Web Content Outlier Mining Through Using Web Datasets Research Paper

Web Content Outlier Mining Through Using Web Datasets - Research Paper Example The amount of knowledge sought by an individual is always very specific. Search of specific knowledge from the huge databases and data warehouses has become an essential need. Knowledge seekers while surfing web content on internet, come across large amount of information which is irrelevant to the subject of search and it is generally referred as web content outlier. This research investigates different methods of extracting outliers from web contents. Using web contents as data sets, it is aimed to find an algorithm which extract and mine varying contents of web documents of same category. Structure of HTML is used in this paper with various available techniques to model for mining web content outliers. Web content outlier’s mining using web datasets and finding outlier in them. In this modern time, the information is overloaded with huge databases, data warehouses and websites. The growth of internet and uploading and storing of information in bulk on websites is exponentia l. Accessibility of information is also made very easy for common man through internet and web-browser technology. The structure of web is global, dynamic, and enormous which has made it necessary to have tools for automated tracking and efficient analyzing of web data. This necessity of automated tools has started the development of systems for mining web contents. Extracting data is also referred as knowledge discovery in datasets. The process of discovering patterns which are interesting and useful and the procedures for analyzing and establishing their relationships are described as data mining. Most of the algorithms used today in data mining technology find patterns that are frequent and eliminate those which are rare. These rare patterns are described as noise, nuisance or outliers. (Data mining, 2011) The process of mining data involves three key steps of computation. First step is the process of model-learning. Second step is the model evaluation and the third step is the u se of the model. To clearly understand this division, it is necessary to classify data. (Data mining, 2011) The first step in data mining is the model learning. It is the process in which unique attributes are found about a group of data. The attributes classify the group and based on it an algorithm is built which defines the class of the group and establishes its relationship. Dataset with their attributes known are used to test this algorithm, generally called classifier. Results produced by the classifier assist in determining minimum requirements for accepting data of the known class. It gives the amount of accuracy of the model and if the accuracy is acceptable, the model is used to determine the similarity of each document or data in a dataset. (Data mining, 2011) The second step in data mining is the model evaluation. Techniques used for evaluating the model depend largely on the known attributes of data and knowledge types. The objectives of data users determine the tasks f or data mining and types of analysis. These tasks include Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), Descriptive Modeling, Predictive Modeling, Discovering Patterns and Rules, and Retrieval by Content. Outliers are generally found through anomaly detection, which is to find instances of data that are unusual and unfit to the established pattern. (Data mining, 2011) Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) show small data sets interactively and visually in the form of a pie chart or coxcomb plot. Descriptive Modeling is the technique that shows overall data distribution such as density estimation, cluster analysis and segmentation, and dependency modeling. Predictive Modeling uses variables having known values to predict the value of a single unknown variable. Classification

Comparing the original Sherlock Holmes to the BBCs adaptation Essay

Comparing the original Sherlock Holmes to the BBCs adaptation - Essay Example Literary works produced in earlier years often tend to be adapted and reproduced to fit current lifestyles, especially if such works stirred great interest in their original formats. As such, books, novels, short stories among others can be reproduced in a different genre, for example in a film. The process of adapting and reproducing a literary work is often challenging and can lead to some degree of distortion of the original work. The distortion occurs when the producers, for example, try to fit a character to modern times and the probable scenarios that the character would play. Sherlock, the BBC’s adaptation of â€Å"The Complete Sherlock Holmes† continues to portray Dr. Watson and Sherlock as two males having a close non-sexual relationship just like the original piece. However, the BBC’s version is more daring towards creating doubt on the gender markers of Dr. Watson, by making it appear as if the latter is attracted to Sherlock. The frequent allusions by people that the two could be gay serve to create anxiety in the viewer concerning whether subsequent scenes will reveal that in deed Dr. Watson and Sherlock are romantically involved. However, this scenario does not happen and viewers are kept in anxiety over whether the series will end that way. Keeping the viewers in suspense over the sexual orientation of particularly Dr. Watson is good for interest retention, but the producers concentrate too much on making gay jokes that it almost becomes offensive for gay people and other GSM. A good percentage of the society has come to accep t the GSM and as such, it is not appropriate to keep on joking about such a sensitive matter.

Analysis of the Business Cycle in the Economy

Analysis of the Business Cycle in the Economy One of the most difficult subjects in economics in the business cycle or the pattern of contraction and expansion seen in the overall economy, this is a major factor that will effect the profit and sales performance of all companies to an extent. On average business productivity in EC has expanded at a rate of 3% per year in terms of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). During an expansion in the business cycle, the real GDP can increase to a rate of 5-6% or even more and during a recession it can decline for an extended period. During the years the economy is growing – output, income, and employment are increasing. In other words, the trend in business and general economic activity is upward. But there are fluctuations around what we might call the ‘growth-path’ line. We have terms for the periods when business activity have temporarily pulls us below our upward growth-path, and others for periods when business activity moves with, or in excess of, our normal growth –path. We call the former recessions or depression and the latter expansions or booms. During the boom period employment level is up as are expectations, sales and profits and imports. During this period high risk investments will be undertaken and may inefficient firms will be able to operate, as margins are high. This will subsequently lead to shortage of resources (supply-side effects), this occurs at the highest point. In figures 1.1 the coloured line represents the long-term ‘growth-path’ around which the economic activity fluctuates, moving in some consistent pattern from expansion to recession and back again. This was one of the reasons why UK did not join the Single Currency, as to ensure EMU succeeds in the long-term; all participating member states must operate at the same stage of the business cycle. The Phillips curve illustrates the short-term trade off between inflation and unemployment. The trade of between unemployment and inflation is temporary as government microeconomic policies can in the short-term exploit a trade-off between them using various policy instruments, such as public spending and taxation. Therefore, the government can influence the combination of inflation and unemployment the economy experiences. Therefore, the Phillips curve is critical in the understanding of the business cycle, via measurements such as rate of unemployment or the production of goods and services. When real GDP grows rapidly, business is good. During such periods of economic expansions, businesses will have excess demand and profits are growing. However, when real GDP is declining during a recession, demand is slow and most companies record declining sales and profits. The term business cycle is somewhat misleading, as it would suggest that the fluctuations within the economy follows a regular and predictable pattern. However, fluctuations are not at all regular and very difficult to forecast. If we examine the real GDP within the UK between 1971 and 2004 and define a recession as occurring when GDP declines for two or more successive quarters, then we would see that the UK economy has experienced four recessions since 1971. Recessions can occur quite close together as in the 70’s, but sometime the economy can go one for many years with a recession, as is the case in UK, where we have not suffered a recession since 1991. Real GDP is the most commonly used measure for monitoring changes within a countries economy, as it provides a broad measurement of economic activity. â€Å"Real GDP measures the value of all final goods and services produced within a given period of time.†[1] Changes in the economy’s output of goods and services are strongly correlated with changes in the economy’s utilisation of its labour force. Therefore, when real GDP decreases the rate of unemployment increases. This is not every uncommon as companies will decide to make a smaller quantity of goods, and make redundancies, and this in turn will raise the level of unemployment in the economy. There are two main classes of factors that offer an explanation on business cycles. The first are internal and those occur from actual changes within the economy, for example, changes in stocks. The second is external, and there are factors outside the control of the economy, for example, rise in oil prices, conflict in Iraq etc. Examples of explanations are: Fluctuations in the money supply – when money supply increase at a faster rate then GDP the rate of interest is low and spending increases. Therefore the economy goes into a boom. The increase in demand subsequently results in both firms and individuals wanting more money and therefore, interest rates rise and this reduces investment and consumptions and the economy goes into a recession. This is a Monetarists explanation for business cycles. Stop-go cycles/Political cycles – Government stimulate growth and employment in the economy and this in turn increase demand. This reflationary action results in expansion in the economy and then the government may be concern about inflationary pressures and as a result adopt a deflationary policies, like increase in taxation. This will lead the economy back into a recession. Keynesian cycles – A rise in exports will raise national income by a multiple amount. This will cause investment to increase and subsequently generate more national income. This will reach a point when the economy will experience supply-side shortages like labour and this in turn will mean income grows more slowly then investment will decrease (leading to a recession). Demand and supply-side shocks – caused by unforeseen shocks such as the global financial crisis in 1997 resulting in decreased demand for goods and services across the globe. Real Business Cycle Theory – â€Å"explains cyclical shocks in terms of spurts and starts in technological advance.†[2]Innovations in technologies like MP3, MP4 players, HD Digital Televisions, etc causes an increase in productivity and subsequently higher real wages and more willingness to participate in the labour market. Seasonal work patterns within the leisure and tourism industry is a prime example of cycles that are generated by rational economic agents, hence, the term ‘real’ factors. Other examples or real factors affecting the real business cycle would be bad weather, increase regulation for CO2 emissions, terms of trade, energy prices and oil price fluctuations. Those factors do not require money supply and Keynesian cycles (amongst others discussed earlier) to explain the existences of why business cycles exist. Demand and supply shocks as discussed above and natural disasters like the Tsunami also can have comparable effects to the technology s hocks analysed in real business cycle theory. Real Business Cycle Theory (RBC) The notion of Real Business Cycle (RBC) evolves from a macroeconomic viewpoint that attributes the fluctuations in terms of economic recessions and booms to productivity (GDP) that is as a direct result of random occurrences across the global. This school of thought argues against any form of government intervention via the use of monetary or fiscal policy instruments such as money supply, taxation, government spending etc, to bring the economy out of a recession or control an economy during a period of rapid growth in a boom. The RBC believes the level of GDP will maximise utility at any one time. RBC models are seen as an extension of a neoclassical growth model Therefore, RBC theorists believe that the business cycle is ‘real’ and not a result of market failures, but a reflection of efficient works of the economy. Various criticisms of real business cycle theory has come to light in recent times and also as a result of the research conducted by Kydland and Prescott (Econometrica 1982), who modelled economic variability as â€Å"real† business cycles with efficient markets. This study failed to recognise the impact of any government intervention via monetary policy upon the business cycle, underestimates the existence of market inefficiencies and the role of unemployment (as discussed via the Phillips Curve). Therefore, it is clear that the economic debate on whether business cycles are ‘real’ or a function of cyclical movements is still very much alive. Importance of Business Cycle within EMU The important role of business cycle can be illustrated by the example of the Euro. The introduction of economic and monetary union across 11 of the 15 member states of the European Union is an interesting economic experiment. It has been driven by a political aspiration to create a unified trading block to rival any other trading block in the world. To ensure EMU succeeds in the long-term all participating member states must operate at the same stage of the economic cycle. Reaching that stage will represent the greatest threat to EMU. A very rough way to assess the similarity of the business cycle is to look at the correlation coefficient for annual changes in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) for pairs of countries. Using data from OECD for the period 1971-2000 for Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Ireland, it appears that only France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Italy with correlation ranging between 0.83 (France/Belgium) to 0.47 (Italy/Spain) have similarity in business cycle. The Finland business cycle is closest to France (0.49), Belgium (0.43) and Spain (o.41), but distant from Germany (0.005) and Netherlands (0.19). In this sample, the country that is indeed not well integrated into a common European business cycle is Ireland. The Irish economy is closest to that of Netherlands (0.32), Finland (0.32) and most distant from Italy (-0.02). The Irish business cycle has a negative relationship to that of the Italian. This suggests that when Italy is experiencing a boom Ireland will be in a recession or steady economic growth. The Irish economy is the acid test of whether or not the Euro works. Most members are coming out of a recession whereas Ireland is in a state of boom. Aust. Fra. Ger Italy Nether Spain Ire Bel. Fin Lux. Port. Aust. 1 Fra. 0.71 1 Ger 0.65 0.61 1 Italy 0.57 0.71 0.57 1 Nether 0.63 0.63 0.71 0.54 1 Spain 0.67 0.74 0.47 0.46 0.61 1 Ire 0.12 0.21 0.14 -0.02 0.32 0.28 1 Bel 0.67 0.83 0.63 0.75 0.68 0.74 0.23 1 Fin 0.26 0.49 0.00 0.39 0.19 0.41 0.32 0.43 1 Lux 0.30 0.34 0.41 0.31 0.49 0.40 0.13 0.42 0.12 1 Port 0.74 0.82 0.63 0.69 0.51 0.67 0.17 0.73 0.37 0.34 1 Source: OECD Economic Outlook December 1998 July 1991, Own calculation of correlation matrix The subject of business cycle and real business cycle still has many questions to answer; the primary is what is the principal source of cyclical movements in GDP of an economy? Are the fluctuations in GDP caused by technology or are the movements in GDP due to government interventions via monetary and fiscal policy implementations? Those are critical questions, and the answers to which would serve as a great benefit to both firms and governments. It would provide firms at a microeconomic level a greater ability to accurately forecast business cycles and hence, consolidate there profits, and government in estimating the resulting welfare costs of a shift in macroeconomic policy like increase public spending, lower taxation, lower interest rates etc. In my opinion the dominant view of a business cycle is still one that is caused by a change in monetary policy and not just as a result of ‘real’ factors like technological innovation or political events like war or trade disputes. We believe that those real events do play some part in the fluctuations around the business cycle but business cycles are still primarily caused as a result of fluctuations in economic activity such as employment and production as measured by GDP. OECD Economic Outlook December 1998 July 1991 Mankiw, N.G. and Taylor, M.P. (2006) Economics, Thomson Learning McAleese, D., (2004) Economics for Business Third Edition, FT Prentice Hall Grant, S.J., (2000) Stanlake’s Introductory Economics 7th Edition, Longman Stanlake G.F, (2000) Macroeconomics: An Introduction, Longman Group UK Greenaway, David; Shaw, G.K., Macroeconomics Theory and Policy in the UK Second Edition (1991), Basil Blackwell. Dornbusch, Rudiger; Fischer, Stanley, Macroeconomics Fifth Edition (1990) McGraw-Hill International Editions Footnotes [1] Gregory, M. and Taylor, M.P. (2006) [2] McAleese, D. (2004)

Conquering the Texas Frontier :: essays research papers

Conquering the Texas Frontier When looking at the vast lands of Texas after the Civil War, many different people came to the lands in search for new opportunities and new wealth. Many were lured by the large area that Texas occupied for they wanted to become ranchers and cattle herders, of which there was great need for due to the large population of cows and horses. In this essay there are three different people with three different goals in the adventures on the frontier lands of Texas in its earliest days. Here we have a woman's story as she travels from Austin to Fort Davis as we see the first impressions of West Texas. Secondly, there is a very young African American who is trying his hand at being a horse rancher, which he learned from his father. Lastly we have a Mexican cowboy who tries to fight his way at being a ranch hand of a large ranching outfit. Emily K. Andrews, wife of Col. George Andrews of Fort Davis, starts her journey in mid summer around the Austin area. She travels with others as they make their way East. Through her journal entries to her father, we can see that this was no easy trip. She seems to be used to a solid roof over her head, as well as a non-dirt floor. She tells that on many occasions of the threat of Indians, and how ruthless they are, keeping her distance and even sleeping "with one eye open" while in the camps along the way. Being a woman out on the frontier she does not seemed to be scared yet comes off as being rather brave and very smart. Her descriptions of the land and the towns they encountered along the way are very precise and if it had been possible for other females to read would have set their minds at ease. In her journal she talks about how inviting the other frontier people are and how reassuring that is to help keep her mind off the ever threatening Indian attacks. On the other hand there were people trying to settle and make a living for themselves, especially after the freeing of all the slaves. Will Crittenden is one of those people. He was born in Texas after his father moved here from Alabama. Will had been taught about being a horse rancher at the age of 5 from his father and now at the age of 15 was ready to go out on his own.

Steve Jobs the Man

Steve Jobs â€Å"The best leader of 05† Steve Paul Jobs is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple Inc, which he co-founded with Steve Wozniak in 1976 when he was just 21 years old. Steve Jobs is also the co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios which has grossed more than $4 billion and has won 20 Academy Awards so far. In 2006, Pixar merged with The Walt Disney Company and Steve Jobs now serves on the Walt Disney Company’s board of directors and is the largest individual share holder of Walt Disney. Steve Jobs after a conflict with Apple’s board of directors resigned from Apple in 1985 and founded a new company called NeXT the following year. Apple Inc’s take over of NeXT in the year 1997 reunited Steve Jobs with the company he had co-founded and became its CEO shortly after his return. Steve Jobs is known for revolutionizing the world of personal computer with his innovative user interfaces. Steve Jobs is also famous for revolutionizing the music market with his iPods and iTunes online store. Steve Jobs has also entered into the cell phone market with Apple iPhone. Apple has earned the name the most innovative consumer electronics company in the world due to the contribution of Steve Jobs. Early Life Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 to Joanne Carole Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali in San Francisco. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Santa Clara County, California. During his school days in California he used to attend the after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company. Later he joined the company as summer employee along with Steve Wozniak. In 1972 he joined Reed College in Portland, Oregon after graduating from high school. However he dropped out of the college after one semester and spent his time in college by taking classes in philosophy and devoting time to study counterculture. In 1974 Steve Jobs went back to California and attended meetings of Hombrew Computer Club with Steve Wozniak. He joined a video games manufacturing company as a game designer. His primary motive was to save money to go on a trip to India in search of spiritual enlightenment. After saving enough money he went to India with his friend from Reed College, Dan Kottke and returned back with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothes. He returned to his job at Atari and was given the task of reducing the number of chips in the circuit board for the game Breakout. Having little knowledge in design of circuit boards, Steve Jobs joined hands with Wozniak and successfully reduced the number of chips by 50. Although Wozniak was content with inventing electronic gadgets, Steve Jobs had bigger dreams of marketing the electronic products. Steve Jobs was fascinated by a computer built by Wozniak for his own use. He then persuaded Wozniak to join him in building and marketing a personal computer. Steve Jobs and Wozniak built a prototype of Apple 1 computer in Jobs’ garage. The prototype impressed a local electronics equipment retailer who gave an initial order of twenty five. With this initial order and a sum of $1300 raised by selling Jobs’ Volkswagen micro-bus and Wozniak’s Hewlett-Packard scientific calculator they set up their first production line. Jobs asked Wozniak to quit his job at Hewlett-Packard and take charge as Vice President of research and development of the new company. Jobs received marketing advice and strategies from a former CEO of Intel who happened to be his friend. As a result the Apple Computer Co was born on April 1, 1976. Though Apple started with the marketing of printed circuit boards it gradually entered into the personal computer business. The Birth of Apple Computer The first personal computer marketed by the Apple Computer Co. was Apple I in 1976. Apple I was sold for $666. 66. Apple I was sold as an assembled circuit board (motherboard) with CPU, RAM and textual-video chips. It lacked basic features like keyboard, monitor and a case. They had to be attached by the owner of the unit. However, Apple I was the first single-board computer with video interface and an on-board ROM. Sales of Apple I earned the company $774,000. Two years after Apple I was introduced, Jobs and Wozniak came up with Apple II which revolutionized the world of personal computers. Apple II was a huge success and dominated the home and small business personal computer industry for the next five years. Apple III was introduced in 1980 which faced stiff competition from IBM and Microsoft. Apple III had a design fault (lacked a cooling fan) which resulted in recalling of thousands of units. Apple III+ was introduced 1983 which was also a failure in the market. In 1983, Jobs felt that the company needed expert management in order to face the competition from IBM and hence lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola offering him the post of CEO, calling it an opportunity for John Sculley to change the world. Apple then came up with Macintosh which was a commercially successful computer mainly because of the user friendly windows Graphical User Interface (GUI). Macintosh made the user world much easier by replacing the command lines with objects displayed on the screen which the user had to click using a mouse to perform some function. Software companies seeing the growing popularity of Macintosh’s interface with the public had to change their interface to accommodate picture icons or buttons to their interface. The reason behind Macintosh’s success was its user friendly interface, flexibility and its ability to cater to specific needs and it slowly gained the attention of big business corporations which was dominated by IBM computers. Unsuccessful NeXT Venture After the sales slump in 1984 Steve Jobs’ working relationship with Sculley worsened. In May 1985 Sculley and the other board of directors relieved Jobs of his managerial duties. Jobs resigned from Apple and founded a new computer company called NeXT Computer in 1986. Steve Jobs tried to recreate the magic he had done with Apple with his new company NeXT by creating a new generation of personal computers. Jobs attempts failed as the computers were highly futuristic and costly. Having failed in the hardware division Jobs tried to revolutionize the software division. Jobs felt that OOP (Object Oriented Programming) held the key to success in software development. Jobs said that OOP concept could make the programmer’s job much easier as the OOP approach introduced modularity which meant that programmers could complete 80% of their program using pre-written chunks of code thus saving time and money. NeXTMail and NeXTStep operating system were the other notable ventures of the new company. Return to Apple After Apple’s take over of NeXT for $429 million in 1996 Steve Jobs was reunited with the company he had cofounded. He replaced the interim CEO and immediately cancelled a number of ongoing projects in Apple namely Newton, Cyberdog and OpenDoc. The research in NeXT found its way in Apple’s products. The most important of this is the evolution of NeXTStep operating system into Mac OS X. There has been no looking back for Steve Jobs after returning to Apple. In 1997 Steve Jobs announced that Apple had entered into a partnership with Microsoft for introducing new versions of Microsoft Office tools for Macintosh. In the same year Apple opened an online retail store called Apple Store based on the WebObjects application server of NeXT. The next few years saw Apple releasing new computers like iMac, iMovie and Final Cut Pro (the latter two being special video editing systems for multimedia professionals) and new versions of Mac OS. Recently Jobs released the world’s thinnest notebook MacBook air. Achievements of Steve Jobs From being a college dropout, Steve Jobs has come a long way in co-founding Apple Inc and revolutionizing the personal computer market. Through his Apple computer Steve Jobs changed people’s idea of a computer from gigantic mass of vacuum tubes restricted to big business houses and Government organizations to a user friendly small box used by the common man. Apple II was a huge success and earned the company $139,000,000 within a span of three years and the company recorded a growth of 700%. Apple dominated the industry from 1978 to 1983 and recoded a growth rate of over 150% per year. Though the NeXT venture was a commercial failure it catalyzed other important events mainly the World Wide Web. The Mac OS X is also an evolution of NeXT technology. Steve Jobs has featured on the cover of TIME magazine for five times and has appeared in the TIME’s list of 100 Most Influential People in The World for four times. Steve Jobs has also been featured in the Fortune Magazine’s list of most powerful businessmen in the world. Under the leadership of Steve Jobs Apple Inc has earned the name â€Å"the most innovative consumer electronics company in the world†. Apple Inc has entered other computer related industries like music through iTunes store and iPod and cell phone industry through iPhone. Steve Jobs’ contribution to the computer industry is highly commendable. REFERENCES Burrows, P. , Grover, R. , & Green, H. (2006). Steve Job's Magic Kingdom. New York. Business Week, February 6, 2006, Issue 3970, page 62. Burrows, P. , Grover, R. , & Green, H. (2006). Steve Job's Magic Kingdom. New York. Business Week, February 6, 2006, Issue 3970, page 62. http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? index=15&did=979953551&SrchMod e=1&sid=15&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1235502776&c lientId=29440 â€Å"Steve Jobs. † Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Feb. 2008. â€Å"Apple Inc. † Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Feb. 2008. Angelelli, Lee. â€Å"Steve Paul Jobs†. 12 Jul. 1994. 27 Feb. 2008. â€Å"The TIME 100- Are They Worthy? †. TIME. com. 27 Feb. 2008. â€Å"Steve Jobs CEO Apple. † Apple. com. Nov. 2007. 27 Feb. 2008.

Damaged Facilities in Public Schools Essay

Introduction A. Background of the Study Students in public schools acquire sickness from he dirty environment. Frombroken chairs to unventilated rooms, this can be to them uncomfortable and thus, each student’s mood and concentration. see more:lack of school facilities affect students performance The no.1 facility that causes problem for the students is the comfort room. The comfort room in public schools nowadays is an eyesore. The odor that the comfort room releases causes illness in students and visual pollution every time the students visualizes the comfort room.The no.2 facility that has serious problem are the classrooms where the students have their classes at. You can see vandalized area in every angle of the classroom and Insufficient ventilation which made the atmosphere in the classroom very uncomfortable that the students can’t focus on the class discussion any more. The students deals with that kind of atmosphere instead of listening and focusing on the class discussions but the students focus on complaining how the classroom is so hot , and the odor inside the classroom that are caused by unmaintained cleanliness inside the classroom. The hot aura from insufficient ventilation in the classroom is another reason for a bad odor that are spreading inside the classroom and another reason that there’s a higher possibility that the students may acquire illness from the unbalanced environment. The common students that suffers from this kind of environment are the students have colds, asthma and students that have a kind of ill that are not meant to adapt in this kind of environment. The decorations in the classroom also affects each student’s moods, if the classroom is maintained properly it lightens the moods of the students in the classroom and if the classroom is not maintained properly, you’ll notice how each students in the classroom if they would behave properly or not. The students are commonly irritated and annoyed from what they are seeing and from what they are feeling inside the classroom because of the unwanted view. For this reason, the researchers decided to conduct a study about the damaged facilities in public school because they want to help the students to focus in their study, have much time to listen in their lesson and to avoid such that illness and even destruction to their surroundings. To make each students healthy once again and for the next generation that will use the facilities and to keep it in a better way. B. Statement of the Problem In this study damaged facilities of Cayetano Arellano High School was conducted. It is for the purpose of getting information about the effects of damaged facilities. Specifically, the study will seek answers to following questions : 1. Do the damaged facilities affect the health of students? 2. What is the cause of the damaged facilities? 3. Are the students aware of the damaged facilities? 4. How do students survive the rooms with damaged facilities? 5. What are the reactions of all teachers that have lots of damaged facilities? C. Significance of the Study The researchers conducted this problem because the school has so many damaged facilities like the comfort room of the boys and girls. There are no doors, not enough water, lots of trash and sometimes there are wastes in the toilet bowls. Students are irritated of the unpleasant smell and vandalized walls causing the students not to use the comfort rooms. Decaying environmental conditions such as peeling paint, crumbling plaster, non – functioning toilets, poor lighting. Inadequate ventilation, and inoperative heating and cooling systems can affect the learning as well as the health and the morally of staff and students. Also, there are damaged rooms, lack of chairs, damaged blackboards, no electric fans, and vandalized walls. That’s why some students are not comfortable to listen in class discussions and study their lessons. D.Hypothesis * There are many damaged facilities in Cayetano Arellano High School * There are no damaged facilities in Cayetano Arellano High School A. Scope and Limitations This research will cover chosen 4th year students from section 1 to 6 only. The guards, teachers, guidance councilors and the principal are not involved in the research. Chapter II A. Review of Related Literature The No Child Left Behind Act defines a healthy , high performance school building as one in which the design, construction, operation and maintenance is energy efficient, cost effective, provides good air quality and protects and conserves water(Healthy Schools Network, Inc., 2003). School facilities include the physical surroundings of the school ,construction of materials, technology available, amount of space available for students, teachers and staff, size of classrooms, and a clean and healthy environment that fosters safety(Lemasters, 1997). School principals have the responsibility of ensuring that the above infrastructure factors are emphasized and met as it relates to the quality and standards of educational facilities(Agron, 2000). A survey of a large sample of teachers in Washington, D.C. and Chicago found that school facilities conditions were shown to have direct effect on teaching and learning(Buckeley,Schneider and Shang, 2003). The findings of another study also concl uded that when teachers are allowed to teach and facilitate learning in environments that are well maintained and healthy , they are able to be more effective, which inevitably affects the academic achievement of students being taught at that particular school(O’Neill and Oates,2000). Deficiencies in school facilities negatively influence the student achievement for minority and poverty stricken students(Earthman,2002). A study of the District of Columbia school system found, after controlling for other variables such as as a student’s socioeconomic status, that students standardized achievement scores were lower in schools with poor building conditions. Students in school buildings in poor condition had achievement that was 6% below schools in fair condition and 11% below schools in excellent condition(Edwards, 1991). The relationship between building condition and student achievement in small, rural Virginia high schools. Student scores on achievement tests, adjusted for socioeconomic status, was found to be up to 5 percentile points lower in buildings with lower quality ratings. Achievement also appeared to be more directly related to cosmetic factors than to structural ones. Poorer achievement was associated with specific building condition factors such as substandard science facilities, air conditioning, locker conditions, classroom furniture, more graffiti, and noisy external environments(Cash, 1993). Similarly, study of large, urban high schools in Virginia also found a relationship between building condition and student achievement. Indeed, Hines found that the student achievement was as much as 11 percentile points lower in substandard buildings as compared to above standard buildings (Hines’, 1996). A study of North Dakota High Schools, a state selected in part because of its relatively homogenous, rural population, also found a positive relationship between school condition (as measured by principal’s survey responses) and both student achievement and student behaviour(Earthman, 1995). Heating and air conditioning systems appeared to be very important, along with special instructional facilities (i.e., science laboratories or equipment) and color and interior painting, in contributing to student achievement. Proper building maintenance was also found to be related to better attitudes and fewer disciplinary problems in one cited study (McGuffey, 1982). Research indicates that the quality of air inside public school facilities may significantly affect student’s ability to concentrate. The evidence suggests thst youth, especially those under ten years of age, age more vulnerable than adults to the types of contaminants (asbestos, radon, and formaldehyde) found in some school facilities (Andrews and Neuroth, 1988). A study of overcrowded schools in New York City found that students such schools scores significantly lower on both mathematics and reading exams than did similar students in underutilized schools. In addition, when asked, students and teachers in overcrowding negatively affected both classroom activities and instructional techniques (Rivera-Batiz and Marti, 1995). As for scientific evidence for ventilation’s effect on performance, two percent papers examining talk times for register nurses in call centers found that ventilation levels had only a small negative effect on productivity(federspiel et al. 2002, Fisk et al. 2002). The physical characteristics of the school have a variety of effects on teachers, students and the learning process. Poor lighting, noise, high levels of carbon dioxide in classrooms, and inconsistent temperatures make teaching and learning difficult. Poor maintenance and ineffective ventilation systems lead to poor health among students as well as teachers, which leads to poor performance and higher absentee rates (Andrews & Neuroth, 1988et al.), These factors can adversely affect student behavior and lead to higher levels of frustration among teachers, and lower job satisfaction. All these factors interact to hinder the learning process and perpetuate the shortage of teachers (Brouwers & Tomic, 1999; Borg & Riding, 1991; Byrne, 1991a; Ingersoll, 2001). The problem stems in part from the trend toward more energy-efficient buildings. Since the energy crisis of the 1970’s in the United States, school buildings have been built tighter, with more insulation, fewer windows, and relaxed ventilation standards in order to conserve energy. This has created a serious health hazard in some school systems where dust, mold spores, chemical fumes, and other allergens can be detected indoors at levels several times that of the outdoors (Sterling & Paquette, 1998). Impacts on health, well-being and performance may be hard to recognize. But indoor pollution levels may be 2-5 times, and occasionally 100 times, higher than outdoor levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Studies indicate most Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. Children are especially vulnerable because of the amount of time they spend indoors during the school day. (Ostendorf , 2001) The physical characteristics of aging or poorly designed schools can also inhibit learning with poor lighting, plumbing, and temperature control systems. The decision to build educational facilities with fewer windows in favor of fluorescent lighting may have reduced the amount of heat loss, but may also have created a more serious risk to health and performance. Natural light and artificial full-spectrum lighting has been found to minimize mental fatigue as well as reduce hyperactivity in children, while students tend to react more positively to classr ooms that have windows. Further, it has been found that fluorescent lighting may be related to greater amounts of hyperactivity in learners. Thermal comfort is also an important issue in relation to school facilities. Lackney (2000) states that classroom temperatures affect task performance and students’ attention spans (Lackney, 2000). Leaky plumbing systems in poorly ventilated schools contribute to the growth of mold on bathroom surfaces (Davis, 2001). The affects of mold in the environment can be as minor as simple irritation of the sinuses or much more serious depending on the duration of the exposure and the susceptibility of those suffering from the effects. Some people experience temporary effects which disappear when they vacate the premises, while others may experience long-term effects (Davis, 2001). Certain health effects, such as those related to allergic reactions like irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dermatitis, exacerbation of asthma, and respiratory distress, have been proven to be associated with mold exposure. Other reported effects such as fever, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, respiratory dysfunction (including coughing up blood), excessive and regular nose bleeds, dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, liver damage, and impaired or altered immune function have been identified in persons who have been exposed to mold via inhalation (Davis, 2001). These maintenance and design issues can have a serious negative effect on the learning environment for students and the working environment for teachers; it is a health hazard for all who spend significant amounts of time in the building. These effects: poor student behavior, lethargy, and apathy are some of the most consistently identified stressors for teachers (Abel & Sewell, 1999; Blasà ©, 1986; Dewe, 1986; Stenlun d, 1995). Beyond the direct effects that poor facilities have on students’ ability to learn, the combination of poor facilities, which create an uncomfortable and uninviting workplace for teachers, combined with frustrating behavior by students including poor concentration and hyperactivity, lethargy, or apathy, creates a stressful set of working conditions for teachers. Because stress and job dissatisfaction are common pre-cursors to lowered teacher enthusiasm and attrition (Friedman, 1995; Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1990; Shann,1998), it is possible that the aforementioned characteristics of school facilities have an effect upon the shortage of teachers. What is lacking in the body of research related to the effects of school facilities upon student achievement and the performance of teachers is analysis of key characteristics such as lighting, ventilation, acoustics and temperature control in relation to measures of both student performance and teacher satisfaction. According to Schneider (2002), most studies have focused on single environmental media, neglecting the critical issue of interaction effects between day lighting, air quality, noise, thermal comfort, or other factors. It is possible that relationships exist between all three areas of the school environment: the quality of the school facility, behavior of students, and teacher satisfaction. Certainly, more research is needed in this area. In fact, the federal government may act as a catalyst for such research. Section 5414 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 calls for more research into the health and learning impacts of environmentally unhealthy public school buildings on students and teachers (U.S. Congress 2002). Just as changes in the design of school buildings constructed during the energy crisis were driven by budget concerns created from rising energy costs, any future changes in school design trends are likely to be affected by the cost to taxpayers. Logic suggests the need for research into the specific effects of certain characteristics of school design for which tax monies will be spent before these changes will be realized. There is considerable debate as to the relationship of funding to academic achievement. According to Schneider (2002), and Hanushek (1989), there is little correlation between capital expenditures and academic achievement. Conversely, Hedges, Laine, and Greenwald (1994), and Lockwood and McLean (1993), state that a correlation between spending and academic achievement does exist. An analysis by Hanushek (1989) of 37 research articles on the direct effects of spending on achievement stated that â€Å"detailed research spanning two decades and observing performance in many educational settings provides strong and consistent evidence that expenditures are not systematically related to student achievement†. However, Hedges, Laine, and Greenwald (1994) re-analyzed data from the same 37 articles and found that there was strong evidence to support a systematic positive relationship between resource input and school output. Lockwood and McLean (1993) proposed that when the basic requi rements of the educational process have been adequately funded, additional monies do improve the educational process. Their study concluded that once a base level of funding has been provided, the result of judicious spending on the instructional program should be evidenced in improved achievement (Lockwood & McLean, 1997). However, a study in Great Britain by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (as cited in Schneider, 2002) analyzed the effects of capital investment on academic achievement, teacher motivation, school leadership, and other issues and found that relationships were weak. Stricherz (2000) noted that student achievement suffers in inadequate school buildings, but there is no hard evidence to prove that achievement rises when facilities improve beyond the norm. Schneider (2002) summarized the debate, stating that existing studies on school building quality generally point to improved student behavior and better teaching in higher-quality facilities; however, â€Å"what is needed is more firm policy advice about the types of capital investments that would be most conducive to learning and to good teaching†. The lack of consensus is evidence of a need for further research of the specific effects of school building maintenance and design issues, not only on the student, but also the teacher and his or her job satisfaction, enthusiasm, and commitment to the profession. Should the study of these factors yield significant correlations to student achievement and overall levels of job satisfaction among teachers, it would provide justification to the allotment of monies for the renovation of existing facilities and the design of new facilities to include natural lighting, optimum acoustic and air quality in the classroom, and better temperat ure control, as well as proper maintenance. B. Preparation of study Materials Questionnaire Survey IV – 1 students IV – 6 students IV – 5 students IV – 4 students IV – 3 students IV – 2 students Statistical Analysis Collection of Data Paradigm Chapter III Methodology A. Description of the Study Area This Case Study is all about the damaged facilities in public schools. This research has been conducted for a certain purpose, to discuss in fixing the damaged facilities in every public schools. The common problems that the facilities in public schools that are facing are lack of materials and a simple cleaning materials couldn’t be provided well, students couldn’t provide those things because they don’t have enough money. Most students in the public schools are poor which is another reason that led for this kind of problem. This problem can be treated if the students would cooperate and so as the principal and the teachers. The principal can ask for government support for renovating some facilities in the school, this can gain improvements in the school easily if the government will give donations or by sending the materials directly in the school and to be used in some facilities. Students can help by simply following the rules in every classrooms and what their teachers told them to do. Cleaning is the best way to express their cooperation with this problem. Teachers can assign rules in every classroom that students has to follow to maintain the proper cleanliness and can make the classroom in right order. This research will help the problem that every public schools are facing. Solving this problem will make a big difference in every public schools. B. Preparation of Questionnaire In preparing the questionnaire for this research is difficult. Thinking how much will the questionnaire help this research and what would be the effect of the people’s answers in this problem. The researchers kept flooding their heads with questions that are important and will be a big help to their research. Answers from the surveys will be analyzed and be tallied by the researchers to find what other opinions that the people gave to them. Some of their answers will be used in the research to add some points for the topic.