Media, Citizenship, Public Opinion and Spin Essay

Media, Citizenship, Public Opinion and Spin - Essay Example The television can be considered as public media also as there are entertainment channels in the television. When any media is capable of reaching of a large amount of gathering, it can be considered as mass media. The mass media includes the parts of cyber media like web sites, pod casts and blogs when they are capable to attract a vast amount of people. In general the commentators refer the mass media to the mass society. The mass society is formed due to lack of social connections influenced by good organization and susceptible to the influence of mass media techniques. The citizen will be a part of society and even the mass society. The person who have citizenship can be considered as citizen. The mass media influences the citizens. It is defined as a membership in a political community. The community may be a city, town, village, state, nation or a province. The person who have citizenship will have right to political participation. There are some citizenships that have no political participation. These citizens are the people, who are protected by the so called political community. These protected people by a particular community do not have political participation and thus have no direct influence on the community. When their number increases the citizens of the community may develop grievance against them and thus they can be influenced and influence the citizens in such a manner. 2 When the mass media When the mass media is considered, both type of citizens are influenced, but the citizens who have political rights only can influence the structure and course of the community. This is due to the public opinion. The public opinion can be considered as the collective opinion of the people of a community or a majority opinion of the people of a political community. Mass media is capable of creating, building and influencing the public opinion. 1930s can be termed as the era that gave birth to mass survey research in America. Polling companies, surveying companies analyzed the public on a variety of important issues. The polls are regarding the information on public opinion.3 2. Citizenship A citizen is an important and fundamental component of the political community. He is not only a component or constituent but the community is built with them. The participants, leaders and followers of the community come under the definition of a citizen. World wide there are different definitions and laws regarding citizenship in various countries. The common point in all those laws and definitions is that a citizen have a right to vote in a political society and he enjoys some rights ensured by constitution. Whatever may be the law and the definition the citizen is the person who influences the course of the political leadership and the in turn influenced by the media more particularly mass media. When it comes to United States, the citizens are of fundamentally three types. The native Americans, the people who left their home country looking for a better life and the naturalized citizens. The native Americans are the people who are citizens by birth and living in America from an unspecified time. When it comes to the people who left their country in search of a better life will be American citizens after living in that country for a stipulated period of time and by satisfying

International business - ideas international Essay

International business - ideas international - Essay Example ver, Hindi is the main language in which most of the high budget films are getting introduced in the market, and Bollywood is the front face of the Indian film industry. The Bollywood has earned an international repute for its excellence in the field of film production. The liberalized foreign investment regime has given a tremendous opportunity to the foreign film makers. But, the foreign film production company should remember that the India is a very sensitive market as far as the films are concern. There are many religions, languages and rituals are practiced in India so, before making a film these points should be clarified as the films are one of the main mass Medias in India. The Film World is a private limited company. It was found in late seventies in Melbourne, Australia. It is having a vast experience in producing high quality films in the Australia and in the international market. The film world is one of the upcoming films production companies in the Australia. The company is packed with full of talented work force. It believes in producing quality work. It has many successful achievements throughout the journey for more than two decades. In the mid of eighties that is in 1985, the FilmWorld ventured into the film production and distribution in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The early ninety was a great time for the company as it was going through a tremendous success in the Australia and Malaysia. During the last few years the company is producing approximately four films in Australia and three films in Malaysia in a yearly basis. Due to the recent advancement, the company is looking for the opportunities in the Indian film market. India has the world’s biggest film industry in terms of number of movies produced in a year; it is almost eight hundred movies yearly. It works efficiently as one of the great sectors for the foreign investment. However, for any foreign investors the background check is very important and there lies the importance of the

Planned Organizational Change Essay Example for Free

Planned Organizational Change Essay Abstract Planned organizational change can be defined in many different ways, and characterized on many different levels. The common denominator listed after reviewing two related Internet articles, indicates that change cannot take place for changes sake, but must be implemented to accomplish a specific goal or task. Another common statement states that change must also be accepted and embraced before the desired outcome is achieved. Planned Organizational Change Planned organizational change can be defined in many different ways, and characterized on many different levels. The common denominator listed after reviewing two related Internet articles, indicates that change cannot take place for changes sake, but must be implemented to accomplish a specific goal or task. Another common statement states that change must also be accepted and embraced before the desired outcome is achieved. The first Internet article reviewed was titled Planned Organizational Change as Cultural Revolution (Izumi and Taylor. n.d.). This article was particularly interesting because of the broad statement provided indicating that organizational schemes often fail because of poor reception by those involved. The article states: Organizational schemes gang aft a-gley during the implementation stage because the corporate culture does not change enough to allow the new ideas, procedures, and structures to take hold. There may not be the cultural buy-in necessary to sustain the current change effort. If planned change is to be successful, it must include, as an integral and critical part of the change process, the seeds of the new values, beliefs, and attitudes the organization is trying to grow. Unfortunately, change programs are often set up to fail because the change methods only perpetuate the old way of doing things. This statement rings particularly true for this author. Over the past 20  years in business I have witnessed many organizational changes that have failed miserably. Businesses seem to want a change, for different reasons, but do not know how to properly implement these changes. Improper implementation of a sound plan, not enough organizational commitment, and organizational politics, as indicated in the article, seem to provide some of the most common reasons for failure related to organizational change. Businesses will sometimes have a valid plan to change an organization, but neglect the final stages of implementation. This lack of follow-up invalidates the entire effort. Politics also play a significant role in most organizational change failures. Many businesses have allowed small unofficial organizations to form within organizations; this creates internal kingdoms which prove fatal to organizational change. A strong belief in the importance of a proper structure, as told by the article, often causes change factors to focus on the organization instead or processes. The effects of this type of change produce a structural change instead of a process change that allows the same processes to function under new management. The article goes as far as mentioning on model, used specifically in the case of large mergers, how many resources can be combined with little analysis of the operating environment. The thinking is, the combination of skills, thoughts and ideas will combine to form an organization that operates in a drastically different manner that initially imagined. This idea sounds valid, but a combination of organizational direction from management combined with the evolution of processes and organization would seem to provide the most effective solution. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is one of the most interesting ideas retrieved from the first Internet article. The BPR is described as a natural outgrowth of the Internal Process approach to organizational effectiveness. This model concentrates on targeting internal processes for change. When these processes are analyzed for inefficiencies there is little consideration given to strategy or organizational structure. When internal processes are changed to increase efficiency, the old systems should be replaced with new systems rather than using the old systems to create new  processes. As old systems are purged, the effects on the organization increase exponentially. The domino effect seen by replacing old processes often surprises businesses as to the effectiveness of this model. The second article reviewed was titled: Basic Context for Organizational Change, this article parallels the previous article reviewed by this author. This article written by Carter McNamara, PhD provides two interesting points: (1) Change should not be done for the sake of change, and (2) There is typically strong resistance to change; people are afraid of the unknown. This author has witnessed several organization changes that could easily been implemented simply for change sake. The Internet article helps in the realization of the necessity for organizational-wide changes to truly create situations that effect positive change. Many times businesses will implement organizational changes in only one or two departments, when the change truly effects the every department or division in a small way. Organizational-wide change, along with change acceptance will go a long way toward creating a favorable atmosphere to change. Typically there are strong resistances to organizational change. People are afraid of the unknown. Many people like the way things are, are comfortable, and dont understand the need for change. Many people view any organizational change as bad, and neglect to give proposed changes an opportunity to succeed. This type of behavior is difficult to remedy, but a well-structured, properly organized change can implement change much easier that an ill conceived plan. In conclusion, this author has realized the importance of implementing and following through with planned changes as an integral part of successful organizational change. This author has also realized that change for change sake is a dangerous proposition and organizational changes should always consider the entire company before attempting local changes. A final lesson teaches the importance of recognizing peoples inherent resistance to change and the need to address human resistance as an important step in any organizational change effort. The items reviewed in both internet articles discussed effective ways to implement and recognized planned change, and  should be invaluable in future business endeavors. Reference Izumi, H., Taylor, D., (n.d.). Planned organizational change as cultural evolution. Empire State College Resource List. Para. 2. Retrieved April 15, 2003 from the World Wide Web:http://www.esc.edu/ESConline/across_esc/forumjournal.nsf/ 3cc42a422514347a8525671d0049f395/1f36661906ca98d9852567b00

ATM Deployment Strategy Using Rank Based Genetic Algorithm

ATM Deployment Strategy Using Rank Based Genetic Algorithm ATM Deployment Strategy using Rank based genetic algorithm using convolution CHAPTER 4 SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT 4.1 System Design Data processing can be shown by data flow models. At the early stage of examination, these models are used to show data processing in existing system. This data flow model consists of various notations which denotes functional processing, passing of data between two functions and storing data at some level. Data flow models are the step by step representation of data flow in sequence. Transformation of data takes place at each step in model while entering to next step. This transformation or processing steps are functions defined for particular activity or program. In this program functions data flow diagrams (DFDs) define software design. There are number data flow diagrams modeling rules are followed such as: 1) there should be in and out of data flow is compulsory for all processes. 2) Incoming Data is modified by all processes and they should produce transformed new outgoing data 3) data store must be involved with one data flow module. 4) One of the data flow must involve one ex ternal entity. 5) data flow should have minimum one process attached to it . 4.2 Data Flow Diagram In data flow diagrams’ data flow in the system is represented by graphical view. This graphical view can be used to represents any information or processing criteria in development of system. First step towards creation of overall system is shown by DFD which can later expand. DFDs show data processing in each function. Data flow diagrams provides information about what should be input for each module and expected output after processing as well as how the data will enter and how it is passed and where it is stored. DFDs are just used to show information flow in the system. They won’t show time required to complete the process or how processing can be done whether serially or parallel. 4.2.1 Physical DFD A physical data flow diagram (physical DFD) represents actual implementation of the system at the present DFD and required DFD can be designed as per future demands. Hence physical DFD can be designed in both forms in current position and one can build on future demands by customers. Physical DFDs describes set of data items included on each paper circulated in office and they describe truth about unique set of paper pieces that are stored together in filling cabinet. As it shows all information about data in all forms thus there is possibility of inclusion of references towards data that are redundant or copied the storage of data is implemented as tables that could be normalized or de-normalized relational database. Logical DFD work opposite to physical DFD in such a way that it tries to capture data flow aspects in system that is not copied or have redundancy. Context level data flow diagrams can be drawn practisizing it. They show interaction between external entities and system that are considered as data source and data sink. That could be helpful in drawing context diagrams. How this system interacts to external agents is designed naturally in terms of data flow between system boundaries. The context diagram denotes whole system as a single process and does not provide any information to internal organization. These context level diagrams are expanded next to generate level 1 flow diagram that represents small detailed information about the system to be modeled. Level 1 system represents ts of sub systems from which system is built that each process consists of more than one data flows which goes to external entity or comes from it and considering theses processes together forms one single system. Data stored from each module should be in order to perform its job and this defines the actual data moving from different parts of system. DFDs are important part of structured systems analysis and it is SSADM method. These diagrams provide information of system evolution in simple word to the sponsor person or end user. DFDs provide information about operation of system will complete its task and implementation details about system. DFDs of old system can be compared with new proposed system to see the output and can be used for development of system with updates. A data flow diagram provides idea to end user about the change in systems output after giving data input at modules. System development can be shown through DFD model. There are different levels of data flow diagrams and designer should show partition of system into sub systems, also the data flow between each module. In SDLC for analysis and design step DFDs are used. Data flow diagrams can be drawn by using various notations (Yourdon Coad, GaneSarson), that shows data stores, data flow, processes, and external agents. Figure 4.1:Notations used in the Dataflow Diagram In the above figure 4.1 the notations used for showing data flow diagrams have shown. It indicated the control flow of project modules from starting to end. The following figures show each modules data flow diagram. As modules include: 1) Area grid generator 2) Random population initialize 3) Applying algorithm. Fig.4.2 Flow diagram of area grid generator As shown in the above fig 4.2 data flow diagram input values are passed that are latitude and longitude of each point so that one area is selected. After that this transformation of data can takes place in the form of distance calculation. Hence the output will be calculated distance is divided into smaller grids. Fig. 4.3 Flow diagram of random population initialization A data flow diagram defines the data flow from one module to another module this can be illustrated in this system as shown in above fig 4.3. In this DFD the input comes from area grid generator in the partitioned form of area grid. In this module main function is to generate random population for each smaller grid. After the population generation for each grid random ATM machine is located. Fig. 4.4 Flow diagram for final ATM locator In the fig 4.4 DFD input taken from random population initializer module and one point crossover and mutation operation can be applied on them , once the fitness evaluation based on percentage of population is done. Fig 4.4 Flow diagram of ATM deployment with RGAC 4.3 Sequence Diagram Sequence diagram is a chart of sequence of message. They are called as interaction diagrams as they provide information about inter-process operation in order. Here object interactions are time specific. One scenario is built from objects and classes. The messages are exchanged sequentially between objects for performing particular task in the scenario. They are called as event scenarios or event diagrams because they are arranged in time sequence. Sequence diagrams consist of use case realizations built from logical of system which is under implementation. In sequence diagrams various processes or objects that are running parallel are shown by vertical lines also called as lifelines and messages exchange is denoted by horizontal arrows, in orderly fashion based on time. This can be shown in terms of graphical view. If the vertical line is object it shows a role. It is compulsory to denote instance name, if it is blank it will consider it as anonymous or unnamed instance. Messages with horizontal arrows with message name on top of arrow show interaction. Synchronous calls represented by solid arrow, asynchronous messages are denoted with open arrow and reply message with dashed lines. If a sender sends message is synchronous then it must wait until message completes and invoke a subroutine. In asynchronous direct response is generated. Such kind of direct response with asynchronous message is seen in multithreaded applications and also implemented in message oriented middleware. Processes that are performed after response to message are shown with activation boxes or method call boxes. They are present on top of vertical lines and are opaque rectangle. New activation boxes are shown if it indicates next level of processing and objects invoking functions on themselves use messages. Objects destroyed are shown with X on top of vertical lines and dashed lines are ceased drawn below. Following fig 4.5 shows sequence diagram of ATM deployment in terms of client server activity. Here Clients are user. Clients has to select initial area for study, hence first step is to enter the latitude and longitude of each location from which area is build from i.e. top, bottom, left and right corners of area. This data is stored in database and it is shown at server side for further operation. After this selection process this area is represented in terms of grids for studying smaller part of the area. For this purpose this grid is partitioned into sub grids. Now for this selected area subparts random initialization population can be done and randomly ATM machines are placed. After evaluating the percentage of population of each grid, and applying algorithm for taking more accurate points, for highly dense areas ATM is placed. Fig. 4.5 Sequence diagram 4.4 Use Case Diagram UML (use case diagrams) diagrams are type of behavioral diagrams designed and defined by Use case analysis. It provides graphical representation of functionality of system in terms actors, they are use cases and use case dependencies. The goal of use case diagram is to show role of each actor and these roles are depicted. Actors and authentication server are two actors. The interaction of user with system is done with use cases by forming topology, transmission range is selected and source and sink also selected. Actors are a person, organization or it can be an external agent/system that plays a role in system interactions. Sequence of actions providing information about actor is described with use case and graphically shown with horizontal ellipse. Following figures shows use case diagrams for ATM deployment. Fig. 4.7 Use case diagram for Initialization Fig. 4.8 Use case diagram for fitness calculation Fig 4.9 Use case diagram for ATM locator M.Tech/Dept of CSE, SJBIT 1

SMS or a MESS Essay -- miscellaneous

SMS or a 'MESS' As the technology is breeding over, mobile services and its application has entered day-to-day bustle. Once a luxury has become an acute inevitability. The positive influence is that it is affordable, best means of communication and contact, messaging service, encompassing range and its shape & size. All is fine until it knocks our door heavily. But, irony is that we use the technology not because of its adequacy. Instead our dimensions are diminishing and degrading with the way we are bestowing it. As you can see the above conversation, none of the words are complete except "Hi", and some of them seem to be senseless. Its a cruel truth that SMS-Short Messaging Service is growing from Short to Shorter and Shorter to Shortest. And what are we conceding in all this is a big question. What triggered me to write all this were two scenarios. a)My tutor during a conversation said an examination answer sheet comprised of some short forms that are used in SMS. b)After this, I kept watching all the mails I receive and some of the chat sessions I had with my family and friends. If we could provoke further, the results are alarming. An examination paper with short terms instead of formal, complete answers and our normal day-to-day conversations are no more in complete forms. 'SMS' was the term introduced for the mobile services with restricted display. But, what is actually stopping us in using the complete, sensible, flawless and meaningful sentences a...

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: AIDS :: AIDS disease

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a blood born disease that was first recognized in America in the early 1980’s, around the time Rock Hudson passed away. It is believed that it was first passed thru to humans by monkey’s in Africa. â€Å"The battle between humans and disease was nowhere more bitterly fought than here in the fetid equatorial climate, where heat and humidity fuel the generation of new life forms. One historian has suggested that humans, who first evolved in Africa eons ago migrated north to Asia and Europe simple to get to climates that were less hospitable to the deadly microbes the tropics so efficiently spread.† (Shilts, 5)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"HIV may already infect one to two million Americans and spreads to forty thousand more people each year.† (Klitzman, 7) This disease wreaks havoc in places like Africa, Europe, South America, Asia, and the United States, as well as countless other places around the world. â€Å"With Modern roads and jet travel, no corner of the earth was very remote anymore; never again could diseases linger undetected for centuries among a distant people without finding some route to fan out across the planet.† (Shilts, 5)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AIDS is mainly a sexually transmitted disease, statistically attributed to the homosexual community, that is transferred by people who are unaware they are infected. It can also be transferred between people through tainted blood transfusions as well as the sharing of infected needles among users. AIDS is a devastating and debilitating disease that may not show up for a period of ten years or longer after the original contact. By this time it might be too late to do anything about it , although, there are various cocktails of drugs that could control the disease and extend life for a considerable length of time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Western society has been able to arrest the spread of AIDS with sexual education and early testing but where the disease first started, in Africa, almost one third of the population is now afflicted with the disease. In order to combat this problem in Africa, the governments of the western world have shown a concentrated effort by sending billions of dollars in aid to educate and treat people who are infected with this disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AIDS has reached many people from all different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and areas around the world. This is a scary fact considering many of those people could be unaware they are infected with HIV.

Advocacy in Human Services Essay

Under the Rainbow Inc. began when a group of four socially conscious people discovered a dire need for quality, unbiased welfare support without prejudice or borders and became an ‘incorporated association’ in February 2007. Since its inception, Under the Rainbow Inc. has been committed to excellence in the delivery of social welfare services based on their principles of charity, care and compassion. A range of services designed to promote independence and to enhance quality of life are provided by Under the Rainbow, all of which encompass care and support of local community members, in particular those who require relief from poverty and/or the dependents of any such persons. Advocacy is the primary role of case managers’ who volunteer at Under The Rainbow and in this human service setting and any other it is essential for services to be provided accurately. This essay will define advocacy in a human services context as well as discuss the type of advocacy that is beneficial to clients in this chosen human service setting. In conclusion, this essay will also describe issues that Under The Rainbow have encountered whilst implementing advocacy and change and the way the current political climate can effect their ability to engage in advocacy and deliver quality human services. Whilst the definition of advocacy in general is broad, in human service and social work practice advocacy is essentially the process of protecting human rights or to change discriminatory or abusive treatment to the vulnerable, whether working with an individual or a group (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 1998). Human service workers all act as advocates in the course of their work (Sorensen and Black, 2001) and the Australian Association of Social Workers ‘Code of Ethics’ (2002) supports this view citing, ‘The social worker will advocate for changes in policy, service delivery and social conditions which enhance the opportunities for those most vulnerable in the community’ however Forbat and Atkinson (2005) argue that advocacy is ‘not social work, but its principles and values resonate closely’. Regardless of ones  definition, the ‘key concept’ in the notion of any type of advocacy, is that it requires at least three parties: the client, the advocate and ‘the other side’ (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Literature suggests that the differing types of advocacy seem as broad as its definition and a number of different types of advocacy exist, however within Under the Rainbow’s human service framework they are predominately concerned with ‘individual’ or ‘case’ advocacy. According to Hepworth & Larsen (1993), case advocacy is a way to ‘obtain resources or services for clients that would not otherwise be provided’ and this theory underlies Under the Rainbows belief that to advocate for a client is ‘to bring about some form of personal and/or social change’ (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Under the Rainbow is a voluntary community based organisation which now boasts a membership of sixty-five individuals, many of whom work with clients as advocates for change. The goal for each volunteer who manages cases for Under the Rainbow is to promote fair, equal, and humane treatment through fundraising, charity provision (food and clothing), welfare work and social action against injustice for the disadvantaged. Under the Rainbow’s social work practice is mainly concerned with implementing changes in the local community to assist in poverty relief to predominately ‘voluntary’ clients (Barker, 1991), though some are referred. While the majority of Under the Rainbows’ charity work is concerned with ‘lending a hand’ materially and financially, they also work one-on-one with clients to determine why they ‘needed a hand’ in the first place and therefore consider both aspects of their human service delivery forms of ‘advocating’. However there is some argument as to whether charity and advocating is in fact the same thing. The assertion by L’Hirondelle (2002) that charity work ‘simply means offering one-on-one help without effort to give people the opportunity to participate in working with others to change their situation’ is challenged at Under the Rainbow who believe ’empowerment’ of a client is both valuable and essential. Individuals who seek help from Under the Rainbow often see themselves as ‘powerless’ and unable to make changes in their lives and sadly, those who are discriminated against, are often the most vulnerable. Under the Rainbow clients can be distinguished by many inequalities involving social issues in areas such as power, authority, and wealth, working and living conditions, health, lifestyle, gender, education, religion, and culture. Because the nature of Under the Rainbow is predominately a charity, they realise some of the clients who ask for welfare assistance will not want to be involved in any further actions for changing their situation and staff may only be required to ‘advocate’ once. However, they know from experience there are just as many of their clients who will want to get involved and connect with others in order to work together for social and personal ’empowerment’. To clarify empowerment further, Shulman (2005) states that the empowerment process involves ‘engaging the client, family, group, or community in developing strengths to personally and politically cope’ and a number of ’empowerment’ workshops and programmes covering issues such as budgeting, self-esteem and parenting are implemented at Under the Rainbow to facilitate this. Clients also often need help when dealing with other agencies and a Justice of the Peace service and help with letter writing, telephone and electronic correspondence is also offered. Often clients feel they have been treated unfairly by other advocacy and law agency’s and challenging another organisation’s reasoning, on a clients behalf or as an individual can be referred to as ‘persuasion advocacy’ (Reardon, 2001). Many times writing a letter or involving law enforcement agencies to negotiate a point has been successful for Under the Rainbow and their clients to further instil ’empowerment’. Therefore, Under the Rainbow staff believe offering an individual help, whether through the distribution of groceries or an activity similar to the ones discussed above, is seen as empowerment for social change. Under the Rainbow ‘advocate’ for and ’empower’ their clients, bringing people together where they are then able to take action to change their situation. Schneider  & Lester (2001) include empowerment in their definition as part of the practice of advocacy and conclude that ‘this value is based on the belief that individuals have strengths to acquire knowledge, become assertive, and develop skills, and through social work advocacy, these strengths can be set in motion’. Vanessa, who has worked with Under the Rainbow for nine months states, ‘when I interview clients, I encourage and pay attention to the capable person I see in front of me. My focus as an advocate is never on their previous history, as there is nothing I can do personally to change it. The importance for me is what the client wants from life and how it can be achieved’ (Pers comm. 2/4/08). Whilst working as an advocate Vanessa does not expect nor require a client to self-disclose, however they usually do, which Vanessa defines as a relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Respecting the privacy rights and confidentiality of Under the Rainbow’s clients is extremely important and they believe that excellent ethical conduct must be practiced in order to be a credible community advocate. Cultural, language, disability and other accommodations are also provided for. If personal conflicts of interest should occur the advocate will step aside and ask for help from another party. As Under the Rainbow is are self-regulating, ethical decision-making and the process of critical reflection, evaluation and judgment ‘through which a practitioner resolves ethical issues, problems and dilemmas’ (Trevino, 1986) is extremely important in both a personal and professional context. As well as individual and personal advocating, dissolving barriers and building a sense of community on a local level, Under The Rainbow promote ‘global consciousness’ and pride themselves on their broad worldview and high awareness of the inter-relatedness and sacredness of all living things. All Under the Rainbow Inc. members are active, both personally and professionally, in many social arenas confronting a broad range of social and political issues. Advocacy of this type, which refers to a connection with social movements’, is known as ‘activist’ or ’cause’ advocacy (Healy, 2000) and often involves ‘active criticism of or engagement with government  policies and practices’ (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Many members of Under the Rainbow have strong lobbying and media skills and some of their more prominent contributions and support include subscriptions and memberships to other advocacy groups and organisations such as New Internationalist Magazine, Bush Heritage Australia, Amnesty International and Greenpeace as well as Indigenous organisations, animal and environmental protection groups and interests in many other diverse global activist platforms. Under the Rainbow has also purchased and helped plant thousands of trees in South East Queensland through the Queensland Folk Federation at the Woodford Folk Festival site. Under the Rainbow is self-sufficient and as yet to receive any government funding. Relying on donations from its members and the general public to support their services is successful, but often unpredictable and can cause frustration when resources are limited. However, being an incorporated association means that Under the Rainbow is only accountable to themselves, their donors, members, clients and community. Not being affiliated with any government, church or social agency means they are not subject to any other types of accountability usually required under public auspice and this is preferable. Under the Rainbows projects, which are both broad and long-range, draw only on individual and group advocacy skills from its membership pool, preferring to remain exclusive and not out-source help from other agencies. In recent years, new set of ideas, such as advocacy, consumerism, empowerment, participation, and anti-discriminatory practices have all influenced social work practice and this has had an impact on social work values. This new set of ideas is referred to as ‘radical values’ (Adams et al, 2002) and are concerned with challenging oppression and discrimination, it is within this value system that Under the Rainbow continues to operate. Advocacy is essentially the process of standing up for the rights of others who are being unfairly treated (Sorenson and Black, 2001) and has the potential to bring significant and sustainable change for the better. It can  empower individuals and communities and generate many resources whilst bringing diverse organisations together to work on common issues. Effective advocacy takes specific skills, commitment, effort, resources, perseverance, wisdom and collaboration all of which are faced by the Under the Rainbow volunteers on a daily basis. The case managers at Under the Rainbow realise they need to successfully master the skills needed to be an advocate, which takes time and experience. They are also aware that learning to be persuasive and using resources available to them will increase their level of competence and better assure a positive outcome for both themselves and their clients. I am proud to be a member of Under the Rainbow and my involvement in the challenging albeit very rewarding endeavours to facilitate advocacy for change in this small but powerful association. REFERENCE LIST Adams, R., Dominelli, L., & Payne, M., (2002). Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates (2nd ed.), Palgrave, Basingstoke. Australian Association of Social Workers (2002), Code of Ethics, Retrieved April 2nd, 2008, AASW Website: http://www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/about/AASW_Code_of_EthicsCorey, G., Corey, M., & Callanan, P., (1998). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, Brooks/Cole, USA. Forbat, L., & Atkinson, D., (2005). Advocacy in Practice: The Troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services, British Journal of Social Work, 35:3, pp. 321-335Healy, K., (2000). Social Work Practices: Contemporary Perspectives on Change, Sage, London. Hepworth, D., & Larsen, J., (1993). Direct Social Work Practice: Theory andSkills (4th ed.) The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois. Trevino, L.K., (1986). Ethical Decision making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 601-617. L’Hirondelle, C., (2002), Characteristics of Remedial Work vs. Social Change, Retrieved April 4th 2008, Victorian Status of Women (SWAG) Website: http://pacificcoast.net/~swag/index.htmlReardon, K.K., (1991), Persuasion in Practice, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California. Schneider, R.L., & Lester, L., (2001). ‘Advocacy: A New Definition’, Social Work Advocacy, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove: California. School of Health and Human Services, (2007). Study Guide: Advocacy and Change, Southern Cross University, Lismore. Shulman, L., (2005). Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups and Communities, Wadsworth Publishing Company, USA. Sorenson, H., & Black, L., (2001). Advocacy and Ageing, Australasian Journal on Aging, Vol. 20.3, Supplement 2, pp. 27-34.