Gunshot Forensic Analysis

Gunshot Forensic Analysis School of Chemistry MM4EOX: Electron-optical and X-ray Techniques Pages 12: Forensic investigation: trace evidence analysis for gun-shot residue Page 3: Phase identification : characterization of nanostructured materials Page 4: Enviromental safety: characterization of fine scale particle distribution Forensic investigation: trace evidence analysis for gun-shot residue Introduction The ability to identify gunshot residue has provided solution to the problems encountered in the resolution of forensic science, legal medicines, and for shooting distance determination. Visually comparing the casework powder residue pattern on the garment or on the skin of the victim with the pattern obtained from a series of test firings at known distances, using the same gun and ammunition has been used as a method for routinely estimating gunshot range. Burned and unburned powder grains, carbonaceous particles, bullet jacket debris, shaving and dirt have been shown to be examples of materials ejected from the bore of the weapon around the entrance hole of the bullet and have been used as materials for analytical determination in order to obtain a more and accurate result.1 An issue that has become very important in criminal investigation is trace evidence. Very often it come into place after the commission of a crime, well after the charges have been filed and well after the completion of forensic examination. Trace evidence can usually take the form of fibers, paint chips, soil, building materials, glass, gunshot residue, seeds, feathers, animal hair, human hair, wood fragments and other material. It has been proved that these substances are usually transferred between individuals during physical contacts and can also be transferred from individuals to environments and from environment to individuals.2 This report shows how complementary analytical techniques ranging from batch injection analysis (BIA) method, based on differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV), scanning electron microscopy/ energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX), capillary electrophoresis, can been used to identify trace evidence for gun-shot residue. Batch Injection Analysis Batch injection analysis (BIA) method, based on differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) can been use to carry out forensic analysis of lead in gunshot residues (GSR). The design consist of a simple â€Å"J† shaped adaptor which is being used to direct the flux of the analyte injected with a micropipettor onto the hanging mercury drop electrode of any commercial electrode stand. Lifting with adhesive tape is usually selected for field use and pasting of the tape is done on polyethylene screens and stored in capped vials. Sampling is usually done with multiple strips and thus provides coarse mapping of the distribution of the Lead on the shooters hand following the dissolution/extraction step with chloroform/aqueous HCl. Certain volume of this aqueous phase is then injected for few seconds for accumulation of the Lead on the HMDE at a certain volt (vs. Ag/AgCl). A detection limit of 20 ng/mL of Pb(II), outreaching for GSR analysis can be achieved without oxygen r emoval, at a frequency of 20 injections per hour. Quantitative analysis has shown the detection of over 90% of lead residues.3 Scanning electron microscopy/ energy dispersive X-ray analysis Elemental analysis using SEM/EDX can be carried out in order to understand bullet structure and major elemental composition. Datas produced from elemental composition of bullets can be used in deciding the exact methods most appropriate for the identification of bullet hole and the determination of firing distance. Bullets and shots are usually collected from unfired cartridges and subsequently brushed with detergents and cleaned using tap water, distilled water, and acetone. Double-sided carbon tape can be used as a means of mounting jackets, lead cores and lead bullets and shot onto the sample stub on subjection to SEM/EDX analysis. The external surface, cross section of lead core, lead bullet, or lead shot can be subjected to elemental analysis using EDX. The internal surface and cross section of the jacket can also be subjected to elemental analysis in order to understand its structural composition. EDX measurement conditions can be set from the SEM unit with regards to spectral measurement, multi-point measurement, mapping, and display of analysed elements on the SEM monitor. The image data obtained from the SEM can be used as basic data for the EDX, while the setting conditions for the SEM units are automatically transferred to the EDX unit. The function which provides the strongest backup for elemental distribution is the Smart Map. The Smart Map operates by recording the X-ray spectral data for all analysis points on the test sample together with the positions of analysis, thus providing the user to recall valuable data as needed. Backscattered electron imaging mode in SEM is able to reveal layers of metals on the jackets cross-section and its subsequent compositions while on the other hand, EDX analysis is able to reveal the coating elements detected on the external surface of lead bullet.4-5 At the moment, this technique is widely accepted due to the morphological (SEM) and elemental (EDX) determination of the metal residue. Capillary electrophoresis Capillary electrophoresis can be used for the analysis of organic and inorganic components of gunshot residue in order to study sampling methodology, selectivity, reproducibility, quantification and the enhancement of the bulk analysis. A typical P/ACE MDQ Beckman capillary electrophoresis system is being used with polymide bare fused silica capillaries. A diode detector is usually used as a means of carrying out direct UV detection. A temperature of 25oC, with a positive voltage of 30KV and hydrodynamic injection of 5s and 0.5 p.s.i is usually used. The conditioning of new capillaries is usually done by rinsing with ethanol, HCL, NaOH at specific time and temperature. Between runs, the capillary is usually rinsed with deionised water, NaOH, and again with deionised water and background electrolyte at specific times. The sample is usually ejected into the capillary by temporal replacement of one of the buffer reservoir (usually at the anode) with a sample reservoir upon application o f either an electric potential or external pressure for a few seconds. Upon replacement of the buffer reservoir, an electric potential is applied between the capillary and the separation is performed. Optical UV-detection of the separated GSR component can be obtained directly through the capillary wall near the opposite end (usually near the cathode). Swabbing technique has been used as a means of obtaining samples from gunshot. This technique is however not too good in detecting important organic residue such as barium and antimony. Figure 1, shows a typical zone of sampling for gunshot residue.6-7 Figure1 Typical zones of sampling for gunshot residue. (A) web and (B) palm.7 Phase identification: characterization of nanostructured materials Complementary analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopies such as TEM SEM, and EDX spectrometry can be employed as a set of tools in characterizing a one-dimensional inorganic nanostructure in order to investigate the crystal structure, particle size distribution, morphology, composition and aggregate state. XRD The technique of XRD can be used to deduce the lattice parameter of inorganic nanostructures which can be used to provide information on the thermal properties of the material, strain state or an analysis of the defect structure. The diffraction pattern of the material can be indexed appropriately if the crystal structure of the material is known. For example, in a cubic system, the d spacing which correspond to each diffraction pattern is related to the lattice parameter a following the equation a2 = d2 / (h2 + k2 + l2) in which hkl are the miller indices. This is however used in indexing the diffraction pattern. This technique is however subject to systematic error in the position of the diffraction peaks and random error in the individual calculation of the lattice materials.8 The calculated lattice parameter value is usually compared with the experimental value and this can further be used for appropriate interpretation of result. SEM/EDX Nanostructured materials can be characterized by SEM integrated with an EDX analyzer in order to determine the particle morphology and chemical composition of the sample. The SEM column forms a focused probe of electrons on the sample while the beam current and probe current are usually adjusted as required. An image is formed by scanning the probe in a raster pattern on the sample, detecting some excited radiations from the sample, and storing the result either as a pattern of varying intensity levels on a cathode ray tube (CRT) screen or an a pattern of digital values in electronic memory for later manipulation and display. SEM images are usually formed by detecting either the secondary (low-energy) electrons emitted from the sample, or the backscattered (high-energy) electrons.9 Secondary electron images can provide information on the sample topography thus revealing information about the grain size distribution of the material. TEM/EDX TEM/EDX investigation of nanostructured materials can provide a more detailed information about the smallest particle. When the selection area diffraction (SAD) pattern is projected onto the viewing screen, we can use this pattern to perform the two most basic imaging operations in the TEM. In order to form an image in TEM, we either use the central spot, or we use some or all of the scattered electrons. The way we choose which electron forms the image is to insert an aperture into the back focal plane of the objective lens, thus blocking out most of the diffraction pattern except that which is visible through the aperture. If the direct beam is selected the resultant image is a bright-field (BF) image and if the scattered electrons are selected then the resultant image is the dark-field (DF) image.10 The dark-field imaging and digitization of particles can be used to extract size distribution of the grains through thresholding and measurement of the projected areas. Enviromental safety: characterization of fine scale particle distributions Appraisal of the fine scale particle distributions emitted from a waste disposal furnace can be carried out using SEM/EDX to investigate the particle morphology, composition and chemistry, while TEM/EDX can be carried out to give a more detailed information about the particle size distribution and SIMS to determine isotopic ratios. SEM/EDX SEM equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer can be used determine the elemental composition, morphology and chemistry of emitted particle in a waste disposal furnace. In order to determine the emitted particle containing the heavy metals, the sample is subjected to backscattered electron imaging while emitted particle containing salts can be imaged in the secondary electron mode. The detected backscattered electrons originate from the larger volume of the sample than do secondary electrons, and thus form an image of lower resolution. Focusing of a small spot on the high Z area followed by analysis of the X-ray signal with EDX allows the resulting X-ray lines to be detected and the elemental composition determined. TEM/EDX TEM images of the sample which comprises DF and BF can be coupled with EDX analysis and chemical mapping can be carried out. Both DF and BF imaging in TEM can be used to investigate the metal speciation in the fine fraction of the emitted particle furnace. DF imaging and digitization of the particle can be used to extract size distribution through thresholding and measurement of project areas. Elemental composition of the emitted particle could be detected in small aggregates upon analysis by EDX and selected area electron diffraction. SIMS Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) can be used to determine isotopic ratios of the heavy metals from within emitted particles. It operates by switching between masses and it possesses two microfocus ion sources. Sputtering is usually done with a primary O2+ and the intensity controlled by tuning the primary ion beam. The instrument can operate with a mass resolution power (MRP) of 25000.11 REFERENCES [1] Roberto G, Anna P and Salvatore, J Forensic Sci, March 2008, Vol. 53, No. 2. [2] Douglas D, Crime Scene, United States Attorneys Bulletin, 2001Vol. 49 No. 5. [3] Adriana D, Ivano G and R. Gutz, Electroanalysis 2005, 17, No. 2. [4] Hsien-Hui M, and Yen-Lin C, Forensic Science Journal 2006 5:21-34. [5] Toshikazu Y, Sukehiro I, Yoshinori N, Keith S, Readout, 2001 No. 22. [6] Richard A, Jennifer M, Harry E, Background theory and principles of capillary electrophoresis. [7] Ernesto B, Alma L. Revilla V,J. Chromatography A, 1061 (2004) 225-233

Review Of The Catwoman Movie Film Studies Essay

Review Of The Catwoman Movie Film Studies Essay Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. is the biggest American film and television production company. They produce huge amounts of movies in all genres with big budgets. The company had reached big successes since its founding year in 1903. In the past more than a hundred year its productions received many awards from different foundations. However the award received contains not only positive recognitions but also negative ones. How is it possible that a huge company like this makes mistakes that can lead to a bad reputation? What can be the mistakes they make? How do these mistakes affect the future of the staff of the company, the directors, the actors and the company itself? I would like to find the answers for these questions through a movie failure that was the biggest flop in the decade. I will examine as many aspects as possible that can lead a movie that is so eagerly awaited to a huge failure. To examine the aspects I will introduce you to the unsuccessful story of the 2004 movie Catwoman. 2. Who is the Catwoman? Catwoman, namely Selina Kyle has been described as the ultimate fantasy character who is a defender of the underdog who is not above the law when it comes to her own desires. She is not an ordinary woman due to her powerful strength. She is sleek, mysterious and thanks to the leather-clad, whip-wielding costume, ultra sexy. (Bowes, 2004) 2.1 History of catwoman There are many versions of the origin of Catwoman and back-story seen in comic books over the decades but it can primary be attached to the to the Batman Universe series as the most popular female character of the story. Batmans creator, Bob Kane was a great movie fan and his love for film provided the impetus for several Batman characters, among them, Catwoman. He wanted to attach a female character into the comic books to give them a sex appeal and someone who could appeal to female readers as a female Batman. I felt that women were feline creatures and men were more like dogs. While dogs are faithful and friendly, cats are cool, detached, and unreliable. I felt much warmer with dogs around me-cats are as hard to understand as women are. Men feel surer of themselves with a male friend than a woman. You always need to keep women at arms length. We dont want anyone taking over our souls, and women have a habit of doing that. So theres a love-resentment thing with women. I guess women will feel that Im being chauvinistic to speak this way, but I do feel that Ive had better relationships with male friends than women. With women, once the romance is over, somehow they never remain my friends. Kane 1989, pp. 107-108 That catwoman character appeared in huge numbers of cartoons over the decades. After it became very popular in this kind of media, others started to use it as their superhero. In 1966 catwoman appeared in the Batman television series then more than twenty years later in the success movie Batman Returns. In Batman Returns Selina Kyle is played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Here she is depicted as the lonely, frustrated, yet dutiful and efficient secretary of corrupt tycoon Max Shreck. After she accidentally discovers his plot to build a power plant that would steal Gothams electricity, Shreck pushes her out the window of his top story office. Selina is resurrected by a group of cats after her death and she is given powerful strength and characteristics of cats. She goes home and makes her cat costume herself and goes after her murderer. She also starts a romance with Batman and joins him in the chase of the evil head of the company. (IMDb) Batman Returns was first showed in 1992 and it received 6.9/10 stars with 80,751 votes on IMDb international movie database. This means that the movie was mainly liked by the public and critics. On its opening day on June 19 the movie earned $45.69 million which was the highest opening weekend of any movie released up to that point. The movie went to total of $266.83 million all together. It was the third highest grossing film in America of 1992 and the sixth worldwide. It received 14 nominations and 2 winner awards from 7 different institutions including the award by Golden Raspberry for Danny DeVito as worst supporting actor nominee. In 2004 another movie was released. This was the first catwoman release which stars the catwoman character as the main character which the movie is about. 3. Catwoman 2004: The Movie Catwoman is the story of shy, sensitive artist Patience Philips (Halle Berry), a woman who cant seem to stop apologizing for her own existence. She works as a graphic designer for Hedare Beauty, a mammoth cosmetics company on the verge of releasing a revolutionary anti-aging product. When Patience inadvertently happens upon a dark secret her employer is hiding, she finds herself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy. What happens next changes Patience forever. In a mystical twist of fate, she is transformed into a woman with the strength, speed, agility and ultra-keen senses of a cat. With her newfound prowess and feline intuition, Patience becomes Catwoman, a sleek and stealthy creature balancing on the thin line between good and bad. Like any wildcat, shes dangerous, elusive and untamed. (IMDb) She opens a box from her closet with an ultra tight skin showing leather costume. Her adventures are complicated by a burgeoning relationship with Tom Lone, a cop who has fallen for Patien ce but cannot shake his fascination with the mysterious Catwoman. The things around catwoman do not go easy as she is attached to many crimes happening in the city. However the only crime she is guilty of is breaking into a jewelry store and stealing jewels. Later she returns these and says sorry. Unfortunately, the city believes that this new creature is evil and causes most of the crimes happening in their city lately. Tom Lone tries to stop her but he does not know that Patience who he is already starting a relationship with is the same lady who he is trying to put behind bars. Reading the plots of Batman Returns and Catwoman a lot of similarities can be noticed. Actually the both stories of becoming catwomen are perfectly same as both ladies die by an evil company president and are resurrected as catwomen after their deaths. Selina is more focused on saving the innocent but Patience is not still clear about her purpose and she some bad things before realizing her real purpose. Still the biggest difference is the stories are the importance of the characters. Patience is the only main character who is the whole story about while Batman and Selina are sharing this spot. The movie was release on 23 July, 2004 in the United States but not even the Oscar-winner Halle Berry warmed the critics to the film. It was released some weeks after Spider-Man 2, Catwoman paled in comparison with that comic book adventure, which broke box office records. It is difficult to watch Catwoman prowling over city roofs without thinking Spiderman did the same trick with so much energy some weeks before. (Bowes, 2004) This was just one of the critics the movie received out of many after the release. There were many complaints regarding almost all aspects that can be examined in a movie. 3.1 Comparing Catwoman with the original character of the Batman movies When Box Office came up with the idea of creating a whole new movie about the so successful catwoman character of the Batman movies the biggest question was that can the new movie be accepted by the fans of Batman. How the changes in the story and the actors will affect the outcome of the movie? Who would be the best director, actors and actresses to choose to make a huge success? And there were so many questions could be raised and even Warner Bros. tried to make good choices for these questions it happened that they could not. They probably did not consider many aspects carefully enough and fell in a very embarrassing situation when the movie came out. 3.2 Pitof Jean-Christophe Pitof Comar is a French film and visual effect director primary known about the movies Vidocq and Catwoman. Pitof had never created a big budget American movie film before Catwoman. The only one movie he directed before was the French speaking Vidocq which received 6.5/10 rating on IMDb. Viewing his first movie as a success Warner Bros were brave enough to hire him for the direction for Catwoman. Probably that was the first and biggest mistake they made. (IMDb) Warner Bros probably chose him because of his good reputation of visual effects and they knew that the new movie will need to contain a whole bunch of these. Still it is very hard to image how could they chose and trust someone with $100 million who made only one movie before and that one was not even American. According critical reviews about the movie Pitof had made almost all the mistakes that can be made while creating a movie. This includes badly chosen actors and actresses, screen writings, time management, dialogues, framing, costumes. (Rotten Tomatoes, 2004-2005) 3.3 Actors One of the questions that was raised when Halle Berry was chosen as Catwoman was that can she match for the legendary performances of Eartha Kitt in 1960s Batman series or of Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman returns? According to reviews the answer was not even. There are many complaints with the choice of Halle Berry. According to critics her acting was over exaggerated while trying to be a cat. The character of Patience is no longer a human. Her inclination to hiss at dogs and devour canned fish, as well as her urge to bury her face in catnip, eventually convince her that something is going on. Unfortunately, the feline personality traits emerge in a rather clumsy fashion. You almost expect the character to seek out a litter tray or a scratch pole, just to prove the point of being a cat. (Bowes, 2004) Other complaints were about the color of the chosen actress. A critic commented on movie review site Rotten Tomatoes that It is like James Bond being black. It might sound very racist but if we think deeply into this statement it might be very abusing for fans that their favorite character is played by a so different actress than before. They expected Seline who is now Patinece to be similar as she was before but they received something else. Frances Conroy plays a reclusive cat lady, Ophelia who becomes the mentor of Patience. Her role is to explain what is pretty obvious already that the young woman had turned into a cat. Unfortunately Ophelia looks like she walked out of an episode of a funeral parlour drama and seems to be yearning for a decent line or two. (Bowes, 2004) Another big star comes up in the movie: Sharon Stone who plays the evil character but who in the first time in her career is not icy enough. According to rumors there were some problems with the actress during the shootings as she was so displeased of her role and the whole project that she did not take the shooting as serious and she actually answered her cell phone during the filming. This was not the only one thing that did not go easy during the filming but also Berry suffered an injury that landed her in the hospital when she crashed into a piece of equipment. These problems probably would have not happened if the planning and directing would have been more careful. Here is another point that can be written to the bill of Pitof. 3.4 Screening and dialogues Screenings and dialogues were so bad that some scenes needed to be reshot only thirty days before its scheduled release. Critics review that even the trailer of the movie was so bad but it could not be better anyways as there were not really as many good shots in the whole movie that could be chosen for the trailer. The final trailer was redone several times. How this could happen? We can say too many hands in the cookie jar because as many as 28 scribers worked on the scripts which led to very bad dialogues. Only the number of writers of the movie exceeded the usual number of writers of a movie: Bob Kane, Theresa Rebeck, Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato, John Rogers. The dialogues and the scenes did not match enough with storyline and even if Berry seemed like making a decent job to play her act she had a very difficult job when she were forced to utter laughable lines like Its over time. (Riemer, 2004) In the beginning sequence of the movie contains a montage of old newspaper cutting and ancient manuscripts about the history of the cat. It seems like the director suggests a depth to the film through this sequence but later it is never comes back in the storyline. Basically they put something into the film that they never talk about later. This is totally unnecessary and it seems like it is just there to make the movie longer or create some cool beginning screen. (Bowes, 2004) The story of the movie is even too predictable after the unlucky and ordinary lady turns into a superhero who needs to take a revenge on her murders and needs to save the poor people of the city from crime. We can say that all superhero movies are about the same topic but at the same time somehow they are created more interesting. We can also raise a question that can a lady be a successful superhero? According to statistics the answer could be that it is probably impossible since heroes were always been males. Most movies with female superheroes failed like Supergirl, Catwoman, Elektra, Street Fighter: Legend of Chun li, Blood. Why is it like that? The answer could be that the directors of these movies try to make the characters as sexy as possible instead of working more on the story and making it more interesting and exciting. 3.5 Costumes Reviews about the costume designs appearing in the film share the opinions. Movie critics dislike them opposed to male fans of the movie who think that the only one reason to watch the movie was only because of the sexy costumes. According to the first catwoman costume that appeared in the original comic book series our superhero first wore only a cat mask which was later change to a sweater with a hood that had cat ears on the top. Later in the batman movies the costume was changed to the tight black latex suit that showed not much skin. In Pitofs movie there is a huge impact put on the costume. It suggests that the whole movie is around showing Halle Berrys skin and making her into a domina-like sex symbol. The members of Gothamists website think that Pitof is trying too hard to make the new character better than in Batman Returns by putting a bikini on Berry. At least the costume shops will have something to profit on for Halloween. The cat suit was always one of the most liked wear for costume events and after a new cat movie it just even going to be better. 3.6 Turnout After the movie was released the reviews were expressly negative and also Warner Bros made very bad incomes. The $100 million budget movie only made a domestic gross of $40 million and another $42 from foreign countries. This means that the movie itself did not even make as much money as it cost. Unfortunately, there are no data available about the DVD sales income. Warner Bros might have made at least as much on it as the film cost. On Rotten Tomatoes it received 10% score and 3.2/10 on IMDb. On Rotten Tomatoes critics are very harsh and heavy. Even on the opening page it appears that Halle Berry is the lone bright spot, but even she cant save this laughable action thriller. 3.7 Awards The film was nominated 7 times on the Golden Raspberry or Razzies award. Razzies awarded for the worst movies of the year. Catwoman was nominated for worst Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Couple, Director, Screenplay and with this it get in to the competition of Razzies Special Worst of Our 25 Years Awards and it won first place. This means that in the past 25 years there was no other movie made that received so many bad reviews and award as Pitofs Catwoman. (Razzies) 3.8 Later How did this affect the careers of the staff? Obviously the one who came out of this the worst was Pitof who had never get another opportunity to make a movie so far. Halle Berry wasnt so unlucky as she got 12 acts in movies since 2004 (X-man 2006, Perfect Stranger 2007, Things We Lost in the Fire 2007, etc) Out of these 12 production 5 are under production still and are awaited to come out. Berry did not see Catwoman as something that can affect her career hard even if she has now a Golden Razzie award for worst actress next to her Oscar. Sharon Stone also had 18 acts since Catwoman and Frances Conroy had 21. It seems like that the only one person who came out bad from this production was the director and maybe Warner Bros who did not make any money on the production. 4. Own opinion According to the assignment to examine a huge management failure of our times I decided to choose a movie as my interest is enormous in this media. There were a lot to choose from. I was hesitating between Transformers 2: Revenge of the fallen, Land of the lost, The adventure of Pluto Nash and Catwoman. I watched all 4 movies and I did not like three of them at all. I finally chose the one I actually liked and this was Catwoman. I also made some primary research making interviews with friends about the movie. Without exaggerating the outcome of the research I have to say that there was no one who did not like the movie and actually have seen it. I realized that I made a huge task for myself because I needed to watch something over and over with a very critical eye. First I did not read any of the critical reviews so I do not fall in that mistake that they change my own opinion. For fist two watches in English and Hungarian the only one aspect I did not like was the special effects. I saw them too computer like but I needed to realize that the movie was made more than 6 years ago when this technology was not as good as today. After watching it again and again I started to get nervous as there is nothing I can be critical about. So I read the reviews. They were very critical and negative. Most of them made a big affect on me and after re-watching I could notice some of them. I was sure about the bad choice of Pitof as he had no background in American movie making. I actually liked all of the actors in the movie but noticed sometimes weird and over exaggerated facial expressions and movement especially by Sharon Stone and Berry. These were very irritating and ridiculous. I was not much abused by Patiences cat costume. It was obvious that some very sexy leather piece of tiny cloth would be chosen for a 21th century superhero movie. I do not think that critics should talk too much negative things about this or they do because they probably have not seen Batman. Its true that Batman isnt showing much of his skin but his muscular six-pack costume was also very sexy. In my opinion this aspect of criticizing in catwoman is just an addition to the list. Due to my research most of the men I asked liked the movie because the sexy Berry and her tiny costume. I was very worried about viewing the dialogues critically. Watching it in English with subtitles I could not really find any of these ridiculous lines but this can be due to my own English language skill. Probably someone whose mother language is English would have felt that something just sounds wrong. In the Hungarian version there were no mistakes but obviously the translators will not put anything wrong in their own language if they feel that it does not sound right in the original language. Overall, after viewing the movie 5 times in two languages with two kinds of subtitles and without subtitles, reading walls of texts by critics and fans and making primary researches I can say that the movie should have come out so bad as it does. The huge money loss and the small income can be due to the very negative critics that were written fight after the release date. I know this from first hand. If I cannot decide what to watch in the cinema I go to Rotten Tomatoes and check the reviews. If they are very negative then I will never go and pay money for it. The only way to might watch it is to download it later. Doing this examination of failure the biggest thing I have learned was that how much the internet and someone who is call a movie critic can affect the outcome of a new movie release.

Things that will Help you through College Essay -- English Literature

Things that will Help you through College Many people believe being a college student is easy, but it is not. I was one of those people, before I started college. After starting college, I realized that it was nothing like I thought it was going to be. I had to learn how to manage my time wisely, pay attention in class, be on time to every class, do things that are hardest first, and ask for help when needed. How can I be successful, if I do not do these things? Managing my time was the hardest for me to do. I have to keep a house clean, take care of two dogs, write letters to my husband, and find time to study. I decided that it was best to clean my house in the morning, and do my studying in the afternoon. I would take the dogs out in between cleaning and studying. Before getting ready for bed, I would write my letters to my husband. Having a schedule is better then trying to cram everything in at one time. Paying attention and taking notes will help me get better grades. If I do not do these things in class, I will not be able to pass. It is very important to know what to do so that I do it right the first time. For instance, I have an assignment due by Thursday. How will I know what to do on it if I was not paying attention? Many people are tardy. I have learned since I have started college that if I was to be tardy three time it counts as an absent. I have only been tardy once, and I try to be on time. After being absent so many days that affects my GPA, and I ...

Rudolf Diesel :: Essays Papers

Rudolf Diesel Rudolf Diesel is the man I chose for my hi-fi because I like cars and car engines. Rudolf diesel invented the diesel engine. I also chose Rudolf Diesel because when I went to look for a person for my hi-fi he was a man who I thought that no one else would chose. I thought that Rudolf diesel would also be a man who would be interesting. I like mechanical things and not people who discovered some place or some boring invention. I want to be a mechanical engineer so Rudolf Diesel fits right in with what I want to be. That is why I chose Rudolf Diesel for my hi-fi. Some of the things that I would like to learn about Rudolf Diesel is how he came up with the idea of making a diesel engine. I would also like to know where he was from and how old he was when he first thought up the design of the engine. I would like to know about his life like if he was married or not. I would also like to know what his life was like, if he was rich or if he was poor. If he had children, how many and if they were also inventors. I would also like to know how many improvements people have made on his original design and if they still use his basic design in modern times. I don’t know much about him at all but that he invented the diesel engine and his name. I also know that he was born in 1858 and died in 1913, he was German, a mechanical engineer, and that he patented the Diesel engine. That is what I think that I know and want to know about Rudolf Diesel. Some of the things that I would like to find out would be what kind of training he had, did he invent any other things, and what school did he go to in Europe. I would also like to know who he worked with on the engine or did he do it by himself. I would also like to know why he invented the diesel engine when they already had the gasoline engine. I would also like to know what the first diesel engine looked like and how big was it.

Analysis of the Gempei War Essay -- Gempei War Japanese History Essays

Analysis of the Gempei War In May 1180 Prince Mochihito, the son of Retired emperor Go-Shirakawa, issued a statement urging the Minamoto to rise against the Taira. While Mochihito would be killed in June and Minamoto Yorimasa crushed at the Battle of the Uji, a fire had been set. In September Minamoto Yoritomo, who had recieved Mochihito's call from Miyoshi Yasukiyo, set about raising an army in the Province of Izu, where he had been in exile. There was an irony in the preceeding events, as Taira Kiyomori had himself sown the seeds of the war, so the poetic tale goes. His great error, we are told, had been to spare the sons of Minamoto Yoshitomo in the wake of the Heiji disturbance, allowing these three boys - Yoritomo, Noriyori, and Yoshitsune - to mature and form the leadership of a new and dangerous threat. In fact, Yoritomo's own call to arms in the east was recieved cautiously at best. He did manage to kill the local Taira governor, but was defeated at the Battle of Ishibashiyama by Oba Kagechika. In the wake of this hard setback, however, Yoritomo did recieve the valuable additon of Kajiwara Kagetoki to his staff. Elsewhere in the Kanto, local families began to respond to Yoritomo in varying degrees and in Shimosa and elsewhere set about eliminating Kyoto-appointed officals. This often provoked inter-province and occasionally inter-clan civil war, a common and oft-overlooked element of the Gempei War. By the Spring of the following year, Yoritomo could count on at least the tacit support of most of the notable families in the Kanto, although the Chubu, though by now nominally Minamoto dominated, existed beyond his immediate control. Yoritomo's Kanto domain is occasionally referred to as the TÃ ´gaku, and rather then surge forward against the Taira, he contented himself for the time being with consolidating his hold locally. The Taira response to the violence was mixed and uncertain. Kiyomori dispatched his grandson Koremori with an army eastward, but he turned back at the Fuji River in Suruga Province. Closer to home, Taira Tomomori - who would prove the most able of the Taira - had defeated the combined forces of old Minamoto Yorimasa and the warrior monks of the Miidera at the Uji River in late June. To punish the monks for their involvement thus far in the fledgling conflict, Kiyomori ordered the Miidera burned and, a few months later, a nu... ...ted to a degree for the benefit of the audience. In a sense, the specifics of the Gempei War - the battles, armies, and tactics - were secondary to the political arena. The only truly decisive battle, from a 'war-winning' standpoint, was Kurikawa. The famous fights at Ichi no Tani, Yashima, and Dan no Ura were 'nails in the coffin', conducted while Yoritomo himself was busy consolidating his hold over Minamoto occupied Japan. One might even argue daringly that Dan no Ura, which looms so large in Japanese history, was essentially a 'mopping up' operation given legendary and almost Homeric (for lack of a better word) dimensions by the Heike Monogatari's prose. Any one of the three battles mentioned probably paled in significance to the 1184 Court-Minamoto agreement that, if nothing else, paved the way for the Kamakura Bakufu. In the final analysis, many of our questions about the Gempei War - and the years preceding it - will never be conclusively answered due to a simple lack of full historical documentation. At the same time, the 20th Century saw a long-overdue reevaluation of the events leading up to the foundation of the Kamakura Bakufu. Happily, this is an ongoing endeavor.

Curriculum Development for Inclusive Practice Essay

Introduction: In education, the word â€Å"curriculum† is not new since the organisations of schooling and further education have long been associated with the idea of a curriculum. Before starting the assignment, we would like to find out what it means by â€Å"curriculum† and what is â€Å"curriculum development for inclusive practice†. By definition, in formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses and their contents offered at an educational institution. John Kerr defined â€Å"curriculum† and later taken up by Vic Kelly in his standard work on the subject as, â€Å"All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school.† (quoted in Kelly 1983; also, Kelly 1999). There are four ways of approaching curriculum theory and practice: 1. Curriculum as a body of knowledge to be transmitted 2. Curriculum as product, i.e. an attempt to achieve certain ends in students 3. Curriculum as process 4. Curriculum as praxis We will express the later three ways in this assignment. These ways of approaching curriculum theory and practice can be also described in three disciplines: the theoretical, the productive and the practical. These are illustrated as the map below: (Source: infed.org/ Curriculum theory and practice.) Inclusive curriculum refers to the process of developing and designing a programme of study to limit the barriers that students may face in accessing the curriculum. Indeed, the curriculum created by the educational institution should aim to provide opportunities for all students to learn and to achieve. Also the curriculum should aim to promote students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, to establish an entitlement and to establish standards. In this assignment, we will discuss how different theories, principle and models of curriculum have been developed and applied in a learning environment in order to achieve these. Particular in this essay, we will focus on the dental nurse training  environment where all trainee dental nurses are expected to meet standard set by General Dental Council (GDC) at the end of training regardless their background and entry levels. Analyse and discuss the influence of theories, principles and models of curriculum design with a view to promoting inclusive learning. Curriculum as product Curriculum as product model is also known as behavioural objectives model, as it heavily depends on the settings of behavioural objectives and it is interested in the product of curriculum. It is the dominant model of describing and managing today’s education. Because in modern education system throughout different stages and qualifications, certain standards or objectives are set and education institutions aim to draw up a plan to achieve these objectives and create methods in response to the plan. Outcomes reflecting on students’ learning abilities as well as efficiency of these plans and methods will be measured. From above, there are four fundamental questions for education practitioners: 1. What are the aims and objectives of curriculum? 2. Which plan and methods meet these aims and objectives? 3. How can these plans and methods be practiced? 4. How can the extent to these plans and methods be evaluated? (Adapted by Tyler 1949) Curriculum as product is strongly supported by the behaviourist model which believes knowledge is finite and learning supposes to be overt, observable and measurable. It also believes the statements of objectives of the education institution should be a statement of changes occurred to students. (Tyler 1949:44) Regarding to stimulation of positive changes to students, few major theorists have contributed to the behaviourist theory. Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949) believed learning was a process of linking physical and mental events in various combinations. Also, learning is enhanced when bonds are made between the stimulus and the response. B F Skinner (1904-1990) innovated in â€Å"operant conditioning† and expanded on Thorndike’s work on reinforcement of learning. In Skinner’s view, positive reinforcement strengthens behaviour by applying some encouraging events. Oppositely, negative reinforcement improves behaviour by removing some  aversive events. Advantages of curriculum as product model include: it makes assessment more precise; it helps to select and structure teaching plan; it makes teachers aware of different types and levels of learning involved in particular subjects and it guides teachers and students on skills to be gained. However, some criticisms are also raised, such as: it discourages teacher’s and student’s creativity; the curriculum is too subject and exam bound and some specific behaviours are appropriate for affective domain. Curriculum as process: Comparing to curriculum as product which is focusing on the outcomes, curriculum as process focuses on teacher and student activities. Indeed, it emphasis on means rather than ends. Rather than teachers set up objects and draw up teaching plans and methods, students have part in deciding nature of learning activities and therefore it is a more individualised atmosphere and different learning experience. Lawrence Stenhouse (1975) produced one of the best-known explorations of a process model of curriculum theory and practice. He defined curriculum as: ‘an attempt to communicate the essential principles and features of an educational proposal in such a form that it is open to critical scrutiny and capable of effective translation into practice.’ Curriculum as process is supported by humanist model which concentrate upon the development of the student’s self-concept. It believes learning is a progress towards the pinnacle of self-development. In the other words, if students feel good about themselves and the concept of learning, it is a good start. There are a few theorists who contributed in the humanistic theory such as Alexander Sutherland Neill (1883-1973), Carl Rogers (1902-1987) and Abraham Maslow (1908-1970). The most significant theorist among these is Maslow, who invented hierarchy of ‘basic needs’ and term ‘Self-actualisation’. The main advantages of curriculum as process model are: it emphasis on active roles of teachers and learners as well as learning skills. It believes on certain activities as important in themselves and for ‘life’. However, people also criticize that it neglect considerations of appropriate content and it is difficult to apply approaches in some areas. Curriculum as Praxis Curriculum as praxis is a development of the process model. Comparing to  curriculum as process which is driven by general principles and emphasises on judgement and meaning making, curriculum as praxis makes an explicit commitment to emancipation. So basically, teachers need to have a proposal for actions involving essential principles and features of the education encounter. They encourage students to build up conversations and interactions between each other in the situation. These actions lead to a form of commitment to learning.  Teachers continually evaluate this process and provide a view of outcomes according to this. Therefore through this approach, the curriculum as praxis itself develops through a dynamic interaction of action and reflection. Similar to curriculum as process, the curriculum also emphasises on the development of student’s ‘self- actualisation’. Therefore it is also supported by the humanistic model. Describe, critically analyse and reflect on which factors might affect curriculum design and how the curriculum can differ according to the context in which it is provided. Also describe and discuss the impact some of these factors have on your own specialism. As a dental nurse tutor, my students have following characteristics: firstly they are adult learners; secondly they have different academic and cultural backgrounds as well as learning abilities; they have an initial interest in the subject and a clear objective and motivation of getting qualification and becoming a dental nurse.Upon above characteristics of students, my role has following aims: to create an inclusive learning environment for all my students; to follow guidance from General Dental Council (GDC) and draw up teaching plans according to the guidance; to help students reach GDC standard, pass theoretical assessments and gain GDC registration; to provide great exposure of the practical side of training to students a nd make sure student reach GDC standard on practical/hand-on skills enabling them to gain registration. From above, it is not hard to see that the overall objective of getting GDC qualifications cannot be achieved by applying single curriculum design and model during my teaching. In fact, it requires a combination of curriculum as product, as process and as praxis as well as other auxiliary curriculums such as the hidden curriculum. Curriculum as product: GDC requires a certain theoretical assessment standard for trainee dental  nurses to reach. Students need to sit GDC exams for all the theoretical units they have attended. This has become the crucial objective for dental nurse tutors. In order to achieve this, we have created a practical plan and various methods in teaching. Firstly, classroom teaching has been arranged three times a week for two hours per class. Contents of teaching and learning are strictly referenced to GDC publications and the classes are well organised and formatted. Secondly, regular mock assessments to students are applied in order to track trainee dental nurse’s progress and provide feedback to our teaching methods. In order students to carry on progressing towards GDC exams, certain forms of encouragements and punishments have been applied which reflects on Skinner’s ‘Reinforcement’ in Behaviourist model. For example, students with top exam scores are offered scholarships and students with failed grades are required to attend extra classes and re-sit for exams. Curriculum as products model has provided a clear path for dental nurse tutors and trainee nurses to process towards objectives. However, it has also led some problems. Once trainee nurses are pushed too much towards exams and grades, they may lose enthusiasm and motivation. Also, as students are with uneven learning background and ability, trainee nurses who are lack of certain skills or previous knowledge may find reaching GDC standard particularly challenging. Here comes the concept of â€Å"providing an inclusive practice†, we will discuss this later in â€Å"The hidden curriculum†. Curriculum as process: As well as ensuring trainee nurses to pass GDC exams, they are also required to achieve strong practical skills and pass practical assessments. The practical side of training are carried out in trainee dental nurse’s work placements, usually within hospital’s dental department, a local NHS dental practice or a private dental clinic. After learning fundamental theories of dental knowledge, trainee nurses will work along with senior dental nurses and dentist to observe and practice skills at real work place. Trainee dental nurses usually spend at least half of their entire training in work placements and the placement is well organised by both dental tutors and head nurse in dental practice. Trainee nurses’ learning progress is observed mainly by senior nurses and dentists at work placement, a report will be sent back to dental tutors regularly. Dental tutors also visit trainee  dental nurses’ work place on a regular basis to observe and assess on student’s progress. Curriculum as process within dental nurse training has closely followed the Humanistic model, especially Maslow’s hierarchy of ‘basic needs’. Trainee dental nurses have to gain fundamental knowledge of dentistry in order them to gain security once putting knowledge into practice. When they feel secured, they are more enthusiastic and motivated to achieve the next level and eventually gain ‘self- actualisation’. Curriculum as paxis: As mentioned in curriculum as process, dental nurse training values entire journey of student’s progress rather than the final exams. Trainee dental nurses are observed and assessed throughout their training in all different aspects. Apart from the practical skills, dental tutors are also aware of trainee nurses’ oral/ communication skills, writing skills, co-ordinating/ interacting skills with colleagues and patients as well as professional manner as a medical staff. All of these factors are observed and accessed via multiple tunnels throughout classroom and work placement, such as dental nurse tutors, senior nurses and dentists, feedbacks from fellow trainee nurses and patients. As trainee nurses get more and more skilled in handling patients and communicating with fellow colleagues, they will find work get smoother and therefore they will gain more confidence and motivation in their job. This has reflected again on the humanistic model and Maslow’s hierarchy o f ‘basic needs’. Development of inclusive practice and the hidden curriculum Regarding the characteristics of adult learning, although trainee nurses are more purposeful in learning and show more active participation, their previous knowledge background and learning ability may vary. In order to get all the students on the same line and help them to achieve GDC qualification, we have applied the hidden curriculum to achieve an inclusive teaching and learning environment for the trainee nurses. The hidden curriculum means all that is learnt during school/college activities that is not designated part of official curriculum, such as one-to-one class for individuals, extra assessments and mock exams. Although learning associated with the hidden curriculum is often considered in a negative way, we find  this is a suggestive method for adult learners. For trainee dental nurses who are lack of language skills or basic medical knowledge, we arrange occasional individual class for them with one of our dental tutors. This is usually carried out in student’s and dental tutor’s spared time. As some trainee dental nurses are desperate in improving their essential skills, they feel rather welcome to the extra tuition and are willing to put in extra efforts. For trainee nurses who did not achieve satisfactory results in their mock exams before final GDC exams, we also occasional organise extra class for them and offer them opportunity to re-sit the mock exams. By carrying out occasional hidden curriculum, trainee nurses with less skill improve so that dental tutors are able to prepare them at the same level for GDC exams. This has helped us I developing inclusive practice within our institution in a different perspective.

The Ttc: Private, Public, or Private-Public Partnership?

In July 2012, the TTC was evaluated and given a disappointing grade by TTCriders Group based on its performance at five aspects. These five aspects are about fares, transit expansion, accessibility, service frequency, and environmental impact (â€Å"TTC gets†, 2012). Unlike any other major city in North America, the TTC fares covered 70% of its operating cost, which was the highest fare box ratio within the 11 major North American cities (See Appendix 1). After derailed for 16 months, transit expansion plan finally came back on track, still with concerns about certainty of funds.Due to budget constraints, the target timeline of making all new and existing subway accessible has been pushed back several times from 2020 to 2024, then to 2025. The TTC ridership increased by 12. 5% in 2011 while service levels only rose by 8. 4%, resulting in insufficient service to connect our neighborhoods. As for the environmental impact, the TTC collected no data for this purpose (â€Å"The st ate,† 2012). All these issues are mainly accounted for prolonged budget deficits, which the TTC has been struggling for many years.HISTORY OF THE TTC The Toronto Transportation Committee (TTC) is a public transport service agency established in 1954, the third largest transit system in North America that operates streetcar, transit bus, and rapid transit service (subway and RT) in Toronto. The TTC consists of four repaid transit service lines with 69 stations, 149 bus routes and 11 streetcar lines, making 243 connections among them. In 2011, the ridership went up to 500. 2 million, which exceeded all historical records.The TTC service covers the Greater Toronto Area benefited 4. 5 million people. Particularly, the TTC provides Wheel-Trans service that is responsible for door-door accessible transit service for physically disabled people, 2. 7 million trips made through this service in 2011 (â€Å"2011 TTC,† 2011). Toronto Private Transportation Companies 1849-1921 The W illiams Omnibus Bus Line was the first private-owned transportation company in Toronto, which carried passengers in stagecoaches drawn by horses erving a limited area along Young street in 1849. With the population growth, Williams Omni Bus Line was heavily loaded. The city then gave the first transit franchise for a street railway to Alexander Easton’s Toronto Street Railway (TSR) in 1861. After the franchise expired in 1891, the city passed on the right to a new company, the Toronto Railway Company (TRC), under James Ross and William Mackenzie. The TRC made the first electric car ran on August 15, 1892 to meet the franchise requirement.The city limits had extended greatly by 1912. The city attempted many times to force TRC enlarge its serve area, and failed. In order to build several routes and better serve the greater area, the city created its own street railway operation, the Toronto Civic Railways (TCR). By 1921 when TRC’s franchise expired, the city created the Toronto Transportation Commission combined with the TCR (Filey, 1996). Toronto Transportation Commission 1921- 1954 Toronto Transportation Commission went through boom times and down times from 1921 to 1954.Streetcars and railways served progressively in the extended Toronto area. There were many remarkable milestones during this period such as: 575 new â€Å"Peter Witt† street cars entered service in 1921; first gasoline-electric hybrid bus entered service in 1926; in 1927, TTC expanded its lines of service with Island ferry, hydro-electric railway, and other intercity bus service; TTC overcome the stock crash in 1929 and made improvements; 745 PPC streetcars, which are also called â€Å"red rocket†, entered service in 1938; The great moment came on Sep. 8, 1949, that the city of Toronto was symbolized with its opening ceremony of â€Å" Canada’s First Subway†; in 1954 Toronto Transportation Commission was renamed as Toronto Transit Committee (â€Å"A c avalcade,† 1954). TORONTO TRANSIT COMMITTEE AND ITS BUDGET ISSUES Financial Situation at Beginning From the early 1950s, Toronto Transit Committee had been operated by the supervision of Metropolitan Toronto, which was under the auspices of Province of Ontario who united Toronto with other 12 suburbs. Since the opening of its first subway in 1954, TTC had planned to expand its subway due to increasing needs of the largely adjacent Metro area.This plan was facing obstacles because of the quadrupled bus service and the pressure from Metro Toronto to set up unprofitable service to the suburbs. The development of the TTC went forward because of the subsidy of Metro Toronto as well as the Province of Ontario, making the entire capital budget came from taxpayers. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the Toronto Transit Commission was seen worldwide as a ‘transportation showcase’. From 1979 until 1990, it won awards after awards for safety and design (â€Å"A BRIEF,† 2012) .From 1972, the TTC’s operating profit was greatly affected by the request from the City’s political pressure, which was to eliminate the fare zone system to prevent the suburban paying an additional fare. By the late of 1980s, the subsidies from Metro Toronto and the Province was up to a quarter of the taxpayers’ money, which was 32% of the TTC total revenue, however, the subsidy level within the North American cities was still the lowest (â€Å"A BRIEF,† 2012). Budget Cuts from the Province By the late 1990s, budgets shortage became a major issue for the TTC.Previously the TTC’s subsidies were split in halves provided by the Province and the City. On Feb. 18, 1996, the newly elected government of Mike Harris ended the province subsidy for the TTC. In 1998, provincial government put an end to the federal system of Metro Toronto and let Toronto become a unified City. The result was a significant cutback in transit services. The City of Toronto†™s subsidy of the TTC was roughly $150 million, and the TTC had a continental high farebox recovery of 82%. With passengers paying far more for far worse service, the TTC’s ridership had dropped to roughly 360 million (â€Å"A HISTORY,† 2012) (See Appendix 2).From that point on, the TTC has been always struggling among its fare box recovery, city subsidy, and possible subsidy from the province of Ontario. The TTC would sacrifice its frequent service and routes to save its operation cost. The TTC also have many employees working overtime to compromise the labor cost, saying that this way can be more cost efficient than hiring more employees. Nevertheless, the TTC was renowned because of its sunshine list that has more and more employees every year earning more than $100,000 annually. Other ProblemsAlong with struggles for its budget subsidies, the TTC also had been dragged off by other problems such as service cuts, fare hikes, and union strikes. In February 2012, The TTC reduced its frequency service on more than 35 routes in order to meet its targeted operating budget (â€Å"TTC bus,† 2012). In November 2009, the TTC board discussed a fare increases proposal that would generate $62 million (â€Å"TTC fare,† 2009). This fare hike was implemented on January 3, 2010 (Litwinenko, 2009) (See Appendix 3). The bargaining between the TTC and its union had been on and off for decades.In March 2011, at the request of Mayor Rob Ford, the Ontario government agreed to ban transit strikes in Toronto and would pass a bill to set the TTC as an essential service. In a long-run, critics argued that this would cost taxpayers more because TTC contract disputes could cause bigger raise to settle in the arbitration (â€Å"Liberals close,† 2011). OPTIONS FOR THE TTC Given the facts that the TTC consistently facing budget shortage, frequent service reduction and routes cut, and union issues, the discussion of finding solutions for the TTC has bee n ongoing for a long time.Some people think that privatizing the TTC would make the TTC operating efficiently and profitably in the hands of private company. Others argue that private sector emerging in a public transit could be a better option, giving the reason that private sector infuse profitable drives and boost skills in a public transit system. Many others defend that the TTC should stay public in order to serve better for the public rather than only chasing profit as what happened in private companies. Each of them gives insights of this transportation crisis. Privatizing the TTCThe voices of privatizing the TTC is not sound nowadays comparing to 1990s. Corcoran (1990) stated blankly â€Å"mass transit and mass losses go hand in hand†. He doubted the reason of government so heavily involved in public transportation and the seemingly inherent unprofitable operations. Despite the fact that government rejected the proposal by five developers for investment to build the s ubway extension, a public transit system proved its ability in managing this mass system, which was badly managed, underfinanced, poorly planned, and heavily subsidized. Private-Public PartnershipWith regards to privatizing the TTC, many people generally meant to privatize parts of the TTC because they still want the TTC remain the function to serve and benefit the public. Which parts should be privatized could be a complex process of evaluation. City councilor Karen Stintz thought â€Å"adding some private-sector appointees could boost skills on the TTC board without reducing its accountability to the public. Private-sector members could contribute project management, financial and customer service skills† (Kalinowski, 2010). Staying Public Staying public remains its power in many people’s thoughts towards the TTC.These people think public transit should benefit the public in its full strength. Serving the TTC riders at its very best could be conflict sometimes with g aining profit through the operation. Knowing and still offering some money-losing services to benefit its needed riders differentiate the public system from the private or so-called private-public partnership system. â€Å"Keep TTC public†, the message was given through a coalition, the public transit alliance with the members from the Toronto Environmental Alliance, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113, and community activists.They held a $500,000 ad campaign for â€Å"Keep TTC public† to claim that private or private-public partnership can be a disastrous experiment for Torontonians, and the TTC should stay public (Yuen, 2010). The video of â€Å"Keep TTC public† presented compelling reasons against transit privatization, compared with other cities’ transit system that were in either private or private-public partnership. The examples used were London, Melbourne, Auckland, and Vancouver. In 2003, a Private-Public Partnership was introduced in London transit system. This partnership ended in 2009 because the 30 years contacted of ? 7 billion was used up in 7. 5 years, and even overspent more than ? 1 billion. Private companies ran Auckland transport by using the zone system. Due to the tickets difference, riding the similar distance as from Scarborough to Etobicoke would cost $16. 5 in Auckland. When Melbourne government decided to privatize its transit system, its original objective was to reduce the city’s subsidy and increase the quality of service by using the private company. By 1999 when the privatization became effect, the subsidy to the transit system doubled the previous level when it was in public.Till 2010, comparing between Melbourne and Toronto, the subsidy to Melbourne transit system was 4 times than the subsidy for the TTC, while the ridership of Melbourne transit system was just 1/3 of the TTC. Vancouver Canada line was another example for PPP (Private-Public Partnership) which drown money from the bus fa res to subsidize this rapid transit line. This video logically presented the historical cases from different angles to demonstrate the disability of the private system to public transit, giving an inevitable statement that the private company operates for the profit rather than the benefit to the ublic (â€Å"Keep TTC,† 2010). CONCLUSION In December 2011 the 2012 Budget Committee meeting, the TTC presented its less services on many routes because of the subsidy budget cut (Munro, 2011). It is a definite scheme that the TTC will still be facing various problems due to its political context, budget structure, service range, and union issue, simply put as its complexity. Looking back its history and steps of its developments, the TTC managed to meet the service requirement and survived in public for today’s economy. However, the debate of whichever is the best solution for the TTC will still be ongoing.There is no simple answer for this question, but only hopes that peopl e wish the TTC carry on its responsibility in better serving the people in Toronto. REFERENCES: A brief history of transit in Toronto. (2012). Transit Toronto. Retrieved from: http://transit. toronto. on. ca/spare/0012. shtml A calvalcade of progress. (1954). TTC. ca. Retrieved from: http://www. ttc. ca/About_the_TTC/History/cavalcade_of_progress. jsp A history on fares on the TTC. (2012). Transit Toronto. Retrieved from: http://transit. toronto. on. ca/spare/0021. shtml Corcoran.T, (1990). Privatizing the TTC would relieve strain on subway service. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. library. yorku. ca/business/docview/385631727/1383962EB1D56AD7336/2? accountid=15182 Filey. M, (1996). The TTC story. Toronto, Ontario: Dundurn Press. Retrieved from: http://www. ttc. ca/About_the_TTC/History/The_first_75_years. jsp Kalinowski. T, (2010). TTC board could could be public, private mix: Non-elected members, bring new skills: Stintz. Toronto Star. Ret rieved from: http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. ibrary. yorku. ca/docview/812554793? accountid=15182 KeepTTCPublicToronto, (2010, September 17). Keep TTC public. Video retrieved from: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=xAmnmehAy3w Liberals close debate on bill declaring TTC essential service. (2011). The Canadian Press. Retrieved from: http://www. cp24. com/liberals-close-debate-on-bill-declaring-ttc-essential-service-1. 614350 Litwinenko. J, (2009). TTC fare hike approved. Blogto. Retrieved from: http://www. blogto. com/city/2009/11/ttc_fare_hike_approved/ TTC bus service cut back. (2012). Toronto Star.Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. library. yorku. ca/business/docview/921300938/138368A888C7C5B89BC/2? accountid=15182 Munro. S, (2011). Can the TTC survive budget 2012?. Torontoist. Retieved from: http://torontoist. com/2011/12/can-the-ttc-survive-budget-2012/ TTC fare hike is unavoidable. (2009). Toronto Start. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com. e zproxy. library. yorku. ca/business/docview/439627577/1383691789B38A6B670/8? accountid=15182 2011 TTC operating Statistics. (2011). TTC. ca. Retrieved from: http://www. TTC. caTTC gets failing grade from TTCriders group. (2012). City News Toronto. Retrieved from: http://www. citytv. com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/215620–ttc-gets-failing-grade-from-ttcriders-group The state of public transit in Toronto. (TTCriders, 2012). Retrieved from: http://www. ttcriders. ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-State-of-Public-Transit-in-Toronto-July-2012. pdf Yuen. J, (2010). Keep TTC public-coalition. Toronto Sun. Retrieved from: http://www. torontosun. com/news/torontoandgta/2010/09/20/15415186. html APPENDIX 1 REVENUE/COST RATIOS – CANADATTC Montreal Ottawa Vancouver 70% (2011) 56% (2009) 43% (2009) 48% (2009) REVENUE/COST RATIOS – U. S. TTC? Atlanta Chicago Los Angeles New York Philadelphia Boston Washington 70% 29% 40% 29% 54% 38% 42% 45% (2011) (2009) (2009) (2009) (2009) (2009) (2009) (2009) Source: City of Toronto Toronto Transit Commission 2011-2020 Capital Plan, http://www. toronto. ca/budget2011/pdf/presentation11_ttc. pdf APPENDIX 2 TORONTO STATISTICS FOR 1921-2004 APPENDIX 3