industry would require 88,000 new recruits a year between 2009 and 2013; this figure has now been more than halved to 42,000 per year. There are a number of reasons for people not wanting to join the industry; many relate to the general perception of it being predominately a career for white males, with long hours and little pay. (CIOB, 2009) It is this perception that dissuades women and ethnic minorities from joining the industry. Research has shown that many women believe the industry is a competitive and threatening environment that rejects women and hinders their progression. This I feel is not the case, Bricklayers can take home as much as  £28,000 when fully qualified. A working day is usually between 8.00am and 5.30pm with most companies now finishing work on Fri day afternoons around 3.30pm. The hours are not dissimilar to a retail occupation .As for a career for white males, this will depend on the area of the country; in the midlands there is a larger ethnic representation. The trade has definitely built up a reputation as a dominantley male industry due to one of the main contributing factors being the percieved impression that men are lecherous to women . This is not necessarily the case, many women would not wish to enter the construction industry at trade level because of the level of bad language or the inuendos they assume most men would use. Assumptions (Appendix 3) can be very negative. Other industries however, such as factories, can be as biased and have contant use of bad language . With equality being a very relavant point, I have worked in a florists from time to time and found women to be more open with what they say about the opposite sex and graphic .I found this more off putting than working on any site. Although the industry has done more in recent years to attract women and ethnic minorities, this is still a great challenge; despite more females taking construction courses, retention rates are still comparatively low once women start working. (CIOB, 2009) In our organisation, over the last two years, we have taken on six females in Carpentry and Brickwork with a total of 120 students overall .This works out to a total of 5% of female students in our department. Of the 5%, one has just enrolled, one has completed the course, two are carrying on to the second year and the other two dropped out in the first year. The industry needs to become more inclusive if it hopes to reduce skill shortages, and accept the wealth of knowledge and experience that women and ethnic minorities can offer. (CIOB, 2009) In researching for ways to develop an understanding for why women are not in construction, I realised that women are mainly isolated in the construction workplace. Unlike men, who are usually in substantially larger groups or gangs, such as Carpentry or Bricklaying. Looking further afield, many women travel to the Middle East to take up jobs in Architecture and Project Management, which is a more sociable side to the industry . Although our government express an interest in bringing women into the construction industry little incentive seems to be brought in to help achieve it. Other countries however, are trying to change this, for example, in South Africa in 2006 six construction companies owned by women were given public works contracts as part of a government initative at giving women a start in the construction industry each contract was worth more than a million rand ( £75,300).. (times, 2006) Conclusion Hibbett, A. (W.E.U., DTI), Meager, .N, (IES) (2003) Key indicators of womens position in Britain: Findings from a recent comprehensive study of women in Britain commissioned by the Women and Equality Unit. National Statistics: Labour Market Trends 111(No. 10): 9

Counseling Self-Awareness

Funnily enough, doctors seem to be difficult patients. Some of them know that smoking is dangerous to their health yet they smoke nonetheless. The same is true with counselors. They seem to understand a lot of the problems of their patients and the people who ask advice from them. Yet, when it comes to their own issues and their own problems, they do not seem to be effective in following the very same advice that they would give to their clients if asked about the same problem. Counselors also have their own issues and their own personal problems. It may be some baggage from the past or some unresolved personal issues.Some of these issues may interfere with the way that counselors do their job. It would be very important therefore for counselors to be aware of themselves and their own issues if they were to become effective in dealing with themselves and their own issues so that they can prevent these issues from affecting their views on the issues being presented by their clients. P ersonal Assessment: Strengths I have my own strengths and my weaknesses. I recognize the importance of identifying these so that I can effectively deal with my clients and the advice and resolution that I can provide my clients would be effective.Objectivity in any situation is difficult to achieve most of the time. Emotions can cloud up the situation as well as the vested interests and even monetary considerations of people. Setting aside some of these considerations is a practice I have achieved over the past few years of training and practicing as a counselor. Even when I was a child, I already displayed a certain level of objectivity in my dealings with my playmates and my family. Objectivity, no matter what postmodernists and other critics may claim, is achievable up to a certain degree, although it cannot be done completely. I consider this as one of my strengths as a counselor.In the course of my counseling practice, I would encounter people with different lifestyle choices a nd different views from those that I espouse. If I allow myself to be affected by such views I would not be an effective counselor. Yet, if I am able to practice objectivity, I can analyze my clients’ situation and predicaments from their own points of view and try to present solutions that are workable and acceptable to my clients. Another strength that I have when it comes to dealing with the counseling profession is my ability to separate my own principles and my own views from that of my clients.I know that I am not able to accomplish this perfectly yet I can set aside my prejudices and my biases. In this regard, I sometimes feel like a priest behind the confessional, unable to see the counselee but can hear him or her perfectly and deal with the issues at hand. Although different schools of thought may differ in their views regarding empathizing and showing excessive emotions to counselees, I can also keep a very tight rein with my emotions if needed. Likewise, I can als o show emotions sympathizing with the client if I feel that this is needed by the client.I am careful, however, in dealing with persons from the opposite sex, especially in regards to emotions because of the awkward situations that it may engender. As a counselor, I want to avoid complications as it would be very difficult to be involved in such cases. When dealing with the opposite sex, I have created a set of rules for myself, which have helped me in my practice and in avoiding difficult situations that are difficult to get away from. Such set of rules is therefore very important for me and I consider this as my strength. Personal Assessment: My WeaknessesThere are some disappointments that I think I haven’t gotten over yet. When I was younger, I wanted to become a medical doctor and study at John Hopkins. However, due to financial constraints and some complications in my own academic performance, I did not manage to achieve this. Yet, I have completed the requirements of P sychology and became a counselor instead. When I look back at this dream, I still remember the regret and the disappointment I had when I discovered that I did not make it to John Hopkins. The disappointment has faded yet the pangs of regret and pain are still there.It seems that I also need to spend some time in order to finally get over this. In addition to this, I also have some baggage because of my relationship with my dad. I was not really close to my dad when I was growing up. He was conservative and too much of a disciplinarian for me to be close to him. As such, when I was younger, I both loved him and hated him at the same time. During the times that I felt that I hated him, I also felt guilty because I knew that I should not be feeling that way because he is my dad. Yet, I could not help it.The feelings were intense. Deep inside my heart, the anger developed because of what looked to me like neglect and his improper treatment of me and my mom. Surprisingly though, my youn ger sibling got a better kind of treatment from him. It seems he changed later in life. The anger and the pain, however, were etched deep within me and I might also need some time in order to sort through my emotions and deal with them. Thankfully, during the times that I talked with my mother, we managed to discuss our negative emotions and somehow managed to forgive my dad.It comes as no surprise though that I also have some unmet needs. In order for me to deal with these unmet needs, I usually write or if I could not write, I call my best friend and talk about my issues. My friend has been very faithful in listening to me. Although he is not a professional counselor as I am, he is nonetheless showing me some of the principles that I follow. When I am faced with my own problems I tend to scribble notes and brainstorm on paper the best course of action that I have to take.Sometimes, I do this with my clients and some of them have been taken aback when they saw me doing it. So I hav e had to restrain myself on several occasions on doing such. When I can no longer restrain myself though, I ask my client if it is okay to take down notes and scribble on my paper while he or she is talking. I have also received varied response to this. I tend to follow the same process in dealing with the problems of other people. That is why, I always have a handy notebook to help me deal with different problems. ConclusionIn my meetings with my counselees, I could not help but learn from them too. Whenever I listen to problems and discover that such problems echo my own, I tend to keep a check on myself and avoid dwelling on my own problems. If I do, I might get lost with my client’s own problem and that would create a problem with me. Thus, I tend to check myself every now and then. I have also written a note to myself in my own notebook to constantly remind me of the need to focus on my clients’ problems. Whenever I enter my office, I enter the professional sphere and I leave my personal issues behind.

Mohammed Morsi Essay

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi has become Egypt’s first freely elected president after a delayed announcement of the results of last weekend’s runoff. He beat former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq by more than almost 900,000 votes. Morsi secured 51.7% of the vote, compared to 48% for Shafiq. Mohammed Morsi heads the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm. Mubarak appointed Shafik as prime minister in response to the protests against his regime. Shafik resigned a little more than a month later amid protests decrying him as a holdover from a discredited, ousted regime. Supports the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF): â€Å"SCAF is serious about power handover and is seeking to achieve the goals of the revolution. SCAF stands at an equal distance from all political and religious powers.† Parliamentary elections: the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party seems set to emerge as the biggest winner, with some analysts estimating it will capture about 40% of seats in the new legislature. Al-Nour, a more conservative Salafist party, looks likely to secure second place. The Muslim Brotherhood (known in Arabic as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen) is Egypt’s oldest and largest Islamist organization. As the most organized opposition group following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the Brotherhood became the country’s dominant political force, winning a near majority of seats in the post-revolution parliament, and its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, winning the presidency. Some Egyptians are concerned over the group’s aim to establish a state ruled by sharia, or Islamic law, and ambiguity over its respect for human rights. Such concerns intensified after Morsi announced new sweeping powers for the presidency in late 2012 and a draft of theproposed constitution was published. The domestic political challenges also provide a difficult road for U.S.-Egypt relations, especially with regards to foreign aid. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood, could not have come into being without the 25 January revolution. Up to that time, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Egypt’s most powerful Islamist organization, was not only denied the right to form parties, but also barred – at least legally – from political life. As a result, the group had to pay a heavy price in detentions and repression to practice politics under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. The group had been trying to get a foothold in the country’s political arena for decades but was met with entrenched opposition by the Mubarak regime, which tended to accommodate the Brotherhood, but only within strict limits. Now, after the 25 January uprising, the group’s political ambitions have resurged on an unprecedented scale. Officially founded in May 2011, the FJP says that it is committed to a modern state, democracy, women’s rights, and national unity. The FJP’s initial membership of nearly nine thousand included one thousand women and one hundred Copts. New members are subject to a probationary period of six months after which, and based on their performance record, they become eligible for permanent membership. The FJP—along with the Salafist Al-Nour—is among a very few Egyptian political parties that issue probationary membership Formed alliance with name of Democratic Alliance (Freedom and Justice) Al-Nour Party Established in the wake of the 25 January uprising, Al-Nour (â€Å"The Light†) Party is the largest of Egypt’s three licensed Salafist parties (the other two being Al-Asala and Al-Fadila Parties). It was established by Al-Da‘wa Al-Salafiyya (â€Å"The Salafist Call†), Egypt’s largest Salafist group, commonly known as Al-Daawa Movement. Al-Daawa started in Alexandria where it now enjoys a considerable following. Al-Nour Party was officially licensed in June 2011. Official registration is of paramount importance in Egypt at the present time, as the current election law limits the right to contest two-thirds of the seats of the upcoming parliament to a limited number of officially registered parties, including Al-Nour. Under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, the state generally did not allow for the formation of Islamist parties, but after the revolution many Islamist groups managed  to obtain official political party license. The Islamist Bloc is an electoral coalition formed by three Islamist political parties with the aim to integrate their efforts in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Islamist Bloc is comprised of the Salafist Al-Nour and Al-Asala Parties, as well as the Building and Development Party, the latter of which was founded by the Islamic Group (Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya). Wafad party: Wafd Party is one of Egypt’s oldest liberal parties and is expected to play a significant role in the upcoming elections. With deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party officially disbanded, Wafd has emerged as an influential player in the political arena. The party commands the largest network that any political party in Egypt possesses today, covering major cities in twenty-four out of twenty-six Egyptian governorates. With a distinguished group of top Egyptian businessmen on its membership list, Al-Wafd stands out as one of the few established parties that do not face the same financial constraints that have historically challenged many of the country’s political parties. The party also enjoys a very strong presence in the media, thanks to its famous daily newspaper, its Internet portal, and a professional, well-equipped media department. Additionally, Wafd’s current leader Al-Sayed Al-Badawi is owner of Al-Hayat, one of Egypt’s top five television channels. Such are luxuries that very few Egyptian parties possess. Wafd’s history dates back to the beginning of party life under the monarchy, making it the oldest among existing Egyptian political parties. The name of the party is Arabic for â€Å"The Delegation,† and it references Saad Zaghloul’s attempt in 1919 to lead a popular delegation to the post-World War I Paris Peace Conference to demand independence for Egypt against the will of British occupation authorities. Threatened by the immense popular support that Zaghloul was able to garner for his mission, British authorities exiled the Egyptian nationalist leader along with members of the prospective delegation to Malta. This move instigated a mass uprising, which led to the 1919 Revolution. The Egyptian Bloc: The Egyptian Bloc consists of the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and Al-Tagammu Party. The Bloc is often portrayed as a â€Å"secular-leaning† alliance that seeks to counterbalance the influence of the Muslim Brotherhoodin the upcoming elections, specifically the Brotherhood led Democratic Alliance’s electoral coalition. Members of the Bloc announced in early November that their partnership is not simply a short-term electoral coalition, but encompasses a long-term political alliance aimed at turning Egypt into a civil democratic state. Magdi Abdelhad:iMiddle East analyst The Islamists’ rise to power in Egypt will send shockwaves through the courts and palaces of conservative Arab kings and presidents who have tried for decades to put the lid on political Islam. But foremost among Egypt’s neighbours who watched the brotherhood’s success with increasing alarm is Israel. Cairo was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel and the brotherhood has traditionally been vehemently opposed to that. But its opposition has softened over the years – at least publicly. It is widely believed that the Muslim Brotherhood have reassured Washington that an Islamist government in Egypt would respect the peace deal with Israel. Given also that the ruling military council will continue to have the final say on matters of war and peace, it is unlikely that the brotherhood can put that peace at risk. It is also more likely that Mr Mursi’s immediate priority will be to concentrate on Egypt’s many daunting domestic problems including rampant poverty and unemployment. Debating leaders: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/opinion/21iht-edzewail21.html?pagewanted=all From the time of Ramses II, the strong pharaoh who ruled Egypt thousands of years ago, until last year when Hosni Mubarak’s reign ended, Egyptians were never able to witness a debate over who should take over the democratic reins in the highest office of the land. Our new culture of debate, together with the election of the Parliament last December, are milestones in the history of the nation, paving a new, but rocky, path toward democracy. The open debate between the secular and religious orientations of politics was  unthinkable over the past 60 years. This new openness means the Egyptian body politic is maturing. In the end, Egyptians know that, for the first time, they can choose their future. It won’t be dictated or imposed by anyone. Army protected revo: Unlike in nearby Syria or earlier in Libya, the Egyptian Army has taken the high road and protected the revolution in its infancy. And it has been the guardian of these unprecedented transparent elections. Problems: Among the most serious problems are economic hardship, the uncertainty of the political climate and the deterioration of security — a feature that Egyptian society faces anew. These problems have been compounded over the past 15 months as each of the three main constituencies involved in the revolution — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which is in charge of the transition period; the politically liberal as well as Islamic-oriented parties; and the youth who triggered the uprising — have stumbled in one way or another. Little bloodshed: It is a hopeful sign indeed that we Egyptians are still marching forward toward democracy with relatively little bloodshed. All signs indicate that a counterrevolution is not in store for Egypt. We will not turn back to a totalitarian governing system. Perhaps the most encouraging of all is the confidence of Egyptians in their future. In Egypt, a Victory for Democracy but Fear for the Future: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-25/in-egypt-a-victory-for-democracy-but-fear-for-the-future â€Å"So many questions remain unanswered that what can best be said is that either SCAF and the Brotherhood have worked out a deal of some sort or the political jousting has only just begun,† wrote Issandr El Amrani, a popular blogger on Egyptian politics. â€Å"Both the Brothers and  SCAF have positioned themselves in a manner in which backing down from their respective positions on the question of parliament and the Supplemental Constitutional Declaration would be a loss of face.† Tensions ran high for two weeks, when the SCAF assumed legislative responsibilities after shutting down the Islamist-controlled Parliament, announced a Supplemental Constitutional Declaration that drastically reduced presidential powers, and gave themselves the ability to veto articles of drafts of Egypt’s new constitution. They also reintroduced martial law, allowing soldiers to arrest civilians. Critics called their actions a soft coup. The Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful political player in Egypt, has on the surface refused to accept any of these decisions, staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square and issuing aggressive statements to the media, all the while vowing to pressure the military government to rescind their declarations. It was a rare move, as the pragmatic group is more generally known for cutting deals with the regime rather than going toe-to-toe. Last week, with the possibility of a victory by Ahmed Shafiq, the other candidate in the run-off election who is widely viewed as aligned with the military, the Brotherhood showed a willingness to work with the revolutionary groups it had mostly ignored since the uprising against Mubarak. Morsi pledged to form a national salvation government to include secular politicians, Christians, and women. â€Å"The big question is: Can they build a broader, more inclusive front that can effectively challenge SCAF’s grip on power?† asks Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. â€Å"Now that fear [of Shafiq’s victory] has passed, is there still enough that binds [the opposition groups] together? I do think the Brotherhood has at least implicitly acknowledged the mistakes of recent months and they have tried to strike a more conciliatory tone, and the recognition that they can’t do this alone because they are fighting a very challenging adversary: SCAF and the old regime.† To add to the challenges of running a country with a crumbling economy, President Morsi won with a narrow margin, garnering 51.7 percent of the vote. He had promised to be the president of all Egyptians during his first address to the nation Sunday night . â€Å"The game was being played almost like a game of poker on both sides,† says Hani Shukrallah, managing editor of the English-language online version of the Al Ahramnewspaper. â€Å"If we have reached a compromise, that’s a bit helpful for healing the deep schisms  [within] society. We have a society that’s been split down the middle, with enormous polarization. Most of the people who voted for Morsi did so out of dread [of] Shafiq.† On a side street leading to Tahrir Square on Sunday night, Ehab El Shawi led his three children to the epicenter of the celebration in the birthplace of Egypt’s uprising. Like many, he was caught between rejoicing at the idea of a new president and the reality of the office’s lack of power. â€Å"This is the first time all Egyptian people made a choice in 7,000 years to elect a normal Egyptian citizen. This is the first time we have freedom in more than 60 years,† El Shawi said happily of the first non-military president in Egypt’s history. â€Å"But we have to change all the decisions taken during the presidential elections and force the powers to ensure Dr.Morsi will have all the power to make Egypt a modern country,† he added. â€Å"We still need to take Egypt back from the old regime. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Timeline: Anti-Mubarak protests 2010 February – Former UN nuclear chief Mohammed ElBaradei returns to Egypt and, together with opposition figures and activists, forms a coalition for political change. ElBaradei says he might run in presidential election scheduled for 2011. 2010 March – President Mubarak undergoes gall-bladder surgery in Germany, returning to Egypt three weeks later. 2010 June – Muslim Brotherhood fails to win any seats in elections to the Shura consultative upper house of parliament; alleges vote was rigged. 2010 November – Coptic Christians clash with police in Giza over construction of church. Parliamentary polls, followed by protests against alleged vote rigging. Muslim Brotherhood fails to win a single seat, though it held a fifth of the places in the last parliament. 2011 January – 21 killed in bomb at church in Alexandria where Christians had gathered to mark the New Year. Anti-government demonstrations, apparently encouraged by Tunisian street protests whic h prompted sudden departure of President Ben Ali. President Mubarak reshuffles his cabinet but fails to placate demonstrators, whose calls for his resignation grow louder. Days later he promises to step down in September. 2011 February – President Mubarak steps down and hands power  to the army council. 2011 March – Egyptians approve package of constitutional reforms aimed at paving the way for new elections. 2011 April – Former President Mubarak and his sons, Ala and Gamal, are arrested on suspicion of corruption. 2011 April-August – Protests continue in Cairo’s Tahrir Square over slow pace of political change. Islamist groups come to the fore. Army finally disperses protestors in August. 2011 August – Former President Mubarak goes on trial in Cairo, charged with ordering the killing of demonstrators earlier in the year. 2011 October – Clashes between Coptic Christians and security forces kill 24 people. Egypt and Israel swap 25 Egyptians in Israeli custody for a US-Israeli citizen accused of spying. 2011 November – Violence in Cairo’s Tahrir square as security forces clash with protesters accusing the military of trying to keep their grip on power. Prime Minister EssamSharaf resigns in response to the unrest. Start of parliamentary elections. 2011 December – National unity government headed by new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri takes office. 2012 January – Islamist parties emerge as victors of drawn-out parliamentary elections. 2012 March – Pope Shenouda III, the veteran head of the Coptic Church, dies. 2012 April – Crisis in relations with Saudi Arabia over the Saudi detention of an Egyptian lawyer briefly threatens the substantial aid that the Saudis provide Egypt. First free presidential poll 2012 May – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi tops the first round of voting in first free presidential elections, narrowly ahead of Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. Official media put turnout at a low 43%. Military leaders announce the end of the state of emergency in place since Anwar al-Sadat’s assassination in 1981, as its last renewal expires. 2012 June – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi narrowly wins presidential election.Armyvs civilian rule Court sentences ex-President Mubarak to life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. 2012 July – President Mursi submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid, after initially ordering parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it in June. 2012 August – New prime ministerHishamQandil appoints a cabinet dominated by figures from the outgoing government, technocrats and Islamists, to the exclusion of secular parties. Islamist fighters attack an  army outpost in Sinai, killing 16 soldiers, and mount a brief incursion into Israel, highlighting the tenuousness of government control over the largely-lawless area. President Mursi dismisses Defence Minister Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution. 2012 September – Egypt kills 32 militants and destroys 31 smuggling tunnels to Gaza in an offensive against militants who attacked troops in Sinai in August. 2012 November – Bishop Tawadros is chosen as the new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Christians. President Mursi issues a decree giving himself extensive new powers. The decree sparks angry demonstrations and is condemned by Egypt’s top judges, who accuse him of undermining the independence of the judiciary. The Islamist-dominated constituent assembly tasked with writing a new constitution approves all 234 articles of the draft constitution, which boosts the role of Islam in Egypt’s system of government. The assembly session is boycotted by liberal, left-wing and Christian members. The vote is held earlier than originally scheduled, after Egypt’s constitutional court threatened to dissolve the constituent assembly. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13315719 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2012/01/23-egypt-indyk Prospects for Democracy in Egypt: There’s a conventional wisdom in the United States that Arabs are incapable of sustaining a true Western-style, liberal democracy. It will take them hundreds of years to acquire a â€Å"democratic culture,† the argument goes. And in the meantime new authoritarian regimes — either Islamist or military — will replace the ones that have been overthrown in the past year and give us all a lesson in â€Å"Arab democracy.† Advocates of this view were the first to announce, with all-knowing smiles, that the Arab Spring had become an Arab Winter. When Islamist parties won free and mostly fair elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in recent months, the proponents of this view had an â€Å"I told you so† moment and they were quick to denounce anybody who said otherwise as hopelessly naive. After a prolonged hibernation, politics has broken out in Cairo, the capital of the Arab Awakenings. For the first time in six decades people are acquiring a taste for freedom and, yes, Western-style democratic politics. The issues they debate so vigorously are critical to the shape of Egypt’s democratic future: What will be the residual powers of the Egyptian military? What’s the best model for dividing powers between the Presidency and the Parliament? What revisions should be made to the Constitution to ensure democratic rule? At the same time, the newly-elected parties are busy engaging in the horse-trading necessary to coalition politics, since no one party gained a majority (the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party won around 47 percent of the vote; the Salafi Al-Nour Party won 25 percent, and a variety of liberal parties won the rest.). We were treated to an amazing sight: Salafi religious purists attempting to negotiate an alliance with liberal secularists. How did they justify such a pragmatic deal? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, one of them explained to us. They can both agree on a short-term political agenda: countering the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and getting the army out of politics. And what about the imposition of Sharia law? The leader of the Salafi Al-Nour Party noted that his party is comfortable with the conservative nature of Egyptian society so a campaign to impose sharia law is unnecessary. They can be satisfied (at least for the time being) with the existing language of Article 2 of the Constitution which states that the â€Å"principles† of Islamic shariah will guide the state. This kind of pragmatic politics is deeply disturbing to the â€Å"Costa Salafis† — a young generation of Salafis whose makeshift headquarters is in a Costa cafe. They denounce their elders not so much for being willing to compromise, which they readily accept as part of the new politics, but of failing to articulate through â€Å"fatwas† the religious basis for those compromises. It’s as if the Salafi leadership, propelled onto the political stage for the first time, has become unplugged and feels able to do whatever is necessary in the political realm to protect its community of social  conservatives. They reminded me of the religious parties in Israel! Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood is busy making its own compromises with the military and with other liberal parties that would enable its Freedom and Justice Party to build a governing and empowered coalition (at the moment, they can control the parliament but until its powers are defined in the constitution and the military hands over power, they cannot control the government). Whereas the Salafis are looking to constrain the Muslim Brotherhood, the MB is focused on how to ease fears of its intentions. After operating for eighty years in the political wilderness, the MB has learned just how fragile this moment could turn out to be. That’s why its leadership is more willing to compromise with the military than the other parties to its left and right. Consequently, the other parties fear that the MB will sell them out to the military in some sweetheart deal that compromises the revolution and their abilities to use democratic rules of the game to constrain the MB and hold the military accountable. This tension will likely manifest itself in the massive demonstrations that are expected on January 25 in Tahrir Square to commemorate the first anniversary of the Revolution. The military and the MB have called for a celebration, complete with party balloons and patriotic songs. Youth activists and some liberal parties, particularly exercised by the eighty some demonstrators who were killed by the police and the army in crackdowns in November and December last year, are calling for a demonstration against military rule. Some of the far-left revolutionary youth are calling for a campaign of violence. The way the January 25 demonstrations play out will be only one of the ways in which â€Å"square politics† and â€Å"party politics† interact in Egypt’s newly dynamic democracy. All the parties feel that they can claim legitimacy from the people’s mandates that they have received in the elections. This empowers them to stand up to the military in demanding that it leave the political arena promptly and allow Egyptian democracy to have its day. If the military focuses only on protecting its narrow interests (e.g., retaining its business interests, claiming immunity from prosecution for  past actions, demanding only responsibility for protecting the state’s borders), then a reasonable compromise can be fashioned. However, if the military insists on specifying reserve powers in the constitution and protecting its budget from civilian oversight, then the people know the way back to Tahrir Square. As one newly-elected parliamentarian put it: â€Å"We are legitimate now; the army is not.† And what about the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty? We didn’t raise the issue — they did. It came up in most conversations in the following way: â€Å"We have been elected by the people. We’re responsible to them. The people want stability, above all. They want the police back in the streets and calm and predictability restored to their daily lives. We don’t like the way Israel treats the Palestinians. We don’t like the price that Israel pays for Egyptian gas. But we’re not going to mess with the peace treaty.† That sentiment is so widely shared that one of the heads of the Muslim Brotherhood could declare to the New York Times last week that the peace treaty is a â€Å"commitment of the state,† and therefore will be respected. The sense of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of those who would govern 87 million people is palpable. They know the severe economic straits that they will have to confront. They know that neither tourists nor foreign investment will return to Egypt unless there is a clear commitment to stability. And they know the people will not forgive them if they fail to address their basic needs for order, jobs and housing. In short, newly-elected Egyptian politicians — the Muslim Brotherhood first and foremost — understand that they have to make a choice between feeding the people and fighting Israel, and for the time being they have made a conscious choice of bread over bombs. The fact that Palestine is not a priority for the Egyptian people has been manifest since the early days of the revolution. It was underscored for me during a lecture I gave at the American University in Cairo, just off Tahrir Square. A Palestinian student, draped in a Palestinian flag, stood with a makeshift banner in silent protest at the front of the hall. Despite this prominent reminder, during the ensuing ninety-minute Q&A session with  students and journalists no-one asked a question about Palestine. To be sure, there’s always the risk that populist politicians will outbid each other in their demagoguery on the Palestinian issue, especially if Israeli-Palestinian violence flares. But Israel is particularly sensitive to this possibility and the Muslim Brotherhood is apparently signaling its Hamas branch to keep things quiet too. (With 350 trucks a day passing from Israel into Gaza, and smuggling of weapons through the tunnels continuing apace, Hamas has its own reasons for maintaining the current de facto ceasefire with Israel.) What was perhaps most striking to me, however, was the attitude of the new political class to the United States. I had expected to encounter hostility — after all the United States had been Mubarak’s staunch ally through the three decades of his Pharaohnic rule. I had assumed that the Islamist politicians in particular would be antagonistic towards American influence in post-revolutionary Egypt, just as the Iranian clerics have manifested intense antagonism towards the United States since their revolution. Yet Egypt’s Islamists all seemed keen to engage with the United States government. The Muslim Brotherhood was trying to understand President Obama’s intentions in demanding that the military hand over power to civilian (i.e. Muslim Brotherhood) rule, â€Å"expeditiously.† They weren’t sure how to deal with the fact that Bill Burns, the Deputy Secretary of State, had just met with their leadership. But one thing they were very certain about — they need U.S. economic assistance and U.S. help in mobilizing international assistance. They were therefore quite anxious to know how Congress would treat them. Because of this new U.S. Government engagement with their arch-rivals, the Salafis too are seeking American recognition. Their leaders are keen to come to Washington to explain their intentions. They even appear willing to engage with Israel to establish their bona fides — one of their leaders recently gave an interview to Israeli Army Radio.